The Brandon news. (Brandon, Miss.) 1892-1961, 1902-11-20

First. Gle stopped down and wrote in
the dust, Some one has said that He did
1t just because His mind was occupied
| with thinking what He should do with the
sinner. and it was much the same spirit as
| you would have if you would scribbse upon
| piece of paper while your mind was TAX
ing in some weighty problem. Some one
| else h g suggested that in the purity OF
His nature, standing IN the presence Of The
| woman of sin, He stopped down to write
because He would hide the flushing Of His
own face. That dust that was then at His
| feet ,s gone forever; only God Himself
| could bring it back, and yet il by miracle
| He should bring it before us tonight | be-
| lieye | know what would be written there
on, Neither, do ] condemn thee; go and
sin no more And l am glad that we are
not shut up to the sand for record of that
| truth. II is written In this book. "There
| is tn .refore. no condemnation to them
which are in Christ Jesus" and this record
is eternal. "Heaven and earth shah pass,
| but NV word shall never pass away"
Second, when lie continued with bowed
head to write the crowd became exceed
in0ly anxious, and finally they asked Him
what He had to say about the woman who
was : sinner, and then comes one OF the
grandest sentences that ever fell from His
lips, and gives us all the beauty Of His
manhood, as well as the power of His God
hood when He said 'J4et he who is with
out sin cast the first stone" I doubt not
the woman began to tremble, and she must
have said to herself. "My punishment is
upon me. for here are these pharsees who
have made loud professions Of their purity,
surely they will cast fine first stone" bnt
never hand was lifted and never stone
was thrown. which only reveals to me the
fact that when men are cast with those
men who are sinful, not outbreaSing,v sim
fail. but nevertheless wrong in the sight of
God, who of US could cast the first stone in
this assembly tonight? The very fact that
hands are not lifted and stones are not
thrown is our own condemnation.
Third. in the ninth verse we read "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" That to my mind
is the most dramatic scene in all the chap
denly the shouts of the mob are hushed
they have taken their hands off from the
trembling woman. they are speechless in
the presence of this Son of God. and with
out consultation they begin to stink away.
| can see them go. until finally the last one
IS gone and there is the hush of death upon
the two as TREY stand together. You can
all but hear the throbbing of their hearts;
you can detect the Quick breathing of the
woman, who thinks that the time for sem
tence has come. Mercy and pity face each
other. and mercy waits for pity to sneak.
Neither do [ condemn thee: go and sin
no more" And we are ever to remember
three things in connection with our Sa-
viour:
First, there is never a question rs to
how deeply we have sinned: the stories of
the greatest sinners are tod in the New
testament ror our hope.
Second, there is power enough in the
blood Of ho t0 1ot +bo
sIn Though your sins be as scarlet they
shall be as white as snow; though they be
crimson they shall be as wool
And the third thing to remember is il
the man with sin is like the sands of the
sea for number If he would feel the power
must by real faith and honest confession
Law hold upon Him for eternal life.
His kindness lifted her burden, and the
world is just DYING to-day for the want of
sympathy. l think the time is long past
when men are. willing. in these DAYS to
ssoning or deep theological discussions. /
feel confident that the time is upon US
when. lien are ready to explain to that
church or that minister ready to bestow
word of cheer, ready to help a little in
bearing the burden of life.
A woman came with a handful of sand
to her minister and said. ".Mv sins are like
that for number" and he said ''Take the
sand back to the sea and let wave roll
over your handful of sand and they will be
gone Tonight ! bring you to the sea
greater than any the world has ever looked
upon.
"Thnre is fountain filled with blood,
Drawn from ImmanuePs vein,
And sinners plunged beneath that food,
Lose all their guilty stains"
Neither do condemn thee" said Jesus
when I'll her accusers had slipped away.
We do not know what became of this
woman. but am perfectly sure that she
never siuned again. This is the secret of
victory over sin: Catch a glimpse of the
face fairer than all the sons of men, listen
but once to the sound of His voice, sweeter
than al the music of earth. How the man
that breaches the development of character
can match this matches story / cannot
see: how the man who takes the blood out
of the word of God and the sacrificial part
away from the death of Christ can for
moment compare his message with this
story of the divine Son of God is more than
I can tell. / bid all burdened ones
weighed down because of sin to come into
His presence tonight and you can hear
Him say Neither do condemn thee; go
and SIN no more"