(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Amen, all right, well normally we do read the whole chapter, but I figured I'd save that for the next The next sermon I'm going to try to cover the rest of it in one more sermon I won't probably be back until the beginning of February, but We're going to just do these 11 verses tonight And it's it's kind of a heavy topic tonight and but I want to cover a lot of the misconceptions About this passage because a lot of people believe a lot of weird stuff about it So let's begin in verse number one. So the title of the sermon tonight is the woman taken in adultery That's the basically the whole thing. We're going to do the whole topic. We're going to be covering tonight and so in verse number one the Bible says Jesus went on to the Mount of Olives and Early in the morning He came again into the temple and all the people came unto him and he sat down and taught them So just first thing I want to point out to you is that when we have a nine o'clock Sunday morning service It's biblical because it says early in the morning, right? So anyway, I'm just kidding But verse number three it says and the scribes and the Pharisees Brought out unto him a woman taken in adultery and when they had set her in the midst They say unto him master this woman Excuse me was taken in adultery in the very act and and so we get what they say here So they they say that she was taken in adultery in the very act, but the Bible also says in verse number three This fact so it's not just that they're saying that it's true. It is true. So it's John or Obviously the the Holy Spirit of God telling us here that This woman was taken in adultery and they set her in the midst so here he is preaching a sermon also, they just take this woman throw her in the midst and And Then they accuse her of committing adultery, right and they catch her in the act So this account in the book of the Gospel John is the highly controversial for a few reasons but we can't discount the context of the passage and the true reason why the Jews are bringing this woman in front of Jesus and the true reason is they're trying to put Jesus in a new impossible situation So what what we'd call probably a catch-22 Where it's an impossible situation that no matter what they and this is something that they did to him a lot They are always trying to trap him in some situation that he can't talk his way out of or or get out of so Is there any Kleenex here? I'm still like suffering from Apparently my night out sowing so Anyway, but I'll keep a Trojan on here so anyway, I'll try to get past my coughing fit here, but Anyway, it says or so. Yeah, so they're trying to put Jesus in this impossible situation and Judea is under Roman law and under the Roman law Only Romans are able to judge people to put them to death And so I'm sure if you've read the Bible at all you understand that even in the end when Jesus is being You know when they're putting him to death the Jews are you know? They do their little their little thing their little false trial their kangaroo court at the end, but ultimately they know that only Pilot can sentence him to death because he's the governor and so they're passing them back and forth and pilot tries to give him back Thank you, sir. Appreciate it Thank you All right So anyhow So yeah, so the the law is so they're under the Roman government at this point the Jews the Judea is under Roman law and they can't just so the you know in the the laws of Moses are what they used to be able to enforce and the fair, you know, the people that were in charge could Take people and stone them to death if in this situation, but you know if you think about this They brought her to Jesus, you know, really I don't know what their law would allow them to do but I know that they could not put her to death on their own They should have actually been taking her to the Romans and the Romans probably would have just laughed at them and said like yeah This is not a big deal in this early in our I mean, maybe it would have been I don't know it probably would have been a big deal, but they they're they're They're under the Roman laws. And so their religious laws really meant not a whole lot to them. They just tried to allow them to Keep their their religion and their practices in place to appease them because you know The Jews were really tumultuous and were always, you know, there's always all these uprisings and things like that. They were very hard to control So anyway, so they put Jesus in the situation where they're making him trying to make him judge this woman and to Have her put to death. So So if Jesus says yeah put her to death she deserves to die then they're gonna go to the Romans and they're gonna say oh Yeah, Jesus said, you know, this guy's he's an insurrectionist He's going against what Caesar says and you'll see multiple times if you've read the Gospels, you know Any times they're always doing this kind of stuff to him They're always trying to pull this stuff and saying that he says that you know He's a king and even in the end. They're trying to that's one of their main accusations He says he's the king of the Jews and then Pilate, you know, that's one of the accusations that they take very seriously So because only Caesar is king as they recognize so but anyway so But then on the other hand if he denies scripture or tries to walk it back or compromise anything that he's saying Then he's gonna look bad in front of the people and so here Jesus is put into this situation Where he has to make a wise decision But what they're not counting on is the fact that Jesus always is gonna answer everything perfectly He is God manifest in the flesh and he knows what they're gonna do before they do it He can read their hearts and minds and really they're you know As good as they are at crafting these things and they are pretty good at it That he always is able to get and or say, you know, he always says the right thing He always says the good thing He always answers them back in a way that makes them look stupid in front of the people basically which makes them even more mad but so So this is the situation basically and the other controversy today is among Christians or he or even heat Obviously who use this verse to say that the death penalty is abolished by Jesus at this point who's ever heard that before? Okay, so people say see Jesus doesn't believe in the death penalty anymore this is him abolishing the death penalty, which again, I'll prove to you that that is also not true and Yet another controversy that the Christian I say Christians Because and maybe sometimes people they are Christians. They just don't know the Bible very well They have bad teachers that now because people can get under bad teaching and they can learn stupid doctrines And then, you know, the good thing about being saved those that they can get into a good church or Someone that's teaching them right things and they get that stuff can be undone like that with the Bible. So which is good, right? so But they'll say because Jesus didn't judge the woman taken in adultery that So they'll say they'll say because you know not not to judge Because Jesus didn't judge her that we shouldn't judge other people either And you know, he didn't judge this woman taken in adultery So that's where Christians will say see we're not supposed to judge Jesus didn't judge her, you know So if Jesus didn't judge her for what she did then we shouldn't judge people either But he did judge her actually he does actually judge her but he judges based upon his His right to judge however, he wants to because he is God after all So that's one thing that we have to take an account of in this story Is that Jesus Christ is God manifested in the flesh obviously he has to do the law But he also has the ability to pardon people because he is still the King of Kings and Lord of Lords So we always have to take that into account of things that God is able to pardon people and not give them the death penalty if he so chooses so But I do kind of want to dismantle some of these thoughts and some of these stupid foolish Arguments that people try to come up with because the fact that you know, people will say we're not to judge that is foolish I mean, I kind of talked about it last week preached about that last week that Jesus said to judge righteous judgment So you can't say that Jesus didn't you know, he gets rid of judging here, you know I that was last chapter Pastor Thompson He instituted the not judging in chapter 8 like that's foolish people like Paul