Thank you once again for the help of the Lord. I would like you to turn with me to the chapter that we read together, the Gospel according to John, chapter 5, and the text you'll find in verse 8. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. This is the 18th recorded miracle of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the man who laid at the pool of Bethesda for 30, or he had been sick for 38 years, whether he had been laying there at the pool for 38 years, We don't know but the Lord Jesus Christ comes upon him on a Sabbath day at the pool of Bethesda and heals him. Bethesda means house of mercy and we can see why it would be called such a place where there are multitudes of sick people come and they wait for the angel to come and trouble the water and as the sick people see the water troubling or stirring or bubbling or having something take place within it they would all rush to get to the water to be the first one into the water so that they would be healed and the complaint of this man is that I would like to be healed but there's nobody who can bring me into the water as I'm trying to struggle there as I'm trying to move myself towards the water somebody steps in before me and they are made whole. You can sort of imagine the chaos that would be unfolding as somebody noticed the water troubling Maybe somebody may have noticed it and tries to keep it secret so that they can get into the pool first. And you can imagine all these human manifestations of evil and jealousy and rivalry. and selfishness all manifesting themselves as this water is troubled, as those who are sick try to make their way there, those who have friends with them maybe pushing others out of the way trying to get their friend into the pool first. And this was the complaint of this man who had been ill for so long, I can't get myself there. I don't have any friends to help me. I have no family who stands by my side waiting for the troubling of the water. I have no friends waiting next to me who can carry me in until I'm just abandoned. I'm abandoned here by the side of this pool I see mercy I see the grace of God I see the healing power of God yet I can't get there myself in time because somebody else comes and they get healed and so we can understand why it's called the house of mercy for God acted mercifully when he sent his angel to trouble the water so that the lame and the sick could be healed. As we look through the Bible there are many many names that begin with Beth. One of the most famous ones sometimes the chapels are named after is Bethel. in the house of God. Remember Jacob as he saw the ladder he said this is none other than the house of God and he named it Bethel. Remember the Lord Jesus Christ was born at Bethlehem, the house of bread, the place where King David also lived. And so these names derived their meaning from what took place there. So this was the house of mercy because the sick people came there and they experienced the healing mercy of God when the angel came down and troubled the water. And you can see the reasons why. as many sick people today go and gather at the hospital waiting for some healing, waiting for some diagnosis of their conditions. These places of help attract those people who need that help. And so we can imagine as the Bible tells us that there was a great multitude of people In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk of blind and halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. And it wasn't for everybody. It was for the first one in. And so you can imagine the disappointment You can imagine as somebody saw somebody else getting first and they were miraculously healed you can imagine the disappointment that the others felt. They were left out. There was joy with one and there was disappointment for many. There is a multitude of people. If one person gets healed then the rest of the multitude are filled with disappointment and sadness. And what a contrast this is to the Lord Jesus Christ. the Lord Jesus Christ. So though he comes here into this situation, as he enters into this house of mercy, yes he does only heal one person but his main purpose for coming was not to heal the external sicknesses of people. They were the mere signs that he was who he said he was. The signs that he did proved who he was. And so as this angel was sent down from heaven troubling the waters and only one was healed the Lord Jesus Christ was also sent down from heaven not just to heal one but to heal millions and millions of people. And as some who were making their way to this pool they were left out disappointed. Those who saw that they had a sickness and they experienced pain and suffering and they saw within that pool a healing virtue as they were making their way there somebody else got there first they were disappointed. but not so with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us no one who comes to the Lord Jesus Christ will ever be turned away. No one who comes to the Lord Jesus Christ will ever leave him disappointed. They will go away healed and they will go