Read: John 8:12-30

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. (John 8:12)

These marvelously gracious words are a reflection on the ceremony that took place each evening in the temple courts, when two giant candelabra (two Menorahs, the many-branched candlesticks used by the Jews), were lighted and they illuminated the whole temple court. It is in reference to this that Jesus declares, I am the light of the world [not merely Israel but the world; to anybody, anywhere]; he who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

We must take seriously these beautiful words because Jesus means them. These are not a politician’s promise that can completely be forgotten after the election. Our Lord means to fulfill these words in any human life: I am the light of the world; he who follows me [not just knows about me], he who walks with me, obeys me and stays with me will have light in his pathway.

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Read: John 8:1-11

Then neither do I condemn you, Jesus declared. Go now and leave your life of sin. (John 8:11b)

In this passage, a woman caught in adultery was brought by the church leaders to Jesus. I do not know if we can accurately picture what was going on when this woman was brought before Jesus. I can see her being dragged in, red faced, her hair in disarray. She is angry, upset, rebellious, and bitter, perhaps striking out against her accusers. But when she sees how Jesus handles this crowd of hypocritical judges, and feels that his sympathies are with her, somewhere the mercy and love that was in his face and voice began to touch her. She realized how wrong she was, that she had sinned, and she repented. When she did, Jesus forgave her, obviously anticipating his death upon the cross for her.

The cross is always an eternal event in the mind of God. The sins of the people who lived in Old Testament days were also forgiven on the basis of the death of Jesus on the cross. There is no other way that God can forgive sin. In anticipation of that cross, Jesus forgave her sin. The proof of it is in the words he said, Go, and do not sin again.

Continue reading Ray Stedman – Breaking the Power of Sin →

Read: John 7:25-52

On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. (John 7:37-39)

John is writing this gospel after the day of Pentecost when the Spirit was given in great power and came into the hearts of believers. When Jesus was still on earth the Spirit had not yet been given in that way. The Spirit of God is always present everywhere in the world. He was present before the day of Pentecost as well as afterward. But not in this sense. He was not performing this ministry of making Jesus real. So for the first time we have our Lord’s hint of how this is all going to be accomplished. I must leave, I am going back to him who sent me, but when I do so I will send the Spirit. He goes on and teaches what that means by using a beautiful symbol.

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Read: John 6:1-15

When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. (John 6:5-6)

Examination time has come. We are not sure why Jesus chose Philip. It may be that Philip was the one whom he thought to be most advanced in the lessons of faith. These disciples all had unique personalities. Peter was loud and brassy. He had his foot in his mouth most of the time. James and John were ambitious and fiery. They lost their tempers easily. Philip was quiet and deep, he seemed to hang around in the background all the time. Yet I am sure Jesus saw in him a man of deep perception. The quiet kind are often the deep thinkers. Perhaps he chose Philip because he was the one who would most likely understand all that was underneath the very dramatic surface phenomena which the disciples were witnessing.

In any event Jesus said to Philip How are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? He did not really expect to buy bread. In fact Jesus knew that Philip could not possibly answer his question. There was no village and no store nearby, and they had very little money besides. His question is clearly designed to set before Philip a predicament that had no human solution.

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Read: John 4:43-54

While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him. Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, Your son will live. So he and his whole household believed. (John 4:51-53)

What an exciting encounter! The servants met this man with the glorious news, Your son is living—the very same words Jesus had said to the father. Immediately he checked the hour when it had happened. It dawned on him that at the precise moment when Jesus had said to him, Go; your son lives, the fever suddenly left the boy and he began to mend. There broke upon him a new realization, not of what Jesus could do, but of who Jesus was. He had authority over all illness. He was not limited by distance or time. He had power in areas beyond the knowledge and reach of men. When the man understood that, he believed, and all his household with him. This is the same word for belief that was used of him before, but now it is used at a much higher level—a trust that God was at work and would work out this matter in ways that he could not anticipate.

Continue reading Ray Stedman – Faith’s Encouragement →

Read: John 4:1-42

Earlier in this chapter, Jesus is met at Jacob’s well by a Samaritan woman, who has come to draw water. How very beautifully Jesus overleaps the various barriers that separated him from this woman. He was a rabbi, and according to the rabbinical law, rabbis were instructed to never talk to a woman in public—not even to their own wives or sisters. In fact the rabbinical law said, It is better to burn the law than to give it to a woman. In that culture women were regarded as totally unable to understand complicated subjects like theology and religion.

But notice how Jesus treats her. He could judge something about her from the circumstances of her being at this well. Although there was another well in the village, as a moral outcast she was forced to come all the way out to this well, half a mile away. Meeting her, our Lord understood this to be a sign from his Father that here was one of those sinners whom he came to call to repentance. He himself said on one occasion, I did not come to call the righteous to repentance but sinners (Mt 9:13). He probably knew more about this woman’s history than this introduction suggests, because later he tells her some facts about herself that he evidently knew. He had been through this small village several times, and had probably heard something about her. Now to have her meet him at the well is to him an indication that God the Father wanted to reach out to her.

Continue reading Ray Stedman – Thirsty →

Read: John 3:1-16

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said,Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him. Jesus replied, Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. (John 3:1-3)

Notice how Jesus cuts right across Nicodemus$apos; inquiry with a sharp and penetrating sentence that must have gone like a sword thrust right into his heart. Observe what Jesus is saying in this startling word to Nicodemus. A new birth is absolutely essential to enter the kingdom. John uses a very interesting word here that is translated anew, or again. It is the Greek word, anothen, which means again or to do something a second time. It often points to a radical new beginning which comes from above. It signifies God must do this. It is speaking of something radical, a new beginning. It is a second birth, but it comes from above. It is God that does it, not man; and it results in a new creation, a new beginning.

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Read: John 2:1-11

Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them, Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. They did so, (John 2:7-8)

Notice the simplicity of this account, how easily, how quietly, with such dignity this was done. He says simply, Fill the jars with water. And they filled them to the brim—not with decaffeinated coffee, but with 120 to 180 gallons of plain, pure water. Then Jesus said, Now draw some out, and take it to the steward of the feast. There was no prayer, no word of command, no hysterical shouting, no pleading with a screwed-up face, no laying on of hands, no binding of Satan, no hocus-pocus or mumbo-jumbo—nothing. He did not even touch the water. He did not even taste it afterward to see if it had happened. He simply said, Take it to the governor of the feast. What a beautiful, simple dignity!

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Read: John 1:19-34

Then John gave this testimony: I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. And I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is the one who will baptize with the Holy Spirit. (John 1:32-33)

If you read through the Old Testament you find in it a deep sense of unsatisfied longings. From the very beginning of the Bible people are longing after righteousness and holiness; longing to be better than they are; longing to be free from the struggle with evil within; wishing somehow they could get hold of the evil, self-centered tendency within themselves, and eliminate it.

Have you ever felt that way? There have been times when I wished I could have had a surgical operation to remove my tendency to be sharp, critical, harsh and caustic; when I saw the hurt I caused I wished somehow to be able to stop doing those kinds of things.

Continue reading Ray Stedman – The Spirit’s Witness →