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Amen, so we're starting a new chapter tonight, John chapter number 8. We're going to look at this story at the first part of John chapter 8. John chapter 8 is a long chapter and a few different things happen here, so we're going to be here for a couple weeks for sure. But in John chapter 8, at the beginning of the chapter, there's a very interesting story about a woman taken in adultery, and I want to look at this story in detail tonight because a lot of people use this story to teach a lot of false things today, and I want to show you what Jesus was doing and what he was not doing in John chapter 8 in this story. Let's go ahead and just look at it real quick from the Bible here, and then we'll cut it up in detail this evening. Look at verse number 1, where the Bible says Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives, and early in the morning he came again into the temple, and the people came unto him and sat down and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. And when they had set her in the midst, they say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act. So they're basically telling him that this is an adulteress, and there's no doubt that she's guilty. That's what they're saying. There's lots of witnesses, everyone saw it. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned, what sayest thou? Look at verse number 6. This they said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted himself up and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, standing at the eldest, even unto the last. And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted himself up, he saw none but the woman, and he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers, hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. So this is the story. Now Jesus here is doing a few different things. But a lot of people take this story, and a lot of Christians today, you know, liberal Christianity loves this story, all right? And look, I love the story too. But liberal Christianity takes this story, and they twist it to teach a lot of things that is simply not true. Now was Jesus deleting the law here? What they were talking about in verse number 5, when they said, Moses in the law commanded us, they're talking about Leviticus chapter number 20 and verse number 10. You can go ahead and turn there if you want. The Bible says in Leviticus 20 verse 10, or I can just read it for you, it says, The man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbor's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. So first of all, an interesting point about this story is, where's the guy? You know? I mean, it just kind of gives you a little bit of a, a little bit of an idea of these Pharisees and where they're coming from and the type of people that they are. So they grab this woman that was taken in adultery. But in Leviticus 20, 10, it says they're both to be executed. It's capital punishment for both of them. All right? So the first thing is, you know, what was Jesus doing? Was he deleting the law? Was he saying that, you know, this law is, is not important. I don't believe in the law. Was I deleting the law? Turn to Matthew chapter five and verse number 17 to answer this question. Because Jesus actually addresses this exact, like, I mean, you could say if you just took this one story by itself and didn't take anything in context and just didn't take anything else that Jesus said, you could probably teach a few different twists from this story because we wouldn't really know why Jesus did what he did. But look at Matthew chapter five and verse number 17. If you have a red letter Bible, basically all of Matthew chapter five is red. This is all Jesus speaking here. He says in verse 17, he says, think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. So Jesus there says, no, I'm not deleting anything from the law. I am just fulfilling the law. Look down at verse number 27, actually, to just address this exact thing. Maybe Jesus doesn't think that adultery is a big deal. Maybe this thing he's just kind of like, well, you know, it's just, you know, that's, it's his pet thing or something. But look, look at verse number 27. It says he heard that it was said by them of old time that thou shalt not commit adultery. But I say unto you, so Jesus is going to kind of give you an idea on where he sits with the law. All right. And he's, he does this with adultery and he does this with a few other sins as well, just to kind of give you an idea. But look at verse 28. Because I say unto you that whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. Basically, who is Jesus? Jesus is God. So apart from the Levitical law, God is giving you an exact thought on what he thinks of adultery. This is what Jesus is saying. Jesus didn't invent anything new here. He's just saying, you know, you had this civil penalty in Leviticus chapter 20, and you have many civil penalties in the Old Testament for the nation of Israel, and, but this is how God actually feels about these things in his heart. He's saying even lusting after someone that is not your wife, lusting after someone that is not your husband, is adultery to God. This is how high God's standards are. This is what Jesus is demonstrating. So to answer the question, was Jesus deleting the law, the answer is absolutely not. He was not deleting the law. Was he saying that we can never judge? Was he saying that anything goes? Because this is what people teach today. People teach that anything goes, anything can be brought into the church because, you know, don't ever judge, and Jesus didn't judge, and, you know, who are you? I mean, do you have no sin? I mean, that's what people will teach from this story. What was actually happening here is important. Go back to John chapter 8. Go back to John chapter 8 and look at verse number 4. John chapter 8, look at verse number 4. In John chapter 8, 4, they