Hello and welcome to another broadcast. We want you to stay tuned. We're going to be in John chapter 8. We're going to look at the remnant, the religious, the reprobate, the reason for the problem, the rebuttal, and the final rejection. Stay tuned for our broadcast. Well, I think it's important that we expand a little bit on what we were talking about in the last broadcast, and we saw that in chapter 7, verse number 53, at the end of the evening, every man went unto his own house. Chapter 8, verse 1, Jesus went unto the Mount of Olives. What a sad indication of things for the receiving of Christ, even by his own. He went unto the Mount of Olives. Well, the first thing we find out is that early in the morning in verse number two, he came again into the temple and all the people came unto him and he sat down and he taught them. So early in the morning, we find a remnant of people who are there in the temple early, the kind of people that would really want to listen to what Jesus had to say. Well, it's not very long until verse 3 we find out some religious hypocrite leaders have got a woman, and as far as they're concerned, she is a reprobate, and they are causing all kinds of turmoil. So we find them in the temple talking to the remnant. Then there's a turmoil that is caused because of the fact that the scribes and the Pharisees bring in what they consider to be a reprobate, a woman who was taken completely, they said, caught in the act of adultery. Now, we need to ask ourselves a question. Why would Jesus seemingly waste his time talking to these religious hypocrites? They aren't going to learn anything. As a matter of fact, I've watched it over many years. And I have found that 10% of the people in most of our churches would try to do right even if they didn't have a pastor. They would try to do their best. They'd have devotions with their family, etc. Then you're going to have 10% of the people in most of our churches that wouldn't do right if Jesus was the pastor. And then you're going to have 80% of the people who go either way. They're just there. They are neither cold nor hot. Jesus said, I wish you were cold or hot. They're neither one. And so they will, if you're having a revival, oh, that sounds good to go that way. If you're having a split, they're just as quick to go the other way. Unfortunately, today, as we get into this age of apostasy, it's not much different from what we call leadership today. The leadership, there's about 10% of God's leadership that will give any price, they'll pay any price, they are going to do what God says to do. There's 10% of people who call themselves leaders who wouldn't do what God said to do if the Lord was standing right in front of them. And there's 80% out there who will go either way. I'm talking about fundamental independent Baptist pastors, in case you're wondering who I'm referring to. I'm talking about us. There's 80%. They're just there. They can be swayed either way. For one reason or another, probably because they have really no depth, no root. Well, the next thing we see here is the scribes and the Pharisees are coming with this woman who they have caught taking in adultery. Now, what is their reason for bringing this woman before the Lord? Do they want to be concerned about the holiness of God and doing things right? Why are they up so early in the morning? Well, it's very plain here. We are told in the Scriptures that this they said, verse 6, tempting him that they might have to accuse him. They want to trap him. They want to catch him in his words. You see, this thing about this woman that was taken in adultery, no matter how Jesus answers this question, he is in trouble. If he says, well, yeah, the law of Moses says she ought to be stoned, and it did say that, if he says, yeah, that's what's got to happen, stone her, then he's going to be in serious trouble with the Roman government because the Romans had taken away the right for the people of Israel to to have the death penalty and to stone anybody. They couldn't do that legally. So if Jesus said, yeah, okay, let's go with the law, let's stone her, then we have a problem. If he said, no, we have to go with the Roman law, then he was saying the law in the Old Testament was of no value. They were simply trying to trap him in his words. Now keep in mind that while all of this is happening, that little remnant that is there early in the morning, that 10% that I call, maybe it's 12, maybe it's 8, that small percentage of people who really want to do what God wants them to do, they are watching this whole thing. And so they are listening, they're waiting to see what's going to happen. And again, this is the main reason why the Lord is even bothering with these hypocrite leaders. They're not going to change. They're part of that 10% that we mentioned that wouldn't do right, even though Christ was standing right in front of them. They're not going to change. But what the Lord is doing here, He is doing it for that remnant, for that percentage of people, small as they may be, who wanted to do what God wanted them to do. Well, they're coming and it says they are tempting Him. If you want a little study, you can study that. It's found seven times in the New Testament. where they came testing him. So the remnant are watching all of these things, and on our last broadcast Jesus didn't even bother answering them. Twice he just stooped down and he wrote on the ground the first time, they just kept questioning him. So he stooped down and wrote on the ground the second time, and the Bible says that they all slithered out of there like cockroaches from the light. And it's possible that what he did, starting at the eldest to the youngest, was he had said to them, he that is without sin, let him first cast the stone. We said that's usually quoted backwards. He didn't say let him cast the first stone. He put the emphasis on the person, not the stone. He said let him first cast the stone. Perhaps he started with the oldest and the youngest and wrote one of their sins down. Maybe they'd all been guilty of adultery. Who knows? In any event, they knew, and one by one they slithered away, and there was Jesus left with the woman. He says, Where are thine accusers? She said, There's none here, Lord. And she called him Lord. She could have snuck away with the rest of them when he had his head down, but she didn't. She stayed there. Hopefully that's an indication that she got saved. Well, in verse number 13, we find some more Pharisees show up. The devil's not going to let this thing lie. And so these Pharisees come in verse 13. Therefore, and they say