away filled with joy. But this man he has an excuse. Jesus asks him a question. wilt will you be made whole? That was the question that the Lord Jesus Christ asked him. The obvious answer is yes. If you were to go into the waiting room of a hospital into the A&E and you would say to somebody, would you like to get better? Would you like to be healed? Do you wish that the condition that you have at this moment in time would be dealt with? The immediate answer would be yes. Nobody likes to experience suffering. Nobody likes to experience prolonged disability and pain and illness and sickness. And so when confronted or asked the question, do you want to be healed? You would immediately answer, yes. I'm sure there are things that we have in our own lives that if we were asked the question, do you want these things to be removed? Do you want these things to be dealt with, to be done away with? Do you want to be healed of this ailment or this weakness or this besetting sin? Do you want it to be gone? The answer would be yes. who naturally we don't like suffering and difficulty. And this man he doesn't immediately answer yes but he gives an excuse as to why he is still in the condition that he is. He says I have no man when the water is troubled to put me into the pool. But while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. And so he doesn't say, yes, I want to be healed, but he gives the reason why he is still in that condition, because he's unable to get to the pool. And so that is his excuse as to why he is still unwell. There is a song. that is sung by William McRae. I think it's written by somebody else but it is excuses excuses we hear them every day the devil will supply them if from church you'll stay away and it goes on giving these various excuses that the devil gives to people that the devil uses as to why they're unable to come to the to the place of worship. Some say they've got a cold and some say that the preacher speaks too loud, some say the preacher is too quiet, some say he's too bold, some say he's too shy and they come up with all these manner of excuses as to why they don't go to church or why they don't come to the Lord Jesus Christ. They give all these reasons and They never just say, I don't want to. There's just this, an excuse. Just like Eve and Adam. They made excuses. Instead of confessing their sin to God, they blamed each other and in doing so, they blamed God for, or Adam blamed God for giving him Eve. So this man, he makes an excuse. Will you be made whole? Instead of, yes, I would like to be made whole, he says, I can't. because I can't get to the pool. That didn't stop blind Bartimaeus. If someone had said to him do you see the Lord Jesus he wouldn't have said I can't see him because I'm blind. He saw him by faith. He cried out Jesus thou son of David have mercy on me He cried out. He saw the Lord Jesus Christ by faith as to who he was. He didn't say, I'm blind, I can't see, my life is so miserable. He cried out to the Lord. He didn't make any excuses. As they tried to silence him he cried even louder. have mercy upon me' and Jesus stood still and they brought blind Bartimaeus to him and he was was healed. If you remember the man in the Old Testament called Mephibosheth. Mephibosheth was lame on both of his feet. He had been dropped as a baby by his maid and it had made him disabled. He was unable to walk. Yet he was one of the remaining of the household of Saul, son of Jonathan. And David wanted to do a favour to the household of Jonathan. Is there any that remain of the household of Jonathan that he would like to show them kindness? In 2 Samuel 9. And the king said, is there not yet any of the household of Saul that I may show the kindness of God unto him? And Zabib said unto the king, Jonathan hath yet a son which is lame on his feet. So he was called to come into the presence of the king. Although lame on both of his feet, he was brought to King David And King David wanted to bless him, to help him. Now when Mephibosheth, the son of Jonathan, the son of Saul, was come unto David, he fell on his face and did reverence. And David said, Mephibosheth, and he answered, Behold thy servant. David said unto him fear not for I will surely show thee kindness for Jonathan thy father's sake and I will restore thee all the land of Saul thy father that thou shalt eat bread continually at my table and he bowed himself and said why is thy servant what is thy servant that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I Whether this was an excuse as such or whether it was him feeling so unworthy in the presence of a king. This is what he thought about himself. I don't deserve it. I don't deserve to be moved from this place into the palace. I don't deserve to sit at the king's table and to be fed by the king's bread and to be served continually in the presence of the king. He felt unworthy. to receive such a blessing and he says that I am such a dead dog. What is thy servant that thou shouldest look upon such a dead dog as I am? You know disability can make people feel insignificant and