says, you know that we're supposed to judge I mean the Bible is filled with judgment It's one of the one of the big words in the Bible I mean if you just look up the term judgment or judgments, it's gonna come up a lot And God is a God of judgment and equity and all that stuff But he wants things to be judged correctly and it's not just talking about condemned condemnation judgment It's also judging the right things, right? so But first, you know, I think that it's it's fair to point out some of these things that I'm about to point out to you Number one, how did the Jews just happen to come upon a situation where there was a woman caught committing adultery in the very act? I mean who who in here is ever just kind of just stumbled upon Some woman in the act of committing adultery. I mean, I'm sure it's possible, right? I'm sure the situation is possible, but these Pharisees that hate Jesus. They just whoa Oh Come here lady, you know, and then they just drag her off perfect timing because Jesus is preaching in the temple It's like I mean, I'm not saying that it wasn't happening I'm just saying that it smells like a setup to me like maybe they knew Somebody that was having something going on like this. Maybe that time was set up specifically for that But you know the elaborate things that they go through to try to trip Jesus up It wouldn't surprise me at all if this wasn't a setup and number three Prior knowledge of this woman's activities. I think we're assuredly known in advance I think that they did know because I just don't think that this woman Taken in the the act of adultery just fell into their hands as someone to be this person that Jesus can judge number four Why was this why was only the woman brought why was the man not brought before them because the Bible is very clear that if Someone's committing adultery both of those people are supposed to be put to death and not just the woman but the man also Let's look at some of the passages in the Bible in the Old Testament that that teach this so Leviticus chapter 20 verse 10 Leviticus chapter 20 verse 10 And you know, this is kind of gonna be a little bit longer of a sermon But we should be done by 8 o'clock. I would say 8 o'clock and then we got pizza coming again. So person non-persecution pizza this time So if you guys are hungry, you know, you know, we'll have some some some carnal food after we get the spiritual food Okay So anyway, Leviticus 20 verse 10 says and the man that committed adultery with another man's wife Even he that committed adultery with his neighbor's wife The adulterer and the adulterous shall surely be put to death So what's the Bible say both of them are supposed to be put to death? So if she's committed adultery Then he's supposed to be brought forward to isn't that what the Bible says now turn to Deuteronomy chapter 22 verse 13 brother Neb, can you do me one more favor? I left my water where I'm sitting. I'm sorry Maybe that would help me in my Moment of calamity, is it not there? What All knows that there's the big that's okay, that's okay. That's right. I'm a needy person tonight All right Leviticus chapter 22 verse 13 the Bible says Now this is kind of a lengthy passage But I kind of want you to see some of the different angles that it talks about here in different situations that you could come across and God doesn't explain every single situation because That would be just too impossible. There's too many different ones, but he gives us some examples in verse 13 it says if any man take a wife and go in unto her and hate her and give occasions of speech against her and bring up an evil name upon her and say I took this woman and when I came to her When I came to her I found her not a maid So this situation is that a man and a woman get married and on the night that they consummate their marriage he he says that she was not a virgin and she is is basically has you know, because Believe it or not. There was a time when both people were supposed to be virgins when they went to the marriage altar, right? This was just normal, but it isn't normal today. So But it should be but anyway, so he's saying that he found her not a maid That's another word for saying that she wasn't a virgin Like she was supposed to be and it says in verse 15 then shall the father of the damsel and her mother Take and bring forth the tokens of the virgin or the damsels virginity Unto the elders of the city in the gate because this is a serious accusation this is not because this is life or death at this point and So the the tokens of the virgins The damsels virginity, you know, if you know what it's talking about, then you know if you don't if you don't know what it's talking about, then you're too young to know and You'll know at some point So anyway verse 16 and the damsels father shall say unto the elders I gave my daughter unto this man to wife and he hateth her and lo He hath given occasions of speech against her saying I found not that thy daughter a maid and yet these are the Tokens of my daughter's virginity and they shall spread the cloth before the elders of the city and the elders of that city shall take that man and chastise him so so if he's lying and It's it's not true this accusation that he's saying then the elders of the city They're gonna take him and chastise him. What's that mean? They're gonna beat him like a redheaded stepchild They're gonna punish him with rods or a whip or something like that It's not going to be a great experience So and then it says in verse 19 and they shall immerse and that means like a fine They're gonna put a fine upon him. They shall immerse Him in a hundred shekels of silver So hundred shekels of silver is a lot of money and it says and give them unto the father of the damsel because he hath Brought an evil name upon a virgin of Israel and she shall be his wife and he may not put her away All his days because once you consummate the marriage the Bible teaches that you are supposed to stay married now what he's doing You know, it's a pretty bad thing to do so and he's allowed or he's not allowed to just divorce her and put her away because he's humbled her he's taken her virginity and You know, he's he's having to pay for what he did It says but if the thing be true and the tokens of Virginia may not be found for the damsel Then they shall bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house And the men of her city shall stone her with stones that she died because she has wrought folly in Israel to play the whore in her father's house. So shall thou put evil away from among you So if it is true and she just lied and then she really is not a virgin Then she's supposed to be what stoned and killed, right? And it says in verse 22 if a man be found lying with a woman Married to a husband and they both and they shall then they should excuse me Then they shall both of them die both the man that lay with the woman and the woman So shalt thou put away evil from Israel so Okay, so it's given us all these scenarios but this scenario seems more likely like the situation that we're finding here Because you don't have the shekels of silver and the going before the elders. This seems to be like a straightforward Adultery situation so where the whole damsel and the virginity and all that stuff probably is not the situation I'm just trying to show you the different situations But what does it say they both shall be put to death? So if you commit adultery And both people are dead. It's not just the woman. It's not just the man. It's both of them That's what the Bible teaches and so they've just brought the woman forward. That's it And so it kind of seems like they don't want their buddy You know if I'm reading into it correctly It's kind of seems like they don't want their buddy to be put to death or whatever. This doesn't get brought up though, of course But it says if a damsel lives a virgin be betrothed unto a husband and a man find her in the city and lie With her so this is betrothed. This means that they have a formal agreement like what you would call What what would you it's betrothed is like? Good night Engagement. Yeah an engagement now today engagements aren't necessarily what they used to be either But when you getting when you got engaged this type of engagement or betrothal was you're basically Married, it just hasn't happened yet. And so you basically have already, you know said your oaths and you know You're promised to each other at this point It says but if if you're a virgin and betrothed unto a husband a man find her in the city and lie with her Then he