Drop the Stone || Victory Church [Book of John #22]

Good afternoon, Victory. How y'all feeling on this beautiful Sunday? It's a lovely day to be alive. For those that I have not had the privilege to meet personally, my name is Curvin, and I have the honor of serving as Victory's teaching pastor. And it's a new role I've been in now since April. Wow, is that really still considered new? Oh, time is flying. But yeah, I get to travel to all of our campuses, and I'm just going to say there is nothing like Norcross. I love this house. Just don't tell them I said that. And no, I don't say that everywhere I go either. This is home. Stop playing. But I've been so thrilled as we've been in this series in the Book of John. For those who are new to Victory, we're in this series for the entire calendar year in this one book going line upon line, moment upon moment. And I have a lot of content to cover today. I'm just going to be honest. So I do want to try and condense this intro as much as I can, but I do have to say I believe what God wants to do today is so important because yesterday I woke up out of the blue with this sore throat. I mean, it was like just on fire. And as hours went on throughout the day, my voice got weaker and weaker. I mean, to the point where I couldn't even talk above a whisper. So, y'all, I ran to an urgent care. And listen, I've done this communicating thing for, you know, not as long as many, but I've done it long enough to know when my body starts reacting and my voice, I don't play with these doctors.

I pull straight up to urgent care. And I told the receptionist, I'm here for the shot. I don't need a swab. I don't need a test. Give me the shot. So I'm going to be like, ain't nothing that a good steroid shot and a few prayers can't handle, right? Come on, somebody. So, but no, so many prayers went up. If you prayed for me, I appreciate it. Sure enough, the Lord showed up and still not at full capacity vocally. But the doctor said, Kervin, there's nothing wrong with your... I don't see anything in your ears, no fluid in your chest, no other symptoms. He says, I don't know why your voice would just disappear like that. I know why. Because the enemy knows that what we're going to talk about today has the power, hear me, has the power to shift the trajectory of your life. If you have ears to hear and eyes to see, right? So let me just sum up where we are in this story. But before we do that, let's pray. Lord, we need your help. So show up and help us. Holy Spirit, guide us, lead us. In your name we pray, amen. So to sum up what's going on, I'll keep it brief. We're starting here in chapter 8, but leading up to this moment, Jesus, his ministry is going off. He's healing people. He's preaching a message of hope, grace, love, and redemption. He's healing lepers.

He's opening blind eyes. He's spending his time with the marginalized of that society, right? But while his fame is slowly rising, what we discover is that Jesus is the man on a mission. So while all of these miracles and all of the excitement is bubbling over, understand, Jesus, as time goes on, begins revealing more and more of his mission. How many of you know people will show up for the miracles, but not everyone is rocking with the mission? So we find here recently, the last few messages we've taught, Jesus' teachings become really, really heavy. And the line is being drawn in the sand. And it's being made clear, the ones who are down for the cause and the one who are just down for the shenanigans. So today, that's where we pick up. Right here in chapter 8, starting at verse 1, we're going to see as this tension is building, we're going to discover in the next few moments that we have together, we're going to see through a story that many of you have heard before, you've read it before, you may have even heard it preached before, but we're going to talk about this incredible story where we see the beautiful picture of whenever God's grace collides with our guilt and what happens in that cataclytic moment. Come on, y'all ready for the word? Come on, y'all ready for the word? The Lord has kept my voice strong. I've been holding it down all day, but I'm about to give y'all this smoke. Here's what the word says, starting in verse 1. It says that Jesus returned to the Mount of Olives, but early the next morning, He was back again at the temple. And a crowd soon gathered, and He sat down and taught them as He typically would. And as He was speaking, The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in the act of adultery, key phrase, caught in the act of adultery, and they put her in front of the crowd. Teacher, they said to Jesus, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. Now the law of Moses says to stone her,

but what do you say? Now I want you to look at this question they asked at the very, very end, because let's be real here. If they went through the trouble of dragging this woman into this moment of condemnation, and they stated the law says we gotta stone her, but Jesus, what do you say? I smell a scandal. But I want us to see that how Jesus replies to this question, it reveals the very heart of God. Because underneath this question is a deeper question that we need to address today. And the question is this, how does grace respond to guilt? What transpires in that moment? Because here's the thing, as we read this story, the reality is this, this story is gonna cut two ways. Because this story about the adulterous woman, in case you were wondering, this story, it teaches us how we as Christians should view those who are sinners. But it also allows us to see how heaven handles you and I whenever we're the ones in sin. Because here's the reality, church. All of us fall short of God's holy standard. You realize that, right? In fact, let me say it this way. You on your very best day, on your absolute best behavior, in your own strength and apart from the grace of God, listen to me, your best motives, your best intentions are still a stench to the nostrils of a holy God.

