family. Officer Robert. Remember that family in your
prayers. Continue to remember Debbie's
brother, Randy. He's still in the hospital. The
reason is he can't hold anything down. He's got throwing up from the chemotherapy
they gave him. And until he's able to hold some
food down, he's been there for a week now, and until he's able
to hold some food down, they won't let him go yet. And Butch
Long didn't have surgery. He went over to Asheville for
a coloroscopy, and they left him in the room for six hours
without coming in, and he left. He didn't have surgery. They
were taking him down to have the surgery, and the nurse had
given him a cup with something in it. But when he got there,
the one that's going to do the surgery, I guess, I told him,
I said, we're not doing no surgery. He said, why? He said, because
of that drink you just carried in here. He said, I didn't drink
nothing. That nurse gave me that cup when
I went out in the room. He said, but I ain't drunk nothing.
But he still wanted to do the surgery. No, man. Well, that's
typical nowadays. Nobody knows what anybody else
is doing to the place. So he ain't going back over there.
Where'd he go? He was in Asheville. Oh. I get
my colonoscopy done this year. Yeah. OK. All right. Let's remember those
folks in your prayer. Hymn number 517. When George
was storming back last night, Oh, Jordan, show me where the
signs stand. Hence the wishful eye To Canaan's
fair and happy land Where my possessions lie I am bound for
the promised land I am bound for the promised land Oh, who
will come and go with me? I am bound for the promised land! I am bound for the promised land. I am bound for the promised land. Oh, who will come and go with
me? I am bound for the promised land! No jail he pays, nor poisonous
fire! I am bound for the promised land
I am bound for the promised land Oh, who will come and go with
me? I am bound for the promised land! When shall I reach that happy
place and be forever blest? I am bound for the promised land
I am bound for the promised land Oh, who will come and go with
me? I am bound for the promised land Oh worship the King! Glorious above, then gratefully
sing His power and His love! Our shield and defender, the
angel of faith, familiar in splendor, Oh. I can't. We be distilled in blood, dew,
and the rain With children of dust and feeble as clay In Thee
do we trust, Lord, kindly to fail Thy mercies have tendered
out firm to the end. I'll make her defendant, redeemer
and friend. If you have your Bible, turn
with me to John chapter 5. Read verses 1-11. We'll deal
mostly with verses 1-9 tonight. After this, there was a feast
of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at
Jerusalem by the sheep gate, or sheep market, a pool, which
is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude
of impotent folk, blind and hauled and withered, waiting for the
moving of the water. 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 thirty and eight years. And when Jesus saw him
lie, he knew that he had been now a long time in that case. And he said unto him, Wilt thou
be made whole? The impotent man answered, Sir,
I have no man in the water's trouble to put me into the pool. While I'm coming, another step
down before me. And Jesus said unto him, Rise,
take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately a man was made
whole, and took up his bed, and walked. And on the same day was
the Sabbath. And the Jews therefore said unto
him, and was cured. It is the seventh day. It is
not lawful for me to carry that bed. He answered him and said,
he that made me whole, the same said unto me, take up thy bed
and walk with me. Let us pray. Our Father, we are
thankful that the miracles of our Lord Jesus Christ are recorded. Even though there are miracles
that deal with time and are temporal, for all who were healed by the
Lord Jesus Christ eventually went to their grave. We know
that each and every miracle that He performed in the healing of
the flesh, in giving sight to the blind or hearing to the ears,
ability to walk to those who were lame, each pointed to a
different aspect of the salvation of all sinners by His grace. We can find ourselves in their
place. We can put ourselves here and
understand what it is for the Savior to see us and find us
and heal us. Help us, Lord, tonight to worship
you as we consider these things. We pray for those who are sick
and those who've lost loved ones, especially this Cooper family.
