Let's open this second hour with
hymn number 28 from your Spiral Gospel Hymnal. Let's all stand
together, number 28. God has mercy on whom he will,
and whom he will, he hardens still. To whom he will, he gives
his grace. He will, He hides His face. Let none despise God's sovereign
throne. He does what He will with His
own. It is His right to save or kill
according to His sovereign will. Yes, God saves some and others
leaves to reap the fruit of their own ways. In the eternal ages
past, God made his choice and it stands fast. Aware that I'm
a guilty man, and that I'm in God's sovereign hand. Prostrate I fall before His throne,
a wretched, helpless, guilty one. Lord, if you will, you can,
I say, take all my guilt and sin away. A guilty sinner at
your throne, I beg for mercy through your Son. Now trusting
Jesus Christ, God's son, I know that I'm his chosen one. And God's eternal sovereign choice
makes this poor sinner's heart rejoice. Please be seated. Good morning. If you will, turn
with me this morning to Isaiah 43, please. We'll start at verse
one and read through verse nine. But now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, fear
not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name,
Thou art mine. When Thou passest through the
waters, I will be with Thee. And through the rivers, they
shall not overflow Thee. When Thou walkest through the
fire, Thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle
upon Thee. For I am the Lord, Thy God, the
Holy One of Israel, Thy Savior. I gave Egypt for Thy ransom,
Ethiopia and Seba for Thee. Since Thou wast precious in my
sight, Thou hast been honorable and I have loved thee. Therefore,
I will give men for thee and people for thy life. Fear not,
for I am with thee. I bring thy seed from the east
and gather thee from the west. I will say to the north, give
up, and to the south, keep not back. Bring my sons from far
and my daughters from the ends of the earth, even everyone that
is called by my name, for I have created him for my glory I have
formed him, yea, I have made him. Bring forth the blind people
that have eyes and the deaf that have ears. Let all the nations
be gathered together and let the people be assembled who among
them can declare this and show us former things. Let them bring
forth their witnesses that they may be justified and let them
hear and say it is truth. Dear Lord, we thank you for this
day. We thank you for the many blessings that you've brought
upon us. We pray, Lord, that you be with all of our brethren
who are going through any difficult times and struggles right now.
We pray, Lord, for the men that are traveling, that you may bless
the words that they bring, bless the messages that they bring,
and if it be your will, to speak your son his mercy. We pray for
Greg, who's going to bring us another message this hour, that
you give him the words to preach, give us the ears to hear. In
your most holy and perfect name we pray, amen. Let's all stand together once
again. We'll sing the hymn on the back of the bulletin. How rich the depths of love divine,
A bliss, a boundless store. Dear Savior, let me call Thee
mine, I could not wish for more. I could not wish for more. On Thee alone my hope relies,
Beneath Thy cross I fall. My Lord, my life, my sacrifice,
My Savior and my all, My Savior and my all. How great thy wisdom,
power, and grace, that in redemption shines. The heavenly host with
joy confess, the work is all divine. The work is all divine. Before his face they cast their
crowns, those crowns which Jesus gave. And with 10,000,000 tongues
proclaim his power to save. Proclaim his power to save. Please be seated. Will you open your Bibles with
me to John chapter 5. John chapter 5. On Wednesday nights we've been
looking at the miracles that our Lord performed, recorded
in the Gospels. And John tells us at the end
of his Gospel that there were many other things that the Lord
did that are not recorded But these have been written that
you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the
living God, and that believing you might have life through his
name. So the Lord clearly tells us
the reason for these miracles is to cause his people to see
and to believe who he is. and to rest the hope of their
salvation in Him. And to have life, eternal life,
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. I hope that will be the
Lord's work for us this morning as we look at this miracle. I
came to this miracle a week or two ago for our Wednesday night
series. and felt impressed to save it
for Sunday morning. And I've titled this message,
Wilt Thou Be Made Whole? Wilt Thou Be Made Whole? Let's read it together. John
chapter five, beginning of verse one. And after this, there was
the feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now, scripture
doesn't tell us, like we saw in the previous hour from John
chapter 2, that the feast was the Passover. The Lord hasn't
told us which feast this was, so we don't really know. Where God is silent, we must
be silent. There can be no speculating as
to what feast this might have been. The Lord just saw fit not
to tell us. And the reason I make an issue
of that is because that same truth applies to the angel and
the stirring of the waters. Where God is silent, we must
be silent. A lot of commentators and preachers
have tried to explain this stirring up of the water by an angel from
heaven. And they've come up with all
sorts of speculations and all sorts of theories. And I would encourage you, and
I hope this morning we will, not do that but just simply take
it as it is given to us in God's Word and not try to figure it
out beyond what the Lord has said. Now there was at Jerusalem by
the sheep market a pool. I have in the margin of my Bible
a sheep gate This is where they brought the sacrificial lambs
in and out. And as I understand, this is
the gate that the Lord passed through in going to Calvary. And the significance of this is that,
like all scripture, it points us to Christ. Which is called
in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda. a house of mercy. That's what
Bethesda translated means, house of mercy. And we worship a God who delights
in showing mercy and his mercy is everlasting. And it provides for the salvation
of all of his people. and his church is a house of
mercy. It is a place for those who need
mercy to find mercy. Having five porches, we won't
take the time now but the number five is used over and over in
the Bible as a symbol of grace. Numbers are significant in the
Bible. And the number five represents grace. And that's how the Lord's
mercy comes to us. It comes by God's free and God's
sovereign grace. It is a gift. It is nothing that
we can earn. It's nothing that we can bargain
with God for. It is something that he gives
freely. I will have mercy upon whom I
will have mercy. And it is not of him that willeth,
nor of him that runneth. It is of God that showeth mercy.