We've all fallen short, we've all made mistakes, and many of us have allowed those mistakes to put shame and condemnation on our lives that we've carried into every single season since. But I've come today to remind somebody in this room that religion may name you by your worst, but baby grace will always name you by your worth. Now hear me, when I say worth, I'm not just talking about because you just cute with it. I'm not saying you're worth because you're just good at what you do. No, no, no, when I'm talking about your worth, I'm talking about the worth, the intrinsic worth that you have only because you have been made in the image of a great God. The Imago Dei upon your life, that's what I'm talking about. So let's pick right back up here in the scriptures in verse three, the Bible says this. Again, recounting, the teachers and the Pharisees brought this woman who had been caught in the act of adultery. Now notice this, whenever they bring this woman before this crowd, this angry mob, notice this, they did not say her name. We don't know her story. They don't tell us anything about the entanglement that got her in this situation in the first place. All we are handed in this story is a label. This woman was caught in adultery. And I find it crazy that even 2000 years later,

we still are calling her by her failure. Her sin became her identity. These religious leaders, hear me, they took an entire human life and reduced it down to her worst moment. Isn't it amazing how some people will literally go out of their way to take the worst 15 minutes of your life and use it to define the next 15 years? We do that. In fact, there are people in this room today and you're wearing a label that someone else put on you. And you've lived your life. Yes, making mistakes. Yes, having bad moments, but you just take the labels and you're just tagging them on that. You're doing the label Macarena. I ain't gonna hit you with the hips though. Those are reserved. Come on, somebody. But hear me, there are some of us, we show up to church every single Sunday and we hear these messages about God's identity that he has called and spoken over you. We hear messages about his purposes and the calling of God and the Imago Dei, but there are so many of us that. struggle with receiving the identity that Jesus has given us because we cannot seem to grasp hold beyond the stacks of labels that we've allowed people to place on our lives

or watch me, the labels we've placed on ourselves. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's the guy, he's been divorced like three times. Yeah, she got pregnant before she got married. Yeah, oh, that guy, yeah, he's the one, he's been clean for 20 years, he just relapsed, destroyed his life. He's that guy, he's the guy that had all the businesses, made one deal bad and lost everything. Listen to me, friend. Whatever went wrong, it might explain a part of your journey but one bad chapter does not have to define the rest of your story. I don't know who in this room or who online needs to hear that. One bad chapter does not have to derail the story that God is writing with your life. Do you know that? I heard of this man many years ago. He was a homeless guy, he was an alcoholic, he battled addiction for his whole adult life. He'd been living on the streets for years and he would sit there on the street corner, panhandling, asking for money, for food, for alcohol and one day, there was this little Christian lady that was on her way to her Bible study to do the church thing but she was running late so she was moving kind of quick. She passed by the guy and the guy said, ma'am, ma'am, could you spare some change?

I'm hungry, I haven't eaten all day. But again, she was on her way to do the church thing. Lord help me, if we're not careful, we can be so busy doing the work of the Lord that we overlook the heart of the Lord of the work and we can find ourselves so busy to show up on Sunday to do the church thing, not realizing all week we've passed by the church thing time and time and time. So immediately, the Holy Spirit convicted her. She stopped dead in her tracks, brother. She turned around and she went back. She grabbed this man by the hands and lifted him up. She said, sir, I would love to feed you but even more than that, I wanna introduce you to a man that has the power to change your life. She led him to the Lord right there, right there on the spot. He gave his life to the Lord. He grabbed that little cheap bottle of wild Irish red wine. He poured it out on the concrete right there, never to touch the bottle again. She fed him, took him to a shelter, got him checked in. From that moment on, every Sunday morning, every Sunday night, every Wednesday night, Bible study, she would pick him up and take him to church, bring him to the shelter, take him to church. Eventually, he moved in with the family in the church. He joined a men's small group, began getting discipled. He got some coaches in his life and out of nowhere, he began working with his hands, doing hardwood flooring

and the Lord blessed him with a business sense to launch his own business and it was so fruitful. But watch me, the beauty of the story is that he never forgot the depths from which God had rescued him. So as the income came in, he and his wife launched a ministry called Haven of Hope. And this was a ministry they built to rescue other men and women who were experiencing homelessness. They would bring them in off the streets, they would feed them, they would house them, they would disciple them, they would help them get an education. And you might say, well, why are you so passionate about this story? My friend, this is how my mother and father met 45 years ago on the streets of... I've come today to tell someone in this room that it doesn't matter what you've been through, it doesn't matter how hard the chapter of your life was, there was no brokenness, there was no addiction, there was no mistake, there was no failure that could ever thwart the plan that God has on your life. Right. One chapter does not derail the rest of your story. Amen. Because hear me, though the world had named him by his worst, on that cold morning when my sweet mom crossed his path,

grace gave him a new name. Listen to me, friend. God will never consult your past before deciding your future. He doesn't do that. And guess what? I thank God that he doesn't. Like, am I the only one? Thank God. Come on, we need a praise break right now. Thank God that he didn't leave me the way he found me. Come on, Ish. Thank God that he's redeemed us and raised us up, gave us a new name. Because if he didn't, y'all, I wouldn't be here. I better find another teaching pastor. I got none for you. It's the grace of God. Because here's the deal. It's easy to read the story about, man, the adulterous woman, the woman, oh, how could she? But did you realize that there's another character in the story? This character is not mentioned in the Bible, but this character is there. Can I speak to you really quick? Because here's the deal. This character is here lurking in the shadows of the story. You want to know who it is? My friend, it's you. It's you. The spotlight is on. It's you.

