"He who has ears let him hear. May these words go deep down into your ears."

God is a holy God, and His wrath is being stored up, against a world that is unthankful and in rebellion. This should cause a human heart to experience some degree of awkwardness, and ask the question, "What must I do?"

But, the human heart is callous, and even dead. The heart of man needs favor from God.

Sinner, do you desire favor from God? Do you tremble at the truth of His holy white-hot wrath, and fear Him?
Then you need not fear Him.
For His mercy and compassion are great. So great that He has forgiven you, if you will come to the Cross of Christ, and kneel there, and behold the Savior, Jesus Christ, who was, and is the Lamb of God, who bore our sins. Who died, and was placed in a tomb. Who three days later rose from the dead, and now lives, and reigns over heaven and earth, and calls for all humans to repent; to turn from theimselves to Christ and God.
So turn to Christ, and cry out to Him. Ask Him for mercy. Bow your heart, and cry to Jesus for forgiveness for your hell deserving sins.

God is a good God. His goodness was displayed on a Cross for all to see. It's this goodness that leads His lost children to repentance.

Jesus said, "Come unto Me, and I will give you rest; rest for your soul."

"Stand fast ... in the Liberty wherewith Christ has made us Free" -St. Paul to the churches in Galatia

"Let us learn, therefore, to magnify this our liberty, which no emperor, no prophet or patriarch, no, nor any angel from heaven has obtained for us, BUT Jesus Christ the Son of God, by whom all things were created both in heaven and earth. Which liberty He has purchased with no other price than with His own blood, to deliver us, not from any bodily or temporal servitude, but from a spirtual and everlasting bondage under most cruel and invincible tyrants, to wit, the Law, sin, death, and the devil, and so to reconcile us to God His Father. Now since these enemies are overcome, and we are reconciled to God by the death of His Son, it is certain that we are righteous before God, and that whatever we do pleases Him. And although there are certain remnants of sin still in us, they are not laid to our charge, but pardoned for Christ's sake." -From a lecture delivered by Martin Luther at the University of Wittenburg in 1531.

"If the Son therefore shall make you Free, you shall be Free indeed." John 8:36




















It's imperative to understand the liberty Jesus' death procured for us. Satan will come an distort what this freedom means with his subtle lies. But I believe Dr. Luther's words are words for the Christian's heart. So be encouraged in your freedom. Liberty is such a fine word for the human heart to embrace, and the Lord desires for us to rejoice in our liberty, and yet only when we also "rejoice in the truth": "For love does not rejoice in sin, but rejoices in the truth" (1 Cor. 13:6).

"Early in the morning He came into the Temple, ... and sat down, and taught them." John 8:2

Jesus was continually going to the Temple and teaching the people. He went up to the Temple at the feast of tabernacles (John 7:14), and He taught the people the Word of God, which lasted throughout the day. In actuality, ever Word He spoke was the Word of God. Jesus surely knew the Scriptures like no other, and He spoke Scripture truth. And I thank God for preserving these words for us. What a treasure the Word of God is. And to have direct quotes from our Lord is such a blessing, not that the rest of Scripture is any less inspired, because it's not.

After the feast, Jesus went to the Mount of Olives that evening, as all the people went to their homes. I imagine He prayed to His Father, and spent the night in commuion with Him. And so would be refreshed in His soul and mind.

The next morning Jesus came back to the Temple, and again sat with the people, and taught them.

What I wouldn't give to have been there. Not only did the Lord teach, as He most surely gave lectures to the people, but He taught as He had to confront the self-righteous religious leaders, over and over. (How difficult it is to try to communicate with nasty people who love their own religion). And perhaps these lessons were even more vivid in their instruction, especially when He had to confront them, when they came with their stones to kill and adulteress woman, and they did this to tempt the Lord Jesus.
What a lesson that was, and still is.

Jesus spoke to this woman, after all the self-righteous scribes had dropped their stones and left the scene, and said, "Neither do I condemn you: go, and sin no more." There's a lot of theology in those words. And I'll leave them with you to ponder.