said unto him, Master this woman, who's they? It's the Pharisees. This woman was taken in adultery in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that she should be stoned, such should be stoned. What sayest thou? So the question is here, they're quoting Moses' law, but were they under Moses' law? Turn to John 18. Turn to John chapter number 18. The Pharisees, this is just another one of their little tricks that they're trying to play on God, and they're trying to catch Jesus doing something wrong so they have something to accuse him of. So they quote Moses' law. They're quoting what I just read to you in Leviticus 20, 10, that adultery receives capital punishment as many sins receive capital punishment in the Old Testament. Look at John chapter 18, though. The question is, were they under, were Jesus and the Pharisees and the people living at that time in that place, were they under Moses' law? Look at John 18, verse 31. Now we get some irony to the story here. And then Pilate said unto them, this is when the Jews bring Jesus to Pilate, and they want Pilate to kill him. It says, the Pilate said unto them, to the Pharisees, to the Jewish leaders, take ye him. He's saying, Pilate, the problem Pilate had was they brought Jesus to the Roman governor to be killed and the Roman governor was saying, there's nothing in our law that says he should be killed. It's just, it was complete, it was a complete disconnect because there was nothing that he had done in the Roman law to be executed. Now look at verse, the rest of the verse, it says, the Jews therefore said unto him, it is not lawful for us to put any man to death. So here's what's interesting, here's what's interesting, what they're trying to trick Jesus into in John chapter 8 is exactly what they did to Jesus in John chapter 18. Because they brought Jesus to Pilate, the Roman governor. Pilate was not a Jew, he was a Roman. The Romans were in charge. They were ruling at that time. The Jews were underneath, they were living in the Roman empire at this time. And Pilate said, there's nothing in Roman law that he's done wrong. And they said, but there's something in our law that he's done wrong. So what the Jews wanted to do is, even though there was nothing in the law of the land that Jesus had done to warrant death, they wanted Pilate to adopt Moses' law temporarily and just kill Jesus because he violated something in their law. Do you think Pilate or the Romans cared what the Jewish laws were? They could care less. The only reason Pilate did it was because of political pressure. That's it. Because he was a coward and he didn't want an uprising, he didn't want to hurt his position in this empire because the Jews threatened him with, you know, losing control of things. Look at verse 32 of John 18, that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled which he spake signifying what death he should die. Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again and called Jesus and said unto him, art thou the king of the Jews? So again, it's ironic how they, what they did to Jesus according to what they're doing in John chapter 8 trying to catch Jesus. So what they're trying to do is they're trying to get Jesus to adopt Moses' law when that's exactly what they got Pilate to do. But they weren't under Moses' law at this time. They were under Roman rule. Go back to John chapter 8 and verse number 6. So that's the context of the story here is they are trying to catch Jesus. They could care less about this lady. They're trying to trick him so they can go to the Romans and say this guy executed somebody and he's a murderer. That's what they were doing. So they weren't, they were not interested in any kind of justice at all. They're just trying to kill Jesus is all they're trying to do. Look at verse number 6 of John chapter 8. The next question in the story is, so Jesus wasn't deleting the law. Jesus was simply, you know, smarter than these men that were trying to trick him. I'm going to explain to you really why Jesus did what he did as kind of the main point of the sermon. But here's another question people ask about this story and people just make things up about this. What did he write? A lot of people will do like long, you know, things. Here's what Jesus wrote, all right? Here's what he wrote on the ground. But, you know, we can just infer probably what he wrote but ultimately we don't know the words that he wrote because the Bible does not tell us this, all right? Look at verse number 6. It says, this they said tempting him that they might have to accuse him. So they're trying to trick him. They're trying to catch him. Look, they try to catch Jesus on everything. They try to catch him on the Sabbath day as we've already learned. They try to, they even try to catch him on taxes. They try to, you know, go to the government and say this guy's not paying his taxes. Get him. They try to get him like, you know, Al Capone or whatever. Look at verse number 7. So when they continued asking him, he lifted himself, lifted up himself and said unto them, no, I'm sorry, back to verse 6, but Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard them not. So they're trying to get him to say that she should be executed and he just starts writing on the ground. And they continue to ask him. He lifted himself up and said unto them, he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. So what he's kind of trying to say here is he's, he's accusing them of what he's accused them of many times before and will accuse them many times in the future. He's accusing them of being hypocrites. He's accusing them of committing the same sins that they judge people for. That's the definition of a hypocrite. Look at verse 8. And again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground and when they heard it, look at this, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last and Jesus was left alone and the woman standing in the mist. So look, we