Yeah, in the pink shirt. It's you. It's you. It's me. Look at me, church. The Bible is implicitly clear that we all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Every one of us have been caught red-handed at some point or another. And hear me, maybe you weren't caught red-handed in the middle of a crowd, but under the spotlight of God's holy gaze. We have all been in seasons of our life where we were broken and felt there was no hope for another day. And hear me, let me be emphatically clear. I'm not necessarily talking to the seasons of hurt and pain because of what they did to you. No, I don't want to downplay trauma. It's real. I'm not downplaying the person that hurt you. I'm not downplaying the person that betrayed and lied to you. No, no, no. That's another message for another day. I'm talking about the moments when you're broken in despair and you've lost everything, and you don't know if God even sees you anymore. But in that moment, it's your fault. You can't blame the father that wasn't present. You can't blame the family that raised you up. You cannot blame a toxic relationship. You cannot blame the trauma wound. Why? Because guilty is guilty.

And in the eyes of a holy God, that's where we sit, guilty. We've all been in the blinding light of the Holy Spirit. And listen to me, we are the woman caught in adultery. But aren't you thankful today that whenever religion wants to point out the problem, that God's grace will always look past it to the person? The person, not just the problem, no, the person. Now, I want to take a minute and talk to my church folk, okay? Because this last point, my desire is that for those who are far from God, I hope grace and mercy is being stirred up in your heart. Come on, let the Lord speak to you. But for this point, I want to talk to my church folk. Because verse 3 says clearly that when they brought this woman in before Jesus, that they put her in front of the crowd, that they put her in front of the crowd, standing there, exposed, on display in front of everyone. In fact, historians believe that the language used in the scripture caught in the act, it was mentioned more than once, historians believe that it implies that literally this woman was drug out of the bedroom, brought in this crowd, probably not properly clothed. And I know that's a really graphic image for a Sunday afternoon, but I need you to feel her shame. And I've learned something about the enemy. I've learned that it's not enough for him to just simply destroy your life now. He wants to destroy your life and then put it on display for everyone else to see. Or you better believe it, shame always wants a stage. That's why we get on social media and you seldom see wholesome content anymore. What you see more than not is just the gossip column, except for it has nice photos and images to go with it. And idiots that are commenting under the foolishness, more foolishness. Can I tell you that there are ministries... In particular, I won't say the name,

but there are ministries, there is a ministry that is a Christian publication, a self-proclaimed Christian publication, and you wanna know what they do? Every article they write is simply to expose a church, to expose Christian leaders, to expose pastors, and hear me, I am all about transparency and accountability, but can I tell you something? Transparency and accountability happen up close in relationship. Judgment and condemnation screams from the street corners, and yet these ministries build their entire enterprise off of gossip, off of who failed and what happened, and these are the details, and I just can't help but wonder, like, oh my goodness, what in the world is this ministry doing to bring people into the saving knowledge of Jesus? But yet we eat it up, we're subscribed, we read the stories, we open our inbox to see these, we scroll to see the stories. Why is it that we are so infatuated with other people failing? Here's why I think. I think it's because when I see someone fail, then it feeds this little lie in my heart that says, well, at least I ain't that bad. Well, don't look at me like you never thought that. I would never do that. But friend, if I could use some first century Bible language, I beseech you.

Calvin, I beseech you, brother. Listen, we have to be careful playing the comparison game. God, have mercy on us to stand on some righteous pedestal and measure our righteousness according to someone else's ratchetness. God, have mercy on us. Can I tell you, that's not what men of God do. Women of God do not base and speak to their blessings in comparison to someone else's brokenness. Because here's the problem. If my self-worth is propped up by your failure, then that means I need you to keep failing. But friend, this is not the heart of God. Look at me, your affirmation, your calling, your purpose, your sense of belonging, your sense of having a mission fueled, purpose driven life, that should be found in Christ alone, not in someone else's failure. We don't look to someone else to determine who we are or where we are. No, we gotta stay out of the window. You know, there's a leadership lesson that my wife, Candice, and myself have taught for years, and it's simply this. There are two types of leaders. By the way, we're all leaders in this room, right? Right? Some of y'all are like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, brother, don't, listen. The moment you said yes to this glorious gospel, baby, we on mission.