shall bring them both out of the gate out of the city and he shall stone them with stones that they die The damsel because she cried not because being in the city and the man because he had humbled his neighbor's wife So thou shalt put away evil from among you so here's another situation where both of them are put to death because They were but you know, it was a betrothal. This is the sitch This is like a situation and even like this, you know the situation with Mary and Joseph So Joseph was saying he's gonna put Mary away Privately because he thought that because Mary was pregnant That she had committed adultery. And so he was gonna put her away privately. He probably didn't want her to get killed That's that seems to be you know what he was doing but we would call that today an annulment basically You haven't consummated the marriage and yet, you know, you found out that they haven't been faithful to you you find out that that's the case and then you know, you would annul the marriage and That's really the only thing that the Bible allows for divorce is the in the case of fornication that takes place before The the marriage has been consummated basically So or in the case that you found out that they weren't a virgin and then on the night You know, then you could get an annulment based upon fornication. I'll show you those verses later on But let's go back to John chapter 8. Let's look at verse number 5 So you'll want to keep a ribbon or a bookmark in John chapter 8 We're gonna go back and forth here but John chapter 8 verse number 5 so in the story so far they've taken this woman they've thrown her in the midst and They brought her before Jesus as he's teaching in the temple and then Verse 5 says now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned But what sayest thou so here's the challenge, you know And really do you see what's happening here? They're basically saying well, this is what Moses says What do you have to say about it? and so they're basically challenging Jesus and trying to pit him against what Moses has to say and So here's the challenge this this is where they're trying to enact their little catch-22 because the and this is what they're they want They want to catch something out of his mouth that they can accuse him with So it says in verse 6 This they said Tempting him and you're gonna see this a lot in the Gospels when they try to challenge Jesus that they're always Tempting him trying to get him to say something that he shouldn't that you know Trying to catch something out of his mouth that he shouldn't be saying and it says that they might have to accuse him So they want to tempt him so they can accuse him of something right? This is how the enemy works This is how the enemy works with us This is like this is what people do to us to try to get us to do something that work that we shouldn't say Something we shouldn't say or do something that we shouldn't do they tempt us so they can accuse us This is what the devil has done for many many many years now It says but Jesus stooped down and with his finger wrote on the ground as though he heard Them not So he just completely ignores what they're saying and he just stoops down and just starts writing on the ground with his finger And there's a mystery of what he wrote on the ground. It doesn't say what he wrote But you know, sometimes you'll see like these dramatized things where it's just like he's going he's like, you know Put his finger and it's like dirt dirt. She's going You know what I'm talking about Like it's just like he's just sticking it in this dry dirt and it's just whatever But you know it there's a lot of speculation out there But I know that people think that it's possible that he just started writing the Ten Commandments and some people think that you know, he just might have started writing the sins that they're guilty of and I think that there's you know, I think that we just don't know because the Bible doesn't say But I think there's good grounds for both. I mean it could be both, you know God did etch with his finger. The Bible says the Ten Commandments in stone so I mean Obviously, it's not like he hasn't done that before And that would be a good thing because she broke one of the Ten Commandments by committing adultery But he's doing it to prove a point. So he obviously always does things for a reason But I kind of want to go back to how the enemy likes to attack us real quick So they're doing this to Jesus. They're they're trying to tempt him so they can accuse him but this is what they do to us and you know, we have to be aware of these types of situations because People will do this to us all day long. You know, they like to do it on social media a lot So maybe it's just probably best to avoid that but how do we avoid being tempted? So or you know, how do we avoid we're not gonna be avoid being tempted? But how do we how do we react to these types of things? Well, here's one thing that I think that Jesus teaches us that we should never forget you don't have to answer people and Like we learned last week that sometimes Jesus would say things and the Pharisees would just start saying well What do you think he meant by that and like is he gonna go where's he gonna go? Is he gonna go teach the Gentiles and you know and this week he does the same thing in this chapter He does the same thing Later on in the chapter though, he does some of the same stuff But he doesn't always answer them when they ask him a question, you know Because believe it or not. You don't have to answer people when they ask you a question. You don't have to So but I think that sometimes we feel that Uncomfortableness when someone asks us a question like and especially because we're Christians. We want to be honest and forthright, of course But they would ask Jesus questions when they had him on trial and he just sat there and didn't say anything You know, they're accusing of all the worst stuff But this is what the enemy does to us too in situations that and it might be your boss or your friends at work and sometimes they're asking you questions so that they can get The answer that they want so they can try to get you in trouble. Yeah This is what the law does. This is what police do. I Mean just the word to the wise don't talk to the police Anything you can Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law I mean just remember that and it's whatever they write in that little book so whatever they write down the judge is gonna take that as if as Evidence regardless of whether you said it or not or how you said it or what tone you said it in so the best thing to do is say I I would like a lawyer You know But you're like well you don't have if you don't have anything to you know Hi, you should just answer the question that doesn't always mean everything Sometimes police just want to close the case you know a lot of times that is what they want to do and I'm not saying all police are corrupt, but there are some that are and If they just want a pin it on somebody and they want to because they have like quotas They'll say that they don't but they have List and you know just think about homicides they have to close these cases or there's pressure just in any job There's pressure to get things done and close out list. Well, they have to close out list, too and any you know So you could you could be in the wrong place at the wrong time and end up with some kind of case that you didn't Do it happens all the time. So just a word to the wise don't talk to the police get yourself a lawyer. But anyway here's another thing and this I've learned this a long time ago and My grandma, you know, this is when you actually had phones in the house, right and you had those long cords That you could extend throughout the whole house kids You don't even know what I'm talking about But there's this thing called a phone wasn't a cell phone, but it was an actual phone And they actually used to have these ones even when I was not that not that long ago didn't seem like but rotary phones So if you messed up on the on the on the rotary then you have to hang up and start all over again You couldn't just like so you can just push backspace or whatever, but she had an answering machine It was like I had a tape recorder kids This is just something you probably don't know about so that there's a tape recorder with a pre-recorded message. Oh, hi This is Nancy. I can't get to the phone right now But if you leave your name and number, I'll call you back I mean, we still have those today, but they're on our cell phones Anyway, people