can, we can kind of make some inferences here on what he wrote on the ground. All right. So what we know is that they were accusing this woman and then Jesus calls them hypocrites. He basically accuses them of hypocrisy and then he starts writing on the ground and he starts writing something on the ground that causes them to be convicted personally. I mean, it was a personal conviction that each one of these people felt and they started to leave, again, they started to leave one by one. So it was a personal conviction that each of them was having. I mean, imagine, and then they left what? They left from the oldest to the youngest. That's also interesting. So here's my thoughts on this, just inferring what happened here. Jesus is writing something specific on the ground relating to the individuals that are accusing this woman. He's writing something specific that has to do with their hypocrisy in the situation and they turn around and they leave, meaning they probably don't want him writing anymore. Even the oldest ones, the oldest, most stubborn ones that are probably the leaders of this charge leave first. So first of all, the oldest ones probably have the most baggage, I would think. And second of all, it must have been something, in my mind, very specific that they literally just left. They're just like, I don't want to be part of this anymore and they left. So my thought is that he's writing something specifically that they've done in this type of category, whether it be adultery itself or some other kind of immoral situation that these accusers have been involved in and he writes it down on the ground and one by one from the oldest to the youngest, they leave. And pretty soon, no one is left. Turn to Matthew chapter 7. So as Jesus is saying, don't ever judge. We should never judge because that's what Christians today will take this story and they will just run with it and say you should never judge somebody. Meaning if somebody that you know is in fornication or they're doing some horrible sin, don't ever judge. You can never say anything about it. That's what they teach using this story. Right? Well, the woman taking adultery, don't judge. I mean, they'll take that and use it for this. But look at Matthew chapter 7 and verse number 1. So again, you have to just not read any other part of the Bible, not read any other words that Jesus said and just take this one story, you have to take the story out of context too and just run with it in whatever direction that you want. But look at Matthew 7 and verse number 1. It says judge not that ye be not judged. So what is that saying there? It's saying judge not that ye be not judged. First of all, this is ruined in the new Bible versions. It's just, you know, it's just totally wrecked. But it's saying judge not that ye be not judged. It's saying don't judge in a way that you wouldn't want judgment coming upon yourself. That's all that's saying. So it's saying if you're going to pass judgment, you better be sure that you can handle that kind of judgment. Was that the case with the men that brought the woman in adultery? Apparently not. Apparently not. Apparently when that judgment, that same type of judgment was put on them, they're like, ooh, I guess I'm going to get stoned too. They didn't judge in a way that they could handle being judged. You say how do I know that that's what that means? First of all, that's what it says. I don't really even need any other verses. But Jesus explains it in the next five verses. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. You see, this isn't that complicated. He literally says it once in verse number one, and he says it in a more clear way in verse number two. It says what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you again. Look, the same methodology that applies to judgment applies to mercy. This isn't that hard. I mean, Christianity, the Bible, is not that difficult. If you want a lot of mercy in your life, if you want mercy from your Heavenly Father, you should be merciful to people around you. If you want to be judgmental in a situation, look, you know, some people need to be judged. Some people need someone, some child or teenager that is falling into sin and ready to fall off the cliff in his or her life, you know what? They need somebody to come up and call them out and judge them. But they don't need somebody to call them out and come up to them and judge them for alcohol and drug use, who's a drunk and a drug addict. That's what they don't need. That's what can't happen. And that's all the Bible was teaching here. The Bible's teaching what? Don't be a hypocrite. Why not be a hypocrite though? I mean, whatever. I mean, being a hypocrite's fun. I can be in sin and then I can go around and judge all kinds of people. I mean, I get the best of both worlds. I don't have to put anything off myself. You can't be a hypocrite because number one, it doesn't work. And number two, you won't be profitable to anybody. Try to be a hypocrite as a parent and let me know how that works out for you. Let me know how well your children obey you and how your children follow you and do what you say when you open up the Bible and try to teach them when you're living a hypocritical life and you don't read the Bible yourself, you never go to church yourself, you care less about the Lord, oh, you're saved. You're saved, but you don't do anything spiritual. You could care less about serving the Lord with your life and then you try to tell your kids that it's what you need to be doing. That's not going to work. That's why the Bible is saying don't be a hypocrite. That's why Jesus is, again, hypocrites, hypocrites, hypocrites to the Pharisees because it ruins everything. If you're a hypocritical Christian, you will profit no one. This is why it's so important for Christians to not be hypocrites. Look, the Pharisees, these people aren't saved, but Christians can be hypocrites just the same as unsaved people