Turn this morning to John chapter
five. The first two words in John chapter
five are after this. After this. Well, I suppose we
ought to look up and see after what. And I won't have you read
it, but in chapter four of John, the last part of this, is actually
recorded the second miracle that our Lord ever performed. The
first, we all know, was the changing of water into wine at the wedding
feast. And that put his blessing upon
marriage as a picture of his relationship with his people.
And the second miracle was this nobleman had come seeking the
Lord Jesus Christ because his son was sick. It says, he besought
the Lord to come with him down to Capernaum. He'd walked many,
many miles or ridden to where he could find the Lord. And he
said to him, he said, I need you to come down to Capernaum
with me. He said, ere lest my son die. And of course, our Lord
didn't actually have to go there. All he had to do was speak. And he really didn't have to
speak. All he had to do was, will it to be so? And this man
went home and a servant met him on the way and said, your son's
all well. And that was the second recorded
miracle. And that pictures what's happening,
we hope, right here, right now. Do we realize that our children
are sick? They are so sick. They are sick with sin. But if
God is pleased to speak, he can heal them. He can make them well. And we pray that might happen.
You see in verse one of chapter five, it says, after this, there
was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there
is at Jerusalem by the sheep market, a pool. which is called
in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda. It has five porches. Now what
the sheep market was, we need to realize, is that it was a
place where sheep were brought for three purposes. They were
brought to be sheared, they were brought to be slaughtered, or
they were brought to be bought and sold. One of those three
things. And to the world, especially
the religious world, you know that's what God's sheep are for?
They're to be sheared, boy, take everything they got if you can
get it. They're to be slaughtered, how many have been put to death
over the years? And on the other hand, they're even bought and
sold. And that's just the simple truth of the matter. But God's
sheep, as we'll see, they're only gonna be bought and sold
one last time. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
has already bought them. He's paid the price. They already
belonged to him. When he went up Calvary and his
blood was shed, that's the price that was paid and his sheep belonged
to him. And it's just a matter of when
he comes to get them again and bring them through the sheep
fold, I mean through the sheep gate into his fold. Now, we do
need to understand that this, when it says the pool, most of
you kids think of the community pool. Boy, it's got that painted
blue bottom, and the water's beautiful, and it's such a clean
and smells good, nice place. That's not what this was. The
purpose of this pool was for sheep to drink. They had been
brought from all the places around and herded through this one gate
into Jerusalem, and they just trampled in. Now, nobody was
there to wipe their feet or clean them up. And, you know, farm
animals kind of do their business wherever they are. And let's
not think that this was some spa. This was a nasty place. This place was filthy. It was
covered with dirt and sheep dung. It was not a beautiful place. And that's a picture of where
the Lord finds his sheep. We're in a nasty place, aren't
we? By nature, we just bathe in our sin. We just dwell in
it. We like it. We're comfortable there. Sheep
didn't mind coming through the sheep gate. They didn't mind
this place. It was unclean. But notice the
name of this place, Bethesda. That's the place of flowing water.
And also, it literally means house of mercy. So God's Spirit
in time always brings all his sheep to the house of mercy to
find Jesus Christ the water of life. What a simple picture that
is. He doesn't bring them there to
be sheared. He doesn't bring them there to be slaughtered,
not to be sold, but to be bought by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. But notice there's not one, there's
not two, three, four, there's five porches. You say, what's
that mean? Well, it means there's plenty
of room. Don't anybody ever say, well,
you know, I can't come to Christ, there's no room in there. Is
that accurate? Turn over to Colossians 2. Hold
John 5 because we're coming back there, but turn over to Colossians
chapter 2. The house of mercy has plenty
of room in it. The fountain of life, the Lord
Jesus Christ, he's never going to run dry. But it says there
in verse 3 that there's a great multitude. And that means there
was a throng there, not a mob in that sense, but there was
There was just, the place was packed. And we're gonna find
out part in why it was packed in a minute. But I mean, this
was a place packed with sheep and shepherds. And the Lord had
just performed a miracle where he made a man's son live. He was dying and he made him
live. You think there weren't some people following him? And
this crowd, this throng came into this place. And yet there was room in this
place when the Lord Jesus Christ came in for some folks beside
the shepherds and all the throng that was there. And you say,
well, is there, have you ever thought, had this thought, I'm
just too wicked. Why would the Lord save me? There
came, is there room in him for, I mean, it says there's a number
that can't be numbered. Is there room for me? Is there
room for just one more in this? Look what it says in Colossians
2, verse 9. For in him, in the Lord Jesus
Christ, dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Now, stay
right there just a minute. Do we realize that in the Lord
Jesus Christ dwells God? If you look out at night into
the stars and the universe out there, We understand that's all
in Christ. He controls that just the same
way that one of you says, well, I'm going to pick up that book.