would call my grandma and I just for some reason I was just a drive drove me crazy that she monitored every single Call my grandma. Why don't you just pick up the phone? She was like, let me just tell you something Aaron She said I pay the phone bill And I'll answer the phone Whenever I want and if I don't want to answer the phone, I'm not gonna answer the phone. I Was like a lot a light bulb like I was like she's got a point She's got a point. I don't have to answer the phone You don't have to answer the phone. You don't have to answer someone. They're asking me a question You can just be quiet and a lot of times when the enemy is trying to ask you certain questions It's because they want to use it to accuse you of something. That's what they were doing with Jesus They tempted him with what the question. Well, this is what Moses said Jesus What do you have to say about it? They're putting them on the spot. So what they can anything He says that they don't like or anything that they can use to accuse him. That's what they do So, you know the point being though When I was saying you don't have to answer Jesus didn't answer. We don't always have to answer. He does answer here, but He doesn't necessarily answer them in a straightforward way He doesn't give them the answer that they're looking for and that's the other thing You don't always have to answer them the way they want you to answer You don't have to give them the straightforward answer. You're like, well, that's lying. Not really If Jesus when they said, you know, well, they would say things to Jesus and you go, Vow sayest Is that a straightforward answer? It's not lying though He's like you're saying it Right Jesus didn't sin. So obviously it's not a sin to answer a question in that way So, I mean, I think that's like when someone's trying to tempt you trying to goat you into saying something So they can accuse you of something just remember that that you don't have to answer And they like to tempt you especially in the heat of the moment to say things That other people would frown upon, you know, like when they do Interviews of our favorite, you know, they've done interviews of some of our favorite pastors before like Pastor Anderson He got to the point where he stopped doing Interviews unless they would do a live interview because they'd always chop up the interview and make it say things Wasn't seeming to say or they take most of the interview and just delete it or whatever And so the best interview he's ever done in my opinion was the one the last one he ever did which was the local Phoenix Newscaster who's still on the news because what a lot of time I was down there I just happened to turn the news on I saw that guy was like he looks familiar. Oh, yeah, he's from that He's still there. So anyway, but this guy he's interviewing pastor Anderson live and I'm not gonna go through the whole thing. But like some of the first question. I think he asked was so are you a bigot? Are you just a religious zealot? And like, you know, so like but they couldn't they couldn't stop him from answering the questions because it's live He only would do it live from then on and he's like, I'm a religious zealot you know, I love the Bible and that's a good answer and then He's like have you always hated gay people and he's like no, I haven't always hated gay people but when I read the Bible I realized that you know what the Bible says and then like another one was like Yeah Then when he says the one I read the Bible cover to cover and he's like then Leviticus 2013 says and he got to read Leviticus 2013 out of the King James in front of God and everybody And so this guy's just trying to trip him up with all these You know that first question was a gotcha question and most Christians probably would have failed in that very instant But like religious zealots like there's nothing wrong with being zealous But that you know, are you religious fanatic, you know, or are you a bigot? You just hate gay people and it's like, you know to be called a bigot is like a slur You know, it's like a slander of some sort, you know, it's it's it's basically like saying you're racist or something But anyway, so then you know The guy just like he talks about Hitler and evolution and then he's like well speaking of Hitler Did you pray for Obama to die and he's just like, oh now Obama and the race card come out, right? And then he's like, well, you know, well, did you say that? Did you pray for him to die? And he's like, well, you know, I got lots of lots of black people in my church I got all nations of my church whatever and he's like, you know But you know you call him black. I call him white. He's half black He's half white and he's like the guy just likes, you know he liked that literally he has this moment where he just like Stops what he's doing and his mouth is just his jaws left wide open He's like you call him black. I said, he's a white man. He's a white man. I'm just like At one point he also asked him he said doesn't the Bible say, you know, isn't the first commandment thou shalt not kill He's like actually no, that's not the first commandment. The first commandment is thou shall have no other gods before me He's like, yeah, but doesn't the Bible, you know, he just like he totally just massacres this guy but you know He had the chance to you know, he set these traps and pastor Anderson just kind of walked through him So I just thought that those kind of a good example of how you can turn them against each other or Against themselves when they try to ask you some of these questions But pastor Anderson was ready and he's sharp and you know Not everybody could have necessarily navigated themselves through that kind of question and answer process But you know, it's just like the question like, you know Ray have the harlot has these people come to her and say we're those spies that you let in your house And what was her answer? They're not here, you know, but they were weren't they? So like sometimes there's just instances where like protecting human life is more important than You know because sometimes, you know reprobate or evil people will try to put that well, you know, it's It's a it's a sin to lie, right? It is but I mean, I Mean, I know that line is and I'm not saying it's right to lie, but she protected them and saved their lives So what what would have been worse? Oh, yeah, I can't lie. You know, I just got saved. So, you know here they are They're underneath So There's just certain thing, you know, people will try to trap us and things like that. So anyway, let's move on here Let's move to verse 7. So my point is is that you know, they're they use these traps for Jesus Though you they don't they don't stray from the way that they do things now people will still try to trap us in situations So just be aware that you don't have to answer Every single question and just be wise in the way that you answer when you're in the heat of a moment You don't have to you know, just be aware of your situation and the things that you're saying Can and will be held against you. So anyway, so but anyway Verse 7 says so so when they continued asking him, so he's stooped on the ground. He's right on the ground So when they continued asking him he lifted up himself and said unto them he that is without sin among you let him first cast a stone at her and So just some things to think about with this statement that he's saying he didn't say that Moses was wrong Did he he didn't say no Moses is wrong. No, he didn't say that did he he didn't tell them that they shouldn't put her to death So, you know it my opinion is that Jesus chose to say these things because He knew what manner of men were you know, we're accusing him Or her excuse me, but And and they were probably worse in many ways in this woman was I mean, obviously what she did was really wicked but The fact is she did deserve to die under the Mosaic law she did but again the factor That people forget about is that Jesus Christ had the power on earth to forgive sense Let's turn to Mark chapter 2 verse 5 Mark chapter 2 verse 5 so and I'm not saying that he just forgave her in this situation just to get out of the situation. They put him in I think that he forgave her because She probably Felt mad I'm sure she did sure he you know He showed her mercy when she probably didn't necessarily deserve mercy But he used he used what they were trying to accuse her of against them Because whatever he's writing on the ground and whatever he said to what did he say to them? He was without sin among you let