can. Look at verse number three if you need more. And why beholdest the moat in thy brother's eye? Now he gives you an analogy. So he tells you the same thing, two verses in a row, and then he gives you an analogy. Why beholdest the moat that's in thy brother's eye, this little sliver in his eye, but consider is not the beam that is in thine own eye. He says you're not going to help anybody. You try to go get somebody, solve a small problem for somebody when you've got a huge problem yourself, they're going to laugh in your face. And guess what? As a hypocritical Christian, you know who the number one people that will laugh in your face are? Unsaved people. You go out and you just destroy your testimony, you're not going to be unsaved, but you're going to make a joke of yourself mainly to unsaved people. And that, I mean, you know the prophet that they need to see from you, they need to see your testimony. They need to see your life. They need to see the difference between your family, your marriage, your children, and what they're doing. That's what they need to see, to be pointed towards possibly seeking out the truth in their life. Or will thou say to thy brother, let me pull the moat out of thine eye, and behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou what? Thou hypocrite. It's all about hypocrisy, folks. That's exactly what Jesus was saying to these Pharisees. He's saying don't be a hypocrite. In John 7, 24, we just studied this. Jesus literally said, judge righteous judgment. So judging is important. Look, people need it. People that depend on you need judgment. You need judgment. If you're a parent, you need judgment. You need righteous judgment, though. You don't need hypocritical judgment. So no, this isn't saying, you know, never judge anybody, never call out sin, everything's okay. Everything and everything can be involved and come into the doors of the church. That's not with all sin is equal and, oh, are you perfect? Like somebody goes out and slaughters a bunch of people, like, oh, are you perfect, brother? No. It's talking about hypocrisy. That's what it's talking about. Clear and simple. Turn to Luke chapter 9. Turn to Luke chapter 9. So back to the point of the story. So is Jesus deleting the law? No, he's not deleting the law. He's calling out hypocrisy. That's number one what he is doing. The sins he wrote on the ground were very certainly, from the things that I show you, similar sins that they had committed or were committing that this woman was brought before them for. Or maybe they were either similar sins or maybe they were even capital sins. But one way or another, Jesus was pointing out that, hey, you know, you're judging in something that you could not handle the judgment coming at you. You are judging in a way where if that judgment came on you, you would be stoned as well. That's what Jesus is saying. Look at Luke chapter 9. Here's the main point tonight. So why, I mean, doesn't Jesus agree, though, with Leviticus chapter 20 in verse number 10? You know, what's the deal there? Look at Luke chapter 9 in verse number 52. Let me show you this from the Bible, and this is kind of the main, kind of the driving point tonight, and I want to show you how just this applies, how Jesus' time and the time that he was living in, it's almost scary how it applies to us today. Look at verse number 52. And he sent messengers before his face, and they went and entered into a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him. So Jesus is going to this small town, and they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples, James and John, saw this, so he went to this little town, and they just, they thought that he didn't want to be, for whatever reason, they just didn't want him there. They just didn't receive him. The town was, it was very unreceptive. We've been to these neighborhoods, you know, we've been to these areas, right? His disciples, James and John, you've got to love these guys, they said, Lord, will thou that we command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, even as Elias did, they're just like, Jesus, let's just, let us just burn this town up. It's like we go and we knock doors, and we knock like a hundred doors, and you get into a neighborhood and the people are just, it's rare, but I mean, you know, people are just unreceptive, and you're just like, you get in the car and you're just like, can we just burn this place up? God just rained fire down on this, you know, on this, these track homes or whatever. That would not be correct to think that way, all right? Look at verse 55, but he turned and rebuked them. Jesus rebuked them. So I mean, look, it's coming from a good place, they want people to receive Jesus, but Jesus kind of like rebukes them and he says, you know not what manner, you know not what manner of spirit you're of, for, and then he tells them why. He tells them why that this is not the right way to be thinking. He says, for the Son of Man has not come to destroy man's lives, but to save them, and they went to another village. I mean, was Jesus saying that I think that everyone in this village is great? No, he's not saying that. He's not saying that what they did was right, and he's not saying that they don't need to be saved. He's not saying that. He's like, that's not why I came here, is to just like rain fire down on people. They weren't fine. They weren't all good. Turn to Matthew chapter 10. Turn to Matthew chapter number 10. I mean, Jesus actually explains this in Matthew chapter 10 saying, look, a village that is like this, there's going to be a reckoning one day for a place like this for people that reject Jesus Christ. Look at Matthew chapter 10. So what are we looking at? We're looking at the context of why Jesus let this woman go. Why he seemingly went against Leviticus chapter 20 in verse number 10, even though that's not what he did, even though people will teach that's what he did. Look at verse