It's not a game, there is no punching. Leaders, there's two types. The poor leader, whenever it hits the ceiling fan, the poor leader goes running to the window to point fingers, to say, who did it? Whose fault is it? Who can I blame? Who is the one single throat to choke? Who messed this thing up? That's what poor, immature, insecure leaders do. But the wise, godly leader, when it all falls down, they don't run to the window to blame shift. Instead of running to a window, they run to a mirror. And they ask questions like, Lord, is there something that I missed? What is it in my leadership that I have not been stewarding well? Is there something that I could have done different? Come on, do y'all hear me this morning? What are things that I could have done well? Holy Spirit, I have to address this situation as a leader, but I need your wisdom in how to handle it, right? Look at me, church. This is the difference between a heart of religion and condemnation and a heart of mercy and grace. Because religion will always judge from a window, but grace reveals itself through a mirror. Jesus said it like this in the book of Luke. He made it very simple.

Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will also be forgiven. You see, in this moment, these religious leaders and this crowd, all they saw through their religious judgment was a sinner that was deserving of death. But then grace shows up on the scene, and what grace sees is a woman, a desperate woman in need of a defender. And speaking of women, you may know this already, maybe you don't. Let me just share this little cultural context. In this day and age, in this culture in the Middle East, and some of this, a lot of this still goes on to this day, women were then viewed as second-class citizens. Their voices did not carry much weight in the culture. They were often overlooked and disregarded, really unfortunate, right? So with that context in mind, as we look back over the last couple of weeks, I want you to notice that there's been a theme that's starting to show up in this writing. Now if you remember, come on, put your thinking caps on, if you've been here for this series, we told you from the very beginning that when John wrote this book, he was intentional in how he wrote it. Remember, there are going to be themes and patterns that we begin to see, and the reason he's writing these themes and patterns is because he wants us to take notice. Can I point one out? It's amazing how we have seen, and we'll see in weeks to come, Jesus intentionally moving towards the outcasted woman. We saw it when he met with the Samaritan woman at the well, remember that story? Literally, Jesus as a Jew had no business even being in Samaria, but yet he broke cultural norms to meet with this woman and to also have a conversation with the woman in private. I mean, my God, he did that because he saw that his daughter needed to experience true living water. We fast forward a few chapters later, we'll find the story of a young lady by the name of Mary, Mary of Bethany.

The Bible says that before she came to faith in Christ, she was a harlot, a prostitute. And Jesus was having a dinner with some leaders, and they're just in there laughing, talking ministry, and this woman had the audacity to bust into the room. The Bible said she had an alabaster jar filled with precious oil. The Bible says it was almost a year's wages. I mean, come on, Tom Ford fragrance ain't got nothing on that. Come on, Ms. Van Nen, you know we love some Tom Ford. The Bible says she broke it and poured this oil on his feet, and tears began to flow from her face onto his feet, and she used her hair to wipe his tears. I mean, my God, a beautiful moment of worship. But guess what? All the people in the room, they were disgusted, and they could not believe that Jesus would allow this to happen. They thought, Jesus, do you even know what this woman had to do to even afford this oil? If you knew who she was, you wouldn't even let her in your presence. But Jesus said, no, no, no, no, no, no. She has poured out every drop in worship, and he said, verily, her story will be told for the ages to come. You fast forward a few chapters later, after Jesus has completed his mission on earth, crucified, buried, risen, there was this one woman that was a part of their discipleship conglomerate. Her name was Mary Magdalene. The Bible tells us that whenever Mary encountered Jesus for the first time, she was delivered of seven demons, seven. And when Jesus rose from the grave, do you realize that he didn't reveal himself to James? He didn't reveal himself to Peter? Not even to John, the disciple that he loved so much? Definitely didn't reveal himself to Bartholomew. You want to know who the first person was that saw the risen Savior? It was Mary.

He entrusted this woman with this great revelation. And then we come all the way back to the story today, this adulterous woman that Jesus finds himself advocating for. Listen, friend, why is this important? Again, the themes are important because in a culture that pushed these women to the margins and treated them as second-class citizens, Jesus consistently leaned into them and did not push them away. That tells me today that grace always leans towards the one person in the room that everyone else has discounted. So going back to the text, they drag this woman out of the temple. In verse five, again, they say, they ask this question again. They say, the law says the stoner, but what do you say, Jesus? Now look at this next verse. They were trying to trap Jesus into saying something they could use against him. Ha ha, I knew I smelled a scandal. So it all comes to light. Because I've always wondered, like they caught them in the act, like I don't think I have these situations happening within my general proximity on a regular. So how could they have been in the right moment to catch the right thing? You know what I'm saying? But now we see it was all a setup. It was all a trap.