Also Randy and his brother, which might be with him. We ask, Lord,
that you would be merciful and tender toward them. Give them
a view of Jesus Christ. Cause them in a time of trouble
to turn away from self and their own remedies and look along to
him. Father, we pray for ourselves tonight as we gather here that
you might be pleased to empty us of ourselves and fill us with
the knowledge of Jesus Christ. It's in him we pray, for he's
worthy. Amen. Now this is the third miracle
recorded in the gospel according to John, and it's the count of
a picture of a sinner saved by grace. As always, when such a
sinner is saved, it is accounted in picture not as a sin of debauchery
or evil, but graciously, as the person has some sort of terminal
illness that the Lord deals with. That's a kindness on his part.
We know that the elect are true sinners, just like everybody
else, and that what they do and what they are is worthy of hell.
But our Lord views them as infirm, and he views them as sick, and
he views them as worthy of pity. In that great psalm that David
wrote in Psalm 103, verses 13 and 14, it says, like as a father
pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.
For he knoweth our frame, and he remembers that we are dust.
That's a kindness. That's a kindness and a generosity
on the Lord's part. This is a story that encompasses,
back in John 5, the inability of the Old Covenant to effectually
save the ruined. We know that our Lord spent a
great deal of time, especially the Book of Hebrews, teaching
that all the sacrifices of the Old Covenant could never take
away sin. And that's always the issue between men and God is
sin. You see, the Old Covenant is here pictured as requiring
as requiring the ability to obey and the wherewithal or power
to perform what is required. And this poor, impotent fellow
could do nothing that was required for him to be healed. Now, the
possibility of healing was there for him, but he couldn't do it. But that's like useless religion,
isn't it? It's like useless religion. The remedy was available, but
the power to perform the requirement was not. Thus the remedy was
ineffectual to the truly impotent. However, if you weren't quite
totally dead in trespasses and sins, if you were slightly wounded,
then you might have the energy to do what religion says to take
this available cup of salvation and drink from it. But if you're
dead, it ain't gonna happen. You're dead. Men have stood in
pulpits and touted the availability of salvation, refusing to believe
that the dead can do nothing, and thus false religion that
applies to the slightly wounded is of no value whatsoever to
the impotent. If you're truly a sinner, and
you realize it, by God's grace you are so, you know that that
religion has nothing to offer you this is what religion had
to offer this man he was impotent been in that case for 38 years
laying on his back waiting for somebody to help him to get into
that pool verse 4 says now there was at Jerusalem by the sheep
market a pool which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda
which means house of mercy having five fortunes that is five decks
that surrounded this pool, and on these decks lay these sick
people. It says, in these lay a great
multitude of impotent folk, blind and halt and withered, waiting
for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain
season into the pool and troubled the water. And whosoever then
first, after the trouble in the water, stepped in was made whole
from whatsoever disease he had. That was the stipulation. And
people have tried to come up with an idea of what it was,
but basically it's a miracle. You say the same thing, yes,
you're kind of crazy. an angel coming down and making the water
perhaps to roar or to stir or making a concentric circle appear
in the water. And the first one that got in
the water, now you remember there's five forges out here. There are
people laying all around with all sorts of maladies, blindness,
they're deaf, they're lame, they're sick. This man had a disease
that made him immobile and impotent for 38 years. And they're waiting. And it says it doesn't happen
every day. It doesn't end at 4 o'clock. It ain't going to
come. Once in a while, as they sat and watched this pool, that
was the house of mercy down there. That was that available healing
down there. And they watched. And an angel
came down and stirred the waters. And the first one that was able
to get up and get in that pool was healed. But everybody else
wasn't. Everybody else wasn't. This pool, as miraculous as it
was, was a mockery to this poor man. Only the winner got to be healed. Only the one that was fast as
a foot or had enough people to carry him down to the pond. There
was nothing here for the loser. There was nothing here for the
truly dead and impotent. There was no hope for that person
because he couldn't make it to the pool. This pool, as miraculous
as it was, was a mockery to this poor, impotent man. For 38 years,
he lay watching as those who were mildly stricken dove into
the waters and came up home. And what a picture this is of
the total inability to help the truly ruined, the impotent sinner.