He's the potter and we're the clay. And here's the delight
that we have in our God of mercy is that he gives it by grace.
He's not distributing it based on something that we do. He's
not holding it back based on an offering that we bring. His grace is complete, His grace
is full, His grace is free, His grace is sovereign. And His grace
is all in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God
who came through the sheep gate and made for His people, Bethesda,
a house of mercy. And in these lay a great multitude
of impotent folk. These are people without power,
without strength. Perhaps they were impotent in
their eyesight, they couldn't see. Perhaps they were impotent
in their hearing, they couldn't hear. Perhaps they were impotent
in their speech or they're impotent, as we're going to see in this
man, in his feet, crippled. unable to stand, unable to provide
for himself. We are impotent in all those
ways. We're without strength. And here's
the good news. In due time, when we were yet
without strength, Christ died for the ungodly. He didn't say, I'm going to give
you mercy when you take the first step. I'm going to give you mercy
when you show me your sincerity or when you show me the strength
that you have. I grew up being told God helps
those who help themselves. I'm not suggesting that we don't
take responsibility and help ourselves in earthly things,
but in spiritual things, in spiritual things, God helps those who can't
help themselves. He gives mercy to the impotent,
and there's a multitude of them. This is the whole world represented
here by all these folks. Blind, haunt, withered, waiting
for the moving of the water. Now here's the thing in God's
word that we're not going to try to explain it. We're not
going to say it was some sort of superstition as some men have
said. explaining away by, you know,
some sort of fountain that came up, you know, like a, you know,
like a geyser, you know. No. We're just going to leave
it exactly as God said it. And whatever it all means, I
know the spiritual significance of it. The spiritual significance
of it is the water is representative of the Word of God. Washing by
the water of His Word. We drink from the river of life
freely. Here's the water. And God sends
his angels, a messenger. That's all an angel is, a messenger.
And the pastors of the seven churches in the book of Revelation
are referred to as the angels in the hand of God. And what
do they do? They declare God's word in hopes
that the spirit of God will come and stir the water. Now there's
the spiritual meaning of it, and that's our hope this morning,
that I will be faithful to just say what God has said, and that
the Spirit of God will be pleased to stir the water of God's Word
and to give life to His people. Whatever was happening physically,
I don't know. All I know is what God says. For an angel went down at a certain
season into the pool and troubled the water. Whosoever then first
after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of
whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there,
which had an infirmity 30 and eight years. And when Jesus saw
him lie, and knew that he'd been now a long time in that case,
he saith unto him, wilt thou be made whole? And we see something of our Lord's
sovereignty and his electing grace. He could have gotten on
a pedestal And he could have performed a miracle of healing
for every single person that was there. He didn't do that.
