and turn to the book of John, the gospel according to John. I'd like to look at verses 7-11. I've entitled this message, He
That Made Me Whole. Before we begin reading, let's
Ask our Lord to bless you. Our Father, how wonderful it
is to be able to call upon you and to know that in your infinite
mercy and grace, you've allowed us this time to be together.
Lord, would you bless the word. Help us, we pray for Christ's
sake. Amen. Our Lord approached, obviously according
to his eternal will and purpose, a certain impotent man that was
sitting beside a pool called the Pool of Bethesda, the Pool
of Mercy. And this impotent man had been
there for thirty-eight years. And the Lord walked up to him,
and here's where we ended last week. We ended with a question
that our Lord asked, and this is what He said in verse 6. The last part of verse 6, the
Lord asked him, Will thou be made whole? Do you possess a desire? to be well. Now, one would think that the
answer to that question is going to be either yes or no. I mean, that's a yes or no question. Yes or no question. Wilt thou
be made whole? But I want you to listen. to
the answer that this impotent man gave our Lord Jesus Christ
in verse 7. The impotent man answered him,
Sir, I have no man when the water is troubled to put me into the
pool, but while I'm coming, another steppeth down before me. You know the amazing thing about
this answer is the first thing, the first reaction, the first
answer goes to man's power, man's ability, man's timing. I just
don't have anybody to put me in the pool. Well, what happens
is actually another steps down before me, and I'm just not able. I wanted to, but nobody
else, nobody was there. Actually, I would be, Marilyn,
but it's just not my fault. It's somebody else's fault. If
there had been a little bit more kindness, Could have been a little
bit more sympathy. I've been here 38 years. I'm trying when the water's stirred. I don't have anybody to put me
in and somebody else steps in before me. My plight is not my
fault. You know, the question that our
Lord asks, this physically sick and spiritually sick man is the
question that every person is asked when they hear the gospel
of God's grace. Now here's a spiritual question. Will thou be made whole? Do you desire to be saved? Do you who are incapable, now
this is what he said, I can't get down. Another steps in. Now this man
was admitted what the plight truly is, but still it wasn't
in his mind. He wasn't to blame, not my fault. If I had somebody else to do
it, He was impotent, no doubt about it, but it was somebody else's fault. Where did that attitude start?
You know where it started. It started in the garden. The
Lord asked Adam in Genesis 3, Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof
I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And listen to the answer. Now that is a question that has
a yes or no answer. Did you eat? Did you eat? That's yes or no. Let's do his
answer. The man said to the woman that
you gave me. She gave it to me, the fruit
of that tree. And I did eat. But it was her fault. And you
gave the woman to me. Whose fault is it for my property? Without being made whole, the
first thing that Almighty God is going to do is to show a man,
a woman, You're the problem. Let me tell you how quickly this
truth is set forth. Let men hear, apart from the
regenerating grace and power of Almighty God, let them hear
of electing grace, preserving grace, keeping grace, choosing
grace. Let men hear. that God will have
mercy on whom He'll have mercy. And what's the first thing that
men will say? God's not fair. I'm not the problem. The problem
is that Almighty God, if He's truly a loving God, He should
have The problem with man is that
men do not see themselves impotent. They don't see themselves as
guilty. Turn to Luke 23. How many times
we've looked at this, but how many times we need to look at
this. Oh, the mercy of our God. Two
men, one on either side of our Lord, Luke 23, 39. Luke 23, 39, and one of the male
factors which were hanged railed on him. That is, the Lord Jesus
saying, if thou be Christ, save thyself and us. Now, listen to the doubt. If you are who you say you are,
But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear
God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation, and we indeed justly?"