Religion has nothing to offer the true sinner. Nothing. Even he might find some
men to carry him into the pool. It was unlikely that carrying
his dead weight could get him to the water first. His situation
was, therefore, hopeless. Hopeless, if it involved his
strength or the strength of any other man to get him into the
pool. His situation was hopeless. He's hopeless. As I said, Bethesda
means the house of mercy. But because of his malady, mercy
was but a dream. Well, better yet, it was probably
a nightmare. Because he saw people healed
in that pool, and he couldn't get to it. Words of the Lord
said, I am found of them that sought me not. That rings true
here. This man wasn't looking for Christ. He was not looking
for the Savior. He was looking for help to get
down to the pool. And it says, the Savior saw him.
He didn't see the Savior until the Savior showed up and spoke
to him. It says the Savior saw him and saw what condition he
was in. He saw one of his lost sheep
whom he had found and was about to bring him home. Our Lord knew
his case is what it says. In verse 6, when Jesus saw him
lie, he knew that he'd been now a long time in that case. Evidently,
his situation, or his body frame, or the way he looked, maybe he
looked malnourished, maybe he was twisted. Who knows? But the Lord knew it didn't happen
to him overnight. He'd been a long time in this
case. He knew that his poor soul had been long gravely ill, and
the healing pool was still available, but no longer needed. because
the great physician had arrived. Our Lord asked this man an interesting
question, a question that seemed unnecessary since this man was
a bed on the banks of the house of mercy and stayed there waiting
for somehow to get in. His desire for healing would
seem moot to this question. Our Lord said, will thou be made
whole? Well, of course he will. Of course, that's what he's been
waiting for all along. And what he's waiting for ain't
gonna happen. His desire for healing is true. Perhaps the
Lord knew this man's mind was still on the healing water for
sin. And the next verse that he said, Lord, I have no man
to take me to the waters. Somebody always beats me to the
pool. Perhaps our Lord was addressing the consequences of no longer
having the pity of men. There's something important about
some people in religion who act in a certain way, live in a certain
way, that men always pity them and feel sorry for them. They'll
probably lose that. You won't have that anymore. Perhaps our Lord was addressing
that if made whole, a man would change from being helped and
in need of help to being one who helps and become a helper. Perhaps our Lord was addressing
the fact that being made whole, a man would have to be gainly
employed and a functioning member of society. He's not been that
for 38 years. Perhaps the Lord was addressing the fact that
the man being made whole would no longer be qualified to receive
the benefits of the law required for aiding the poor and the helpless,
because the law doesn't require that. To help out the poor and
the needy, the widows and the fatherless, being made whole
carried with it some true consequences. Whatever the reason for our Lord
asking this question, the impotent man still had his mind entirely
ensconced on the benefits of that boon. Verse 7 says this,
the impotent man answered and said, sir, I have no man. When
the waters troubled to put me in the pool, while I'm coming,
another stepped down before me. But as wondrous as the miracle
waters were, the truth of the old covenant was about to be
replaced by the new. The pool was silent, but the
water of life was now speaking. The angel that stirred the waters
was replaced by the angel of the covenant who appeared suddenly.
The power of the waters was replaced by the power of the Lord's words.
The same voice that spoke the universe into existence now looks
this man in the face and says, rise. Take up thy bed and walk. What do you reckon went through
that fellow's head when he heard that? He probably thought, who
is this to tell me to do this? Those are three things that were
impossible to this man moments before. He couldn't do any of
these things. The bed had long been his home.
Now it would become his luggage. His withered limbs, coarseness,
strength, his crooked frame now stood upright and walked. He
couldn't do any of these things, but he did. What a wondrous thing. We tell men to believe, but they
can't. But some do. How? Men by nature don't believe.