It was a witch hunt. It was a trap from the beginning. Why? Because watch me, how Jesus responded to this question, in their minds, there was no right answer. Now let me help you for those who maybe have not dove this deep into this story. Think about it. They said, Moses said, we got a stoner, but what do you say? Now watch this. Hence, Jesus says, you're right. That's what the law says. Let her have it. Then in that moment, this woman is murdered, brutally murdered, right in front of the temple. And this message that he's been preaching of love, redemption, grace, and mercy, it's out the window. His following turns on him in a heartbeat. The Pharisees win. Now on the other side of the coin, if Jesus, full of compassion, would have said, no, guys, are you serious? Show mercy, man. Don't touch this woman. Then, in this moment, Jesus, this great prophet, is now guilty of breaking Levitical law, right in front of the temple, right in front of this crowd. So now, this prophet, this great teacher,

who has everyone in an uproar, now is a lawbreaker with zero credibility. The Pharisees win. Now listen, to all my strategists in this room, all my business owners, I don't know who came up with this plan, but brother, they were working overtime. Come on, they had Chet, GPT, and Claude working on this. Come on. They had this thing airtight, so they thought, because they thought no matter how Jesus would respond, he would lose. But how many of you know today that you cannot out scheme the one who wrote the script? Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!

Ha! Ha! But while we're talking about the scandal, again, I wanna, are y'all good? Are y'all still with me? You're with me? Okay, so look, so while we're talking about the scandal, I got another question. I just gotta put it in the room. I've read this story so many times-ish, and I've always wondered, always wondered, in this whole situation, where the brother at? Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. I mean, listen. The Bible says, she was caught in the act. Now, I ain't no rocket scientist. I mean, I got four kids. I kind of know how this thing works. It takes two to tango. So,

how did this- who decided that he gets to go free, but she has to face judgment? Did they just kick in the door? Poof! Ha ha! Ha! Hmm. Hey brother, you can go. You, come with us. Like, Julia, how does this happen? Listen to me, church. Whenever we allow religion and judgment to lead our lives, then we will find ourselves doing what these very men did. Thinking we have the privilege of picking and choosing which components of a gospel that- we wanna submit to. Y'all don't hear me in this one o'clock. When we judge and condemn those who don't know the Lord, hear me, we're actually placing ourselves on a righteous pedestal. And on this pedestal, we have the audacity to think that it's up to us to decide who should get judgment and who should receive the mercy. Because listen to me, if we wanna get technical, and I hear them talking about what the law says, okay, baby, let's talk about the law. If we're gonna get technical, the Levitical law says that both parties should be stoned, not just one, but both. So in this moment, I get it, in this moment,

I'm sure the whole crowd was like, yeah, that's right. She's sinful, we're gonna follow the law. I bet it felt like a moment of righteous indignation, but can I tell you, church, these men had no desire whatsoever to keep the law. They didn't drag this woman in this crowd because they cared for her. No, she was a pawn being used to build a case against Jesus, just to make a point at which point she would then be completely disposable. They didn't want justice. They didn't care about sin and holiness. Can I tell you, the man or the woman that stands on the street corner with the big sign saying God hates homosexuals, they don't care about holiness or sin. They're stroking their own religious pride. They didn't care about this woman. They didn't care about the law. They didn't care about holiness. All they wanted to do was trap Jesus. Can I tell you, if we're not careful, we'll do the same thing that these men did. We will gather our megaphones. We will build and construct our little soap boxes. And we will be, we will be so vocal about the things that we're against that the world never even gets a chance to hear the beautiful things that we are for. Church.

Lord, have mercy on your people. Listen to me. So the next time you get a case of the itchy Twitter fingers, the next time you feel an urge to just tell someone about themselves, remember that the moment we begin caring more about proving a point than restoring a person, then we've totally missed the heart of God. One o'clock, we've missed the heart of God. Some of y'all still ain't rocking with me, so let me just make it really plain. The next time you're in a conversation and the topic of immigration comes up, oh, I'm gonna talk about it. I'm gonna talk about it, because listen to me, and let me just go ahead and just make it very plain. I'm not talking about this from a political standpoint. I don't do politics. Don't even come up in the lobby talking about it. My throat hurt. I ain't got nothing to say. I ain't trying to hear it. Because as a pastor, my job is not to uphold the White House. My job as a pastor is to make sure that the body is equipped to rightfully represent a gracious God to a broken, dying, hurting world. That's it.

So hear me. When the topic of immigration comes up, politics aside, if you call yourself a child of God, and if your knee-jerk, immediate response is to raise your fist and to begin talking about policies and procedures while not even taking a moment to think about the person, my friend, at that point, I don't care how long you've walked with God. I don't care how much you serve. It doesn't matter how much you give. If you're a pastor watching this message, with all due respect, man of God, it doesn't matter how big your ministry is. If you choose policy over people every time, you've missed the heart of God. You've missed the heart of God. You've missed the heart of God. Now hear me. I'm not saying Jesus is a rule breaker, but at the same time, if he adhered to every policy, every religious way of doing things, every tradition, you do realize that the law... was the law, but over the years, the Jewish people added more tradition that had nothing to do with the law. You realize that if Jesus led his earthly ministry