Boy, what a miracle of God's grace. I'm here because I deserve
to be here. We indeed justly, we receive
the due rewards of our deeds. This man has done nothing amiss. And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. A believer reads those words, and they know that he was a man
that knew. I'm leaving. I got a few minutes. A few minutes at best. That's
all I got. I'm hanging on this Roman crucifix,
and up until this time, there hadn't been one that's ever been
put on a cross that ever came down alive. And he knew. He knew he was there because
he deserved to be there. And he had one hope. are receiving what we're getting. This man's innocent. Lord, would
you remember me? Coming to that point in my life
when Almighty God would cause me to realize I am the problem. I am my problem. I have sinned
against God. And I absolutely deserve whatever Almighty God would be
pleased to give me, I deserve it. In judgment, if here's a
man, the Lord asks him a question, would you be made whole? I would. It's not my fault. And in the indescribable mercy
of Almighty God, and everyone that God has ever called out
of darkness, is the same thing. In spite of myself, in spite
of my rebellion, in spite of my ignorance, in spite of my
arrogance, in spite of what I am by nature. Paul said, I am what
I am by the grace of God. Here was a man, excuses, without
end, if the Lord let him go on, an almighty God who would not
leave this man to himself. Every one of us, spiritually,
same position. Any man, any woman. that will
not come, doesn't come because they don't want to come. Almighty
God who is rich in mercy, rich in mercy, says this in verse
8, Jesus saith unto him, take up thy bed and walk. When the Lord is pleased to show
mercy, his command is effectual. Rise. The wonderful thought of that
scripture is that Almighty God did not look to that man's impotence. To be able to accomplish what
that man could not do. If that man could have exercised
his free will, he'd have done it 38 years ago. He couldn't walk. All he could do is sit there
and gripe. You so unfair. The Lord Jesus Christ gave that
man, with that word, a willingness, the ability. That man didn't have that ability.
As I said a few weeks ago, we mock men when we tell them God
wants to, but He can't. Whenever I hear somebody say,
your arms is the only arms he's got. Your feet is the only feet
he's got. Well, I'll tell you this, he's
in rough shape. Almighty God, he asked this man
a question, and this man didn't have enough sense. He didn't
have enough sense, Carl, to even say yes. Do you want to be made
whole? Well, listen to these excuses. There's no honor. There's no
glory. There's no praise given to men,
even in regenerating grace. I didn't even know to say yes until
he gave me a heart, a new heart. I didn't even know to call until
He gave me life. I didn't even know to come to
Him and call to Him until He gave me a new spirit. All I could
do was just blame somebody else. Salvation is all of grace. 1
John 3.23. This is the commandment. This is the order that we should
believe on the name of the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. and love
one another as He gave us commandment. Coming to the Lord, as I've said
before, is not an offer. It's not an offer for a man to
accept or reject. You leave it up to a man, and
that man will die making excuses whenever the Lord calls one out
of darkness. He does it because He wants to.
He does it because He can. Our God is able. Almighty God, when He's pleased
to call a sinner out of darkness, it is an affectionate and an
effectual call. that is lovingly and willingly
obeyed. Lord, you turn me and I'll return
to you. The times of our ignorance, God
winked at but now commanded all men everywhere to repent because
he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness
by that man whom he hath ordained. When His Word comes in power, fast. Take up your bed. Walk. Do what you could not do
before. Believe Him. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Lord, if you don't
give me a heart to believe, Oh, when God calls, I love this
message. I love the message of sovereign
power and grace. I love to speak of Him who does. He does. A group of people here
this morning. Amazing, amazing, amazing. People are here because they
want to be here. Come this morning listening to
a frail creature praying that God might
be pleased to bless a message. I know this. If the Lord is pleased,
He is going to show mercy. And I pray just the same. The
scripture says, verse 9 immediately, thirty-eight years that man sat
there. Years ago, I remember beginning to hear just a few
things. I was like that man that looked
at men. The Lord asked him, he said,
what do you see? He said, I see men like trees
walking. He saw, but he saw through a
glass of darkening. He saw. The Lord touched him. He saw. I think about when the
Lord began to deal with me in mercy, and how I began to see
some things, and ask Him, Lord, would you teach me? But though there were some things
that I saw through a glass darkness, I saw them. And we grow. and grow in grace. And here we
are at this point, coming together just to hear and know that this
message is the message. We're growing. There's a growing
in grace. But when God speaks in power,
in regeneration, immediately. That's right now. Jesus said,
Rise, take up your bed, and walk. And immediately, the man was
made whole. And he took up his bed and walked,
and the same day was the Sabbath. Right now. Scripture says, When I passed
by thee, and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto
thee, When thou wilt send thy blood, live. That man was made
physically whole for sure. And I believe spiritually, and
I'll tell you why in the next verse. And I said what I said
about he was immediately, immediately, right now, right now, growing? Yes. Based on the next verse. That man, he took up his bed. And he walked, and the scripture
says, on the same day was the Sabbath. Now, I want us to finish this
verse of scripture, verse 11, and just consider why. Not in fullness, I'm not saying
that. But there's something that I
want to look at on that last part concerning the reason why
the Spirit of God was pleased to put that last part in there.
