1 00:00:02,320 --> 00:00:07,040 We're going to turn this morning God's word to John chapter 8. 2 00:00:20,130 --> 00:00:22,730 John chapter 8. We're going to read verses one 3 00:00:22,730 --> 00:00:29,810 through to 11. Let's hear God's word. 4 00:00:35,580 --> 00:00:42,640 John chapter 8, verse one. Jesus went unto the Mount of 5 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:48,040 Olives, and early in the morning he came again into the temple. 6 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,480 And all the people came unto him, and he sat down and taught 7 00:00:53,480 --> 00:00:56,800 them. And the scribes and Pharisees 8 00:00:56,800 --> 00:00:59,480 brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. 9 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:04,519 And when they had set her in the midst, they say unto him, 10 00:01:05,160 --> 00:01:10,280 Master, this woman was taken in adultery in the very act. 11 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:16,480 Now Moses and the Law commanded us that such should be stoned. 12 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:23,240 But what sayest thy This they said, tempting him, that they 13 00:01:23,240 --> 00:01:29,040 might have to accuse him. But Jesus stepped down, and with 14 00:01:29,040 --> 00:01:33,080 his finger wrote in the ground, as though we heard them not. 15 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:38,280 So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and 16 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:43,640 said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him 17 00:01:43,640 --> 00:01:48,400 first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and 18 00:01:48,520 --> 00:01:53,040 wrote in the grind. And they which heard it, being 19 00:01:53,040 --> 00:01:57,880 convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, 20 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:01,640 beginning at the Elvis even unto the last. 21 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:07,080 Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 22 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:12,080 When Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, he 23 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:16,720 said unto her, Woman, where are thine accusers? 24 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:24,160 Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord, And 25 00:02:24,200 --> 00:02:28,880 Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee. 26 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:34,680 Go, and sin no more, Amen. We know the Lord will stamp with 27 00:02:34,680 --> 00:02:37,960 his own approval and blessing, this reading of His own precious 28 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:46,080 and infallible word. Now my text this morning is 29 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:50,120 taken from John chapter 8 and verse 9. 30 00:02:51,640 --> 00:02:53,960 And it reads. And they which heard it, being 31 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:57,640 convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, 32 00:02:57,640 --> 00:03:00,040 beginning at the eldest even unto the last. 33 00:03:00,360 --> 00:03:04,920 And Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. 34 00:03:04,920 --> 00:03:10,880 I've entitled this message the Christian, and understanding 35 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:16,080 one's conscience. Now it is my intention to preach 36 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:20,160 2 more subjects from the Christian, And one has to do 37 00:03:20,160 --> 00:03:23,760 with the worship of God, and the other with baptism. 38 00:03:23,920 --> 00:03:27,720 And at that then we leave off that particular study. 39 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:32,520 But during the past week there was one word that came into my 40 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:37,280 mind that pressed itself upon me, and it was the word 41 00:03:37,960 --> 00:03:41,200 conscience. And you'll notice that word 42 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:46,600 conscience in the text. The contextual setting here is a 43 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:52,160 very solemn 1. Early one morning the Lord Jesus 44 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:55,960 came into the temple. Many people came unto him, and 45 00:03:55,960 --> 00:04:01,200 he sat down to teach them, And suddenly the sermon or the 46 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:06,600 lecture was interrupted by a group of religious men, scribes 47 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:12,800 and Pharisees, who brought before Christ a poor woman, they 48 00:04:12,800 --> 00:04:15,720 alleged, taken in the act of adultery. 49 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:20,680 Now think of this woman standing in the midst of her accusers 50 00:04:20,680 --> 00:04:24,240 before Christ to trap the Saviour. 51 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:29,640 They remind him what Moses had commanded in the law, that such 52 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:34,000 an one should be stoned to death, that they asked him, But 53 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:42,560 what sayest thy verse 5. Now if Christ had said no to 54 00:04:42,560 --> 00:04:47,560 stoning her, they would have accused him of overlooking sin, 55 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:51,480 setting aside the law. And if he had said, well that's 56 00:04:51,480 --> 00:04:55,800 a great idea, go ahead. They would have accused him of 57 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:59,720 usurping the power of the Roman authorities. 58 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:04,200 You see this was a catch 22 situation for Christ. 59 00:05:04,480 --> 00:05:08,400 It was as if the Saviour was between a rock and a hard place. 60 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:15,240 Look at John chapter 8 verse 6. But this they said, tempting 61 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:19,560 him, that they might have to accuse him. 62 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:26,120 Now what did the Lord Jesus do? Look again at verse 6. 63 00:05:26,680 --> 00:05:33,360 It tells us here that He scooped down, and with His finger root 64 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:36,800 in the ground, as if He had not heard them. 65 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:40,960 And in their rage and malice they pressed them for an answer. 66 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:48,000 So Christ then straightened up Himself, and said a very heart 67 00:05:48,000 --> 00:05:52,600 searching thing to them, He that is without sin among you, let 68 00:05:52,600 --> 00:05:57,520 him first cast a stone at her. John 8 and 7B. 69 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:01,160 Then for a second time he wrote in the ground. 