May it please God to bless us
together this evening as we consider his word. Let us turn to the
Gospel of John, chapter 5, and we'll read verse 6. The Gospel
of John, chapter 5, and reading verse 6. When Jesus saw him lie
and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he
saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? We have an account before us
of a man whose name we are not told. We are just told that it
was a certain man. And of course it is not relevant
really that we should know his name, but it is relevant and
thankful that we do have an account of God's favour and God's goodness
to him. And here he was This certain man, he was lying
by this pool, Bethesda, and he'd been there for many, many years. And we should not forget that
there had been a dearth of revelation since the days of Malachi. There
had been very virtually no actual prophecies until perhaps when
Zacharias was blessed with that revelation with regard to his
son who he should call John. And yet, in this particular instance,
around this pool at certain times, there was a troubling of the
water. Clearly it was a movement of
the Spirit of God. And the first person that went
into that water was healed. And therefore it is not surprising
that there was a great multitude. And when it says that, obviously
it was many people. They were there, hoping and no
doubt praying that they might be the one to be able to step
down into the water the next time the water would trouble
so that they might be healed. What the scene was then, all
this great multitude, not just a few, remember, a great multitude
of impotent folk, blind, halt, withered, poor lot weren't they,
sick and ill, and the cripples, there they all were at this pool
of Bethesda waiting for the troubling of the water. And what do we see then? We see
Jesus. Jesus coming to this place, coming
to this pool of Bethesda and coming to a certain man. Well, there were many, many,
weren't there, that needed to be healed. And the Lord came
to this certain man. We have a very clear evidence
here of the sovereign grace of God. This individual man, no doubt
he had no claim, greater than all those others and that great
multitude who were waiting to be able to go down into the pool
and yet the Lord came and he came to this certain man and
he knew that he'd been there a long time in that case and
he asked him a question and what a question it was we might think
it was a very obvious question Will thou be made whole? Will thou be made whole? Of course, the man earnestly
desired that he might be made whole. And he answered the Lord
in this way and said, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled,
to put me into the water, but while I am coming, another steppeth
down before me." It must have been very disappointing
for this man, must have been very disheartened for so many
years being in this state, 38 years, and yet year after year
and how often these troubling occur, we're not told. It may
have been several times in a year, it may have been once, we don't
know. But anyway, it was an occasion when the Lord came and granted
healing. And here is this man, 38 years,
without being able to come and to step down into the water. And the Lord says, speaks very
simple words. Rise, take up thy bed and walk. and immediately the man was made
whole and took up his bed and walked and on the same day was
the Sabbath. Well, he'd been made whole. The
Lord had just spoken the word and the man was made whole. What a blessing it was for him. And as we think now of this in
a spiritual since the Living Church of God have
been like this, impotent, blind, withered, waiting for the moving of the
water, waiting for the Lord to come, waiting for the Lord to
come and speak to them, and to encourage them and to heal them. We perhaps need to look at ourselves
to see whether we fit this position. Whether we are like this man,
this impotent man, unable to help himself. He was impotent.
He needed someone to take him down to the water. He was impotent. Perhaps we feel like that. Perhaps we have felt like it.
Perhaps we do feel like it. We're impotent. We know we need
to be healed. This man clearly knew that he
needed to be healed in a natural way. and everybody needs to be
healed in a spiritual way. Well, if we are taught of our
sinfulness, so that we see ourselves like this, impotent and blind
and withered, and then to hear a word like this, will thou be
made whole? The Lord should come and speak to our hearts in this
way, will thou be made whole? What would our response be? Surely we would indeed desire
the Lord to do that for us which we could not do for ourselves.
This man could not get down into the water himself. And we cannot make our souls
heal ourselves. We do not have any ability. We are impotent. We are withered. We are blind. Yet, the Lord comes
to us in that case. The Lord came to this person
in that situation. He knew he'd been there. He knew
he'd been there a long time. The Lord knows about us, doesn't
he? He knows where we are. He knows where we've been. We
may have been waiting for a long time. We may have been waiting
for the Lord to appear. Waiting for the Lord to come
and help us. Waiting for the Lord to come
and to reveal himself unto us. It may have been a long time.