number 11 of Matthew chapter number 10. So he tells James and John in Luke 9, now look, I didn't come here to destroy villages. That's not why I came here. I came to save people, and it's so whatsoever city or town you shall enter, verse 11, inquire who in it is worthy, and abide there till you go thence. And when you come into a house, salute it, and at the house be worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if not, if it not be worthy, let your peace return to you. And whosoever shall not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. So look what he says there. He doesn't say, you know, be angry and pray to God that God fire bombs the place or whatever. What he says is just forget about it. He's like, if people don't receive you, they don't receive the gospel, if they're not receiving me, he's saying shake it off. Like literally forget about it, is the analogy that he's giving there. He's saying just leave and go to the next place. Verily I say unto you, but then he says in verse 15, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city. So he's not saying that some city or village that doesn't receive the gospel or isn't receptive is like going to be fine. That's not what he's saying. He's saying that but you, you just need to go to the next place. He's like, I will take care of this in the day of judgment. That's what he's saying. He's like, look, he's trying to make them feel better. He's trying to make them feel like, hey, you know, these people aren't getting away with somebody with something. This is to the person, you know, as we talked about last week, who thinks, oh, man, these people have done horrible things and all these things and it seems like they're going to get away with it or the punishment that, you know, the, the California government or whoever is giving them, it doesn't seem fair that, you know, somebody gets out in six months when they've killed somebody or whatever. I mean, look out with all the murderers and abortionists and all these things that they don't even get punished at all. How is that right or just? It's not, but it will be taken care of by God. That is what Jesus is saying here. Just in, in, in people receiving or not receiving the gospel. He's saying, but you forget about it. Go to the next door. Go to the next city. He's like, this isn't for you to be sitting here going from, you know, one neighborhood to the next going like, ah, you know, fire bombs and comments and whatever. That's what we need here. No, he's saying, go keep your heart soft. Your job is to what? Is to save people. That's what Jesus said. That's what Jesus said. His job was, he didn't come to destroy. He came to save man, but there will be a time for wrath. There will be a time for punishment, for wrath, for justice. And again, it will be complete and it will be perfect and it will be eternal. He says, behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Again, he says there, he's like, just use your head, be smart and just go save people. This is what Jesus is saying. He's telling people that judgment is coming. He's just saying it's just not their job is what he's trying to explain to the disciples. It's not their wheelhouse. It's not their wheelhouse. Turn to Hebrews chapter 11. So this is the lesson. This is the lesson of this story with the woman taken in adultery and what Jesus was really doing. Now, the irony of Jesus's time is this. You say, well, why doesn't Jesus, you know, like want to enforce Moses's law? Why didn't he want to stick to Leviticus 20, 10 because look, that's not what he was there to do. That's not what he was there to do. And number, and the second thing is that's not the law that they were under. And it doesn't matter, see, it's kind of nice to know. It's kind of nice to know that it doesn't matter what law we're under. Isn't that kind of nice? Because are all the laws good today? No, they're not. Are all the laws just today? No, they're not. But it's kind of nice to know that it's all going to be taken care of. And that's what Jesus, I mean, how many times, how many times have I read it to you? God's going to take care of this stuff. Vengeance is mine. You know, I'll take care of these cities. I'll take care of all these things if, you know, that's not for you though. Now, the irony of Jesus' time is this though. The irony of Jesus' time versus our time. I mean, I think about this a lot. You think about the time Jesus is living in and the time the disciples are living in and the time that we were living in. Look, they were ruled by the Romans. They were ruled by the Romans. I can't tell you how many intellectual people have compared the United States of America to the Roman Empire. You say, why is that? Well, because we're following exactly the same patterns as them. In many ways, we were founded on, you know, the same structure in many ways and we're following the exact same patterns as we slide down the hill. But look, they're ruled by the Romans at this time. This society that Jesus was in, you need to think about this for a second. The society that Jesus was in, this Roman society that he was living in, that he had… I understand that in the Gospels and even in the Book of Acts, we don't hear a lot about the Romans. We hear about the Jews after Jesus and they're constantly just being persecuted by the Jews, by the Jews, by the Jews in the Gospels and the Book of Acts. It's all the Jews. And look, the Romans took over slightly, you know, right after, you know, 70 AD. The Romans took over. But that's not in the Bible. It's in other books though and it's really, really bad. But the point is, even during Jesus' time, they're being ruled by the Romans. Go read up on the Roman Empire when Jesus was walking around with the disciples. It was insane. It was immorality like you would not… you could not even imagine. It was… I like to… I kind of have like a semi… not serious, but I have like a coin collecting streak in me. I like to