him first cast a stone at her after he gets done writing whatever he's writing there probably has something to do with what he said next to them and Again, we don't know but we do know that Jesus has the power to forgive sins Look what it says in Mark 2 5 it says when Jesus saw the faith Saw their faith. He said unto the sick of the palsy son thy sins be forgiven me But there were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts why that this man does speak blasphemies who can forgive sins, but God only and Immediately when Jesus perceived in his spirit that they so reason within themselves He said unto them why reason you these things in your hearts? Whether is it easier to say of the sick of the palsy thy sins be forgiven thee or to say arise and take up thy bed and walk But that you may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins He saith unto the sick of the palsy so did Jesus have the power on the earth to forgive sins He absolutely did and he said it to them Earlier just to let them know by the way. I have the power to forgive sins Now let's turn to 2nd Samuel chapter 12 verse 13 2nd Samuel 12 13 Here's an instance in the Old Testament Where David is committed In my opinion a way more grievous sin, I mean He took you know, he didn't go off when the Kings go off the battle. He's walking along the rooftops He spies out this woman taking a bath. He takes her into his home. It's one of his best soldiers wives He commits adultery with her and then he gets her pregnant and then he calls that soldier back Gets him drunk Like two or three nights in a row or something to try to get him to go back and And do what married people do so that he could cover up the fact that he got his wife pregnant And then he doesn't do it. He sends them back with his own death death note to give to Joab And so that Joab will pull his people back and allow Uriah to get killed. I mean, that's some pretty shady stuff That's pro like that's just you know, if somebody committed that type of a sin in one of our churches We probably like that. There's a reprobate, you know But David's not a reprobate. He just did some really wicked stuff and God Could have let him to get the death penalty, right? but what it says here in verse 13 after after Nathan tells him this story and tells them, you know, basically you know tells him this story and then tells him he's the he's the man that God's talking about and Throws it in his face and it says and David said unto Nathan I have sinned against the Lord So after God reveals it to him through the prophet Nathan He said I've sinned against the Lord and Nathan said unto David the Lord also hath put away thy sin Thou shalt not die. So under the laws of God did David deserve to die for this? Yes, of course he did But God pardoned him That doesn't I mean he said he was sorry But does that mean that people don't deserve to get the death penalty when they say they're sorry No, I mean that doesn't always Aiken was Probably sorry too, but he was killed wasn't he because of what he did There was there are people in the Bible that you know said that Judas said he was sorry too, but I'm just saying That God arbitrarily can decide to pardon someone from a death sentence if he wants to that's the point I'm trying to make and he can forgive sins and then he can say to David. Hey, you know You're not going to die It says how be it because of this deed that thou has given great Occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme the child also that is born unto thee shall surely die So David was punished severely The sword would did not you know leave his house his sons turned against him and tried to kill him and take over the kingdom And some of his sons got killed as a result So, you know and then even Solomon ultimately turned against the Lord I mean, it really was a kind of a scar on David at any time You know, it'll taught me talking about David and it'll say but David was like a man after God's own heart except for What he did in the matter of your eye of the head tight So like when someone commits adultery It is a blot on them and it's it's a it's a mark upon them that it's hard to wash away and people You know, we have a lot harder time forgiving people sometimes than God does obviously but the sin of adultery is Not punished by death in the United States anymore In fact, this country is so far from the biblical standards of right and wrong That it certainly makes it hard being a pastor with a lot of impossible situations that come my way to navigate the divorce and remarriage and adultery and fornication and broken homes and Child rearing and who's gonna be with who and sometimes I find myself seeing two people When I counsel them that there's really no right answer Because as Our country just delves into more and more of calling good evil and evil good You know a woman can commit adultery Against a man and yet still take all the kids away from him and he's still bit there. He's still having a pay child support Alimony and only getting to see the kids every other weekend and if she has a good enough lawyer He might have to have supervised visits and she just takes him to the cleaners takes away half of his stuff but Under God's law. She would just be dead so Case closed, you know, you're done But you see how wicked that is that that can actually happen in our country. So I mean That that is hard for me to navigate So when people get into these situations where it's like all these different moving parts and and things are going on It makes it difficult to counsel people and then you know, I've just been throwing some real Some real curveball counseling and and sometimes I'm just like Here choose bad option number one or bad option number two, but neither not none of these options are good But it's you know, and I I don't choose for people what they should do I never try to do that when I'm counseling over things like this, but it is really difficult You know when someone has committed adultery Against them and there's no recourse in the judicial system to help them and you know, if you're a Christian, especially You know then they're gonna say well Look at the cult church that they're going to look what they believe They believe that homo should be put to death and all this other stuff, right? So then you're you know, not only are you a Christian? But then if you're a Christian in one of our churches, you're really at a disadvantage You know if some you know If your wife or your husband wants to take you to the cleaners and then this is the route that they go Oh, they're in a cult I mean this this happened to one of our members up in Canada Where the judge ruled that he that he like had to have supervised visits for the rep You know, he couldn't be with his kids long and what was his crime? being a Christian going to a independent Baptist Church, you know pretty wicked but You know people get into these broken marriage situations and they're tough to navigate and so And it's funny because if they they're the ones that you know If that other person's the one that committed adultery, it's just like, you know, what do you say to someone? Sorry, you can't get remarried either because the Bible says you're not supposed to get remarried And it's just like those those situations are tough for me That is like literally the hardest situation I deal with as a pastor and that's why I would say to you young people if you haven't been married yet and you're You know, you're gonna get to a time when you're wanting to get married. Make sure you pick the right spouse Don't just willy-nilly marry somebody Because they're so pretty They're so handsome. I Love him I can change him. He'll go to church if he marries me. No, he won't. Yeah, he'll go to church less You know or you thinking that your wife is gonna be spiritual when they finally marry you that's not gonna happen Look, I've seen this happen so many times. I'm just like I'll if someone's not your spiritual equal then don't marry them like especially if you're like free to thrive your soul winning and all that and then, you know, and sometimes even You know people that are both spiritual I've seen both people that are spiritual get married and then they both become unspiritual when they get married. It's like how does that happen? But you know, they've been in their parents home and maybe sometimes it just takes time to they want to Live their life or whatever, but you know, you're not really living life unless you're living it for the Lord You're not really you might think it's fun But you know those