If Someone Is Caught In A Sin

If Someone Is Caught In A Sin

John 8.1-11
Galatians 6.1

Caught=
John 8
to seize upon, take possession of
of evils overtaking one,
of the last day overtaking the wicked with destruction,
of a demon about to torment one
govern it

Galatians 6
to take before
to anticipate, to forestall
to take one by forestalling (him i.e. before he can flee or conceal his crime)
surprise, detect

I John 2.1-2
A Christian's Life


This woman was caught in the act of adultery. Where is the man? According to the law he was to be stoned too. Leviticus 20.10
Adultery was one of three gravest sins punishable by death.

This was a trap and Jesus knew it.
John 8.4-5
4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5 In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” 6 They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.

He showed  us how to love sinners. They called Him a Friend of Sinners. He showed us how to love sinners without condemning them and without condoning their sin. What a Wonderful Master!

If He says to stone her then His message of love and grace is out.
If He says stone her then He would be in trouble with Rome. Only they could carry out the death penalty. (ex Jesus' Crucifixion)
If He says to let her go then He would be breaking the law.

He does what is perfect. He always does. Jesus doeth all things well.
The word writing means to write down a record against someone.
We do not know what He wrote but it is a good possibility He was writing down their name with their personal sins.

These religious leaders failed to show mercy and grace.

John 1.14 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and only Son, Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

Micah 6.8 He has shown you, O man, what is good.
    And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.

Matthew 9.12-13 ...Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."

He has come to call sinners!


1. If someone is caught in a sin.

Out of the church- seized, it is a lifestyle.
In the church- surprise, it is against a lifestyle.

There should be surprise. We expect each other to live for the LORD.
I John 2.1-2

There needs to be spiritual mature direction to restore the person who is caught.

We need to watch ourselves.
Saying things like that would never happen to me shows pride.
Look at yourself. Contemplate. Pray. Meekly and gently restore this person.


2. Jesus exposes sin and comes against self righteousness in spiritual leaders.
The scribes and Pharisees saw their authority to be that enforcing the law.
They asked about Jesus' authority to forgive sins. He showed them that authority.

8.2 At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4 and said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery...


3. Jesus is Gentle and Humble.

We see that in how He dealt with this woman.

Pastor Jim Cymbala "Secret Sins" Message

We are to represent Him and reflect Him.



4. Jesus has come to seek and save that which is lost, to make people over in  love and grace and truth and to set those in prison free.

Jesus didn't come to condemn. John 3.17-18

The church is to be the safest place on earth.

Don't like that saying, "The church is the only army that shoots down its wounded." Nor do I believe it.
Prostitute in What's So Amazing About Grace by Philip Yancey

Yancey tells the story of a prodigal daughter who grows up in Traverse City, Michigan. Disgusted with her old fashioned parents who overreact to her nose ring, the music she listens to, the length of her skirts, she runs away. She ends up in Detroit where she meets a man who drives the biggest car she’s ever seen. The man with the big car – she calls him “Boss” – recognizes that since she’s underage, men would pay premium for her. So she goes to work for him. Things are good for a while. Life is good. But she gets sick for a few days, and it amazes her how quickly the boss turns mean. Before she knows it, she’s out on the street without a penny to her name. She still turns a couple of tricks a night, and all the money goes to support her drug habit.

One night while sleeping on the metal grates of the city, she began to feel less like a woman of the world and more like a little girl. She begins to whimper. “God, why did I leave? My dog back home eats better than I do now.” She knows that more than anything in the world, she wants to go home. Three straight calls home get three straight connections with the answering machine. Finally she leaves a message. “Mom, dad, it’s me. I was wondering about maybe coming home. I’m catching a bus up your way, and it’ll get there about midnight tomorrow. If you’re not there, I‘ll understand.” During the seven hour bus ride, she’s preparing a speech for her father. And when the bus comes to a stop in the Traverse City station, the driver announces the fifteen-minute stop. Fifteen minutes to decide her life.

She walks into the terminal not knowing what to expect. But not one of the thousand scenes that have played out in her mind prepares her for what she sees. There in the bus terminal in Traverse City, Michigan, stands a group of forty brothers and sisters and great-aunts and uncles and cousins and a grandmother and a great-grandmother to boot. They’re all wearing goofy party hats and blowing noise-makers, and taped across the entire wall of the terminal is a computer-generated banner that reads – Welcome Home!

Out of the crowd of well-wishers breaks her dad. She stares out through the tears quivering in her eyes and begins her memorized speech. He interrupts her. “Hush, child. We’ve got no time for that. No time for apologies. We’ll be late. A big party is waiting for you at home.”

He was not condemning. He was not condoning. He was forgiving and restoring. That is what the church needs to do. That is what it means t be a follower of Jesus Christ!

5. If some is caught in a sin.
Forgiveness
Grace
Humility
Lifestyle- be saved
Christian, restore him gently, Watch yourself.