collect. One of my favorite things to do is I like to collect coins from like historical periods. I like to collect coins from like, you know, it's like Civil War and things like this. And one of my favorite things about it is like some of them you'll get like, you know, you got like, you know, coins of like, you know, the generals on both sides and like they're coins from actually that time and they show like the lightness of the generals and things like that. And I think that's really interesting and really neat. But you know what? You can actually collect Roman coins too. You can actually collect Roman coins with the Roman Empire… Roman emperors with their face on the coins. You can buy these coins even today. You can get these coins. Super interesting. I would never buy one of those coins. You say, why? Because those were vile, disgusting people. They were horrible reprobates. I mean the open immorality that was going on in the Roman Empire in… I mean the Roman Empire was like 30 B.C. to 480 or something like that A.D. But even during Jesus' time, it was just… it was disgusting. Nero married two boys, two small children. I mean just homosexuality, pedophilia. It was all… just all these… by the way, all these vile things always go together. And like it was just all open and accepted during Jesus' time. I mean it was Nero that killed Paul, I believe. The Bible doesn't say that but his secular history says that. But all this was going on at that time. I mean forget about adultery. I mean just the deviancy of the Romans is well documented and it is like… I mean the deviancy but even the brutality of them. The brutality of the Romans which you can read about against the Christians in the coming years that ended, you know, in, you know, with Constantine at least on that end and then the Catholics took over, the Roman Catholics. But the point is that the brutality of war… I mean they went in and they would, when they took over a place they would either kill everybody or enslave. You're killed or enslaved. That's the brutality of the Romans. The Romans were known to be… I mean think of the Colosseum. Just the games in the Colosseum which, you know, they ended up throwing Christians in the Colosseum to be just torn apart by animals and all sorts of just sick, twisted, disgusting, vile things. The reason Romans won was mainly addressed to the Romans. I mean it obviously applies to everyone and all of us but Paul was writing to the Romans. And I mean there is a reason… I also believe that part of the… this is part of the reason that, you know, Paul had such a desire to go to Rome and Paul wanted to reach out to these people because look… But what was Paul trying to do? He was trying to reach the people though. He was trying to reach the people. He wasn't trying to save the nation. This is the difference. I mean they used to teach… I mean this is crazy for all of you who went to public school you're going to think this is nuts but I can still remember in social studies in the 80s they taught in social studies that the… they taught the pattern of the Roman Empire and they taught that it was the moral decline of the Roman Empire that led to its fall. In public school they taught this. I mean I remember it distinctly, distinctly because then what happened here in the 80s? In the 80s here you started hearing like all this… that's when all the homosexuality stuff started popping up. It's total irony. It started popping up in the United States and like you know in the Midwest we're all like what? What? Almost like what? Is that real? But it was taught in school. It was so well known that it was taught in school as one of the main causes of a falling empire and if not even a cause but something to see that the empire is falling as immorality comes forward. Are you in Hebrews chapter 11? Are you in Hebrews chapter 11? So as we look at the Romans and we see that immorality precedes the fall of an empire the point is Jesus was walking around in this. Jesus was walking around in this. Look at verse number 13. Talking about this is the faith chapter. Talking about all these great men and women of faith it says these all died in faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off. Some people some Christians they spent their whole Christian lives just waiting for the promise and the promise they got was when they got to heaven. I mean I don't think any of us can say that. You know we're receiving you know rewards we're seeing profit and we go out and just preach the gospel and get somebody saved. But these having not received the promises but having seen them afar off and were persuaded of them and embraced them and confessed that they were what? They were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. That has always been this way for the Christian and we need to remind ourselves of this. They're strangers. The Christian has always been a stranger and a pilgrim in whatever land that they are in. Jesus was a stranger and a pilgrim in the Roman Empire. The disciples were strangers and pilgrims in the Roman Empire and look we need to remind ourselves of this. Look so do I many times. I was telling some of the guys talking just the other day Sunday I was like I remind myself of this all the time. This is what I meant when I said that. Because you know we kind of identify like I'm an American we're Americans. We kind of identify as that. But see that can do great damage to us if we start identifying like that. Look I came from you know the upper Midwest. I mean it's red blooded Americans there. You know it's there's no liberals there. No real ones anyway. But it's like Americans but the thing you have to understand is like what is that if you identify as just like we're Americans and all this you know just like Jesus was in the Roman Empire just didn't identify as a Roman. And if we identify as Americans can you tell me what that even means today? What does that mean? Identify as American. That