inferior David showed love and kindness unto Mephibosheth for Jonathan's sake. He wanted to show kindness to the household of Saul and as he is presented with this man who is disabled, unable to walk, who feels himself to be unworthy and in complete dependence upon David for support, David says I want to show him kindness for Jonathan's sake. So as we see all these people around the pool of Bethesda, the lame, the halt, the wizard or the weak and the waiting for the and the blind waiting for the moving of the water and we see poor Mephibosheth lame on both of his feet being presented to King David and saying come from down there and come and sit up here at my table and eat at my table continually. We see the grace and favor and provision of God and we see around this pool of Bethesda all these sick and outcasts of society living in dependence upon others round about them. And we find that their only hope is the moving of this water. And this man, he says, I can't get there because nobody will help me. And so Jesus says to him, rise, take up thy bed, and walk. The man was there. Whether he stayed there and slept there we don't know but it seems that he had no friends, nobody to help him. He was unable to walk but the Lord Jesus Christ tells him to take up his bed and to walk. Now how he knew that suddenly he had strength in his body we don't know but something caused him the power of the voice of Christ to obey the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ and as he obeyed the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ as he went to move those limbs that were once unable to move they are now filled with strength. that bed with which he lied and he laid there miserably day in and day out, he now takes up that bed. that symbol of his past life, that symbol of his disability, that symbol of his lameness, that symbol of his sickness. He now takes it up into his arms and he walks away from the Lord Jesus Christ, not even knowing who the Lord Jesus Christ was, because he's asked the question. Why are you carrying your bed on the Sabbath? Because it's not lawful for him to carry the bed. And he says, he that made me hold the same said unto me, take up thy bed and walk. And they asked him, what man is that which said unto thee, take up thy bed and walk? And he that was healed did not know who it was. So he had no idea who had healed him. Now it seems that the man's condition was as a result of his own sin. You might say how do we know this? In verse 14 Afterwards, Jesus finding him in the temple and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee. In John chapter eight, we have the account of the Lord Jesus dealing with the lady who was caught in adultery. John chapter 8 and verse 11. Or verse 10. Woman where are thine accusers? Hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. And so this lady receives the same words that the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to this man. The man is healed. Yet he's not healed spiritually, he's only healed physically. This lady who had committed sin, she doesn't receive forgiveness but she's told to repent and to turn away from the sins that she has been in. And the Lord sends her away. And this man the same. He doesn't know who the Lord Jesus Christ is, yet he experiences the healing of his body and Jesus tells him, do not continue in sin, lest a worse thing come upon you. You think how many people the Lord Jesus Christ healed. Not all of them did he heal in body and in soul. Only a few of them we read that he made them whole. Although we read in our translation, but thou art made whole, the word that the Lord Jesus Christ is using in the Greek language is healed. You have been healed. And you remember when we dealt with the lady who touched the Lord Jesus Christ with the issue of blood, he says to her, daughter, thy faith has made thee whole. Go in peace and be whole of thy plague. and he uses another word. With this lady he uses the word which means to be saved. He says, thy faith has saved thee. Go in peace and be saved. But with this man, whenever the Lord Jesus Christ uses the word whole, he's using the word be healed, be externally healed of your plagues. and don't continue in sin anymore. He was blessed but not with salvation. As we look at our hospitals and we see how many people are blessed with healing They are blessed with health and all this flows yes from the wisdom of man but it's the wisdom of man that has been given to them by God. And God has allowed people to have their lives extended by the use of medicine and operations and other things. The Lord allows this to take place. They are blessed with the healing of the body and the extending of their lives. But they don't give the glory to God. They don't give the glory to the Lord Jesus Christ. They are healed externally but they are not healed and granted salvation just like this man here. Because Jesus says to him, sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee. So it seems that, and some of the writers agree with this, that it seems that the condition that he