70 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:03,880 Now what did He write? We don't know. 71 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:08,400 The scripture said it is possible that he wrote out the 72 00:06:08,400 --> 00:06:12,400 7th commandment. Thy shall not commit adultery. 73 00:06:13,280 --> 00:06:18,440 Now look with me at verse 9. And they which heard it, being 74 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:21,800 convicted by their own conscience, went out of the 75 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:26,800 temple. 1 by 1 you can see them going, beginning at the eldest, 76 00:06:27,200 --> 00:06:31,800 even until the last. The Bible tells us that Jesus 77 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:38,400 was left alone with the woman, the woman standing in the midst. 78 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:43,360 Now what triggered their departure from the temple? 79 00:06:43,800 --> 00:06:49,480 Remember these were religious men, self important men. 80 00:06:50,920 --> 00:06:53,400 Why did they leave the Saviour's presence? 81 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:58,560 Why did not one of them first cast a stone at the woman? 82 00:06:58,640 --> 00:07:01,760 And the text give the answer verse 9. 83 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:05,840 And they which heard it being convicted by their own 84 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:10,960 conscience. Now the word conscience is the 85 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:14,080 word that I want to deal with today. 86 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:19,840 I've called the message the Christian and understanding 87 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:21,920 one's conscience. Did you know there's 30 88 00:07:21,920 --> 00:07:24,240 references to the word conscience? 89 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:26,080 They're all in the New Testament. 90 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:30,040 The first reference is John chapter 8 verse 9. 91 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:35,000 Here's the law of first mention. And the last reference is first 92 00:07:35,000 --> 00:07:39,680 Peter chapter 3 verse 21. And the like figure were unto 93 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:44,000 even baptism doth also Now you save us not the putting away of 94 00:07:44,000 --> 00:07:47,920 the filth of the flesh, but the answer for good conscience by 95 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:51,120 the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 96 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:56,920 And in between there are 28 other references to the word 97 00:07:56,920 --> 00:07:59,640 conscience. Now the word conscience in the 98 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:07,520 English and in the Greek simply means this, a shared knowledge. 99 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:11,080 And as I thought of the word conscience, I wrote down in a 100 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:14,680 piece of paper 4 things during the week. 101 00:08:15,280 --> 00:08:20,520 Here's the first one, the acknowledgement of 1's 102 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:24,400 conscience. Notice the word being convicted 103 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:31,320 by their own conscience. You see, every one of us made in 104 00:08:31,520 --> 00:08:35,320 the image of God, created by him, is made with a faculty 105 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:40,440 called conscience, that the conscience has been called the 106 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:44,800 monitor of God in the soul of manner, or God's internal 107 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:50,520 monitor, or God's arbiter. Each one of us today has a moral 108 00:08:50,520 --> 00:08:56,080 conscience, and when the Bible speaks of conscience, it speaks 109 00:08:56,080 --> 00:09:03,080 of being with a knowledge or having a shared knowledge, and 110 00:09:03,080 --> 00:09:07,720 that is Speaking of a faculty that is a big part of who we 111 00:09:07,720 --> 00:09:12,120 really are. It is God's given guide to teach 112 00:09:12,320 --> 00:09:15,920 and to tell us what is right and wrong, what is good and bad. 113 00:09:15,920 --> 00:09:20,160 If I give you a dictionary definition, it's a part of you 114 00:09:20,240 --> 00:09:25,360 that judges how moral your actions are, either good or bad. 115 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:30,520 But according to the Bible, conscience is that inward 116 00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:36,600 monitor that alerts us when we attempt or aim to do something 117 00:09:36,600 --> 00:09:42,240 that's contrary to God's law. You see, our conscience lays 118 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:45,720 bare our guilt because of sin and law. 119 00:09:45,720 --> 00:09:52,440 Breaking our conscience awakens us to the need and reality of 120 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:57,800 accountability. Our conscience brings to the 121 00:09:57,800 --> 00:10:03,560 fore that thought that we have a moral obligation to the moral 122 00:10:03,560 --> 00:10:06,880 governor of the universe or to the lawgiver. 123 00:10:07,880 --> 00:10:11,560 In other words, it's a part of human DNA. 124 00:10:13,320 --> 00:10:17,000 Conscience was gifted and bestowed upon us at creation, 125 00:10:17,680 --> 00:10:21,800 and it acts like God's policeman or God's judge. 126 00:10:21,880 --> 00:10:25,760 Think with me of a heart monitor in the hospital ward. 127 00:10:26,680 --> 00:10:29,960 You're geared up to the heart monitor. 128 00:10:29,960 --> 00:10:31,440 And what's the heart monitor doing? 129 00:10:31,560 --> 00:10:34,920 Well, it's measuring the heart. It's seeing if it's beating too 130 00:10:34,920 --> 00:10:39,360 slow or beating too fast, or whether it's got an irregular 131 00:10:39,360 --> 00:10:43,680 heartbeat or, or possibly there's even a blockage there or 132 00:10:43,680 --> 00:10:45,520 some sort of damage to the heart. 133 00:10:45,840 --> 00:10:49,280 And it it provides the information about the state and 134 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:52,520 condition of the heart to the doctors and the nurses who are 135 00:10:52,600 --> 00:10:56,960 looking after you. Well, you see, the conscience is 136 00:10:56,960 --> 00:10:59,240 like the heart monitor of the soul. 137 00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:02,480 It's the monitor of God in the human soul. 138 00:11:02,600 --> 00:11:06,280 It monitors what's taking place in your life and in your heart 139 00:11:06,400 --> 00:11:08,000 and in your mind and in your soul. 140 00:11:08,160 --> 00:11:11,560 And let me state this morning, your conscience will either 141 00:11:11,560 --> 00:11:16,560 accuse you because it disapproves of many things, 142 00:11:18,200 --> 00:11:20,760 things that are violations of God's law. 143 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:27,280 You'll be left with the feeling of guilt, knowledgement of sin 144 00:11:28,120 --> 00:11:32,920 or your conscience can acquit you and you can delight in 145 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:37,280 really having a good and clear conscience before God. 146 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:42,280 Remember what Peter says again in first Peter chapter 3 verse 147 00:11:42,320 --> 00:11:45,560 16. It says having a good conscience 148 00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:49,840 that whereas they speak evil of you as of evildoers, they may be 149 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:54,160 a shame that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. 