means I'm either a devil worshiper or a Bible believing Christian and anything in between. Think about that. There was a story over Christmas about the Iowa, Iowa, Iowa, Iowa where they have corn and farmers and good people. They had a satanic statue of Satan in the state capitol. This is the enlightenment for you right here. This is the enlightenment. Think, oh the enlightenment was great, Rousseau, yay, John Locke, yay, natural rights and all this kind of stuff. That's what it leads to. Because if there is no absolute truth the statue of Satan is just as allowed as the Ten Commandments. If there's no absolute truth and we're all, this is the problem with the enlightenment. But anyway some Christian goes in there and chops the head off of Satan. It's this big news story. The guy goes in there, I don't know what happened or if they had it on video but he tackles the thing and it's mangled. They can't repair it I guess and now you got the Satanists. The Satanists are all like, well you know we're peaceful so we're going to just, he's being prosecuted and a certain conservative organization was supporting him and giving him money and he beheaded Satan and all this. The thing is like the Satanists though, they're like, see we're just going to use the law. We're going to use the law and we're just going to prosecute this the peaceful proper way. Not like these crazy Christians who are jumping on statues and chopping their heads off, you know. But you see the problem here? Is the problem the statue of Satan? How did that get there? Iowa. It's a Republican governor. The whole legislature is Republican. These are conservative people. The only ones that are actually what you would call Democrat is because they're farmers. And Democratic farmers are still good people. They're just Democrats because the government gives more, the Democrats give more money to farmers. That's politics in the Midwest for you right there. But the point is Republicans control Iowa. How in the world did a statue of Satan get into Capitol building? Has something gone wrong with red blooded Americans today? Has something gone wrong with conservatives today? What does it mean to be an American today? What values are that? What values identify you as an American today? They aren't mine. That's what I know. They aren't my families. That's what I know. I mean the point is we are here to save who we can. We are not here to change the corrupt system. I mean the irony is this though. The irony is this. How did that satanic statue get there? The satanic statue got there because some politician allowed it to be there. And some politician, well he's Republican or whatever. But the Republicans control that state. So the Republicans allowed the statue of Satan to be put in the Iowa State Capitol. But who elected the politicians? Now here's the irony of the whole thing. The irony of the whole thing is this. The people of that state elected those corrupt, wicked cowards. And I don't care what the name, what the R or D behind their name. It doesn't make any difference. And they're running the show and they've got a statue of Satan in their office. That's what that is. It's their office. The people's office. They're representing the people of that state bowing to Satan is what they're doing. And that's what they did. And guess what? The people elected them. The problem is the people. That's the irony of the whole thing. Jesus wasn't trying to go out and save the Roman Empire from destruction. But guess what? And we're not trying to change the political system in America. But guess what? If we were, you know what the best way to do it would be? One person at a time. Going out there and finding these people that claim to be conservatives, claim to be Christians, and showing them what the Bible actually says. That's the problem today. The problem is the individual. And this is what Jesus was talking about. It's not about what government we're under. It matters not what government we're under. Because if we can fix and save the individual and convince the individual, hey, God wants to save you. God wants to give you eternal life. It's free. All these other religions that are teaching you you have to work for it is a lie. Here's what the Bible says. And by the way, now that you're saved, here's what the Bible says about your family. Here's what the Bible says about your marriage. Here's what the Bible says about your children. Here's what the Bible says that you can achieve even in this corrupt world around you. One person at a time. How we save people is exactly what is needed to if we wanted to save the country. The problem is the people, not Joe Biden. He's like the tumor that comes from the cancer. The cancer comes from the population, though. The cancer comes from the people who have left the Bible. The cancer comes from the conservatives who say they're conservatives but don't believe the Bible. And pretty soon, oh, I'm conservative and I believe in family values and all this stuff. You believe the Bible? No, not literally. Guess what? Pretty soon you've got a statue of Satan in your living room. And you're like, gee, how'd that get there? And then some person that actually believes the Bible tackles it and chops his head off or whatever. We're just another generation of pilgrims. There's no difference between us and the situation we're living in. As a matter of fact, the system and the environment that Jesus and the disciples in was way worse than the one we're in now. And look, even in our environment now, we're pilgrims here. We're pilgrims here. It was easier 20 years ago. And it's going to be harder 20 years down the road. We can see the slope of the line. We can see the way that this is going. But all of the more, you know, for us to just like strengthen our families and strengthen our children, knowing the direction that this whole thing is going. So look, I've said this maybe a million times over my career, I've said it at work, I've