Here we are then, in this sad condition, unable to help ourselves. Then to recognise and to realise
the Lord coming to us, exactly where we are. Now, there were
many people here, a great multitude, but God came, the Saviour came
and spoke to this one man, this certain man. And in our age today, God still
comes and speaks to certain men, to certain women, to certain
boys and certain girls, those whom he has loved with
everlasting love. He knows where they are. He knows
their situation. He knows their desire. to be
healed. He knows they may be waiting
for a long time. Yes, this man was impotent for
38 years. Sometimes the Spirit of God may
have convinced us of our impotency, and by that I mean he showed
us what a sinner we are. and how we don't deserve any
mercy. And what do we do? We come and
we wait, as it were, at the gate of mercy. We sit there waiting
and praying that all will come and look upon us and be gracious
to us and reveal themselves to us and indeed come like that
and make us whole. The question comes to us tonight,
will thou be made whole? Well, what would our response
be? Do we understand spiritually what this man, the condition
he was in? He was in a needy case, wasn't
he? It was something that needed some action, which he wasn't
able to do himself. He needed deliverance. He needed
the favour of God. He needed to be healed. And how
that applies today to the Church of God. How they need a visit
from the Lord. How they need the Lord to come
and to speak to them. And how then the effect will
be as they hear that direct word, as it were, rise Rise, yes. No ability. But the Lord says, rise, strength
is given. And the man rose up. Rise, take up thy bed and walk. And immediately, the man was
made whole. That was an immediate healing.
38 years without healing. Waiting for the moving of the
waters. Waiting, as it were, for the
Lord to come. But at the appointed time, bless
God, the Lord came. It's wonderful to meditate and
to think that in eternity past, that time, that day was determined
when that man should be healed, when he should be blessed with
being made whole. And then to apply that in our
own lives, to think that In eternity past, the Lord ordained there
should be that certain time, that certain day in our lives
when the Lord would come and say to us, rise. Yes, perhaps rise up and come
away. Like we read in the Psalm of
Solomon, rise up, my love, my dove, and come away. because
the winter is over and past. And now, the time of rejoicing,
the time of the singing of birds, springtime in our soul, a time
of blessing, a time of walking with the Lord, a time of fruitfulness,
a time of favour. Immediately, the Lord speaks,
It is done. It is done. Various ways the
Lord uses, but nonetheless, when the Holy Spirit comes upon us,
in whatever situation that is, the work is done. Because what is done? We are
made spiritually alive. Christ has come. Christ has spoken. What has he said? He said, live. Yes, as he passed by, he said,
live. What a blessing it is if we hear
the voice of the Lord Jesus in our impotent state, realising
we have no strength ourselves. The Lord has come to us. And
he's spoken in this way, will thou be made whole? Then as we
perhaps describe ourselves, and it's good you know to just tell
the Lord exactly how you are. You don't have to put together
fancy words. There's no big ceremonies to
go with. You can just come very simply
and tell the Lord the situation. This man, he came very simply
and told the Lord the situation. The Lord knew it, of course.
But anyway, he came and just told him that he had no man. When the water was troubled,
he put him into the pool. But while he was coming, another
stepped down before him. And sometimes it may seem like
that, in our spiritual life. Someone else seems to step down
before us and, as it were, take the blessing. That which we were
craving after. No doubt about it, when those
waters were troubled, this man desired to know the blessing. He wanted to be healed. What a good thing it is if we
really desire the blessing. We want to be healed. We may have been disappointed
sometimes, in so far that the word may have not really come
to us. We've heard the word, we know
it's there, we know it was a good word. It hasn't actually come
to us. It hasn't actually met our case. When the Lord says specifically,
rise, take up thy bed and walk, the time of blessing, the time
of deliverance had come. And here was the blessing. Immediately the man was made
whole and took up his bed and walked, and on the same day was
the Sabbath. And of course, it was evident
to the people that a miracle had occurred. A man had been
healed It was evident. So I believe this is so in the
Church of God. When somebody is spiritually
healed, oh, there's the evidence. There's the evidence. The Church
of God observe the evidence. The Church of God is lively.