150 00:11:54,160 --> 00:11:56,520 Now your conscience of course, is that part of you that's 151 00:11:56,520 --> 00:12:02,640 unseen, but it is there in reality the acknowledgement of 152 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:07,080 1's conscience. Now you've heard the saying and 153 00:12:07,120 --> 00:12:10,080 this was talked about in society, let conscience be your 154 00:12:10,080 --> 00:12:12,640 guide. Now that's not bad advice. 155 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:15,520 We we'd even go as far as saying that's good advice. 156 00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:19,600 Let conscience be your guide, to guide you what is bad and good, 157 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:22,680 to guide you what is true and false. 158 00:12:23,760 --> 00:12:28,520 But it's only partly right. You see, I agree that none of us 159 00:12:28,520 --> 00:12:33,920 should violate one's conscience. It's a real guide. 160 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:40,200 It's a reliable guide. But living by your conscience is 161 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:42,800 not enough. Why? 162 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:49,800 Because it's not a an absolute guide, it's not an infallible 163 00:12:49,800 --> 00:12:56,040 guide. Our conscience, my conscience, 164 00:12:56,040 --> 00:13:01,920 your conscience must be shaped, nurtured, guided and checked by 165 00:13:01,920 --> 00:13:05,240 the Word of God. Because only the Holy Scriptures 166 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,920 reveals the true and holy standards of what is right and 167 00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:12,840 wrong, good and bad. And I fear this morning the 168 00:13:12,840 --> 00:13:18,240 United Kingdom and this province of Ulster is culturally adrift 169 00:13:19,320 --> 00:13:22,800 when it comes to the absolute code of what is right and wrong. 170 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:28,600 The majority today refused to live by the Holy Scriptures, 171 00:13:29,240 --> 00:13:34,320 even though we're told in Matthew chapter 4, verse four, 172 00:13:34,320 --> 00:13:37,200 man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word but 173 00:13:37,200 --> 00:13:43,240 proceedeth from the word of God. And sadly, we're in a day when 174 00:13:43,240 --> 00:13:46,320 people call good bad and bad good. 175 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:51,320 We live in a day whenever we reward the rule breaker, the 176 00:13:51,320 --> 00:13:58,960 thief, the rapist, the murderer. We reject the rule maker, 177 00:13:59,800 --> 00:14:05,800 ultimately God, as the governor of the universe, and we ridicule 178 00:14:05,800 --> 00:14:09,240 and laugh to scorn the rule keeper. 179 00:14:10,200 --> 00:14:13,720 Let me give an illustration. I want you to think of a crash. 180 00:14:15,560 --> 00:14:19,040 I want you to think of a Nate Lane Highway in Miami. 181 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:23,880 I want you to think of a a Brinks Bank armoured truck 182 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:31,000 that's carrying loads of paper dollars and loads of coins 10s 183 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:39,440 of thousands of pounds worth. The crashes left the driver and 184 00:14:39,440 --> 00:14:43,280 the Brinks officer on board lying dying at the side of the 185 00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:45,320 road. They're bleeding and they're 186 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,800 bruised. It's rush hour traffic, and all 187 00:14:48,800 --> 00:14:52,760 of a sudden this traffic stops. People get out of their cars. 188 00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:56,080 Not to go over to where the two men are dying, bleeding and 189 00:14:56,080 --> 00:15:00,760 bruised, but they're thinking about the bills and the coins 190 00:15:00,760 --> 00:15:04,200 that are flying in the air and thousands stopped to scoop up 191 00:15:04,200 --> 00:15:08,480 the cash. Here was the attitude. 192 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:13,520 Rationalisation took hold. My children are poor. 193 00:15:13,800 --> 00:15:15,480 They're they're not going to starve. 194 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:18,800 Other people said well, well, the Lord let it happen. 195 00:15:19,000 --> 00:15:22,920 It's a treat from heaven. There's lots of poverty in this 196 00:15:22,920 --> 00:15:24,520 area. It's a miracle. 197 00:15:25,720 --> 00:15:31,200 But it wasn't a treat. It was a test, a test of 198 00:15:31,200 --> 00:15:34,680 character. And a firefighter who collected 199 00:15:34,680 --> 00:15:41,720 something like $330,000 that day in a bag said this, that the 200 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:47,200 rich, the poor, the middle class, everyone has a 201 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:50,720 conscience. There was only a few that day 202 00:15:50,720 --> 00:15:54,000 that came to return the money to the police station. 203 00:15:54,880 --> 00:15:58,680 A fame McFadden, a woman who worked in a department store for 204 00:15:58,680 --> 00:16:04,280 $5.00 an hour, she would did return some money. 205 00:16:04,920 --> 00:16:10,400 A little boy returned $0.90 that he had collected, but there were 206 00:16:10,400 --> 00:16:17,200 so very few returned that money. You see, each of us has a 207 00:16:17,200 --> 00:16:20,360 conscience. Each of us have felt that 208 00:16:20,360 --> 00:16:27,240 conscience working. Especially this is true when we 209 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:32,080 do say and things that are contrary to the law of God. 210 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:34,040 Remember God's law is written in our heart. 211 00:16:34,040 --> 00:16:37,720 It was not the teaching of the apostle Paul in Romans chapter 212 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:41,840 2. He says this in verse 14. 