He one day just hurled the stars into space. All of that's in
him, in his control. It's who he is. He's almighty.
He's all powerful. He's able to do whatever he determines
to do. And when it says, all of God
is in him, you suppose there's room for you or me? You think
there's just that much more room still left? Look across the page
at Colossians 1, verse 19, where we read, and having made peace
through the blood of his cross by him, by Christ, to reconcile
all things unto himself. By him, I say, whether they be
things in earth or things in heaven, it's not just those stars
and planets in the universe that are in him that he controls.
It says there's room in him for some folks. Look at verse 21,
and you, why can't this be talking about you this morning? You children,
why can't this be talking about you? It says, and you that were
sometimes alienating enemies in your mind by wicked works,
Yet now hath he reconciled. You children ever been alienated
from your folks for a little while? You ever done something,
you're like, man, they're mad at me. Woo, they're upset with
me. That's called being alienated.
You've done something to upset them. It says right here. that those of us who have been,
we alienated ourselves from God with our sin. It says he's able
to reconcile. That means he's able to make
it all right. When your parents get upset with
you, you kids aren't you glad when your folks finally go, it's
okay, honey, it's okay. Look at verse 22. Reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. Jesus Christ reconciled
his sheep, his people, to himself when he went up Calvary and paid
the price, took the punishment for what we deserve. But turn
back to John chapter five, and do you see there in this verse,
it talks about folks, folks. And that word, in these five
porches, there were lots of impotent folk. And this specifically means
men and women, but you know what else it really means? It means
boys and girls. If you look it up, these folks,
it says there was boys and girls there. And you know what that
word means? It's not just any boys and girls
or any man or woman. It's those who have been beaten
with impunity. They've been mistreated. They
didn't get a spanking for what they did. They got one when they
didn't do anything. They just got beat by by unfair
people and whatever. It's girls that have been made
slaves and servants. Now, is that a picture of us
or what? We are so totally slaves to our sin. Did you ever get
up in the morning and go, well, I'm not gonna do that today?
Well, you just sort of write it down. It's not gonna be long
before we'll do it, is it? Why? Because we're slaves to
our sin. I'm gonna do what mom and dad
say today all day long. Doesn't always work out that
way, does it? And it's because we're slaves to sin. It's abused
us and mistreated us, and we're still slaves to it. And these
folk, listen to what else it says about them. It says they're
impotent. Now that means they're feeble, they're diseased, they
are strengthless. They cannot do for themselves
what they need to do. Many of them are blind. That
means they can't see. They plum can't see. They're
halt, they're crippled or lame, and some of them are withered.
They have arms that have been shriveled up from sickness or
through childbirth, I suppose. So this is what this place the
Lord walks into is full of. It's full of folks that are in
bad shape. Is that a picture of us or what,
by nature? Oh, we're in bad shape. We're
in a real mess because of our sin. Well, what were they doing
there? You see the word it says, they
were there waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting. Now we're not very good at that,
are we? That's why in the Psalms it says, wait, I say, wait on
the Lord. And as we're gonna see, there
was a man been there waiting a long time. What were they waiting
for? Look at verse four, it says,
they were waiting for the moving of the water. It says in verse
four, for an angel went down at a certain season into the
pool, and troubled the water, made ripples on it, made waves,
and whosoever then first, after the troubling of the water, stepped
in, it was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. Hold that and
turn to Genesis chapter one. Turn to Genesis chapter one. At a certain season, an angel
went down. And God in the scriptures often
manifested his presence through an angel. And if you study this
out, you'll find sometimes that was the Lord Jesus Christ. He
came himself in the appearance of an angel. At other times,
it means that the Holy Spirit came manifested as an angel. And at other times, it was one
of these heavenly beings that we read about. And we don't know
what they look like, but When they came, they were on a mission
from the Lord Jesus Christ. God sent him to do something
on his behalf. So, from time to time, an angel
would come and trouble this water. There would be ripples. And water
can be troubled, whether you've seen the ocean. It's moving, isn't it? You watch
the snow melt up here and it runs down a stream and it's moving,
isn't it? I can touch water and it ripples,
it moves, doesn't it? So this is a natural thing that
water does move. And these people were there waiting
for the moving of the water. The important thing is that God
came down to these folks. Do we see that? He came down
to these sick folks. And that's a picture of when
Christ would come down as a babe, as a man. Why did he come as
a man? Because a man must die for the sins of another man.
