Jesus gives light to those who follow Him. If you go on your own path, you walk in darkness. Dr. Tony Evans shares the power of walking in step with Jesus. Those who are Jesus' true disciples, you're following Him, will not walk in darkness. This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives of Dr. Tony Evans. Walk into a dark room, flip on the light switch, and suddenly everything hidden comes into view.
That's just what light does. Scripture tells us that Jesus is the light of the world. And in today's lesson, Dr. Evans explores what happens when we embrace that truth and allow God to illuminate our understanding of the world around us. Let's join him in the book of John. We begin chapter 8 with the famous story of the woman caught in adultery. Jesus is at the Mount of Olives in verse 1.
He comes to the temple and begins to teach. In verse 2, the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery and having set her in the center of the court. So she's been put on blast and on display. They say to Jesus, who's been teaching, Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery in the very act. So she's been found out. In the law of Moses, it commands us to stone such women.
What do you say? The key to all this is verse 6, and they were saying this to test Him. Okay, so let's talk about what the test was. The test was, this is what the law says, because Jesus is teaching. This is what the Bible says, that when you catch a person doing this, that they're to be stoned. So if Jesus doesn't agree to stoner, He's violating the law of Moses.
If He agrees to stoner, then He's not showing mercy. So the idea is to trap Him either in condemning the woman to death or violating the law of Moses or not showing Him the grace and forgiveness. Now, we know it was the trick because it says this woman was caught, but there's no man.
So if she was caught in the very act, that means you know who the guy is, too. But it wasn't about justice or fairness or equity. It was about tripping Jesus up. But Jesus stooped down with His finger and wrote on the ground, verse 6 says. Okay, how did Moses get the law?
Moses got the law, the Scripture says, because the finger of God—you with me?— the finger of God wrote it on tablets of stone. Where is Jesus? He's in the temple. Guess what's on the ground of the temple? Stone.
The temple is built with stone. So Jesus is being told about the law of Moses. Jesus stoops down with His finger and writes on the ground. Translation, I gave the information to Moses.
I am the lawgiver. So Jesus is upping them. They're quoting Moses. Jesus says, I'm the God who gave Moses the information. You're quoting to me. You're talking to the author.
Of course, we've already seen in John 1, Jesus is called the Word of God. So Jesus is letting them know. So when they are persistent in asking Him, He straightened up and said to them, He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.
Here's the deal. In the Old Testament, you could not condemn somebody else for a sin you yourself have committed. If you did, then you got the consequence of the person you condemned. So if you did their sin, you got their judgment.
You had to be qualified to judge. So Jesus is saying, whoever is qualified because you haven't committed this sin, you cast the first stone because you're a qualified judge. And again, He stoops down and writes on the ground. So now we got another writing, a second writing. God wrote the Ten Commandments. But because of the people's sin—remember, Moses came down from the golden calf and he destroyed the commandments that God had written because of the sin of the people. So God wrote the commandments a second time. So Jesus stoops down a second time to declare Himself as the lawgiver—watch this— after people have sinned. He rewrites it, which is exactly what God did.
So what He's doing is, in a visual way, declaring Himself to be the author of the very law of Moses they're trying to use against Him. And when they heard it, they began to go out one by one because they would be signing their own death warrant because, of course, Jesus knew all about them, beginning with the older ones and He was left alone and the woman where she was in the center of the court. So here it is, this guilty woman is standing there with no accusers now.
Straightening up, Jesus said to her, Woman, where are they? Your accusers. Did no one condemn you?
I don't see anybody throwing no stones because, you know the old saying, when you're living in a glass house, you know, you can't be throwing no stones. She said, No one, Lord. No one.
No one. Nobody's here left to condemn me. And then we have this staggering statement. Jesus said, I do not condemn you either.
Go. From now on, sin no more. Now why do I call this a staggering statement? This is a staggering statement because Jesus removes her condemnation before He tells her to start living right. He doesn't say, Start living right, go and sin no more, so you won't be condemned. He tells her, I'm not going to condemn you, so you should now go start living right.
What am I saying? God's grace was to motivate a change in her lifestyle. Grace is to be the motivator for your service, for your pleasing God.
Verse 12, Jesus now goes into a discussion of who He is using the word I am, which is a declaration of Him being Messiah. I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Those who are Jesus' true disciples, you're following Him, He is leading your life, will not walk in darkness, but they will walk in the light that Jesus gives. Jesus gives light to those who follow Him. If you go on your own path, you walk in darkness.