213 00:16:42,120 --> 00:16:45,520 For when the Gentiles which have not the law, do by nature the 214 00:16:45,520 --> 00:16:48,880 things contained in the law, these having not the law or a 215 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:52,360 law unto themselves, which show the work of the law written in 216 00:16:52,360 --> 00:16:56,240 their hearts, listen to this, their conscience also bearing 217 00:16:56,240 --> 00:17:00,360 witness, and their thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else 218 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:06,760 excusing one another. That's true of us all, rich, 219 00:17:06,839 --> 00:17:12,920 poor, young or old, irrespective of culture, plea country that 220 00:17:12,920 --> 00:17:17,240 you're from colour of her skin. See, the law of God is written 221 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:23,000 in our hearts and our conscience knows full well the high and 222 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:25,800 holy standard that God's holy law demands. 223 00:17:25,920 --> 00:17:29,200 We know in our conscience what is right and wrong, but so often 224 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:31,160 we're like the people in the midst of that Christ. 225 00:17:31,240 --> 00:17:35,200 We rationalise this is a treat from heaven. 226 00:17:35,200 --> 00:17:37,640 No, it wasn't. It was a test, a test of their 227 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:43,160 character, a test would they bow the need a holy Scripture that 228 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:48,080 said thou shall not steal a, a, a, a test to to go to the dying 229 00:17:48,080 --> 00:17:52,440 man and, and to see to them before they would think about 230 00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:58,640 the dollar bill floating in the air or the coins sprinkling on 231 00:17:58,640 --> 00:18:02,040 the ground. That's the acknowledgement of 232 00:18:02,400 --> 00:18:05,080 1's conscience. I want you to think secondly, to 233 00:18:05,080 --> 00:18:11,240 go back to our text, the awakening of their conscience. 234 00:18:11,280 --> 00:18:15,400 You see, according to this text, we have some men, scribes and 235 00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,920 Pharisees. They're called, it says, and 236 00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:21,880 they which heard it, being convicted by their own 237 00:18:21,880 --> 00:18:28,800 conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest even 238 00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:33,720 unto the last. You see, John Bunyan called 239 00:18:33,720 --> 00:18:41,240 conscience, Mr Recorder. In other words, conscience 240 00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:48,480 stores a record of our sins against God, and every time we 241 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:52,360 have broken God's law and thought, word and deed, every 242 00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:56,240 time we have dishonoured and profaned His holy name, every 243 00:18:56,240 --> 00:19:01,720 time we have violated His divine justice and holiness, conscience 244 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:06,200 has a record of that. Conscience has a record of every 245 00:19:06,200 --> 00:19:10,960 one of your sins, and mine and thought, word and deed, and not 246 00:19:10,960 --> 00:19:17,960 one has been forgotten. Things done years ago, things 247 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:24,200 done and said in secret, things done and said in the darkness, 248 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:29,360 things done and said in the open, things that we no longer 249 00:19:29,360 --> 00:19:38,880 are ashamed of or blush over. All will awaken, all will rise 250 00:19:38,880 --> 00:19:46,800 up, and all will bear witness to accuse us or acquit us on that 251 00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:49,800 last day. Things that long forgotten. 252 00:19:50,320 --> 00:19:53,400 Let me illustrate again. Think of our computers that we 253 00:19:53,400 --> 00:19:56,880 use now. Oftentimes when we use the 254 00:19:56,880 --> 00:20:03,520 computer, we can erase or delete some part of our history and we 255 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:06,360 think it's gone. I I do that regularly, probably 256 00:20:06,360 --> 00:20:09,720 about once a week. But I'm well aware that even 257 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:13,120 when I click the little button and it says that they, they, the 258 00:20:13,120 --> 00:20:18,320 history has been cleared, that some tech guy that they like a 259 00:20:18,320 --> 00:20:27,480 mark down there, he could take the computer and he using his 260 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:34,440 technological skills would be able to inform me that that 261 00:20:34,440 --> 00:20:38,080 history and that memory is still there. 262 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:42,960 You see, if you have the skill and know how to retain and 263 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:46,440 recover data, you can bring it to the fore. 264 00:20:46,560 --> 00:20:52,520 The police are able to do that. And these men, these men were 265 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:57,400 convicted by their conscience. What have they heard the Lord 266 00:20:57,440 --> 00:21:00,480 Jesus say? He that is without sin among 267 00:21:00,480 --> 00:21:04,600 you, let him first cast a stone at her. 268 00:21:06,960 --> 00:21:11,120 Why did they depart? Why did none of them stand their 269 00:21:11,120 --> 00:21:13,880 ground, having accused her of being taken in the act of 270 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:18,320 adultery? Why did they not stone her? 271 00:21:19,040 --> 00:21:22,520 Here's the answer. They were convicted of a great 272 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:27,880 sin. And it's possible that even some 273 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:31,480 of these men who were there were guilty of adultery themselves. 274 00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,440 And it's possible, and that's the view of the commentators, JC 275 00:21:35,440 --> 00:21:39,040 Ryle, John Gill, and a whole host of others, that what the 276 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:42,880 Lord Jesus did when he wrote in the ground was right out in 277 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:48,000 Hebrew, the 7th commandment. And these were religious men, 278 00:21:48,480 --> 00:21:51,840 respectable men, but they were guilty of a great sin. 279 00:21:51,920 --> 00:21:55,400 And one of those sins may have been the sin of adultery. 280 00:21:56,080 --> 00:21:58,840 And in their heart and mind, there was a, a feeling of guilt 281 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:02,360 and shame come to the fore. It'd been, it'd been awakened in 282 00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:07,720 the end for, for a long time, their conscience was silenced. 283 00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:12,480 And you know, for a long time, conscience can be largely 284 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:16,800 silenced. Conscience can be suppressed. 