unto him, thou bearest record of thyself, and thy record is not true. So they come to him, and before this little remnant that are watching the whole thing, they come to Christ, and they say, you are a liar. Well, how is he going to respond to this? It's interesting that we begin here a confrontation that goes through the rest of the chapter. Now we'll see as you go through this chapter that this confrontation begins, first of all, at an intellectual level. And then it goes down to the emotional level. Then it goes down to an attack, even at the physical level. The intellectual level, in verse 4, they said, Master. They said, verse 5, this is what Moses says. And they said in verse 5, this is what it says in the law. Well, when Jesus just simply put them backwards on their heels with his answers, It went to the emotional level, and we see that in verse 13, they said, you are a liar. We see them mocking him in verse 22. They said, thou art a Samaritan in verse 48. They said, you have a devil in verse 48. Then they said in verse 53, Whom makest thou thyself? That's what we would say in our language, is who do you think you are? And so we see this come from what they assume is an intellectual level to an emotional level, and then it gets to the physical level where you see in the last verse of this chapter that they took up stones to cast at him. These are the religious leaders. These are the ones that are supposed to be leading other people in how God wants things done. And keep in mind, the little remnant is watching, and the little remnant is learning. You have the same situation in the story of Stephen. First, in Acts chapter 6, they disputed with Stephen. It all began at an intellectual level, and then it got emotional. They stirred up the people. They brought in false witnesses. that says in verse 54, they gnashed on him with their teeth, they cried out with a loud voice, all very emotional, stopped their ears in verse 57, very emotional stuff, and then finally in verse 59, it says they stoned him. Same situation. It came down from an intellectual to an emotional to a physical attack. Well, we have here in verse number 20, these words spake Jesus in the treasury as he taught in the temple. Now, there's nothing in the Bible by accident. These words spake Jesus in the treasury. Why does it bring up the fact that they're in the treasury? Well, we see that the reason that they were attacking Christ was they wanted to trap him. And then we see his rebuttal. What he's going to do now is he's going to deal with the truth. But it's interesting that these words spake Jesus in the treasury as he taught in the temple. So he's teaching the teachable. He's teaching the teachable. And that's only a small group of people that are really Teachable. He's in the treasury. Now, 2,000 years ago, if you were in Jerusalem and came into the temple, Jesus passed through the eastern gate when he came in on a triumphal entry. And if you went in that way, the first thing you would come to is the court of the Gentiles. Now, the court of the Gentiles was open to everyone. That's why it was called the court of the Gentiles. Even Gentiles could come in there. And that's where they had their cattle dealers and their oxen dealers. That's where they had their dove dealers, you remember. And Jesus drove them all out. That was the court of the Gentiles. Well, right there on one end of that was a wall with a warning to the Gentiles. If you go past this place here, you will be put to death. You're not allowed in there. Then, next to that, you had what is called the Court of the Women. Now, the women, they could not go beyond this place. This is where there was a 200-foot square court called the Court of the Women, and there is where money was donated, and that is where we have the story where Jesus was watching, you remember, and the widow came along and put in what we call the widow's mite, and that was taking place in that area. This is the precise area where Jesus is teaching in this story here in John chapter 8. This is where he's teaching. And it's not by accident. It's the providence of God. Everything that Jesus did when he was here on earth, the Bible says he was led by the Spirit. And so the Spirit of God knew that these religious hypocrites would be bringing this woman in there, and that's one reason why Jesus was there. It says in Acts 1 and 2, even after his resurrection, when he was here for 40 days, it says that he, through the Holy Ghost, gave commandments unto the apostles. Everything he did, he did by the direction of the Holy Spirit. And of course we're supposed to do that too. Well, in verse 21 we find them crossing the line with no return. It says here in verse 21, Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins. Whither I go, ye cannot come. Ye shall die in your sins. Whither I go, ye cannot come. Hosea 4.6 says, because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee. And there is such a thing as crossing the line. This story is told way back in the story of Noah, in Genesis chapter 3, when God said, My spirit shall not always strive with man. The first time we find the word spirit in the Bible, back there in the Old Testament in Genesis, it says that the spirit of God moved. The second mention we have of the spirit was what I just quoted, where it says in Genesis 6 in verse number 3, My spirit shall not always strive with man, Yet, 120 years, he said. And so, there you have it, 120 years. Here were all these people making their choices. Now, we have said again and again, we are free to make our choices. We are not free to determine the consequences. They made their choices. For 120 years, the Spirit moved. For 120 years, the Spirit said, you need to trust in God. And for 120 years, they said, no, that was their choice. What was the consequence? Well, finally, God, the Bible says, called them in. Those who went in, went in. The door was shut and it was too late. Now, it's very important to understand that in Genesis chapter 7 and verse number 16, the Bible says God shut them in. He didn't shut anybody out. They shut themselves out for 120 years. 120 years, but they did not listen. It's a case of choices and a case of consequences. And so they are banging on the door. Oh, yeah, we want in now. No, it's too late. It's too late. They had crossed the line of no return. And that is what the Lord is saying here to these people. In verse number 21, he said, You shall seek me, but you will not find me. Well, here we are again out of time. Tune in again tomorrow and we'll try to make it plain and simple as we continue in the Book of John.