Words can be so almost similar and yet have the world of difference in meaning. The word condonation means /the forgiving of an offence, especially by ignoring or overlooking it. From the onset let me establish that the righteous God who YAHWEH is, has never and will never ever ignore or overlook sin and wrong. Sin has always had its dire consequences, and for us to fully understand how very deadly sin really is, just remember God's early pronouncement, Ezek. 18:4"the soul that sinneth it shall die. " (Rom.6:23) "The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. " (Rom 3:23) "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God " The greatest consequence of our sin, is the resultant death of Jesus Christ, who died not for His sin, (for He had no sin) but died because of our sin. I remember the words of a hymn of the Church which says:

It was His love for me, which nailed Him to the tree
To die in agony, for all my sin.
For my own guilt and blame, the great Creator came
Willing to bear the shame for all my sin.
Oh what a Saviour is mine, In Him God's mercies combine,
His love will never decline
And He-loves me.

We see in God a meticulous blend of justice and mercy which is a provision of His GRACE. Jn. 3:17 "God sent not His son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved (J8)He that believeth on Him is not condemned; but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son Of God (J9)And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds are evil. "

Condemnation is onerous and burdensome; it is a yoke of remorse, guilt and shame, one that saps the joy and peace, (gifts of God's Spirit) which are so vital for a victorious Christian Life. Condemnation is a yoke that no Believer in Christ should bear. (Mat. 11 :29) Jesus says, "My yoke is easy and my Burden is light." Where there is condemnation, there is always fear of impending judgment, which drives us away from fellowship with God. This is certainly inconsistent with our memory verse of last week, do you remember? (II Tim. 1:7) "For God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind. " Condemnation always comes as a result of our listening to the voice of the Devil rather than the voice of God's Holy Spirit. (Rev. 12: 10) satan, the devil is called "the accuser of the brethren, is cast down, who accused them before our God day and night.

The enemy of our souls always wants to bring up our past, always wants to tell you that you have been too wretched and vile a sinner to be saved. You still have to plead, and that ever so frequently, if you are to be ever assured of forgiveness and salvation. Let me give you one profound Biblical Truth, which you should never forget. The devil is a liar, and the father of lies, he is a deceiver, and is never to be listened to or believed. The only communication we should have with him is such as Jesus had, when He told him, "Get thee behind me satan" and in the book of Jude verse (9), The Archangel, Michael said to him, "The Lord rebuke thee."

How many of you have ever felt discouraged, demoralized, and beaten-down, the devil having convinced you that you are a failure, a no-good, good-for-nothing scoundrel, not even God will have anything to do with you. He repeats it sufficiently in your ear that you actually begin to believe what he says. You are beginning to believe a lie. Satan then has you where he wants, and is then able to do his destructive work, to which he is dedicated, (In. 10:10) "The thief cometh not but to steal, kill, and destroy. " Have you forgotten the words of that glorious hymn, "Amazing Grace? "

Amazing grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me,
I was lost, but now I'm found,
Was blind but now I see.

Eph.2:8 "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of your selves, it is the gift of God, not of works lest and man should boast. "

I thank God that there are no contradictions in His Word. His Truths and Doctrines are always consistent throughout Scripture. We have the instance of the woman caught in the very act of adultery. We find a little episode of the Soap Opera so to speak, in (Jn. 8:3-11). Some private investigators were assigned to this case, and after doing their spying, they reported that the couple was caught in the very adulterous act. If it were in today's day the evidence would have been published on Y ou- Tube, what a scandal! It is very strange that only the woman was brought to trial, but that is another discussion for another time. However, they desired to trap Jesus by His response to their question, as to whether He agrees and supports the law of Moses, in giving sanction, that the adulterous woman needs to be stoned to death. I just love how my Jesus handles the most crucial and critical of circumstances. Of Him, Jesus it is said that a greater than Solomon is here. In fact, Solomon was taught by Christ. I say this because Jesus is called the wisdom of God. Now back to the account, Jesus replied by saying, (verse 7) "he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." The crowd that had gathered to witness the execution, dispersed one by one until Jesus was alone with her.

Jesus asked "woman where are those thine accusers hath no man condemn thee. No man Lord was her reply. Jesus then lovingly said to her, "neither do I condemn thee." Are you seeing it? He, Jesus was fulfilling His mission statement of (Jn. 3:17) "He came not into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. King David said, he prefers to fall in the hand of God rather than Man. His reason was simple, with God there is mercy, it is said of God, He is plenteous in mercy, of Jesus it is said He is full of Grace and Truth.

We now return to the beginning of this message, where we mentioned 'no condonation.' Jesus would have been very remiss, had He concluded by only saying "neither do I condemn thee. " He may then have been accused of condoning sin and wrong. But not so with Jesus, you can find no occasion of fault with Him or His judgment. There were no witnesses, no accusers, so the case had to have been dismissed. His final words to the woman were ''go and sin no more. " Jesus is our advocate and as our advocate, He has never lost a case. We may be guilty as charged, and which of us, can truthfully make a not-guilty plea. All have sinned, there is none righteous, we all stand guilty before a righteous God.

Thank God it does not end there as a hopeless hapless situation. We can find comfort and hope in God's Word. Let us look at (Rom. 8: 1) There is, therefore, now no condemnation to them who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. Trust in Jesus. He is all you need to carry you through this life successfully from now unto eternity. Don't you dare to go through this life on your own, as that will be a sure recipe for ruin and disaster. Please come to Jesus and experience the Abundant Life He Offers, a life free of guilt, fear and condemnation, a life full of Love, Joy, Hope and personal fulfillment.