Christ had to die. A man had to be punished for
the sins of men. God always makes his presence
known to his people. Whether it's back in the day,
the interesting thing is, do we, are we paying attention?
Do we notice when he comes? If he came this morning, would
we notice? Would we see? Would we be paying attention?
There were, how many men came through, how many shepherds came
through the front of that place and saw the pool and they looked
and there was a rippling? And they thought, well, there
must be a breeze in here or something. They didn't know. This was God
manifesting himself as an angel, causing that water to move. And
they didn't know what it was. He came and they missed it. It's always been this way. You
want evidence of it? Look at Genesis 1, verse 1. It says, in the beginning, God
created the heaven and the earth. It was all in Christ, and Christ
just spoke. the earth existed. And it says
in verse 2, and the earth was without form and void, and darkness
was upon the face of the deep. But then something happened,
look, and the Spirit of God, like an angel, came and moved
upon the face of the waters. What was the next thing that
happened? And God said, let there be light, and there was light.
We see what happens when Christ comes, the water of life. When
he comes, there's light. God's people, they see. Suddenly,
when we couldn't see before, there were blind folks here,
and they came, and when the water rippled, if they were the first
one in, they could see. Don't we hope he comes this morning?
Oh, he might come this morning, and somebody who's blind might
see. So that's the way it's always been. Turn back to John chapter
five. It's been that way since the
first day. But notice this. It doesn't matter what we've
done. It didn't matter what was wrong with each of these people.
Didn't matter one bit. One had no arms that wouldn't
move. There's a man we're gonna read about who couldn't apparently
move his legs at all. He was totally crippled. And
it didn't matter what the specific infirmity is. It doesn't matter
what our sin is. As I said, do you ever think
I'm just too wicked to say? Well, there's no such thing.
The Lord is able to save. He's just able to save. You don't
need anything added to the end of that. He's able to save, whatever
it is, He's able to do. And if you want a way to remember
this whole story about this poor man and what the Lord did for
him, here's a simple way to do it. Do you see in verse four,
it says, for an angel went down at a certain season into the
pool and troubled the water, whosoever. Whosoever. Any whosoever's here this morning?
I think if I said whosoever, nobody here knows who I'm talking
to, do you? It's just whosoever. But go a little further, it says,
whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped
in was made whole of whatsoever. You think you're too wicked to
say? I've had the thought in whatsoever you've done. You see,
the Lord Jesus Christ can say whosoever from whatsoever. He's totally able to save. He
can do for us what we can't do for ourselves. And what a wonderful
thing. Turn back a page to John chapter
3. Now it says that a certain season he came, this angel came,
and some think it was, I read all the old writers, and some
think he came every day, some think once a week, once a month,
but most think it was just an indeterminate season, never knew. Never knew the wind blows from
where it comes and where it goes, nobody knows. The point is he came. He can
come this morning if he chooses. He can come, we may not see it
coming, we may not actually know it when it happens, but after
it happens, somebody's gonna be different. Somebody, you know
that's a scriptural term, somebody, somebody. There was a woman that
had an issue of blood, she spent everything she had, and do you
know what she did? She crawled through the legs
of all this throng after the Lord and touched the hem of his
garment and he stopped and said, somebody touch me. You see how
that's a script. He could save somebody here this
morning. Wouldn't that be wonderful? He
could save somebody. Well, if I'm a somebody, whatsoever
I've done, whoever I am, he can save me. He could save one of
our children this morning. Wouldn't that be glorious? But
most folks think this happened at an indeterminate time. Don't be concerned. I hear folks
give a testimony of sorts at times, and they sort of know
the day and the message or the time or something, and I'm happy
for them in that regard. But let's not worry. If we don't
know the when, the exact when, the trouble, the water was troubled
for us, it doesn't matter. What matters is we made hope,
and we know who did it, the Lord Jesus Christ. Whosoever we are
he's done whatsoever. We need it done for us and Whenever
it was is not the issue look at John chapter 3 verse 5 Jesus
answered verily verily I say unto you except a man be born
of water and that's a picture of him A man is born of Christ
and of the Spirit He cannot enter into the kingdom of God that
which is born of the flesh is flesh and that which is born
of the Spirit of Spirit Marvel not that I said unto thee, you
must be born again. The wind blows where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, that canst not tell whence it
cometh, and whither it goeth. So is every one that's born of
the Spirit. The issue is not when, it's did
it happen for us. That's the whole point of this
thing. God's folks know, not necessarily when, but they know
it happened. Now, the sign of the angel's
coming was that the pool was troubled. And the sure sign a
messenger of God is at hand is that men and women get troubled.