He walked through the crowd unbeknownst by most and set his affections
on one man and said to him, wilt thou be
made whole? The Lord often asks questions. to expose our hearts and to reveal the truth of things. Adam, where art thou? Cain, where's
your brother? The Lord doesn't ask questions
because he doesn't know the answer to them. Our Lord would be impressed
in a crowd and a woman came crawling through the crowd And she said,
oh, but if I could just touch the hem of his garment, I'd be
made whole. Who touched me? He knew exactly who touched him. But he was exposing her. And
she came and the scripture says she told him all the truth. I love that. And I pray right
now that the Lord will drive this question home to each of
our hearts. And that we'll be confronted
with this question. Wilt thou be made whole? Sometimes the Lord asks questions in order to use the words that we speak against
us. If we don't answer the question
properly, by your words you shall be justified and by your words
you shall be condemned for out of the heart the mouth speaks. A brother told me recently been
praying with him for his mother, he's been sharing messages with
his mother for years and she's listened to dozens of them from
different preachers. And he was heartbroken this past
week when he said to me, he said, my mother finally said to me,
all these guys ever talk about is Christ. I don't want to listen to it anymore. And I said to him, I said, well,
at least she spoke the truth. Pray that the Holy Spirit will
bring her own words back to her in conviction before he brings
her words against her in judgment. Because those words will be used
one way or the other. And I pray that our response
to this question will not be a response that will be reserved
by God in judgment to be used against us, but that the Lord
will put in our hearts a response to this question that will bring
life and hope, mercy and grace to our impotence. What is the Lord asking this
man? Let's read the rest of the next couple of verses. You still
have your Bibles open to John five. And verse seven, and the impotent
man answered him, sir, I have no man. Now that's a good answer. That's a good answer. I don't
have anybody to help me. when the water is troubled to
put me into the pool. I can't get to the water. I can't understand the things
that that preacher is even talking about. I can't believe, I can't
receive, I've got no man. What did that Ethiopian eunuch
say when Philip said, understand this what thou readest? How can
I accept a man should guide me? I don't have anybody help me.
I don't know. You see, faith comes when we
come to our wits end. There's a little article in your
bulletin this morning about that. Grace begins at our wit's end. And our wit's end is when we've
got no place to go. We don't have any answers. We
don't have any works. We don't have any wisdom. We
don't have any understanding. We don't have any ability to
understand. We've got no man to help us.
Lord, how can I? You ask if I want to be made
whole, but I've got to get to the water first and I can't get
to the water. And might I say, as long as I've
been studying God's word and trying to preach the gospel, the realization of what I just
said is stronger in my heart now than it's ever been. Lord, I can't understand what
I'm reading. I can't comprehend it. Lord,
if you don't open the eyes of my understanding, if you don't
give me ears to hear, I'll revert back to some historical message
or some theological treatise or some principle. We can do that. We can apply
the Bible to precepts and principles and laws and theology and history. I can figure that out. But Lord,
for you to make, for the word of God to be effectual in my
heart, for me to be brought to Christ in faith, and for your
word to be made alive, and to discern the thoughts and intents
of my heart, and to bring me to Christ. Lord, I am more blind
than I've ever been. I can't see it. I'm more dependent upon you than
I've ever been before. This is not just something that
a lost man comes to Christ for. That's why we keep preaching
the gospel the same way. Let me ask you a question. This
happened to me recently. I'm going through the house looking
for a particular item. And after turning everything
over and can't find it, Tricia says to me, by the way,
did you see such and such in your search? And my response is, no, I wasn't
looking for that. Only to find out when she found
what she was looking for, I had looked right at it. But because
I wasn't looking for it, I didn't see it. I was looking for something
else. When you go to the Bible, you're
gonna find what you're looking for. If you're looking for a precept
to practice, if you're looking for a law to keep, if you're
looking for some theological concept to comprehend and understand,
that's what you're gonna find. If you're looking for Christ,
that's whom you will find. You see, men find in the word
of God what they're looking for. and they will overlook everything
else. And my point is to find Christ,
to find Christ in the scriptures, the living Christ, and to have
him speak to my heart and reveal his glory and his grace to me,
his mercy to me, to give strength to my impotence, Lord, That's
a work of grace. That's mercy. I've got no man. This man can't help himself.
No other man can help me. I need the God-man. I need the
Spirit of God to speak truth to my heart. Would thou be made whole? I've got no man to help me. When
the angel stirs the water, I can't get to the water. I can't comprehend
the real meaning of the scriptures as it was purposed by God to
reveal the glory of Christ. I can't see Him. He's hid from
my sight unless you enable me to see Him. Lord, I've got no
ability. And the realization of that is
more clear to me now than it's ever been. And immediately, I'm sorry, look
at verse eight. Jesus saying to him, rise, take
up thy bed and walk. And immediately the man was made
whole and took up his bed and walked. And on the same day was
the Sabbath. Oh, the Lord heals on the Sabbath. How many times he performed miracles
on the Sabbath? Was he just trying to aggravate
the Pharisees? It did. No, he's revealing more
of his glory. He's our Sabbath rest. He's not
talking about a day of the week. He's talking about a finished
work of redemption. And the Lord rested on the seventh
day because his work was finished. And the work was done before
the foundation of the world, Hebrews chapter four, and we
find our rest in him. He is our Sabbath. He's the one we come to, to find
our rest from our labors. Our labors can never We can never
meet the requirements of God's law and God's justice. Only the
work that the Lord Jesus performed on Calvary's cross. Only his
obedience, only his righteousness. And we look to him. We can't
come to him. Can't come to him unless he enables
us to. He said, well, doesn't the Bible
say, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved?