had was brought on because of sinful behavior. How often people have been injured, they've injured themselves because they've drunken to excess. They've broken their bones, they've got into fights, they've been stabbed, they've been shot. They've got into their cars and they've crashed their cars. Their injuries are as a result of their sinful behaviour. They are suffering the consequences of their sinful behaviour. Yes, we can become unwell but that does not necessarily mean it's because of a particular sin that we have committed. Remember the Lord Jesus Christ when there was the blind man in the temple and the apostles said, who has sinned, this man or his parents? And Jesus says, none of them. This man's illness is so that the Lord may be glorified. And so not all sickness is as the result of a particular sin but some conditions and some accidents are and do come as a result of people's sinful behaviour. Think of Adam. Adam and the sin that he committed. The consequences of his sin plunged the whole of the human race into a sinful condition and cursed with death. Think of Lot. Lot made a foolish choice. by not following God, by following his own eyes, by making a decision based on what he could see. And in doing so, he led his family into the plains of Sodom, suffered attack from a foreign king, then brings himself into the city of Sodom, then is brought out by the angels, loses the majority of his family. His daughters are totally corrupted by the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah and ply their father with drink. And so we see that our sinful behavior can cause us to suffer trial and also suffer sickness and injury. How many, myself included, are going to suffer when we are old because of foolish behavior? riding around on my BMX breaking bones and damaging my knee. I know that when I'm old I'm going to struggle and I can't say that the Lord has brought this affliction when it would be because of my own foolish behaviour when I was young. I will suffer when I'm old. And so there are some trials that we bring on ourselves There are some trials that the Lord brings us into for his honour and for his glory, to work out his purposes in our lives, to shape us and mould us and conform us to the image of Christ. But there are some trials that we bring on ourselves by our own foolish behaviour, by our own sin, by our own unbelief, by our own rebellion, by bad decisions. Think of those who smoke or have smoked and end up with lung cancer. Whose fault is that? People have known about the ongoing harm of cigarettes for years and years and years. And yet people continue to smoke and they will continue to get health problems. Those who struggle drink alcohol and the great problems that that brings when it's done to excess. damaging the body. You think of those who overeat and have extremely bad diets so struggle with heart problems and difficulties in those ways. These are conditions that are able to be stopped but because people continue in excess their bodies suffer as a result of their lack of restraint and their sin. And so it would seem that this man was in his particular situation because of a sin that he had committed and had damaged his body in some way. And so Jesus says to him, sin no more lest a worse thing come upon thee. What is that worse thing? No amount of suffering in this world no matter how hideous the pathway is no amount of suffering will ever compare to the suffering that will be experienced by those who are in hell. A worse thing come upon thee. If you go back to your sin, if you don't repent and turn and trust in me, the Lord Jesus Christ who has healed you, a worse thing will come upon you than what you have already been going through, what you have just been going through. A worse thing than lying at the pool for 38 years without being able to walk, with no friends to help you. a worse thing will come upon you and that will be the judgment of God will fall upon you like with the lady Jesus says I'm not going to condemn you but go and sin no more turn from that sin I am the light of the world he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life And so Jesus asks him the question, will you be made whole? Do you want to be healed? He makes an excuse. Now Jesus asks the same question, spiritually speaking. By our nature, the Bible tells us, we are sick and unclean. Our bodies are corrupted by sin and our souls are severed from God. And so what we have in this man is what we are ourselves spiritually by nature, unable to get to the pool, the pool of healing. And often it's not that we're unable to get to it, it's that we make excuses as to why we don't want to get to it. the main excuses well there's nobody to help me or I can't but really the root of the matter is is that we don't see ourself as sick and as unclean as God says that we are. We are spiritually lame and Jesus says in verse 39, here is their excuse. Search the scriptures for in them you think that you have eternal life and they are they which testify of me and you will not come to me that you might have life. You