The Pharisees are listening to this. You are testifying about yourself. Your testimony is not true.
In other words, wait a minute. You're just talking about yourself. You bragging on yourself to declare who you are.
Jesus says, even if I testify about myself, my testimony is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going. You judge according to the flesh. See, you're looking at things as physical. You're not seeing things spiritually.
I am not judging anyone, but even if I do judge, my judgment is true, for I am not alone, but I am the Father who sent me. So He's speaking about now the union that He has with His Father within the Trinity. Okay, so here's a very important point. You cannot know the Father if you reject the Son, because the two are intertwined. If you reject Jesus, then you're blocking getting to know the Father. The Father sent the Son.
The two are interconnected. So that's why Jesus came, to make God the Father visible. These things He spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple, verse 20, and so no one seized Him because His hour had not yet come. When you're in the will of God, you can't be messed with if it's not your time. I have many things to speak, and the judge concerning you, but He who sent me is true, and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world.
So I'm telling you what the Father has given me to tell you. They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father, so they weren't connecting the spiritual at all. And the reason they weren't connecting the spiritual is because they were rejecting what had already been revealed.
So here's a mighty principle. When you reject what God has revealed, then things become tougher to understand. So Jesus said, when you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He. And I do nothing on my own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught me. If you will give recognition to what you have already seen, then you'll see more, and you'll see that I'm representing the Father. And He who sent me is with me, and He has not left me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him. And He spoke these things, many came to believe in Him.
So many are now becoming Christians, hearing Jesus speak, being backed up by all the things that they have seen Him do thus far. Dr. Evans will have more for us from this study called A Lesson in Truth when he returns in just a moment. First, though, I want to tell you about an encouraging book from Tony that focuses on renewal and transformation.
It's called Dry Bones Dancing, a study of Ezekiel's vision of brittle bones brought to life by the Spirit's breath. It's a work that will renew and energize your faith like never before. And it's yours as our thank-you gift when you make a contribution in support of Tony's ministry. And right now, we're packaging this book along with all 14 full-length messages in Tony's current two-volume teaching series on the Gospel of John. Get all the details and make your request right away at tonyevans.org or call our 24-hour resource request line at 1-800-800-3222.
That's 1-800-800-3222. We'll hear more from Dr. Evans right after this. What if you could unlock the mysteries of life, the universe, and everything in between? Genesis 1 to 11 is the foundation for everything. The Tony Evans Training Center presents a transformative course from special guest lecturer Ken Ham, founder CEO of Answers in Genesis. If you want to understand anything about the universe and anything about life and this earth, we have to jump into God's Word. This course dives deep into the origins of life, the harmony of science and Scripture, and how to build a solid biblical worldview. Does science conflict with the Bible?
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Explore the Kingdom anytime, anywhere. So now, we come to verse 31. So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed in Him— many Jews are starting to believe in Jesus— if you continue in My Word... Now, these are people saved. They believed in Him. If you continue in My Word, then you are truly disciples of Mine.
So watch this. You can believe in Him but not continue in His Word. And if you believe in Him, you're a Christian, but don't continue in His Word, then you're not functioning as a true disciple. He says, truly disciples of Mine. And if you're not functioning as truly disciples— the word continuing means abiding in My Word, that is, you're relating to Me based on what I said— then you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free. And when you have truth and you know truth, you get delivered by truth.
Deliverance comes from the knowledge of truth that you continue in. Abide in. Hang out in. Hang out in what God says, not what you think. Hang out in what God says, not how you feel. Hang out in what God says, not how you were raised.
All those other things are real things, but that's not where you hang out. You hang out with the truth, and then you'll see the truth releasing you from illegitimate bondage. But remember, it's not just having information because it's a relational concept, abiding in My Word. Continue in My Word so that the Son can do His work of setting you free indeed from that which is illegitimately holding you hostage, which He calls here sin. I know that you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you seek to kill Me, because they wanted Him dead, because My Word has no place in you.
You rejected Me. You want to kill Me. I speak the things which I have seen from My Father. Therefore, verse 38, you also do the things which you have heard from your father.
All right, he getting ready? Talking about his people. From your father. They answered and said, Abraham is our father. Jesus said to them, if you are Abraham's children, do the deeds of Abraham.
You're not acting like the daddy you say you have. You are doing the deeds of your father. They said to him, we were not born of fornication. We have one Father, God.
Ooh. They said, we're not like you. We're not the children of an illegitimate sexual relationship between our mom and daddy. So they didn't go on law on Jesus.