Coming to me? Yes. And what God requires, God
must provide. The Lord commands the impossible
to expose our impotence and to make us dependent upon him for
the very thing that he requires of us. Otherwise, we'll make
a work out of faith. We will make a work out of faith.
Well, I came and I've obligated God and I did what I was supposed
to do and I prayed the prayer and I, no, no. No, no, no. If the Lord gives
faith, we will know that that faith had nothing to do with
me. It was a gift of God. What is the Lord saying to this
impotent man? Have you considered the consequences
of being made whole? When I make whole, it's not partial. When the Lord heals, he doesn't
just heal part of us. You see, men will show an interest
in the things of God because they've got a bad injury somewhere
in their body. You know, Lord, I need you to
fix this problem. I need you to resolve this issue. Have you considered what it,
God doesn't heal partially. He heals the whole man. If anybody,
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things are
passed away, yea, all things become new. Have you considered? Are you sure you want to be made
whole? Because it's going to change everything. When the Lord
gave Naaman the leper healing, the scripture says, and his skin
became like a little child. And that word little child in
the Bible is a baby, a baby's skin. Here's a grown man that's
got skin that was a leper, eaten up with leprosy from head to
toe. Now he's got, he's got skin like a little child. Yeah. The Lord never, if I could but
touch the hem of his garment, I shall be made whole. And straightway
the fountain of her blood was dried up. And the lame man that was at
another gate going into Jerusalem beside the sheep gate was the
gate called Beautiful. And there we have a picture of
the entrance into heaven. The gate called Beautiful. And
there was a man sitting there at the gate begging for alms.
Peter and John come, and they fix their eyes on him, and they
say unto him, silver and gold have we none, but such as we
have, we give unto thee, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, stand
and walk. And the scripture says that he
leaped, that strength came to his feet and to his ankles immediately,
and he leaped for joy. You see, when the Lord heals,
he heals the whole man. No partial healing. One of the questions I want to
consider here is, when he asked him, will thou be made whole,
the impotent man said, sir, I have no man. There's a... There's a truth here that I find
in my own heart and in talking to people about coming to Christ.
One of the things the Lord is saying here is, what are you
waiting for? What are you waiting for? Are
you waiting for an experience? Waiting for a feeling? Waiting
for a miracle? You're waiting to clean up something
in your life. You're waiting for the stirring
of the water. You're waiting. You see, men
will put off coming to Christ, waiting for something. And one
of the things this miracle tells me is the Lord is rebuking that.
The Sabbath was there. The only one that was able to
heal him was there. And he said, well, I'm waiting.
I'm waiting for the angel to come. I'm waiting to get struck
with something. I'm waiting. By your words, you shall be justified. And by your words, you shall
be condemned. Oh no, Lord, I'm not waiting for anything. I just
don't have anybody help me. I'm completely dependent upon
you. You sure you want this? You know you're going to have
to go to work. You know you're going to have to take responsibility
for your life. You know there's no more living off of the pity
of others. Matter of fact, you're going
to have to start caring for the needs of other people. Will thou be
made whole? Is this really what you want? Your whole life's going to change. You know there's something about
that which is familiar to us that makes us feel safe and secure
but it's a false sense of security oftentimes. What do they say? Insanity is
doing the same thing over and over and over again expecting
a different result and how insane we can be. How we keep doing
the same thing over and over and over. Why? Because it's familiar.
Why would a woman who grew up with an alcoholic abusive father
Marry an alcoholic, abusive man. Why would they do that? But that
often happens. Why? Because though it's not good,
it's familiar. I know what to expect. I feel
comfortable there because I... Does that not apply to me and
you? We find some sense of comfort in that which is familiar even
though it's not good. And the Lord is saying to me
and you, you want to be made whole? I've tried to help homeless people. Tried extensively with some. And I've come to this conclusion.
