The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1898-08-03
PARDONED HER.
DR.. Talmage Tells of Christ's Treat
ment of the Erring Woman.
Jesus Wrote on the Ground to illustrate
How the Sins of tho Redeemed Would
be BlOtted Out "A ReproOf
to HypOCrItes.

of the erring woman, taught by Chrlst,
to modern society. The text used is
, John 8: 6: Jesus stopped down and
with his finger wrote on the ground.
You must take your shoes off and
put on the especial slippers provided
at the door if you would enter the
Mohammedan mosque, which stands |
now where once stood Herod's temple,
the scene of my text. Solomon's tenn
pie had stood there, but Nebuchad-
nezzar had thundered it down.
Zerubbabels temple stood there, but
that had been prostrated. Now we
take our places in temple that
Herod built, because he was fond OF
great architecture, and he wanted the
preceding temples to seem insignifi-
cant, Put eight or ten modern ca
thedrals together, and they would
not equal that structure. 1t covered
nineteen acres There were marble
pillars supporting roofs of cedar, and
silver tables, on which stood golden
cups, and inscriptions resplendent,
glittering balustrades and ornamented
gateways. The building of this tenn
pie kept 10000 workmen busy forty
six years.
In that stupendous pile of pomp and
magnifcence sat Christ, and listen
ing throng stood about him when
wild disturbance took place. A group
of men are pulling and pushing about
a woman who had committed crime
against society. When they have
brought her in front of Christ, they
ask that he sentence her to death by
stoning. They are a critical, merci-
less, disingenuous crowd. They want
to get Christ into controversy and
public apprehension. If he say LET
her die" they will charge him with
cruelty. If he let her go, they will
charge him with being in completely
with wickedness. Whichever way he
does, they would howl at him.
Then occurs a scene which has not
been sufficiently regarded. He leaves
the lounge or bench on which he was
sitting, and goes down on one knee, or
both knees, and with the forefinger of
his right hand he begins to write in
the dust of the floor, word after word.
but they were not to be diverted or
hindered. They kept on demanding
that he settle this case of transgres-
sion, until he looked up and told them
that they might themselves begin the
woman's assassination, if the com
plainant who had never done anything
wrong himself would open the fire
$50 ahead, but be sure that the man
who filings the first missile is i'm
maculate." Then he resumed writing
with his finger in the dust of the floor
word after word. Instead of looking
over his shoulder to see what he haC
written, the scoundrels skulked away
Finally, the whole place is clear o
pursuers, antagonists, and plaintiffs
and when Christ has finished thi
strange chirography in the dust 1T
looks up and finds the woman al
alone.
The prisoner is the only one of tn
courtroom left, the judges, the police
the prosecuting attorney having
cleared out. Christ is victor, and h
saws to the woman: "Where are tn
prosecutors in this case? Are they al
gone? Then discharge you; go an
sin no more" / have wondered wha
Christ wrote on that ground. For d
you realize that is the only time tina
he ever wrote at all?
Nv text says he stopped down an
wrote on the ground. Standin
straight up man might write on tn
ground with staff, but if with hi
fingers he would write in the dust h
must bend clear over. Aye, he mus
get at least on one knee, or he cannc
write on the ground. Be not SUI
prsed that he stopped down. Stool
ing down from castle to barn. Stool
ing down from celestial homage
monocratic jeer. From residence aboN
the stars to where a star had to ia
to designate his landing place. Fro
Heavens front door to the world
back gate. From writing in roun
and silvered letters of col
stellation and galaxy on IL
blue scroll of heaven to writing on Il
ground in the dust which the feet
the crowd had left in Herod's tempt
If, in January, you have ever steppt
out of a princes conservatory that hi
Mexican cactus and magnolias in fl
bloom into the outside air, ten degre
below zero, you may get some idea
Christ's change of atmosphere fro
celestial to terrestrial How MAJ
Heavens there are l know not, b
there are at least three, for Paul w
'caught up into the third Heaven"
Christ came down from the highe
Heaven to the second Heaven, al
down from the second Heaven to t
first Heaven, down swifter than met
ors ever fell, down amidst stell
.splendors that through atmosphel
through appalling space, down
where there was no lower dept
Whether the words He was writ
were in Greek or Latin or Hebrew
cannot say, for He knew all those Ia
guages. But He is still STOPPING dow
and with His finger writing on t
ground; in the winter in letters
CRYSTALS, in the spring in letters
flowers, in summer in golden lettt
of harvest, in autumn in letters of f
on fallen leaves. How it would swe
en- up and enrich and emblazon Il
world, could we see Christ's CO
graphy all over it. This world was I
flung out into space thousands
wears ago, and then left to look {
for itself. 1t is still under the divi
care. Christ never for half seco
takes His hand off of it, or it wo1
soon he n shiDWrecked world a