The believers are looking for the evidence of healing in others. They're secretly praying for
it, and they're looking for it, and they're desiring it. There
is that to be observed. There was here in this man, the
Jews therefore said unto him, there was cure is the Sabbath
day. They realised here was a man who was impotent. Here he was,
standing up, carrying his bed. No doubt about it, was there?
This man had been cured and he answered them, he that made thee
whole, the same said unto me, take up thy bed and walk. And we see here that this man
didn't perhaps realise everything, but he did know that the Lord
had told him to stand up and walk And therefore, he had done
that. They asked him, what man is this
which now says unto thee, take up thy bed and walk? And he that
was healed was not who he was. Sometimes we don't seem to be
aware of quite what's happened, but we do know that we're a different
person. We do know there's been a change. We do know the Lord has come
to us and touched us, and touched us. I'm reminded of that case
where that woman came and she pressed through the crowd so
that she might but touch the hem of his garment. She wanted
to touch the Lord and she succeeded in doing that. and virtue passed
from her, and she was healed. We might touch, as it were, the
hem of his garment, because this man we read, he that was healed
was not who he was. But Jesus conveyed himself away,
a multitude being in that place. The Lord didn't leave that person.
He didn't leave him. He came to him again. He came
to him again. He found him. He knew where he
was. He knows where we are. Maybe
he comes to us again. He found him in the temple. That's a good place, isn't it?
He found him in the temple. This man had made his way there. He'd been healed. He didn't go
to some worldly situation. He didn't go to worldly people.
He went to the temple. It's an example for us, isn't
it? The Spirit of God blesses us. Where do we go? We go to
the house of God. We go to the people of God because
we have that clear evidence in our heart that this is the place
where the Lord dwells. This is the place where the Lord
is. This is the place where we want to be found. So afterwards,
Jesus findeth him in the temple, and saith unto him, Behold, thou
art made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing
come unto thee. The Lord hadn't spoken to him
about his sins before. He'd healed him. And now he came
and told him, sin no more. Turn away from sin, the desire
to go away from it. We know of course that sin is
mixed with all we do, and we know that we possess that original
sin, but nonetheless, the Spirit of God has come and healed our
soul. There will be that holy desire
within to turn away from sin, to not go after sin, but a turn
away from it. And we would no doubt desire
before God that we might sin no more. Lest a worse thing come
unto thee, and the man departed, and told the Jews that it was
Jesus which had made him whole. Again, we see lessons here, don't
we? This man, he went back and he
told the people that asked him who it was, who it is, who has
made thee whole? He now found out. The Lord had
come to him. The Lord had revealed himself
to him, so that he knew now that it was Jesus. He then went and
told the Jews that it was Jesus that had made him whole. What
was the effect? What was the effect? he was persecuted. So it is today. Those who are
blessed with this healing, blessed with a testimony to confirm who
it was that has healed them, the result is persecution. Therefore did the Jews persecute
Jesus and sought to slay him. because he had done these things
on the Sabbath day. Yes, they hated these healings. They hated anything that was
against their ideas. And so we can bless God that
we today have a wonderful example in our gracious Saviour, the
Lord Jesus Christ. And also that we have in Him
a great physician. One who can heal, one who can
save to the uttermost. This man was, we might say, was
an uttermost condition. He was impotent. He was helpless. He couldn't avoid himself of
being able to get down into this pool. But the Lord came to him. So tonight perhaps we might feel
helpless. He was helpless. We might feel
hopeless. He may have felt hopeless, but
the Lord knew where he was. He came to him, a certain man,
and healed him. No need for him to find someone
now to take him When the waters were troubled, the Lord had come
and healed him. And he was healed. He was able
to stand up and take his bed and then go into the temple. And so in our lives today, as
we may be perhaps afflicted, sick indeed, because of the effect
of sin, You see, the devil will bring us down and try to keep
us in a situation where we are utterly impotent. But this man was clearly hoping
there would be a time of deliverance. 38 years, still hoping there would
be a deliverance. And still, no doubt praying that
it would be. And so we today should be encouraged
in our situation that we might hear the word of the Lord speaking
to us, Wilt thou be made whole? I wonder if that word is important
to us tonight. I wonder whether we recognise
our need to be made whole. That means to be made clean.