Not a good thing to do. So Jesus said to them, if God were your father, you would love Me. For I have not even come of My own initiative, but He sent Me.
So is this all His idea that I come down here? Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My Word.
You've already rejected Me. You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning.
Okay, so what's the connection? You want to kill Me, just like your daddy. Because he got Cain to kill Abel. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him.
So you need to understand about the devil. He couldn't locate truth if it was sitting in front of his face because he is a liar. Whenever he speaks, it's a lie and you are his children. But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. Which one of you convicts me of sin? Can you point to anything where I have violated any divine standards ever? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me?
You can't condemn me for anything. He who is of God hears the words of God. For this reason, you do not hear them because you are not of God. Okay, so you're carrying all this religious stuff, you're in the temple, you're doing all this teaching, but you're not of God because you would listen to Me. But the Jews answered and said to him, Do we not say rightly that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?
Okay, now Samaritans were illegitimate relationships between Gentiles and Jews. So they're going down that line again and they're calling him a demon. Jesus answered and said, I do not have a demon, but I honor My Father and you dishonor Me. But I do not seek My glory, there is one who seeks and judges. Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word, he will never see death. So let me pause here. If anyone keeps My word, what does that say?
Okay, so let's get this straight. Anyone in here who lives with the fear of death, and I've used that word live with the fear of death. In other words, you're haunted by it. I'm not talking about a moment when somebody dies or you just got a bad diagnosis or you're at a funeral, but you're living with a fear of death. You have to understand something. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, you will not see death.
That's as explicit as we can get. You will not see death. The moment that you, as far as the world's concerned, you die, that second, you are ushered into eternity.
That second. You look at Luke, Luke 16, it says that the poor man died and was taken up to heaven, and it says Lazarus died and opened up his eyes. You go into eternity immediately. So when you die, you won't be dead long enough to know you died. He will never die, okay? The real you, the body will die obviously, but the real you, which is the soul, will never die.
Death cannot happen to you. This is the express word of Jesus. So the question is, are you going to believe Jesus? The Jews said to him, now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, because see, they still think it's physical. And the prophets also, they died. And you say, if anyone keeps my word, he will never taste of death.
What are you talking about? Surely you are not greater than our father Abraham who died. Okay, you talking about you're not going to die, people probably you're not going to die, but Abraham died, are you somebody greater than Abraham?
The prophets died too. Who do you make yourself out to be? Jesus answered, if I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my father who glorifies me, of whom you say he is our God. So you say, you say he is your God, and he's the one glorifying me. And you have not come to know him, but I know him. And if I say that I do not know him, I will be a liar like you.
But I do know him and keep his word. And here's the zinger. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day, and he saw it and was glad. Ooh, ooh, that's a sermon right there. They said, you think you're greater than Abraham who died? He said, let me tell you something about Abe. Abraham rejoiced to see my day and was glad.
What you trying to say, Jesus? Verse 57, so the Jews said to him, you are not yet 50 years old, and you have seen Abraham? Abraham lived thousands of years ago. You talking about Abraham rejoiced to see your day and was glad about it.
And Jesus said, okay, let me lay it on you. Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am. Ooh, the reason why Abraham rejoiced to see my day is because before Abraham was even born. What comes after born?
Okay, what he should have said if he was just talking English is, I was. Before Abraham, I was. I existed before Abraham.
See, that would be tough enough to grab because you ain't 50 years old. Abraham lived thousands of years ago. You said, before Abraham was, I was, but that's not what he says. He says, before Abraham was, I am. Moses asked God, who should I say sent me? God said, you tell him, I am sent you.
Jesus Christ is declaring himself to be God by saying, I am, not I was. Dr. Tony Evans, wrapping up a message called A Lesson in Truth, part of his in-depth 14-part sermon series on the Gospel of John. Now if you'd like to get a copy of today's message to review on your own or to pass along to a friend, it's available on CD or digital download as part of the special offer I mentioned earlier, all 14 full-length messages from the John Sermon series along with Tony's encouraging book about revitalizing your faith called Dry Bones Dancing. They're yours with our thanks when you make a donation to help keep this listener-supported program coming your way. Just visit tonyevans.org to make the arrangements or call our resource center at 1-800-800-3222 Your team members are standing by to assist with your request. That's 1-800-800-3222 or online at tonyevans.org. You know life can feel like navigating a maze, uncertainties and obstacles at every turn. But tomorrow Dr. Evans explains that Jesus not only illuminates our path but also guides us through it. I hope you'll make plans to join us for that.