This person wouldn't even go to a shelter because he didn't
want to have to abide by the rules. For him, homelessness
was an addiction. And he'd rather sleep out in
the weather and be eaten up by mosquitoes that have to put himself
under the authority of someone else and have to be responsible
for anything other. And I... That same thing is true
with addictions, isn't it? We just... We keep doing the
same thing. Why? Because it's familiar. We're
expecting something different but nothing ever comes. What's the Lord saying to me
and you right now? You want to be made whole? Because I don't
hear partially. I'm not, you know, it's not a
matter of fixing a problem with your arm or with your leg or
your foot or your hand or your eye. It's a matter of, you know,
you want the least invasive surgery that you can get when you have
a medical problem. The least invasive surgery that I can have
to solve this problem, doc, that's what I want to do. And what's
our great physician saying? There's only one surgery that's
going to fix this problem. And it's a heart transplant.
We're going to crack open your chest, and we're going to pull
out that heart of flesh, a heart of stone, and we're going to
put in a heart of flesh. And everything's going to change.
You sure that's what you want? Wilt thou be made whole? Now, my brethren and my friends,
I'm not asking you a question I haven't asked myself. This
is the question the Lord's asking him. 1969, my brother, who's two years
older than me, turned 18. about turn 18 and
had to register with the draft. Vietnam War was going on and
every 18-year-old had to go down to the draft board and register.
And I remember the joy that my mother had when my brother got
a medical deferment. He got a 4F classification. He couldn't be drafted. because
he had a medical problem. And what a relief my mother felt
that her son was not going to have to go to war. This guy had a medical deferment.
If there's any wars to be engaged in, he didn't have to worry about
it. Are you sure you want to be made whole? Because it means
you're gonna have to engage in a spiritual battle the rest of
your life. You sure you want a new nature?
Because that new nature is going to expose your old nature for
what it is and you're gonna spend the rest of your life loathing
yourself. You sure you wanna be made whole?
Right now you've got a medical deferment. You don't have to
go to battle right now. and you've never had to care
about anybody and everybody that sees you has pity on you and
provides for you, you just had your hand out all your life. Now you're gonna have to, now
you're gonna have to start caring for yourself and taking care
of others. I'm gonna do this heart transplant,
it's gonna change everything about your life. It's not just
gonna fix one or two little things. It's gonna be everything. You
sure you want to be made whole? Right now you only have one nature.
We come into this world with one nature. Rebecca, when she became pregnant
with the twins, she went before the Lord and she said, oh, why
am I thus? Why am I this way? And the Lord
said, "'Cause there's two nations in you." She'd never experienced
that before. These twins in her womb were
fighting before they were born. They were wrestling in her womb
and fought the rest of their lives, and their descendants
have been fighting ever since. You sure you wanna be made whole?
Because you're gonna be engaged in a conflict Your spirit's gonna
war against the flesh and the flesh is gonna war against your
spirit. And you're not gonna be able to be what you would. And the weapons of your warfare
are not carnal. They're not fleshly, they're
mighty through God. And the pulling down of these
strongholds and the bringing every thought into captivity
will only be by the obedience of the Lord Jesus Christ. You
sure that's what you want? You see, most folks want three
dollars worth of God. Just enough to buy a warm cup
of tea. Maybe a biscuit, whatever. Inflation,
I guess, is a whole lot more than that now. Don't stand fast. put on the whole armor of God
that you might be able to stand against the wiles of the devil,
you're gonna become a target of Satan now, you sure you won't
be made whole? Why would a man want to give
up his medical deferment in order to be drafted into an army that
requires constant conflict? Because as long as he is disabled,
he is a slave to his flesh. He's trapped in a body that he
has no control over. He walks blindly on the road
to destruction in lockstep conformity to the will and the whims of
his own sinful flesh. It's familiar to him. But in the end, there's nothing
but destruction. Now, in being made whole, the
body becomes the temple of the Holy Spirit. And though his flesh
remains corrupt and in conflict with his spirit, He is fighting
now in a war that's already been won. He is now under the authority
of a loving commander-in-chief who has gone to battle for him
and that has overcome all that's in the world, the lust of the
flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. In this
world, the Lord Jesus said to his disciples, you shall have
tribulation, but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world. That's the only reason a man
who has a medical deferment would want to engage in any sort of
a battle is when he realizes the condition that he's in. By
not engaging in this spiritual battle, he's already lost. He's fighting a losing battle. The Lord Jesus, through death,
brought about immortality in life. The war's already been
decided. No, the war is already over. It's over. We're just engaged
in battles in a war that's already been won. The Lord Jesus already
won it. And he's going to provide for
his children all the way through. Death has been swallowed up in
victory. The works of the devil have been
destroyed. The grave has been opened. Heaven has been established,
not only by the Lord Jesus Christ, but by all those for whom he
lived and died. Do you want to be made whole?