He took up His bed and walked, and on the same day was the Sabbath.
Now, you know that the Spirit of God put that in there for
a reason. Let's look at it for just a minute. The Holy Spirit
of God is instructing us, teaching us, admonishing us, and correcting
us. Now you know for sure that the
Lord Jesus Christ never violated God's law concerning the Sabbath. You know that. The Father said
of Him, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear
Him. The Lord Jesus Christ said, I
do only, always, those things that please Him. The Lord Jesus
Christ never violated God's law, never. He fulfilled it. Now, traditions imposed by the
Jews have been violated. But not God's law. I want you
to turn to Mark 7. Mark 7. Mark 7, and let's look at verse
7 to 9. The Lord Jesus Christ asks this
question, Empty, void, no effect, none. How be it in vain do they worship
me? Teaching for doctrines the commandments
of men, for laying aside the commandment of God, you hold
the tradition of men as the washing of pots and cups and many other
such like things you do. And he said unto them, Oh well,
you reject the commandment of God that you may keep your own
tradition. Now, from that passage of scripture, I know that God's law concerning
the Sabbath was never intended to restrict deeds of necessity,
deeds of mercy. before God Almighty. Listen to
our Lord's words, Mark 3.4, is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath
days or to do evil? Is it lawful? The Sabbath, the
Jewish Sabbath day, it carries with forth the truth of ceasing from
work for salvation, of rest and inactivity from our
labors of self-righteousness. I'm going to deal with this,
Lord willing, next week, but I thought of something that already
in the next message. I'm going to share it with you
now. Lord willing, I'll share it with you again. When the Lord
Jesus Christ showed mercy on that Sabbath, he no more disobeyed God's law
than Almighty God does by causing the grass to grow on the Sabbath. are causing the sun to rise on
the Sabbath. The Lord told some Jews, He said,
as my Father works, so I work. The Sabbath set forth a rest
from work of salvation. The Sabbath of the Old Testament
was a picture, it was a setting forth of Christ and pointed to
Him in whom we rest. He is the Lord of the Sabbath. So in the time of our Lord's
earthly ministry, men had made traditions, and these traditions
had become so commonplace that the Pharisees considered the
breach of their traditions to be a preach of God's law. Turn to Matthew 15. Matthew 15. I could read verses 1 through
9, but I'm just going to read verse 9. Matthew 15, 9. The Lord said concerning those
that hold to these traditions. But in vain do they worship me,
teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." Holding their traditions. Look back in John 5, verse 10. The Jews therefore said unto
him that was cured. This is Sabbath day. lawful for
thee to carry thy bed." I want you to turn to Jeremiah
17. I'm not going to say, because
what I'm telling you is, this is possible, possible, where
the Jews had gotten A lot of their traditions, you have to
remember something, a lot of the traditions of the Jews, what
they would do is they would take scripture and they'd twist it. They'd rest the scripture. And
they would come up with what they said, this is what the scripture
means. And that tradition would become
so, as I said a few moments ago, so commonplace that their traditions
is what they held to. And when the Lord broke one of
their traditions, now the Lord just said that. He said, you
teach for traditions, men, traditions, the commandments of God. Here's
the Lord. And He healed an innocent man. Set forth his power, his wills,
his purpose. Told that man, pick up your bed
and walk. Oh, wait a minute, wait a minute. You can't, you can't do that.