That means to be made spiritually right with God. The Lord comes
to us and says, will thou be made whole? Is that our true desire? Or do
we want to still cling to some poor things of the earth? Do we want to still lay hold
of those things which perhaps have caused us to be impotent,
caused us to be in that situation? And yet we're still wanting to
hold on to them. Well, here we have this man who
was impotent and the Lord came and asked him, will thou be made
whole? So the Lord comes to us tonight
and asks us that question. will now be made whole. We want
to be cleansed. We want to be made holy. We want
to be able to depart from our sins, depart from those wrong
and evil ways and be found truly serving the Lord and rising up. Jesus says, rise, take up thy
bed and walk. This man was given faith to believe
in the words of Jesus. The Lord gives faith today. It
is the gift of faith. This was a gift given to this
man. The Lord spoke and he received faith to stand up to believe. He could have said, well, no,
I'm waiting for someone to put me into the water when it's troubled. That's the only way I'm going
to be cured. The Lord said, rise. The man immediately was made
whole. He immediately stood up and walked. faith to believe in the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And we have many words of the
Lord Jesus Christ recorded in the Word of God. And if the Lord
speaks to us in words like this, wilt thou be made whole? To have such words spoken to
us into our hearts from the very Lord himself, It brings life. It brings strength. It brings
healing. Know that you and I might therefore
be blessed with living faith to lay hold of words like this
because we all have needed or do need to be made spiritually
whole. We need to be made clean. We need to be washed. What does
that mean? Of course, it means we need to
be washed in the blood of Christ. To be made whole means just that. Will thou be made whole? Is that
where we've come to? Do we desire to come to the cross? Do we desire to look to the Lord
Jesus Christ as our only hope of healing? The lepers came to the Lord Jesus
Christ, didn't they? He made them whole. If we're
leprous, if we're covered in sin, we need to be made whole. Remember, the blood of Jesus
Christ cleanseth from all sin. There's the place of healing. Will thou be made whole tonight?
Do you desire to be made whole to be washed in the blood of
the Lamb. Where is that place? It's at
the foot of the cross. It's looking to the Lord Jesus
Christ. It's beholding by faith the Lamb of God that taketh away
the sin of the world. It's by faith beholding the Lord
Jesus Christ dying upon that cross to atone for your sin and
my sin. Will thou be made whole? We've been waiting, we've been
crying, we've been praying, the Lord look upon us. May we say,
that's just what I want to hear. Will thou be made whole? Well, may we be blessed with
that faith then to hear such words rise. Yes, we've been impotent
and now to rise and to look to the Saviour. There's salvation. There's the blessing. There's
forgiveness. And it all resides in what Christ
has done. What does it do? It produces
honour and glory to His great and holy name. This man was impotent.
He couldn't claim any strength himself. He couldn't claim that
he'd done anything. It was all of the Lord. So it
is spiritually, it's all of grace. It's all of His amazing grace. He should look upon us and heal
our souls and cleanse us from all our sin. It is because of
His great sacrifice for sin. Now this will make Christ precious.
He's come to you. He came to this man. He came
where He was. Bless God today. He comes to
His people, certain people, certain people, elect people, chosen
people. He knows where they are. He knows
who they are. He comes to them and He asks,
will thou be made whole? Well, bless God tonight, if we
can find the Lord has come to us and asked us that question,
will thou be made whole? and we've realised that's what
we long for, the words of the Saviour in power to our soul
because we need and we desire the Lord to come and to heal
us because that will bring to us the greatest of blessings
to know that we are then healed, we are saved, our sins are forgiven
and it's all through The merits are the same. It's all through
His cleansing blood. It's all through His great sacrifice
for sin on Calvary's cross. And as the Lord may speak these
words into our heart, Christ will be precious.