All men have not faith, saith the scripture. Yet we tell men
to believe. We tell men to repent, and they
can't. Esau sought repentance with tears,
but was never granted him. We tell men to come to Christ,
but they can't move. They're dead. They're lame and
impotent. How do they do that? I don't
know. But I've seen some people do it. I know they can't do it. It's impossible for them to do
it. But they do it. Why? Because the word of the
Lord is what makes the difference. It was the Lord who created the
world, who said, arise, take up thy bed, and walk. And walk. His crooked frame now
stood upright and walked. He couldn't do any of these things,
but he did. Why is that? Because the Word of the Lord
comes to you personally. Now, what I speak is the Word
of God, but only the voice of Christ will speak to your heart.
And He takes this Word and implants it in your soul and gives you
life. and understanding and faith and repentance. He gives these
things to you. But He does it only one way, through this Word.
Through this Word. If the Word of the Lord comes
to you personally, speaks to your heart and your mind, with
the command comes the permission and the ability to obey if He
speaks to your heart. If He speaks to your heart. His
words, He said, are spirit and they are life. I remember that
song as I was writing it down, that verse in that song was saying,
What happens when the Lord speaks to you, if you hear Him? And
He only speaks to those who hear Him. In fact, you're already alive
because you heard it. That word is a wondrous thing.
Arise, he said, take up thy bed and walk. There is no course
of treatment here, no weeks of rehab, no gradual reintroduction
into society. It says immediately, at the word
of the Lord, the impotent gained power. And immediately, the man was
made whole. Right then and there. And took
up his bed and walked. Right now. But in doing so, he
broke the law. He did it on the Sabbath day.
That old covenant still. He had been healed. He was walking
upright, but he was carrying his bed on a day that commanded
no show of eye of work, not so much as picking up a stick on
the side of the bed. And as is the case, there are
always somebody around who will see it. And with the legalists
ever looking to catch someone breaking the law, it makes them
so righteous to do so. I think of those folks up in
Iowa, the old Dutch Calvinists. strict reformers and legalists. And the deacons in the church
and the elders in the church go around the people's houses
looking for sinful things. They look if you're not supposed
to have a TV. So what happens when they go
around and all the people get a towel out of the bathroom,
a big towel to cover up the TV? And they come in, and they talk,
and they know there's a TV there, and they go on. But if they see
that TV, that person's in trouble because they're illegal. These
folks knew he'd been cured. That's what it says in verse
10. The Jews therefore said to him that he was cured. They'd probably seen him at the
pool of the Sabbath many times. They knew he'd been cured, but
for them the Sabbath did not mean rest, which it does mean,
and refreshing, which it does mean. That doesn't mean that they would
honor God's finished work of creation and Christ's finished
work on the cross. It meant that they could judge
others while exalting and excusing themselves. Can you imagine? I thought about this. How strong
is a legalist religion? It's pretty tough business. These
fellows are walking along and here's a man who's been impotent
for 38 years, lying on his bed at the house of mercy, hoping
somebody would take him down to the pool. And here he is walking
down the street, not only that, he's carrying his bed. He's carrying
his bed. What do you have to say to that?
Oh, religious, it's not lawful for you to carry that bed. That's what they had to say.
The healed man's answer is sweet. One can almost hear the innocence
in his voice. He that may be an old said to
me, take up thy bed and walk. It's not lawful for you to carry
that bed. Well the guy that healed me said I could and would. It's against the law to carry
your bed. That man healed me and told me to do so. It's almost
as if he's saying I'm healed and you're talking about my bed.
I've been forgiven all my sins and you're talking about my sins? This is the meaning of you're
not under the law, but you're under grace. We'll pick it up
next week, starting at verse 10, and looking at how the Pharisees
responded toward Christ when this man told them who had indeed
had healed them. Father, bless us to understand
and pray for us. Amen. It's broken, but I found a pack
of mouse on the porch this morning.