And let me say this. We all have loved ones. We're
concerned about them. We want them to hear the gospel,
whatever. When they get troubled, leave
them alone in the sense of we can't fix the trouble. And if
the Lord is doing the troubling, he's gonna do the healing. And
the worst thing we can possibly do is say, it's gonna be okay.
It's gonna be all right. Don't get so upset about this.
That's what modern religion is doing, is telling folks, it's
gonna be all right. They're totally saying the wrong
thing. Calm down, calm down. No, no,
let's let our loved ones be troubled. Because if the Lord's the cause
of the trouble, then he can fix it. If we ever see that Christ took
our trouble at Calvary and put it away, that'll calm us down
and nothing else will. But notice that the first to
step in when the water is trouble, and when that happens, can we
imagine how happy somebody was? Somebody got happy. really happy. They'd been delivered from all
of their sin. And there were, as I said before,
sometimes folks don't notice. Paul was riding down the road
to Damascus, and all of a sudden, you remember what everybody said?
It thundered, it thundered, it thundered. And you know what
Paul said? God spoke to me. He heard the
voice of God. It took him off his horse and
put him in the dust. So when the Lord speaks and it
troubles our loved ones, let it be trouble. The Lord can speak
and straighten it all out. He can make it right. Well, this
poor man, it says, look in verse five, turn back to John five
and look at verse five. It says, and a certain man was
there, which had had an infirmity for 30 and eight years. I'm old enough that 38 years
doesn't seem so long. But to some of you, it seemed
like a long time. The kid sitting here going, 38? That's an old geezer. Well, to
some it might be. To this man, it was a lifetime. Most think this man had been
in this shape since the day he was born. That certainly fits
our case, doesn't it? How long have we been in sin?
We came forth from our mother's womb, speaking lies. We've been
sick a long, long time. We're born in trespasses and
sin. But look in verse six what happened. And when Jesus saw
him lie and knew that he'd been now a long time in that case,
the Lord does know our case just like he knew this man's case.
We understand that? He knows our case. And he said
unto him, wilt thou be made whole? The Lord knows just the question
to ask to cause us to focus on what our problem is. And he said,
will thou be made whole? Some think that's a silly question.
Well, modern religion is asking the wrong questions, aren't they? What are they saying? Would you
like to have the successful life? Would you like to be wealthy?
Would you like to be happy? That's not the question. The
question is, would you like to be made whole? What answer did
he get? Look at verse 7. The impotent
man, impotent here means he was helpless and hopelessly sick. He was crippled up in a condition. The only way this man got anywhere,
if somebody picked up his bed with him on it and took him where
he wanted to go. And he said the impotent man
answered him and said, 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. And of course he wanted to be
made whole. You think you've been sick for
38 years, you wouldn't be ready to be made whole? And that's
what Christ does. He sends his spirit to make us
ready for when the man comes. But this man also knew this.