said it in church, 90% of success in life is knowing who your customer is. You say that doesn't sound like a very religious statement, but it's very true though and it's kind of what Jesus is talking about here. Jesus is saying, know who you're supposed to be serving. Know what you're supposed to be doing and who you're supposed to be doing it amongst. And he's constantly correcting the disciples about that, worrying about things that aren't your responsibility. It means that you will miss the things that are your responsibility. That's the problem. You get too wrapped up in the affairs of this world around you, it will sap your spiritual strength. I mean, look, voting, elections, look, I vote and I'm going to keep voting. If you don't vote, that's fine. And I know I have friends that don't vote and whatever, that's fine, that's up to you. But the point is, if you're so involved in it that it's sapping your spiritual life, it's no good. I mean, you can really go down the rabbit hole with some of this government stuff. It's wicked and evil and there's seemingly no end to it. If you can't pay attention to it without it upsetting you, just pull back from it and take it in. That's what I do, I take it in measured doses. But look, because here's the thing, like your family, your family is your wheelhouse. I mean, your job that you support your family with, that is your wheelhouse. Your responsibilities as a Christian, that is your wheelhouse. If you get so obsessed with what's going on around you, look, it's easy to do. I mean, I've literally met people, I've met several young people over the last few years, mostly since I've been in California, I think of a few I met a few years ago, but they're so obsessed over some of the ills of government and all these things, and look, they probably weren't wrong, but they're so obsessed over all this stuff, but they literally didn't even work themselves. They're just obsessed with all these other problems. I'm like, no, no, no, no, no, you gotta like pull back from all that stuff and get out of that stuff, it's wrecking you, and you gotta get yourself together. Get in your wheelhouse and drive there. I mean, the best thing for your family is to focus on them. The best thing for your family is to strengthen them. This is why, I mean, we should just be detached to a degree, and we should be detached to a degree, and as the world gets worse and worse, we should get better and better. I mean, as the world gets dumber and dumber, we should get wiser and wiser, and look, this should be obvious to people, and look, it is obvious to people. It's obvious to normal, everyday people that as everything's falling off a cliff, the Christian has it together. The Bible-believing Christian that's focused on the Bible and focused on his wheelhouse, I mean, as robots take over and everyone forgets how to do everything, we should get more and more skilled. I mean, as we should get more aware, we should get more moral, as more and more people get a reprobate mind, we should get a more sound mind, and then we're just gonna stand out, and eventually we're gonna stand out in a bad way, and they're gonna come after us. That's what the end times is all about, but look, the Christian is a pilgrim, folks. The Christian is a pilgrim. That's why there's so many words in the Bible, like, separate, like, here's a good one, peculiar. That's why the Bible says you're gonna be peculiar. Why? Because you're a pilgrim in all these different lands that you're gonna be in. It doesn't matter what time, what part of history, whatever, we're all pilgrims. I mean, look at the Roman Empire and you look at the disciples. I mean, they were peculiar in that time, for sure, but look, that means blessed, that means valuable. So the point of the sermon is this, Jesus was a stranger in the land. Jesus was a pilgrim in the land, just as we are. The parallels are very striking, but the point is the land is not our concern. Look, the dangers of the land are real, okay? The dangers of the land are real to our families, to our spiritual lives. We need to be, it's a big deal, and I do a lot of preaching about the dangers of the land, but all the same, we are pilgrims in it, and we're to be detached from it, we're to be separated from it. That's why all these words are used. But really it comes down to this, folks. With the Levitical law, you see, with the Levitical law, see, Jesus is saying, I'm here for the individual. See, the Levitical law was there for the nation. That was the whole point. In the nation of Israel, there was people that were saved and were unsaved. But the Levitical law itself was there for the survival of the nation. Look, we'd be smart. We'd be smart to adopt it for the survival of our nation, but as a Christian, I'm concerned for the individual. That is the difference, and that is what Jesus was getting at when he did, you know, his great preaching in this story. The Levitical law is for the nation. Jesus again and again tells the disciples, we are here for the people. Salvation is an individual choice. Whether people believe the Bible or not is an individual choice. Somebody gets saved individually. You don't get collectively saved. A lot of people think that. You know you're going to heaven? Yep, my dad was a pastor, my grandpa, my mom was a pastor. You know, my grandmother's a deacon or whatever. I mean, it's just like, you know, people think you're collectively saved. It's a real thing. They think that if I just know somebody who knew somebody that was in church one time, but salvation's an individual choice, and even to the Christian, the Christian life is an individual choice, and this is what Jesus is telling the disciples again and again and again. He had no interest in saving the Roman Empire by trying to just put the correct laws on them. He's there for the people. Let's bow our heads and have a word. Let's bow our heads and have a word. Let's bow our heads and have a word.