following policy, he never would have touched the lepers. He never would have met the woman at the well. He never would have raised last from the dead. He wouldn't have sat with the beggars and the brutes. He would have never met me. He would have never lifted you out of the pit of your despair. Can I tell you, church? Church, Pharisees will destroy a life to win an argument, but as disciples, we have to be okay losing the argument if it saves just one life. That's simple. Keep your politics, keep your cultural frustrations. We are kingdom people. So in this moment, this whole crowd, they're standing over this woman, stones in hand. Let me tell you the travesty of this moment. Do you realize that according to the letter of the law, that as crazy as this moment is, even with it being a complete setup, do you realize that these men were actually justified to do what they were gonna do? Think about it. In fact, if you don't believe me, let's go all the way back to the moment when God gave Moses the law. In Exodus chapter 31, like a hundred years ago, look at what the Bible says, that when the Lord finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, he gave him two stone tablets

of the covenant. The tablets of stone, watch me, inscribed by the finger of God. So listen to me, church. Let's just remove the emotion from the moment, okay? I'm a very passionate man, but for a moment, let's just remove the emotion that we feel for this woman. All empathy aside, let's just call it what it is. If we're gonna talk about the law, technically they had a valid case. Let me give you an, the very finger of God carved the law on stone, right? Well, now that very stone is in the hands of the crowd, ready to execute the sentence. Church, have you ever been in a moment like this before? Where the fingers are pointed at you? When every odd was stacked against you? Where all you felt was shame and brokenness and condemnation? I mean, come on, has anyone ever been to the lowest of low points? And I'm not talking about the moments where something was done to you. No, no, no, no, no, friend. I'm talking about the moments where every bit of pain you're feeling is the consequence of decisions and choices that you made. So at this moment of despair, you can't even point a finger to accuse anyone because this time you were actually guilty.

No one to blame, nowhere to run. Guilty as charged. This woman is on the ground, stones in hand, every eyes on Jesus, demanding that he pick a side. And I love that Jesus doesn't argue, Jesus doesn't debate. The Bible says in this moment that Jesus simply kneeled down. Come on, somebody. Aren't you grateful that whenever religion tries to tower over you, that grace will kneel down to cover you? The Bible says that he stooped down and he began writing in the dust with his finger. Get this imagery. The same God, the same finger that inscribed law and judgment in stone is now kneeling down, covering his daughter, using that same finger to write mercy in the dust. The Bible says Jesus stands up and he says to the crowd, okay, this is what you wanna do. We're gonna do it like this. Let he who has never sinned be the first to cast the stone. And then he stooped down again and kept writing in the dust. Y'all, Jesus was a bad man. Look, sis, I got questions for Jesus when I get to heaven. I got a whole list of... But one of them questions, probably top five, Jesus, brother,

what was you writing in the dust? Some theologians, Judah, they said that he wrote the Ten Commandments in the dust to remind them that, hey, you've all fallen short. There've been some who've said that he began writing out the most grotesque sins of the crowd. I kind of like that one. That's petty Jesus. I love petty Jesus. I love sassy Jesus and petty Jesus. I love it. We don't know what he wrote in the dust, but I know it had mercy all over it. Mercy all over it. Because in the next verse, it says that, then those who saw and heard, they being convicted by their conscience, went out one by one, beginning with the oldest, even to the last. Now, me personally, church, I've always been intrigued by that detail. Why were the old men the first to drop their stones and leave? It's so random, right? I'm going to tell you why I think. Because the more road that you've traveled... Come on, baby, if you know, you know. Come on, is there anyone in this place that have lived many winters? And you know, listen to me, the longer you live, that means the more chapters you have in your book that you don't want read out loud. Church, I've said this many times before, and I'm going to say it again. My wife and I are people of strong conviction. We believe in core values. There are just some things that if you squeeze me, it's going to ooze out. And I'm going to say this, I think I said it two weeks ago. Let me say it again.

Listen, there are people who think that as long as they keep walking with the Jesus, and they've walked with them a long time, that they just get to a point where, baby, I know how to do this thing. Brother, I am certified. I eat manna for breakfast. But what I've discovered in my journey with the Lord, friend, the longer I walk with him, I don't get better at doing this thing. I don't get better at doing holiness. I mean, who does holiness anyway? Now, the more I walk with the Lord, the more I discover that I desperately need him. I need him. I need his grace. I need his mercy. I need his wisdom. Come on, Jace. We need him, brother, right? So one by one, the stones hit the ground, starting with the older and all the way down to the youngest. Normally, this would be the place where we celebrate and we come, oh, that was a great message, let me go home. But no, no, no, because that is her story. What about the stones that you're holding? So remember earlier, I said, we're all in this story. We are the adulterous woman, but watch me. We are also the one holding the stones. Come on, we're playing a dual role in this motion picture. And there are some of you here today, you are carrying stones that have people's name on it. You've already decided in your heart that they deserve the judgment. And again, when I say stone, I don't mean you're trying to like plot