Whole. Everything. Sin's been put away. The law's
been fulfilled. Justice has been satisfied. The
battle's been won. You see, this isn't just a ticket
into heaven to be stuck into the pocket until it's needed. Everybody wants to go to heaven.
Nobody wants to go to hell. But if that's all this is about,
that's not what the Lord's asking. He's asking, do you want to be
made whole? Turn with me to 1 Thessalonians
5. 1 Thessalonians 5. You see, this is not such a strange
question, is it? You say, here's a man that's
been crippled 38 years, and the Lord asked him, do you want to
be made whole? Of course I want to be made whole. You sure? Are you sure? 1 Thessalonians 5. Verse 16, rejoice
evermore. Oh, this being made whole is
a life of rejoicing in the Lord. And again, I say rejoice. Let
your gentleness be known to all men for the Lord is at hand.
Say rejoice always. You mean when things are difficult?
Yep. When it's hard? Yep. Do you want to be made whole? Yeah, but I feel so comfortable
complaining and murmuring and wallowing in my pity and having
other people help me all the time. Do you want to be made
whole? Pray without ceasing. You sure you want to be made
whole? Because this is going to be a life of prayer. You're
going to find yourselves often On your knees and on your face
before God, crying out for mercy and help. Coming before the throne
of grace to find help in your time of need. And be made whole. In everything
give thanks. Ah, wait a minute. Now that's
what it means to be made whole. to believe that God's working
all things together for good for them that love Him, and those
that are called according to His purpose, and be thankful
for all things, for all things of the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you. Thankful always, and be made
whole. You see, the answer to this question
is very telling, isn't it? It's very telling. No, I don't
want all that. And I would say to you, I hope
the Lord will use your rejection of Christ as a means of conviction before
he uses it in judgment. In everything, give thanks. for this is the will of God in
Christ Jesus concerning you. And if you read that in the English,
it almost sounds like it's the will of God to always be thankful. That's not the way this verse
is written. The way it's written is, in everything
give thanks for everything is the will of God in Christ Jesus
concerning you. I don't want any part of that.
You mean when somebody that I love dies, that's the will, yeah.
When somebody treats me bad, that's the will, yeah. When everything falls apart and
I have financial problems, then yep, yep. Now I gotta be thankful
and all that, yep. Do you wanna be made whole? Quench not the spirit. Spirit of God, oh we quench Him
a lot. The Lord said, don't quench Him. Don't quench Him, oh Lord, I'm
so sorry. You revealed that to me and I
ignored you and I ignored the Spirit of God and I went about
doing my own thing and look what's happened. Lord, I've lost Your
presence, I've lost Your peace, I've lost Your joy. Lord, give me your spirit. Despise
not the prophesying. In other words, and that word
despise means don't think lightly of preaching. You may, I may
made whole, it means that being in public worship and coming
before God and listening to the word of God being declared, that's
going to be something that's gonna be first and foremost in
my life. You want to be made whole? Prove all things, hold fast that
which is good. Test everything by the Spirit.
Don't just follow your feelings. You know, the world says, well,
you know, do what's in your heart. A fool does what's in his heart.
What's God saying? Don't follow your heart, follow
my word. You sure you want to be made
whole? You mean you can't trust yourself
anymore? You got to trust God. Abstain from all appearance of
evil. I don't care what people think, you better if you want
to be made whole. Abstain from the appearance of
evil that you did made out of rebuke on the gospel. Your life
now belongs to him and everything about you belongs to him. and the very God of peace sanctify
you, set you apart, holy. And notice the way that word
holy is spelled, it's not H-O-L-Y, it is W-H-O-L-Y, every hole,
you want to be made whole. And I pray God your whole spirit
and your whole soul and your whole body be preserved blameless
until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful, you say,
well, I gotta do all this? No, but he will. Because faithful,
is he that asked you, do you want to be made whole? And faithful
is he that made you whole and faithful is he that will make
these things to be. You want to be made whole? Right now you slave to your medical condition. You slaved your flesh. Won't be made
whole. Because in everything that's
going to change, you're now going to be subject to him. Tom, what are we singing? Number 29. 29. Let's stand together.
Number 29 in the Sproul hymnal. Whatever you got there, Joy,
will work. Either one.