those things are fleeting and when you get older you're gonna be like man I wish I would have done more for the Lord. I wish I would have done more to raise my family for the Lord, you know But you know if if you're the one that gets adultery committed on you or you're the one that's stuck with a spouse that That doesn't love God or whatever. It's hard and I understand that and look my heart goes out to you I'm I'm I'm sorry But those things happen But then I have to tell people the Bible forbids you to get divorced and get remarried But again people still do what they're gonna do anyway Can't stop that so but The positive out of it though, is that you know I guess that people aren't killed the moment they commit adultery is that they still have a chance to get saved I mean, that's the only positive but I mean, I can't say it's super positive that That this isn't that you know, because I've just seen a lot of ruined lives But obviously people still get saved and obviously people do these things before they're saved. I get that But the fact that people get saved and you know God's forgiving But I would say this if you've committed adultery in the past and things have been patched up and things are good Then don't do it again Don't do it again because isn't that what Jesus basically says to her at the end of the chapter go and sin no more You know people that's another thing people use they'll be like He says go and sin no more so he's saying don't ever sin again, and I believe that arbitrarily Yeah, he is saying that but I specifically think he's talking about what she did that's my opinion because Everybody's still gonna sin. Obviously. God doesn't want us to sin But the sin that she was guilty of is a death penalty sin and he forgave her for it So he's like don't do this again. That's what I think he's saying. But anyway But people will say yeah these work salvation here takes like see it says sin no more It's like what do you have you sinned after you supposedly got saved idiot? It's like good night anyway, but as Christians people do commit these sins these Acts of adultery turn to Hebrews chapter 13 Hebrews chapter 13 Hebrews chapter 13 verse 4 Try to speed things up here Hebrews chapter 13 verse 4 Bible says marriage is honorable and all and the bed undefiled but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. He's not going to just let you get out of it. If you're an adulterer God's gonna judge you for it so Don't commit that sin because if it's a death penalty sin, obviously America's never gonna do that. Yeah, you get to get out of getting put to death But you know God has ways of making your life miserable Beyond death and sometimes, you know death might be like something you would welcome You know, there's people that in the Bible like man just kill me, you know, but It says let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have You know, obviously this is pairing with that verse, you know people wouldn't be going out and committed adultery if they were content with what they already have and It would be coveting after something if they would just be content with what they already have And it says for God has said I'll never leave thee nor forsake thee So we should be content with what we have. You're married be content with what you have. That's who you marry That's who you promised tell death to us part If you have kids be content with the kids that you have don't be wishing you had somebody else's kids Raise your kids, right? you know and So we ought to be just people are thankful for the things we have and then we wouldn't have so much trouble in our lives So now let's turn back to John chapter 8 John chapter 8 verse 8 So Jesus again, he stooped Down and he wrote on the ground And they which heard it 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 midst So it's a pretty interesting scene here got all these people around You know after he says, you know, he is without sin cast the cast the first stone then he just kind of stoops back down starts writing again and one by one from the eldest to the last they walk out and And They're convicted in their own conscience. So apparently some of these guys still have a conscience left. Okay, and they so obviously they know that they've done things probably equally or You know some pretty bad things themselves, but it says when Jesus lifted himself up. He saw none But the woman he said under woman where are the are those thine accusers hath no man condemned thee She said no man Lord and Jesus said it under neither do I condemn thee go and sin no more So the the men they walked out convicted by their own conscience and by what Jesus said and He gives her that charge don't don't do it again, so We're gonna go through some closing thoughts but the closing thoughts are a little longer than you might realize it's not closing closing It's it's Pastor Thompson closing thoughts. All right, so The moral law of God is still in effect. This is something also I wanted to address It's it's not arbitrarily up for us to decide Which death penalty laws are no longer in effect because when people say oh Well, this is Jesus abolishing the death penalty. That's just ridiculous and You know, it's up to God What death penalty situations are no longer in effect in the New Testament the Bible tells us that you know What has been done away in Christ in the New Testament to break the Sabbath used to be a death penalty, didn't it? you know someone picked up sticks on the Sabbath they got smoked right and So but that no longer exists because Jesus fulfilled the Sabbath. We don't even have to keep the Sabbath anymore It was a picture of The fact that Jesus Christ did the work for us and that we get to rest from our works And he does all the work for us and that basically is a death penalty because you know If you don't let him do all the work for you, then you're gonna die in your sins anyway, right? so and you know because The Bible also specifically tells us that certain Levitical laws The meats the drinks carnal ordinances the New Moons the feasts the Sabbaths are done away in Christ you know, it tells us that in Hebrews tells us in Colossians and that and the other thing is that the moral laws are still in effect as Clearly shown in the Bible in the New Testament So there are several passages of the New Testament that tell us that the death penalty is still in effect Now let's turn to Romans chapter 1 Romans chapter 1, you know one of our favorite passages or Well turn to passages I'll say that Where people will just say well, you know Jesus, you know He doesn't have the death penalty in effect anymore. And then it like specifically says that these homos Deserve the death penalty Romans 1 26 says for this cause God gave them up Unto vile affections for even their women did change the natural use Unto that which is against nature. Well, gee, I wonder what that's talking about It says and likewise unto the men leaving the natural use of the woman burned in their lust one toward another men with men Working that which is unseemly and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error, which was meet which is AIDS Disease early death Anal cancer whatever else that they get from Being the freaks that they are and it says and even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient So God gave them over to that That's what they are and it says being filled with all unrighteousness fornication wickedness covetousness Maliciousness full of envy murder debate deceit malignity whispers backbiters haters of God despiteful proud boasters inventors of evil things this Disobedient to parents without understanding covenant breakers without natural affection Implacable unmerciful sounds like a pretty laundry list of disgusting behavior, doesn't it? It says they hate God They're unmerciful they're implacable they have no natural affection they're they're like beasts The Bible says they're like brute beasts made to be taken and destroyed But look what it says in verse 32 is very interesting Because the death penalty is no longer in effect in the New Testament. It says who knowing the judgment of God That they which commit such things are worthy of being alive still that what it says. No, it says death, doesn't it? Not only do the same but have pleasure in them that do them. Is that the New Testament? I thought that was Paul that wrote that. Oh, yeah, it is the New Testament, isn't it? Worthy of death That's what it says right now. Let's turn to Matthew chapter 15. Let's go to the man himself the Lord Jesus Christ Our Savior