285 00:22:17,320 --> 00:22:21,440 Let me suggest this morning Genesis chapter 42. 286 00:22:23,040 --> 00:22:29,200 Here's Joseph's brothers arrive in Egypt, and God uses a series 287 00:22:29,200 --> 00:22:37,200 of events to awaken the silent, sleepy, suppressed conscience of 288 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:41,560 Joseph's brothers. For 22 years they had papered 289 00:22:41,560 --> 00:22:45,960 over a guilty conscience, their brother Joseph, out of sight, 290 00:22:46,640 --> 00:22:51,840 out of mind. They they told themselves, they 291 00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:56,960 assured others he was dead. They promoted the lie. 292 00:22:57,440 --> 00:23:00,400 They'd said it often enough, it just ruled off their lips. 293 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:06,600 But for all that time they had papered over a guilty 294 00:23:06,600 --> 00:23:08,840 conscience, life was comfortable. 295 00:23:09,920 --> 00:23:13,720 And then God started the work. What happened? 296 00:23:14,120 --> 00:23:15,800 Well, there was a bit of raw treatment. 297 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:21,720 The presence of a severe famine in the land of Canaan, Jacob 298 00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:26,720 said to his sons go to Egypt. And the very mention of the name 299 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,600 Egypt awoke their conscience because they remembered they 300 00:23:30,600 --> 00:23:33,760 sold their brother to the Midianites who were heading to 301 00:23:33,760 --> 00:23:36,440 Egypt. And their face was a look of 302 00:23:36,440 --> 00:23:38,960 fear and dread. And you can see that there from 303 00:23:39,200 --> 00:23:43,920 Genesis chapter 42 and in the verse one, not only was there 304 00:23:43,920 --> 00:23:46,280 raw treatment, but I believe, as I said on Wednesday night, there 305 00:23:46,280 --> 00:23:50,120 was reciprocal treatment. When they arrived in Egypt to 306 00:23:50,120 --> 00:23:54,120 see their brother Joseph. He knew them. 307 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:58,040 They didn't know him. What's the first thing he did? 308 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:02,240 He accused him of being spies. He spoke roughly to them. 309 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:05,560 Why did he accuse him of being spies? 310 00:24:06,200 --> 00:24:09,720 Because he remembered the last time when he saw his brothers 311 00:24:09,720 --> 00:24:13,280 face to face when he come to them bringing food to see how 312 00:24:13,280 --> 00:24:15,480 they were doing in the land of Dauphin. 313 00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:19,400 Remember, they said, here's the dreamer cometh. 314 00:24:20,080 --> 00:24:24,200 He's come to spy on us. He's come to tell Daddy about 315 00:24:24,200 --> 00:24:27,760 all our bad things that we're doing and all the evil words 316 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:32,920 that we have been speaking. He accused him of being spies. 317 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:34,560 You see, this is reciprocal treatment. 318 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:38,520 And not only that, they put Joseph into a pit, remember? 319 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:44,920 And what did Joseph do? He put all ten of them in prison 320 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:52,160 for three days, and then when all 10 got out of the prison, 321 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:58,080 Joseph said this nine of you can go home, but one of you will 322 00:24:58,080 --> 00:25:01,680 stay. And the next time you see my 323 00:25:01,680 --> 00:25:07,080 face, you bring your wee brother Benjamin to prove that you're 324 00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:09,600 not spies and to prove you're not lying. 325 00:25:10,680 --> 00:25:16,920 Can you get the picture for 22 years of silence, 22 years of 326 00:25:16,920 --> 00:25:20,440 covering up their sin? You see, when that prison door 327 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:24,480 opened, this is what they said. Listen to these words, and they 328 00:25:24,480 --> 00:25:27,840 said one to another. They remember 22 years of 329 00:25:27,840 --> 00:25:29,920 silence, suppressing their conscience. 330 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:34,880 We are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the 331 00:25:34,920 --> 00:25:38,160 anguish of his soul when he besought us, and we would not 332 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:40,800 hear. Therefore is this distress come 333 00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,640 upon us. And Reuben answered them, 334 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:47,400 saying, Spake I not unto you, saying, Do not sin against the 335 00:25:47,400 --> 00:25:52,480 child, and ye would not hear. Therefore behold also his blood 336 00:25:52,680 --> 00:25:55,520 is required. And the Bible tells us. 337 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:59,640 And they they knew not that Joseph understood them, for he 338 00:25:59,640 --> 00:26:02,680 speak unto them by an interpreter. 339 00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:09,040 They spoke in the Hebrew tongue. Joseph understood what they were 340 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:15,800 saying. God gave them time, time to 341 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:20,320 think, and for three days they obtained to think about their 342 00:26:20,320 --> 00:26:23,080 sin. And at the end of the three days 343 00:26:23,280 --> 00:26:26,080 they confessed that they were guilty, that they obtained to 344 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:30,480 learn that sinners consequences, time to remember God and their 345 00:26:30,480 --> 00:26:34,720 accountability. To them 22 years had passed no 346 00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:38,440 conscience. They had a a desire to kill 347 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:43,360 Joseph that they had no conscience in proposing to sell 348 00:26:43,360 --> 00:26:47,160 them to the Midianites. They had no conscience in 349 00:26:47,280 --> 00:26:51,760 keeping up the lie for 22 years, largely silent and stifled. 350 00:26:53,240 --> 00:26:56,000 Let me say this. I know there's a difference in a 351 00:26:56,000 --> 00:27:01,200 largely silent conference conscience and a totally seared 352 00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:03,360 conscience. A totally seared conscience, as 353 00:27:03,360 --> 00:27:06,200 the Bible talks about as one that's dead. 354 00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:11,640 It has no feeling. It is never troubled, it is 355 00:27:11,640 --> 00:27:18,240 never uneasy. So I want to ask this have you 356 00:27:18,280 --> 00:27:27,280 stifled and silenced your conscience for years? 357 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:32,000 But you feel ashamed of some sin and guilt? 