to kill somebody. Please don't. I'm talking about the stones that say, you hurt me and you should pay. I'm talking about the person that was supposed to be a safe space, but they took advantage of the trust and broke it. I'm talking about the one that left you to figure this whole thing out on your own. I'm talking to the person that in the back of your heart, you can't stop thinking about that church or that ministry that you gave your life to, only to be hurt. Because of the church hurt it's driven a wedge between you and God, but can I tell you your beef is not with God Your beef is with an imperfect people trying to represent a perfect God Some of us carry these stones With people's names all over a man and let me just say this then there are some of us the stone you're carrying It doesn't have anyone's name on it. No the stone you're carrying is just rooted in pride and arrogance Because somehow you believe you've arrived and you're the one who determines what's holy and righteous and what's not You've quietly decided that you're better and holier than those people Whoever those people are You've been gripping these stones so tight that your hands are cramped and the whole while You're crying out to God open this door Help me Lord pour out a blessing You said you pour out a blessing that I can't even receive and handle Lord open this door make this thing open split the sea My hands are open wide But you look down at your hands and you can't receive the blessing of God because you're still holding on to the stinking stone You got to forgive This represents forgiveness. I believe I believe that's what it boils down to Some of you I'm gonna make it very easy your one step today is to send the text message To make the phone call some of you this week your one step is to make the drive Set up the meeting Did you say I forgive you and watch this? Thank you. Holy Spirit

And when you go on that journey, you never tell someone that I forgive you with any expectation No expectation they may not even remember the way that they hurt you But we give it to God because the word says vengeance is his says the Lord Let's hear me If we don't forgive then we're never gonna experience the fullness of life Listen, if you don't allow The Holy Spirit to heal what hurt you then you will live the rest of your life bleeding on people that didn't even cut you And then there's another group of people I want to address There are people today that You don't need an angry mob Holding stones to convince you That you're broken You said you would say Kervin. I don't have any stones with no one's name except for my own name Because you live your life allowing guilt and shame To rob you of all that God has for you friend Because you show up to the room fully aware of your brokenness I'm talking to the person here today You don't need a pastor to try and convict you of your sin because you're fully aware that I've burnt bridges I've made mistakes that I'm still paying for today. And and if I could go back in time and do it different I would But I am where I am Some of you it may look like everything is fine on the outside You go to work you pay your bills you raise your children, whatever, but they have no idea the thoughts that go on inside your mind They don't understand the demons you wrestle with day in and day out I'm talking to the person that would say Kervin They can keep their stones because I have enough stones of my own aimed here But you when I was crazy, let me speak to that person really quick. I'm glad you're here because listen to me The Bible says that all of these men Oldest to the youngest dropped their stones walked away and look at what it says in Verse 9 it says and then once everyone was gone Jesus was left alone with the woman

standing in the midst you realize All these men left because they all had sinned and they were not worthy to cast any stone Jesus only remained why? Because he was the only sinless one He was the only one who Holy Spirit helped me He was only the one he was the only one with the moral authority to cast the stone And yet He chose mercy over judgment So look at me friend Hear me when I tell you it's the only one who has the moral authority and a right to continue and damn you, chose not to, then why are you still holding on to the stinking stone? Come on, let grace wash over you, my friend. Drop the stone. Because here in this moment, here's where it all comes to a head. Here it is, here's where it all lands. Because at the beginning of the series, we read a passage in John 1, the very first chapter, I think it was the first message. It said this, lean in, we're almost done, lean in. It says, for the law was given by Moses, through Moses, but God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through who? Through Jesus Christ. You see, our problem is that we try to compartmentalize and separate grace and truth. We see people live in their ratchet, sinful life, and we say, oh, they just need the truth. And then we see people who are hurting and broken,

and I mean, they have their issues too. Oh, just grace, grace, grace. We treat it like it's either or, but can I tell you, it can't be either or, it has to be both and. Because the moment we separate grace and truth, come on, I need y'all to lock in. The moment we begin separating grace and truth, we then start producing counterfeit gospel. Because if we preach a gospel that is all truth with no grace, we create a judgmental gospel, gospel of judgment. But on the flip side of that coin, if all we do is preach grace with no truth, then we create a gospel of toleration. I call it greasy grace. And can I tell you, both of these are incomplete pictures of the gospel. So in this moment, here it is, in this moment, everyone's left, Jesus is there, the giver of grace, with this woman who has been ravaged by guilt. And in this tender moment, Jesus has to choose, am I gonna give grace, or am I gonna speak truth? But y'all, this is a masterclass moment in the art of redemption. Jesus chooses not to separate the two. The Bible says in verse 10, that Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, where are your accusers? Now go there with me, go there with me.