see it's not that you can't, it's that you will not. If I had up here a list of names and I said, the Lord has revealed to me that these people on this list, they're not going to make it to the end of the year. Would you not want to see who was written there? Would you not be like the lame and the impotent folk around the pool of Bethesda when the water is trembled? Wouldn't you be seeking to rush there to see whether your name was there upon the list? When I was at school, I played rugby. and the coach would choose the team and then on the Friday he would put the list up on the wall and after school everyone would run, who was in that team, everyone would run to see the list, to see am I playing tomorrow or am I not playing tomorrow. We wanted to see, we wanted to find out. We didn't say Oh if I'm playing I'm playing and if I'm not I'm not then there's nothing I can do about it anyway so I'll just wake up on Saturday morning and turn up and if I'm allowed there I'm allowed there if I'm not I'm not. And that is the attitude of many people. We say well we believe that God is sovereign. We believe that God chose the people before the foundation of the earth and salvation is of God and there's nothing I can do about it. The Lamb's Book of Life is sealed and only Christ can open it. And we make it an excuse. We rest in this excuse that we believe in election. God has chosen a people before the foundation of the world. I'm impotent. I can't make it to the pool. I've got nobody to help me. And so we use it as an excuse. as to why we can't seek the Lord Jesus Christ. But Jesus goes right to the root of the matter right to the heart. He says you're using that as an excuse. The very fact is is that you don't want to. You don't see your real need of the Lord Jesus Christ. You don't want to come to him because you don't want, you don't feel that you need to be healed. Jesus says the righteous, they don't need a doctor so they don't go to the doctor. It is for those who are sick go to the doctor and the Lord Jesus Christ is for those who are sick of sin and if you feel yourself to be sick of sin then come to the Lord Jesus Christ, go to the Lord Jesus Christ, you are invited to the Lord Jesus Christ for he came for sinners. It's not free will. To those who feel their need of him His arms stand open. But if you don't feel your need of him, then his arms are closed. The question is asked, will you be made whole? Do you want to be saved? That is the question. Sinner, do you want to be saved? Do you see your need of being saved? Do you see yourself like Mephibosheth, lame, sitting on the floor before a king? And the king is saying, come up here. Come and sit at my table with your lameness and your self-loathing. Come and sit at my table and eat with me. as all these sick people sat round the pool of mercy, just is a picture of the church. There's no perfect people. Their perfection lies in Christ Jesus. And as we see the multitude around about this pool waiting for the troubling of the water in the house of mercy, just like the church. It's not that how we have come this morning, we've come with our blindness, with our lack of strength, our witheredness and we're waiting for a moving of the water, we're waiting for the moving of the Holy Spirit to come and bless us in our souls, to give us strength to continue following the Lord Jesus Christ just like this man. Take up thy bed and walk. What does Jesus say? Take up thy bed, follow me. Stop looking at the excuses. Wrap those excuses up and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Stop pretending that you're worried about election and realise that Jesus knows your heart and he knows that you really think you will not come to me that you might have life. Jesus Christ is the angel, the messenger of the new covenant and he came to heal and to bless those who are sick not necessarily with the health of the body but he came to heal the sin sick soul and he comes to give strength to those who are weak and to give them that strength to follow him and to persevere. And Jesus says, rise, take up thy bed and walk. May the Lord give us each then that strength to see Jesus Christ for who he is and that you need him as a sinner, you need the Saviour. As he has promised to turn none away, take up thy bed and walk. Amen. May the Lord help us as we close this service by singing hymn number 112 from Hymns of Worship. In all my Lord's appointed ways, my journey I'll pursue. Hinder me not, ye much-loved saints, for I must go with you. Hymn number 112 from Hymns of Worship, tune at 101. A journey of pursuit In the Minoki March, the Saints and flames, if Jesus lead, I'll follow where he goes, in knowing I shall be my God. and above. Through duty and through trials, too, I'll go as it is called. For I am bound to my Emmanuel's hand. And when my Saviour calls me, I In them, in all, come thou, come death, or badly go away. And now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father, with the fellowship and the communion of the Holy Spirit, to be with you all now and forevermore. Amen.