358 00:27:33,280 --> 00:27:39,000 Maybe it's a lust, something on the Internet, maybe you have 359 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:42,640 denied God's existence or denied some cardinal doctrine, or 360 00:27:42,640 --> 00:27:45,920 you've been disobedient to God's word in some particular area. 361 00:27:46,400 --> 00:27:50,000 And you see many live like that, an open sin and defiance of God. 362 00:27:50,200 --> 00:27:53,200 And that couldn't go on for twenty, 30-40 years. 363 00:27:53,360 --> 00:27:54,720 And, and they won't talk about it. 364 00:27:54,840 --> 00:27:58,440 And it's as if they've been drugged and, and, and, and and 365 00:27:58,680 --> 00:28:02,320 duped as far as their conscience is concerned, Largely silent, 366 00:28:02,320 --> 00:28:05,160 largely suppressed, but not completely. 367 00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:11,200 And then all of a sudden, this largely silenced and stifled 368 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:18,040 conscience, this comes to the fore, and there's an awakening 369 00:28:18,560 --> 00:28:22,640 of the conscience. Is your conscience awakened this 370 00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:28,600 morning like Joseph's brothers? Are you convinced and convicted 371 00:28:28,600 --> 00:28:32,640 of your own sin? Are you aware that your 372 00:28:32,640 --> 00:28:35,880 conscience has come to life? See, many don't want to face up 373 00:28:35,880 --> 00:28:38,520 to it. Belshazzar, didn't he? 374 00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:41,280 There was no cry for mercy whenever the hand wrote on the 375 00:28:41,280 --> 00:28:44,760 plister of the wall there, there was no thought. 376 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:47,400 Pray for me. No, no, He went on with the 377 00:28:47,400 --> 00:28:48,960 party. Remember Pilot. 378 00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:51,440 Pilot. He called for a basin of water, 379 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:56,840 tried to silence his conscience. Some have a seared conscience. 380 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:03,040 It's difference. Silencing your conscience, 381 00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:08,000 stifling your conscience. I want you to say thirdly and 382 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:11,960 quickly here, the accusation of 1's conscience. 383 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:19,440 We could ask the question here, what was the chief cause of 384 00:29:19,440 --> 00:29:23,360 these men's conscience to stir and awaken at this time? 385 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:28,080 What caused it to come to life? What caused it to begin to 386 00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:30,760 accuse them? Where they felt guilty in their 387 00:29:30,760 --> 00:29:34,560 heart when they felt a sense of shame, but when they sense a 388 00:29:34,560 --> 00:29:37,520 felt of fear, and not one of them could throw a stone at the 389 00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:41,560 woman, what caused their conscience to awaken? 390 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:45,520 Let me suggest to you very quickly here, it was the 391 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:50,640 presence of Christ, it says, and Jesus was left alone. 392 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:54,960 You want to think of Christ in the midst They were face to face 393 00:29:54,960 --> 00:29:57,200 with Christ. He hears the one who searches 394 00:29:57,200 --> 00:29:59,360 the heart. Jeremiah said the heart is 395 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:01,640 deceitful and above all things desperately wicked. 396 00:30:01,920 --> 00:30:06,560 Who can know it? Who can look into the human 397 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:11,200 heart like the Lord Jesus? Who can read the thoughts in 398 00:30:11,200 --> 00:30:14,600 your mind? Who can look you in the eye? 399 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:17,040 You see the Lord Jesus is present now. 400 00:30:17,600 --> 00:30:19,760 He's meeting with us here. He's looking at you. 401 00:30:21,000 --> 00:30:23,880 The Lord Jesus will be present when you die and stand at the 402 00:30:23,880 --> 00:30:27,440 judgement. The Lord Jesus will be present 403 00:30:28,120 --> 00:30:31,200 whenever you meet him face to face in the judgement. 404 00:30:31,760 --> 00:30:34,400 And he can say, I know all about you because he knows now. 405 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:40,160 And if you feel that sense of shame and sense of wrongdoing 406 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:45,160 that fills your heart and mind and you're, you're saddened now 407 00:30:46,320 --> 00:30:49,640 and your conscience is awake, then you need to repent and 408 00:30:49,640 --> 00:30:52,760 believe in Christ. You, you need to turn to him. 409 00:30:54,040 --> 00:30:56,360 Think not only of the presence of Christ, but think of the 410 00:30:56,360 --> 00:30:58,520 preaching of Christ. What did he say? 411 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:02,320 He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone 412 00:31:02,320 --> 00:31:04,880 at her. God has spoken. 413 00:31:05,640 --> 00:31:09,480 It was the word of God, the Bible says, and they which heard 414 00:31:09,480 --> 00:31:12,960 it, you see, there was the preaching of Christ here. 415 00:31:13,680 --> 00:31:17,440 The Word of God was used to quicken their conscience. 416 00:31:17,800 --> 00:31:20,760 And remember what we read in the book of Hebrews, in Hebrews 417 00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:24,640 chapter 4 and verse 12, Speaking of the Word of God. 418 00:31:25,640 --> 00:31:28,760 For the Word of God is quick. That means it's alive and 419 00:31:28,760 --> 00:31:32,680 powerful and sharper than 92 edged sword, piercing even into 420 00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,440 dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and 421 00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:38,560 marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the 422 00:31:38,560 --> 00:31:41,000 heart. Remember Peter preached in the 423 00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:46,360 day of Pentecost, Acts chapter 2 verse 37, Peter full of the Holy 424 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:50,280 Ghost, preaching Christ, his death on the cross, preaching 425 00:31:50,280 --> 00:31:53,240 his resurrection. And he said this to those that 426 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:56,400 were listening, him whom ye crucified. 