and see what he has to say about the death penalty Because you know people say that he abolished the death penalty in John chapter 8 It's funny that he brings up a specific death penalty passage About how the Pharisees see we're always called Pharisees for the things that we say and do but in reality they are the Pharisees In reality the way that America is kind of going they are the ones that act like the Pharisees and we're the ones that actually believe and teach the truth of God's Word and Even the the quote-unquote Christians that are saying how mean we are they always want to call us Pharisees But really the Pharisees are the ones that kind of went for anything You know, but they would fall all over themselves to make sure you washed your hands. Make sure you scrub them up really good But he says in verse 3 here in Matthew chapter 15 says, but he answered and said to them Why do you also transgress the commandment of God by your own tradition? For God commanded saying honor thy father and mother and he that curseth father or mother let him die the death is Jesus bringing up a death penalty passage right here sounds like he believes that and you know why I think he believes it because he's the one that wrote it Because he is the Word of God He just abolished it, but why is he bringing up then why does he specifically bring up, you know That's one of the ones that the Bible says that you should kill your kids or whatever Jesus brings it up right here. If you curse your mother or father, let him die to death kids. Don't curse your parents It's wicked I'm not saying that your parents are gonna kill you I'm just saying that the Bible says you deserve to die for doing that. So don't do it Don't tell me hate him or anything like that. It's really bad. Don't ever hit him. You know, even when you're a baby You can't understand me by now babies. But anyway Better grab those little hands. Don't let him claw you up like that Teaching them bad habits anyway verse 5 But you say whosoever shall say to his father or his mother It is a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me and honor not his father or his mother He shall be free. Thus you have made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition What's he saying? You're taking the commandment of God which Jesus backing up right here and you're making it of none effect By saying here's a gift this pays off what I should really be doing for my parents. Oh Use your curse your mom and dad. Well, here's the gift that makes up for it It doesn't make up for it. Their tradition is not that they take a tradition and try to make it better than God's Commandments that's the problem like eating with unwashing hands and it says in verse 6 and And honor not his father or his mother he's over seven, I'm sorry he hypocrites well did Isaiah's Prophesy of you saying this people draweth nigh of me with their mouth and honors me with their lips But their heart is far from me, but in vain they do worship me teaching for doctrines the commandments of men so Jesus calls the Pharisees out because They're taking and and they're they're taking the commandments of God and using the traditions of men Isn't that what's happening now today? People say oh Jesus, you know just said the death penalty is no longer in effect here They're making no the commandments of God Saying that Jesus outlawed and abolished the death penalty when that's not true And then I just showed you a new to New Testament examples. Let's get another one turn to Mark chapter 9 verse 42 Mark chapter 9 verse 42 the Bible says and whosoever shall offend one of these little ones That believe in me it is better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck and that he were cast into the sea now One thing that you got to notice about this and I believe that it doesn't matter who cast the millstone on his neck And I think in the Middle Ages that people actually did do this when they thought that they were doing such horrendous sins that they actually did do this practice, but Whether someone does it to them or whether they do it to themselves He's saying you need to they need to die It's better for them to die now than to continue to offend little children and hurt little children Make little children not believe in me It's better that this happens to them than to see what happened to get more wrath in hell than they're already gonna get Now turn to Romans chapter 13. So there's Jesus again saying kill yourself freak Basically, I mean that's in the Greek. It says that no, I'm just kidding. But You go back to the Old English that's what it says Go back to the bale wolf. No, I'm only kidding really so Romans chapter 13 verse number 3 the Bible says Now it's not my human government Okay, still New Testament right for rulers are not terror a terror to good works But to evil wilt thou then not be afraid of the power Do that which is good and thou shalt have praised of the same for he is The minister of God to thee for good, but if thou do that which is evil be afraid for he beareth not the sword in vain and The word sword is not in there in vain either because it's talking about what I'm talking about The sword is talking about using it for a specific purpose and people don't use swords to give you paper cuts folks They use swords to lop off heads Okay, that's it's talking about, you know going after someone that if someone's doing evil they're going to get the sword That's what it's saying right for he is a minister. He's the minister of God a Revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. This is talking about the death penalty, isn't it? God has instituted the death penalty in the New Testament right there and black and white so to say that Jesus got rid of the death penalty in John chapter 8 is a bunch of garbage is what it is and That is blaspheming God's holy word because look Romans is scripture to folks So and last time I checked Romans was written by Paul after Jesus was resurrected and So what Paul is changing what Jesus? Uninstituted in Martin in John chapter 8 get real Pharisee, they're the real Pharisees They want to take in and nullify the commandments of God and make it out to be whatever they say it is They're like, well you're judging her That's all talk about this last week, you know people get these tattoos that say only God can judge me Yeah, you better be afraid of that fact You shouldn't be flaunting your stupid tattoo that you got and the Bible says you should not make any cuttings in your flesh For the dead your print any marks upon you. I am the Lord and then to get a stupid tattoo that specifically Forbidden as a heathen practice and then to just throw that in the face of God only God can judge me. He's going to You better get saved and scrub that tattoo off your back idiot Wherever you have it written So in conclusion brethren It's not really the full conclusion it's the Thompson conclusion But had they put that woman to death wouldn't have been a just punishment. Yes or no, it would have been But God did divinely forgive her like he did with David and gave her, you know that stay of execution So the trap that the Jews set for Jesus failed and So that the trap that they set for Jesus failed and You know, he this is again he's gonna they're gonna do this stuff many times over and over again they're always gonna just be trying to set traps to try to kill Jesus and You know here they're they're setting a trap not necessarily to kill him But you already saw from the last couple chapters that they are trying to kill him His own brothers are trying to kill him in the first part of the last chapter. So they are actively trying to kill him But after chapter 11, they're really trying to kill him after that like they're relentless and then even trying to kill Lazarus who Just made the mistake of getting resurrected accidentally by Jesus. It's like man. There are some ruthless people so Trying to destroy the credibility of Jesus and all that but You know what? I want to give some application to us just in the very end just by going to the scriptures that actually talk about divorce and remarriage because I do think it's important because You know people get upset about these These types of sermons but they get upset When I tell them what the and the Bible saying what it says should just change your mind People just you know, people get in these situations are like yeah, but what about this or what about that? It just says what it says and you should just take in what it says and believe it Okay, but what it says in Matthew chapter 5 