You know what he learned in all that time? He knew what it would
take. He had to be the first in the
pool. And the second thing he learned is that he couldn't get
there first. Have we learned that yet? Have
we learned what our problem is and that we can't fix it? He
said, I have no man. And salvation from our trouble
requires a man to be perfect. Salvation from sin, you know
what it takes? Perfection. We can't do it by
ourselves. We need a man who can do it for
us, and that's the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this man
was making an effort. Do you hear that? He said, when
I'm here and that water's troubled, he said, I try, I try. Can we
imagine the frustration this poor man experienced? He came
day after day after day, and when the water was troubled, can we imagine how hard he tried
to get across that floor with no legs to get into that pool
first so that he'd be made whole. He had years and years, it's
like his feet were nailed to the concrete and he's crawling
anyway, doing everything he can, and he never gets in that pool
first. And folks, that's why modern religion is so bad. What
was his free will worth now? You think he didn't want to be
in that pool? He did. It's not our want to,
it's his doing for us. The Lord Jesus Christ has to
come where we are and do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. He says, while I'm coming, while
I'm trying, with all my might, another steps in before me. Look at verse eight. Jesus said
unto him, rise, rise, take up your bed and walk. If the Lord ever speaks to us,
are we ready to do what he tells us to do? Boy, this fella did. Look what he did. And it's a
picture here. If the Lord ever comes to us,
he'll say rise. And you know what we'll do? We'll
rise up from our blindness and we'll see. We'll see him in the
word. We'll rise up from our sickness
to complete health spiritually. We'll rise up from our lameness
with the ability to walk in the word, in Christ. And finally,
we'll rise up from death and find out we have life, new life
in the Lord Jesus Christ. So what happened to this man's
lameness? He's gone, isn't it? He stood up and he's got his
bed under his arm now. What happened to his lameness?
You know where it is? The Lord took it. You say, when
did the Lord take this man's lameness? There's only one time
I remember him ever being lame. That's when he walked up Calvary
and they nailed his feet to that tree. This man understood what
Christ had done for him. He let his feet be nailed to
that tree So his feet weren't nailed to the concrete anymore.
He was free in the Lord Jesus Christ. It's a great picture,
is it not? Look at verse 9. The Lord told
this man what to do. In verse 9, immediately the man
was made whole, took up his bed, and walked on the same day with
the Sabbath. Now, was the Lord Jesus Christ
done with this man? He's all finished now. He's made
him walk. Is that it? Well, read a little
further. 10 says, and the Jews therefore
said unto him that was cured, it's the Sabbath day. It's not
lawful for thee to carry your bed. Now this is pretty amazing. Do we, can you, if we had somebody
in the community here that back then Jerusalem was a close knit
town and every day the folks walking through town See, whoever
was bringing, who brought this man, by the way? Was it his brothers,
his friends, his parents? Who brought him? Somebody picked
up one end of the bed, and somebody picked up the other, and they're
going through town every day. Where are you going? Sheep market.
What are you doing? We're taking, what's his name
here? He wants to be at the sheep market, and they're taking him.
Do we think these religious folks didn't know? You know what the
religious guys were doing there? They were buying sheep for the
slaughter down at the temple. They knew who this man was. He
was the dirty, filthy cripple that was drug every day in and
sat down somewhere in Bethesda. They knew this guy. Now can you
imagine? They're all standing around there
buying sheep or doing what they do and here he comes carrying
his bed and they go, what are you doing carrying your bed? No one, why didn't they say,
you can walk? That's amazing, tell me how you
can walk. Who did this for you? Wouldn't you think that would
be the inquiry? No, no, religion doesn't care about the truth,
doesn't care about Christ, they care about their silly rules.
What they would impose upon you to be saved, when in fact it's
all Christ. Christ did everything here that was done, didn't he? It's amazing. And what was his
answer in verse 11? And he answered them, well, he
that made me whole, the same said unto me, take up your bed
and walk. And then asked they him, well, what man is that which
said unto thee, take up thy bed and walk? And he said, that was
healed, which not who it was. He said, I don't know what his
name was. For Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being
in that place. They just swept him right out
the door. He paused and said, take up your bed. He asked him
the question, what would you like to have? He said, man, that
I could walk. And he said, well, take up your
bed and walk. And then the crowd swept him right on out of the
sheet market. This fellow didn't even have time to ask who it
was. Verse 14, afterwards. Now, is the Lord done with this
man? Verse 14, after this, after the Pharisees got on him and
dealt with him religious, Anybody here, when the Lord saved
you, did your family think you were crazy? Did they just think,
what are you doing? Did they still think, what are
y'all doing over there? Y'all have all that strange stuff
you talk about. Afterward, Jesus found this man
in the temple and said unto him, behold, thou art made whole.
Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee. Now, the Lord
sought this man out, I mean a mob was with him, but somehow he
parted himself from him and came specifically to this man again. For what purpose? To tell him
exactly who he was. He revealed himself to him. You
know what this man spent the rest of his life doing? Look
at verse 15. And the man did depart, and he told the Jews
that it was Jesus which had made him whole. And therefore did
the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay him because he'd
done these things on the Sabbath day. This man spent the rest
of his life telling folks who did what. He was a whosoever
who told them whatsoever he cured him of. And that's the only story
we have, isn't it? If folks would just listen to
us, we'll tell you. We're nobodies. We're just a
whosoever. But he's done everything for
me that I need to ever have done. I'd like to think this man was
in the temple giving thanks. Wouldn't you? He didn't know
who did it for him, but he thanked God it had been done for him,
because he knew he couldn't do it himself. And whenever God
saves a sinner, the sinner doesn't have to be coerced or cajoled
to come here to worship, do you? You're here because he's done
something for us. Now over the years, this fellow had experienced
some things, untold heartache. Can you imagine he had a sleepless
night and he's brought in there and sat down and he's laying
there watching the water, watching the water, because you want to
be first, you're watching it. and he just dozes off. And he
wakes up suddenly to find out this fellow over here, the water's
been troubled and he's run and jumped in ahead of him. Boy,
can you imagine if one day you didn't feel good and didn't go?
Find out the water was troubled and you missed it. Do we have loved ones, our children,
parents, brothers and sisters? If they just come hear the gospel,
What would we give? Wouldn't we just rejoice if they
come hear the gospel? One time, one time. Well, I would
tell you not to be discouraged in that. Pray for them, and keep
asking them. Let me tell you a story. I met
a woman 30-something years ago, and a dear, sweet lady. I was a young man, younger man,
so I remember her being old. She was widowed. She had three
girls, and she told me her three girls, she says, my fault, she
said, I raised them in false religion. And she said, they
don't want any part of this. And she said, I understand why,
it's my fault. She said, but the Lord sent me
a pastor, a preacher to tell me the truth. And she said, you
know, I'm hopeful, I'm hopeful, and we should be too. Because
you see what happened was as she grew older, On her birthday,
the girls would say, Mama, what do you want for your birthday?
You know what she'd say? Well, if y'all just take me to church,
that'd be great. And then Christmas would come, or Easter would come,
and they'd say, Mama, what do you want for Christmas? Well,
if you girls just take me to church. And then the time came where
she had an accident, and they were afraid to let her drive.
And the only complaint she had is, well, who's gonna take me
to church? Mama, we'll take you to church. Well, to make a long
story short, you know what happened? The Lord saved all three of those
girls, all three of them, before she died. Now, 38 years is a
long time. Let's not get weary in hoping
that the Lord will save the ones we love. These children are young. They may be 38 before the Lord
will come to them, but he's able to. and he's the only one who
can do for them what they cannot do for themselves. Let's not
get weary in that, let's come, let's come. This man never got
what he came to this place to get from the place. I looked
it up, you know where Bethesda is now? It's just a slab of stone. The
porches are gone, the water's just an empty cistern, They're
not there anymore. It's just a pile of rubble. The
gate's gone. But you know who's still alive?
The one who came there, the Lord Jesus Christ. And he's still
in the business of saving people. The question for us this morning
is the same one that the Lord asked this man. He said, would
you be made whole? Would you be made whole? You remember what the man said?
He said, I have no man. And I would ask us this morning,
do we have a man? Have you got a man? Do we have a man that
can do for us what we can't do for ourselves? Let me, you don't
have to turn here, I'm gonna read you a closing portion of
the scripture quickly. I wanna read you about someone
who knew he had a man. You'll know who wrote this. It
starts out, and it fits with the sheepfold. This person wrote,
the Lord is my shepherd. He said, I've got a man who's
my shepherd, I shall not want. He, I have a man who makes me
to lie down in green pastures. He, I have a man that leadeth
me where? Beside still waters. The Lord's
gonna trouble the water But once he shows himself to us, you know
what he'll do? He'll make them still the rest
of our days. Not that they're not gonna be
trouble, but not where it counts, not between us and our God. Christ
has made that right. He, I have a man who's restored
my soul. He, I have a man who leads me
in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Yea, though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I'll fear
no evil. Why? For I've got a man that's with me. For thou art
with me. Thy rod, I have a man that's
got a rod to protect me. I've got a man that's got a staff
to rescue me and comfort me. Thou, I have a man who prepares
the table before me in the presence of mine enemies. Thou, I have
a man that anoints my head with oil. My cup's running over. Surely
goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And
here's how it all ends. I will dwell in the house of
the Lord because I've got a man who's built that house for me.
He's coming for me. He's going to take me back there
forever. May the Lord bless His word to
you this morning.