427 00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:00,040 And the word of God came with great power and, and they felt 428 00:32:00,040 --> 00:32:03,760 deep conviction and they cried out, what must we do? 429 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:07,320 And he urged them to repent because they were pricked in 430 00:32:07,320 --> 00:32:11,560 their heart, and to put their faith and trust in Christ as 431 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:15,720 Lord and Redeemer. In Acts chapter 2 and verse 37, 432 00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:17,800 it says, Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their 433 00:32:17,800 --> 00:32:20,560 heart and said unto Peter, and to the rest of the apostles, men 434 00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:23,640 and brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said unto them, 435 00:32:23,640 --> 00:32:27,160 repent, be baptised everyone of you, in the name of the Lord 436 00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:30,400 Jesus. For the remission of sins, you 437 00:32:30,400 --> 00:32:33,240 shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 438 00:32:33,280 --> 00:32:35,800 But think also of this this morning, the power of Christ. 439 00:32:35,800 --> 00:32:40,320 Here you see, I believe the power of the Holy Spirit was at 440 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:43,680 work. This was a Spirit anointed 441 00:32:43,680 --> 00:32:50,240 sermon over there in John's gospel, in John chapter 16, and 442 00:32:50,240 --> 00:32:54,800 we read in verse 8. And when he has come, that's the 443 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:57,360 Holy Spirit. He will reprove the world of sin 444 00:32:57,360 --> 00:32:59,160 and of righteousness and of judgement. 445 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:03,080 Reprove the word of three things, sin, righteousness, and 446 00:33:03,080 --> 00:33:05,000 judgement of sin because they believe not in me, Of 447 00:33:05,000 --> 00:33:08,000 righteousness because I go to my Father and you see me no more. 448 00:33:08,120 --> 00:33:12,160 Of judgement because the Prince of this world is judged. 449 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:22,320 Their conscience accused them about their sin, this great sin 450 00:33:22,320 --> 00:33:27,040 that they'd committed, because the power of the Spirit was at 451 00:33:27,040 --> 00:33:30,160 work, as well as the presence of Christ and the preaching of 452 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:32,680 Christ. But it was the power of Christ 453 00:33:32,680 --> 00:33:39,480 in the Spirit in the Shakespeare play, Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare 454 00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:44,320 plays called Macbeth. Whenever there was the murder of 455 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:49,720 King Duncan, she couldn't sleep and she rose in the night to 456 00:33:49,720 --> 00:33:53,960 wash her hands, and she would dip her hands in a basin of 457 00:33:53,960 --> 00:33:58,200 water for 15 minutes and sometimes for 30 minutes. 458 00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:00,960 And she kept looking at her hands and she could see the 459 00:34:00,960 --> 00:34:03,560 stain of the blood that was there. 460 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:08,719 Her doctor tried to help her. Her lady in waiting tried to 461 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:13,480 help her, but her mind was impacted with a terrible sense 462 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:18,880 of guilt. She was guilty and it was 463 00:34:18,880 --> 00:34:28,520 terrifying to watch. In 1859, many boys and girls at 464 00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:35,080 school, many men in working in fields, some in carried off here 465 00:34:35,080 --> 00:34:38,360 in the cobbled courtyard outside the Orthodox Presbyterian 466 00:34:38,360 --> 00:34:41,360 Church, people in their homes and their factories. 467 00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:46,400 The fear of God came upon them and the first thing they became 468 00:34:46,400 --> 00:34:50,040 aware of was their sin. And even the children at Irish 469 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:52,360 Society School behind the wall were crying. 470 00:34:52,560 --> 00:34:56,560 Oh, my sin, my sin. What had happened? 471 00:34:57,080 --> 00:34:59,880 There was an accusation of 1's conscience. 472 00:35:00,040 --> 00:35:03,640 Something of the presence of Christ, the preaching and the 473 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:09,440 power of Christ and the Spirit caused them to feel a need, an 474 00:35:09,440 --> 00:35:12,960 impulse, a desire. I must get right with God. 475 00:35:13,200 --> 00:35:17,400 I need the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, one final thing. 476 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:18,960 This morning you've been very patient. 477 00:35:20,160 --> 00:35:22,680 Think of the acquittal of 1's conscience. 478 00:35:23,720 --> 00:35:26,680 See, let me ask this question and it's this. 479 00:35:27,640 --> 00:35:33,120 If these men have asked where can a guilty conscience find 480 00:35:33,120 --> 00:35:39,440 peace, we would have to say to them peace through the preaching 481 00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:43,160 of the cross. Remember what we read there in 482 00:35:43,160 --> 00:35:47,840 the book of Corinthians, in First Corinthians chapter 1 and 483 00:35:47,840 --> 00:35:52,120 in the verse 21. The apostle Paul says this. 484 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:57,560 For after that and the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom, you 485 00:35:57,560 --> 00:36:01,280 not go to please God by the felices of preaching to see of 486 00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:07,680 them that believe. William Gladstone, a great 487 00:36:07,680 --> 00:36:12,240 statesman of a former era and Prime Minister of the United 488 00:36:12,240 --> 00:36:16,960 Kingdom, said this. This thing I have against the 489 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:24,600 clergy in the city and the clergy in the country is this, 490 00:36:25,640 --> 00:36:30,560 that they're not severe enough in their congregation, they're 491 00:36:30,560 --> 00:36:38,360 not sufficiently laying upon their souls and conscience of 492 00:36:38,360 --> 00:36:44,240 their hearts, their moral obligation and the probing of 493 00:36:44,240 --> 00:36:51,320 their heart that brings up their whole life, their whole actions 494 00:36:52,360 --> 00:36:56,720 to the bar of conscience. Now that's what Gladstone said. 495 00:36:58,000 --> 00:37:01,400 He had somewhat against the clergy in the country and in the 496 00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:05,480 city that they weren't preaching and applying the word and a 497 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:09,440 scrutinising effect to bring about real repentance in the 498 00:37:09,440 --> 00:37:12,200 putting away of sin. And that statement come about 499 00:37:12,200 --> 00:37:15,360 actually because of a man called Lord Melbourne. 