Jeremiah 17, 21. Thus saith the Lord, take heed
to yourselves. Now I said a few minutes ago,
this may have been where they came up with their tradition.
And Lord willing, I'm going to tell you what the Lord actually
said. in these verses. Verse 21-22. Blessed be the Lord,
take heed of yourselves, and bear no burden on the Sabbath
day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem, neither carry forth
a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, neither do ye
any work, but hallow ye the Sabbath day as I commanded your fathers. Now that was out of the book
of Jeremiah. Don't carry any burden. On the
Sabbath day, I looked up and found out what
the word burden meant. Carry no burden. It has to do with that which
is according to your vocation. Your vocation. And what was happening
back in the book of Jeremiah is that obviously many of them,
they would come on the Sabbath day, they'd come to the temple. And what they would do, is that
since they were there, they would carry some of their burdens or
their wares. Some of the things that they
had for sale. They'd bring some things. Well,
since we're going to be here anyway, maybe we'll kill two
birds with one stone. We'll come here and we're going
to worship God. Also, we're going to bring some of our stuff that
we have to sell. Works of grace, a mixture. That's what was set forth back
in Jeremiah. Whenever they came and saw this
man carrying his bed, the acts of God's mercy no breach of God's
commandment for the Sabbath day. Their tradition was broken, but
not God's law. The Lord of the Sabbath commanded
him. They told him in verse 10, it's
the Sabbath day, it's not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. Where
did they get that? They had rested the scriptures. And the Lord said, you take for
God's commandment the traditions of men. That's what you say. Verse 11, he answered them, he
that made me whole. The same said unto me, take up
thy bed and walk. Our Lord knew full well what
would happen by healing this impotent man on the Sabbath. He did so according to his eternal
purpose and set free his people from the thoughts, the traditions
of worst religion. Those Jews told him, you're breaking
God's law. Basically what they're saying
is, if you didn't carry that, then you have merited God's favor,
because you kept the law of God. The Son of Man is Lord, the Lord
Jesus Christ said, even of the Sabbath days. Keeping the Sabbath day was to
set forth belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. Not worse. Oh, what wisdom is exhibited
here as the Lord Jesus Christ healed this man on a day that
they thought it was not lawful for him to heal. But what this
impotent man who was healed did, he hid behind him who was all
his hope. Not lawful for you to do what
you're doing. He answered, he that made me whole told me to
take up my bed and walk. A certain impotent man picture
of God's elect, chosen out of a fallen race in Adam, has his
path crossed by the Lord of the Sabbath, who asked him, would
you be made whole? And that man, who has no knowledge,
no ability to even answer correctly, Has the words of our Lord spoken
to him that says, rise, take up your bed, and walk? Obeying Christ is not a breach
of God's law. Faith in Christ is the only hope
of God's law. being fulfilled for you. Faith
in Christ alone. Whatever the Father says, well
done. Well done. It's not your works
of righteousness. It's His imputing to you. Rise
and take up your bed and immediately He obeys. Men will argue, against
God's sovereign right to do what He will, when He will, as He
will. It's not lawful, it's not right. He said to me, take up your pen. There is the comfort of all believers. He spoke. I couldn't have done what I did
save for His power and His grace and His mercy. He chose me. Believe in Christ. Never, never,
never is offensive. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
and you'll be saved. Men may argue that this message
that we preach is too restrictive and unfair. Trust in the Lord
with all your heart. Lead not to your own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him. He's going to direct your path.
May the Lord bless these words to our heart.