verse 31, I would just say this If you know or someone's committed adultery against you, you know Just be forgiving if it's possible because divorce isn't an option so if you can win them back or Whatever and if it's possible for you to forgive and to move on and you know you should because What's life gonna look like without your kids, you know, and so if you can you know forgive and move on and you know, I mean if Hosea had to marry a whore like You know God told him to do that and that was probably pretty tough, you know so Here's what it says though Matthew 5 It had been said it hath been said whosoever shall put away his wife. Let him give her a riding of divorce men But I say unto you that whosoever shall put away his wife saving for the cause of fornication. I already read that to you earlier Causeth her to commit adultery and Whosoever shall marry her that is divorced Committeth adultery. It's pretty clear, isn't it? Unless it's because of fornication which is already talked about earlier You're not supposed to do it. Don't put them away. Don't divorce them now. You're like, well, what if I did well Then say you're sorry to God and move on. Well, I didn't know that before. Well now you do you're responsible So don't do it. So and and you know, if you get married to get divorced, you've already heard this, you know Obviously God can forgive you but you know when we have the knowledge of God's Word He's gonna hold us more accountable for the things that we do now. And so And you're like, well, I just rather not know them. Well Why so you can make a stupid mistake and then say I wish I would have known No, you should know so that you don't do it. That's the whole point Now, let's look at one more passage and we'll I won't have you go anywhere else Matthew 19 verse 3 Matthew 19 verse 3 so he mentions it again and this in the context of the Pharisees bringing it up Of course, they ought to bring up the most liberal way and it's funny how you know, we have all these Jews on the Supreme Court and Then we got the Catholics on the Supreme Court. There's no Baptist amazingly enough nobody to represent the people it's just a bunch of Jews and Catholics and it's no wonder why there's just Divorced for no reason whatsoever You can just say I just woke up and he just was ugly He got old and ugly. I just decided to divorce him You know, I mean you just don't have to have a reason so we as Christians need to really you know It's hard for us living in a world where everybody's doing the wrong thing and then everybody's giving the wrong advice Don't listen to your divorce parents. Don't listen to your divorce friends. Don't listen to your unsaved friends Don't listen to unsaved people on these types of topics. Listen to what the Word of God says above all else Now let God speak to you and you know, I would say don't listen to pastors I'm not saying don't listen to me because I'm saying what God says, but I'm just saying listen to what the Bible says Look at verse 3 in Matthew 9 says the Pharisees Also came unto him Tempting him see that saying again and saying unto him. Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause and What does that tell you that they think it is? They think it is and he answered and said unto them have you not read I love that answer Have you not read dummy that sorry, that's me adding that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female and Said for this cause shall a man leave father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and they twain shall be one flesh Wherefore there are no more twain but one flesh what therefore God hath joined together Let not man put asunder He's just what is he doing? He's teaching us from the beginning. This is the way it was They say unto him Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement and put her away see this is and this is just kind of a shy see way of saying things because Moses did not command them to do that He just said you know because Jesus said out of the hardness of your hearts you know he's gonna say that here just a second but Moses did not command that and he didn't command to put their wives away But he it says it right here in verse 8 he saith unto them Moses because of the hardness of your heart suffered you he didn't say commanded right Jesus corrects him here suffered or allowed You to put away your wives, but from the beginning. It was not so and I say unto you Whosoever shall put away his wife except it be for fornication he's repeating himself again and shall marry another committeth adultery and Whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery Now I will say this okay this type of adultery the divorce and remarriage adultery and I want to be very careful by saying this though. It's not the same as the caught in the act adultery I don't think it's the death penalty Death situation okay. It's just like if a man looks on a woman to lust with her Lust after her he's committed adultery already with her in his heart. That is an adultery of the heart It's not the literal act Okay, now obviously all three of those are sin, but in the case of I'm not saying it's not bad. I'm not saying God won't punish you for doing it I'm just saying that caught in the act and literal adultery is Punishable by death I'm not and could God kill you for getting you know remarried or whatever. I'm sure he could but You know When you commit that sin, you're probably gonna have just a whole nother set of problems with the other person that you marry so Again, you know this is what the Bible teaches. It's not my personal belief This is what Jesus says so when people ask me about this stuff This is what I tell them and you know if there's a way to reconcile your marriage then do it But again, I don't have time to get into all the ins and outs of that, but you know again be careful who you marry Obviously, there's no guarantees in life. You can do your best picking and and someone can disappoint you But just marrying someone for looks or for lust as a Christian is just a bad idea And once you get married, it's till death do us part Unless you get the marriage annulled because the fornication and that's just not a very It's not a very common practice. So if you've ever committed sin this sin with your spouse Keep it to yourselves and This is advice that I try to tell people when I've heard about these things Don't tell other people about it. Don't tell other Christians about it. Don't tell anybody about it. It's really nobody else's business It's your marriage It's between you and God and I just think that it's a it's a mistake because people can't help but judge they just can't and once they they see that that's all they see and Whether they forgive you for it or not It doesn't matter even if they do forgive you but they still think that just like David has that blot Will always remember that so people will always remember that about you and you're like, well, that's not the way it should be You're right, but it's just the way it is so I would advise you not to tell people about that kind of stuff if that's happened before in your marriage don't share it with people and Some people can't handle certain truths. You would think that they can handle truth, but they can't always handle truth So I'm just giving you some friendly pastoral advice on that. Don't tell other people about it It's none of anybody's business. And if you are married and you're in an impossible situation that You know, I have not explained just do your best to navigate that situation within the bounds of God's Word Whatever you can do You can't control every situation It's just not the world we're living in if you need advice or counsel I'm willing to help you as much as possible. And again, my heart goes out to you if you're in a hard situation I know that a lot of them exist out there and they're the hard things to talk about And I don't expect you to talk about them. You don't want to so anyway, that's all I got John chapter 8 The woman taken adult shows pray Lord. We thank you so much for this great church here I pray that you just continue to grow it and thank you for the new folks that have come to our church and pray that you just bless them and help them feel at home here and Pray that you would just help us to put these things in our heart Lord that we would remember them We'd go by the principles of your word most importantly more than anything help us to stay on task with our Bible reading in our daily Christian lives and But you just take us home safely in Jesus name we pray and bless his food. Amen