500 00:37:15,520 --> 00:37:18,800 I don't know if he was a minister of Parliament or not, 501 00:37:19,200 --> 00:37:23,360 but he went out of church one Sunday morning, region near, 502 00:37:23,360 --> 00:37:26,360 took the door from him and he was protesting himself, 503 00:37:26,360 --> 00:37:29,320 supported that church all along. I'll never be going back into 504 00:37:29,320 --> 00:37:31,760 that church. I'll never set foot through it, 505 00:37:31,760 --> 00:37:33,560 not even from a funeral. What? 506 00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:37,600 What on earth happened? The man applied religion to my 507 00:37:37,600 --> 00:37:40,840 life. Well, it's not the job of the 508 00:37:40,840 --> 00:37:44,280 preacher. When we preach the cross, we're 509 00:37:44,280 --> 00:37:47,320 calling for repentance and recognition of sin. 510 00:37:48,560 --> 00:37:52,400 We're calling to kneel at the feet of Christ and receive Him 511 00:37:52,400 --> 00:37:56,600 as Lord and Saviour. I want you to think not only of 512 00:37:56,600 --> 00:37:59,120 the preaching of the cross, but the pardon of the cross. 513 00:37:59,120 --> 00:38:02,120 And with us we finish. Let me give you this text of 514 00:38:02,120 --> 00:38:05,040 Scripture and this illustration over there in the book of 515 00:38:05,040 --> 00:38:08,480 Colossians. In Colossians chapter 1 and in 516 00:38:08,480 --> 00:38:11,960 the verse 20, we read this tremendous statement. 517 00:38:12,120 --> 00:38:17,040 Think of these words. And having made peace through 518 00:38:17,040 --> 00:38:21,000 the blood of his cross, by him, to reconcile all things unto 519 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:23,720 himself, by him, I say, whether there be things in earth or 520 00:38:23,720 --> 00:38:27,280 things in heaven. I want you to think of a young 521 00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:31,480 student. She's a young girl, 1960s in 522 00:38:31,480 --> 00:38:34,280 America. Her name's Anne Parr. 523 00:38:36,560 --> 00:38:41,120 Her student protest was probably about the Vietnam War at that 524 00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:44,440 time. Her involvement deepened in the 525 00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:50,560 student protest and sadly it went into an act of terrorism. 526 00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:54,120 I think it was in Brighton and Massachusetts. 527 00:38:54,120 --> 00:38:57,760 There was a bank robbery. A police officer was shot dead. 528 00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:01,640 Most of the gang was caught and charged with first degree 529 00:39:01,920 --> 00:39:04,720 murder. But there was one lady in the 530 00:39:04,720 --> 00:39:08,800 gang who was never caught. Her name was Anne Parr. 531 00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:13,560 With the help of others, she changed her name, changed her 532 00:39:13,560 --> 00:39:15,800 identity, lived in different parts of the United States of 533 00:39:15,800 --> 00:39:18,760 America. And after, I think it was the 534 00:39:18,760 --> 00:39:24,560 best part of 23 years, the FBI gave up and they closed the 535 00:39:24,560 --> 00:39:26,920 case. They were never going to define 536 00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:29,920 this woman called Anne Park. Nobody knew anything about her 537 00:39:30,080 --> 00:39:33,200 or where she had gone to. They just assumed that she had 538 00:39:33,200 --> 00:39:39,800 left the United States of America altogether when that 539 00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:45,560 woman was middle-aged, 23 years after the event. 540 00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:51,680 She's older now, middle years, maybe wiser. 541 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:55,840 Listen to me as I finish, because I want you to think of 542 00:39:55,840 --> 00:39:59,040 the power of the cross here. I want you to think of the 543 00:39:59,040 --> 00:40:03,040 pardon of the cross. Her conscience stirred. 544 00:40:04,760 --> 00:40:07,840 She couldn't live with herself. She was depressed. 545 00:40:07,840 --> 00:40:11,120 She was on medication. She was deeply troubled. 546 00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:13,800 She couldn't sleep. She went to classes. 547 00:40:13,800 --> 00:40:16,440 She went to counsellors. Nobody could help her. 548 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:20,480 And she said, I'm going crazy here because all she could 549 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:23,640 remember was the bank robbery that had gone wrong and the 550 00:40:23,640 --> 00:40:27,160 murder of a policeman. And she felt and believed she 551 00:40:27,160 --> 00:40:30,280 had blood in her hands. And you know what she did? 552 00:40:30,560 --> 00:40:32,040 She walked into the police station. 553 00:40:33,320 --> 00:40:36,080 She confessed all to the astonished Sergeant. 554 00:40:36,080 --> 00:40:39,040 At the police station. She told them, I'll accept 555 00:40:39,160 --> 00:40:44,080 imprisonment, I'll accept the death penalty if I can find 556 00:40:44,280 --> 00:40:51,040 relief for my conscience. On September 1993 and the 15th 557 00:40:51,040 --> 00:40:56,960 of September, she was convicted of an armed robbery and for 558 00:40:56,960 --> 00:41:00,320 involvement in the killing of a police officer. 559 00:41:01,480 --> 00:41:08,000 The trial was shocking, but this is what she said at her trial. 560 00:41:09,120 --> 00:41:17,760 The death, the murder of the policeman was so shocking that I 561 00:41:17,760 --> 00:41:24,400 cannot any longer excuse my conscience and I'm willing now 562 00:41:24,560 --> 00:41:32,440 to accept my responsibility. She was a guilty striven woman 563 00:41:33,960 --> 00:41:38,760 and did she find relief? Did she find help and peace? 564 00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:44,360 She did and there was only one place through the preaching of 565 00:41:44,360 --> 00:41:49,040 the cross. She found peace at the cross 566 00:41:50,640 --> 00:41:55,400 through the power of the blood, and the Bible tells us this as I 567 00:41:55,400 --> 00:41:59,080 finish. The blood of Jesus Christ His 568 00:41:59,080 --> 00:42:03,400 Son cleanseth us from all sin and no matter what your sin is, 569 00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:07,280 no matter what you've done, even it's the deepest crime, the 570 00:42:07,280 --> 00:42:10,720 vilest offender who truly believes that woman from Jesus a 571 00:42:10,720 --> 00:42:14,040 pardon receives if you come with your guilt, own up to your 572 00:42:14,040 --> 00:42:15,960 responsibility and say Lord have sinned. 573 00:42:15,960 --> 00:42:17,960 I've broken your law. I've done this, I've done that 574 00:42:17,960 --> 00:42:22,600 and kneel at the cross. Don't hide your sin. 575 00:42:23,480 --> 00:42:27,320 Don't cover it up because your conscience will come to the 576 00:42:27,320 --> 00:42:31,440 fore. Discover this morning the 577 00:42:31,440 --> 00:42:35,760 acquittal of your conscience is connected to Christ and His 578 00:42:35,760 --> 00:42:41,440 cross and his blood shedding by the knee to Christ. 579 00:42:42,800 --> 00:42:44,800 Amen. The Lord bless you this morning. 580 00:42:44,800 --> 00:42:45,280 Thank you for.