Here's how I read the Bible. If this woman was caught in the act, drug into this crowd, half naked with men surrounding her with stones, I would imagine the entire conversation, she is on the ground covered up. And I just imagined the Lord leaning down, maybe lifting up her chin, saying, darling, daughter, who has accused you? Is there even one? And maybe for the first moment she looks around and says, no, Lord, no one condemns me. And Jesus looks her in her eyes and he says, neither do I. Now go and sin no more. My friend, this is the whole gospel in one breath. He said, I don't condemn you. What is that? Grace. But go and sin no more. What is that? Truth. And friend, we desperately need both. And there are some seasons, angel, right? There's some seasons where I need more truth, right? I need to be corrected from time to time. And then there are seasons where we need grace. We need both, because hear me, friend, in his love and kindness,

Jesus and his mercy will meet you right where you are. And I'm talking to the person in the room we're watching online, where you feel like you don't belong here. Can I tell you, Jesus will meet you right where you are. He loves you that much to meet you where you are, but he also loves you too much to leave you the way that he finds you. Amen. Grace and truth. So listen, church, whatever stone you came in carrying today whether it's stones with people's names on it, people who've disappointed you or hurt you, or if the stone you came in carrying today Carrie, you're just aiming at yourself. is the stone you came in carrying today, Self-hate, you're allowing guilt and shame it's the stone you came in carrying today. to rob you of what God has for you. It's the stone you came in carrying today. My prayer for you today is this. Three things, simple. Number one, my prayer is that before you leave, that you drop the stone. My prayer for you is that you allow God's grace to save you. And thirdly, that you allow God's truth to sustain you. That's my prayer for this house in Jesus' name. Amen, amen, amen, hallelujah. With every head bowed, every eye closed, listen friend, if you're here today

and you've never made Jesus Lord and Savior of your life, or maybe you did a long time ago and just somewhere along the line, you've lost your passion, you've walked away, can I just tell you, the Lord's not mad at you. He's not ashamed. I don't know how better I could tell this story to help you understand just how much the Lord is for you. The Lord is for you. In fact, the reality is that the fact that you're even here hearing this message today is a sovereign act of grace. Because the Lord wants you to know that he has a plan for your life. He has a purpose that he puts you in the earth to accomplish. He loves you. So today, I wanna give you an opportunity to say yes to mercy, to say yes to his saving power. Here it is, one. It doesn't matter who you came with. It doesn't matter who's sitting beside you. It's not about them and what they think about you because one day you're gonna stand before God and you're gonna have to give an account for the life that you lived on this earth. Are you ready to meet your maker, my friend? You can be. Here it is, two. You would say, Kervin, I've done it my own way

and every time I fail and I'm tired of hitting this wall over and over, I am ready to surrender my life to Jesus. That's you, here it is. One, two, three. Just lift your hand right where you're at. Lift that hand up high enough so I can see it. Lift that hand, don't be ashamed. Come on, Jesus hung naked on a cross, beaten and bloody for you. The least we can do is just lift our hands and say, I see you, Lord, I need you. Hands are up all across this room. God bless you. Even online, in our family room, the Lord sees you. And you can put those hands down. And friend, I wanna lead you in a prayer and every believer, every fully devoted disciple is gonna pray this prayer with you. Even online, right where you're at, in that room, in that bedroom, in that car. Let's pray these words. Say, God, you know who I am. I've made mistake after mistake and I've broken your law and I realize that I deserve death. But I also know that you are the son of God. You died for my sin, rose from the grave, and one day you're gonna bring me home. So come into my heart, forgive my sin,

heal my mind, and use me to shine your lights. Thank you, God, for loving me when I was unlovable. In the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. And right now, before we leave, if you're here today, if you're a believer, listen, if you would be totally honest and if you would say today, Kervin, I got a pocket full of stones and I realized maybe for the first time that I gotta lay these things down. Come on, if that's you, I want you just to lift your hand right where you're at. Join me, because guess what? I'm lifting my own hand, because I have stones in my life that I need to lay at the feet of the Lord. This can be stones aimed at people. It could be unforgiveness, bitterness. These can be stones that are reflected in the labels you've placed on yourself. Lord, you see every hand. You see my hand. And Lord, we realize in this moment that for us to live the full, abundant life that you gave yourself for, that we can't live that full, abundant life carrying the weight of unresolved expectation. So Father, I pray tonight, today, that you would help give us the courage to lay these stones at your feet,

to trust you at your word, to know that it is your job to repay unto man what is due then. It is our job to love. It is our job to forgive. And it is our job to trust you with every outcome. So we trust you to be who you say you are. We love you. We honor you. And we thank you, because you do all things well. In the mighty, matchless name of Jesus, we pray. Come on, I need about 11 team people who love the Lord to shout and say amen. Hallelujah. Thanks for being a part of Victory Church on the Pando app. We hope this content was a blessing to you, but we want you to know that you're not done yet because we want to hear from you. So send us a letter and tell us things like what God is doing in your life, how we can pray for you, or even content that you would like to see us create in the future. We just want you to know that we see you, you're important to us, and we'd love to continue to create some things in the future that will bless you. So send us a letter and we hope to hear from you soon.