John 5 verses 1 through 9. 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, having five porches. And in these porches lay a great
multitude of impotent folk, of blind, haught, 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 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. When Jesus saw him lie
and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, He
saith unto him, the Lord walked up to him and said, Wilt thou
be made whole? And the impotent man answered
him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put
me into the pool. While I am coming, another steppeth
thou before me. And Jesus saith unto him, 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. Now, every word is significant. It begins this way, verse 1,
After this there was a feast of the Jews and The Lord went
up to Jerusalem after this. Now, the Lord had just walked
many miles from Jerusalem to Samaria. We read, it says, He
must needs go through Samaria. He walked a long way and on foot
to Samaria to meet this woman whom He had chosen. And then
up to Cana, he walked up to Cana, up the mountains, up rough roads,
on foot, many, many miles to heal a nobleman's son, to heal
the nobleman. And then he walked back another
40 miles or more to Jerusalem to attend this feast for this
certain man. The point is, Our Lord goes to
great lengths to save His people. He said, I must bring them, all
my sheep, I must bring them. This is the great shepherd who
left, my, did he come a long way, he left heaven to come to
this earth. And he goes about seeking and
saving his people and he said, I must find them, I'm the good
shepherd. He came to seek and to save that which was lost,
and He's able, and He has to go to the uttermost parts of
the earth to find them. And He does. And this is our
hope, this is my hope for those that are lost, that they belong
to the Lord, and He will one day find them and bring them
to Himself. Entering Jerusalem, it says in
verse 2, there was at Jerusalem by the sheep market or gate,
the margin says. It's a sheep gate is what it
is, where the sheep were brought through outside and brought into
Jerusalem. There was a sheep gate and that's
where the pool was. As I said, every word is significant. Our Lord said in John 10, He
said, I'm the good shepherd of sheep. I know my sheep. I'm known
of mine. He said, He that entereth in
by the door, that's the shepherd. He came in this gate. This was
an eastern gate. This is where all the sheep come
in. And He is the gate. He is the door. He came in through
that gate to this pool. He said, He that entereth in
by the door is the shepherd of sheep. This is the shepherd of
sheep. And he came all this way to Jerusalem to find this one
sheep. Now Christ is all and in all. It says he went through
this gate and then there was a pool, a pool of water, which
is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda. That means house of
mercy, house of kindness. Now Christ is all and in all. He is the water of life. He just
left a well. He just left the well where he
revealed to a woman, a certain woman that he'd chosen, he said,
I'm the well. I'm Jacob's well. I'm the water
of life. And then he comes to another
pool searching, looking for this certain man, a pool of water. He is the pool. And this man
didn't need to get in that pool, but the Lord came to put him
in himself, the pool. And a house of mercy? Oh, he
is the mercy of God. Christ is the mercy of God. So
he is all and in all these things. He came. He is the water of life. He is the mercy of God. And now there were five porches.
And I'm not sure the significance of the five. I've read many things. Someone said this was like the
five books of Moses, the law, that many lie in and try to find
mercy and cannot find mercy through the law. But anyway, there were
five porches. Now, picture this. These porches
all around, someone had them built, Solomon, whoever, had
these porches built where people could get in out of the weather
and lie there waiting on this miracle to happen. Now, this
was a true miracle, this unexplained phenomena except to say the Lord
did this. And this actually happened. I've read many men that tried
to explain this and that and the other and what it means and
so forth. And one of the old writers said, it just means what
it means. And go on, okay. But it doesn't happen anymore.
It's not there anymore and neither is this miracle there. But here's
the main thing, verse 3, they were lying on these porches a
multitude, a vast number of impotent folk, that's powerless people,
weak, sick, lame, bedridden, powerless people, blind, You
see, a blind person couldn't get in that pool. They'd have
to have somebody show them where it is and put them in it. A halt,
that means they're laying. They couldn't get in it if they
wanted to. They can't walk. Withered, like
the man with the withered hand and others that their faculties
are wasted away, waiting for the moving of the water. For
it says in verse 4, an angel went down at a certain season
into the pool and troubled the water. And whosoever then first
got in, after the troubling of the water, stepped in, they were
made whole of whatever disease they had. This is a true story. But this is not happening anymore.
And yet, here's the picture, here's the story, here's the
lesson. Here's the truth of the matter. There are still today
on at least five continents, five continents, a multitude,
a vast multitude of impotent, powerless people. Yea, all men
and women are powerless to save themselves, to come to Christ,
blind. Right? That's what the Scripture
says of mankind. All men and women are blind. They cannot see God, cannot see
His kingdom. They're halted. They can't even
enter into the kingdom. They can't come. They won't come.
They're withered. The faculties of man in the garden
died. His mind, his heart, He's understanding. He died. He's withered. And yet
this vast multitude of people all over the world are still
looking for something, waiting for something, going here and
going there to try to find a miracle. People will journey all the way
to Saudi Arabia, to Mecca, to stand around or bow to a shrine
to Abraham where Mohammed told them to go, that they all must
go there before they die. And there are millions of people
that make that journey, that pilgrimage to Mecca. There are millions and millions
of people who journey to what they call the Holy Land, to Jerusalem
over there. But that land is no more holy
than the land in Franklin County. It's just dirt. And you can make
all the pilgrimages you will. You can go there, but it won't
do you any good. I had a man who went into someone's
home one day, and a visitor was there, and my neighbor introduced
me as a preacher. Well, I always hate that, but
anyway, That man immediately said to
me, I've been to the Holy Land five times. I said, really? That man didn't know God, didn't
know Christ. He's still dead and trespassing.
I said, it won't do you any good. It's not a Holy Land. There are
millions that wait at shrines and statues waiting to see the
Virgin Mary cry tears of blood. There are many more millions
right now, as I speak, lying in St. Peter's Basilica on the
ground waiting on their Papa, waiting on their Holy Father
to come and bless them. And none of them are going to
find salvation. None. You don't need to go anywhere. You don't even need to wait.
Because you can call right now. Because we have a papa. We have a father. We have a high
priest. We have an altar. We have a place
that we can resort. It's at the right hand of God
right now where Jesus Christ sits. And all you have to do
is call right now. Call. He's in heaven. You don't
need to go to Jerusalem. You can go higher than that. And call on Him to find mercy.
That's what this house is, this church house is a place where
you can hear of Jesus Christ who is the mercy of God. That's
my job, is to point you to Him who is the mercy of God, to call
on Him. Not come down front, we're not
going to have an altar call after this service. No, no. It's going
on right now. I'm calling on you to call on
Him right now. Impotent people, powerless people.
It's a picture of humanity. All men and women are powerless.
With man, it's impossible. Salvation is of the Lord. Man
is powerless to do anything. We cannot save ourselves. Impotent. Blind, halt, lame. Now, most people don't believe
this story. Most people don't believe any
of the miracles in Scripture. One of our so-called founding
fathers, Thomas Jefferson, whom so many esteem highly. I don't. The Lord uses that man,
yes, but he did not believe in the miracles in the Bible. He
cut out. He made his own Bible. You know
that? He made his own Bible and took all the miracles that are
in the Scriptures and took them out. Because he didn't believe. He just had a logical Bible now. Well, nothing new under the sun. There was a king named Jehoiakim,
king of Israel, and he didn't like them either. And he took a penknife, remember?
He took a penknife and began to cut the Scriptures up and
throw it in the fire. People don't believe this story,
and they certainly don't believe... You know, the reason for this
story, the reason for this story, is that we might learn the truth,
the truth. This physical material, this
actual story took place as a type, as a picture of the truth of
how God saves sinners. That's why I'm here. Of salvation
that's in the Lord Jesus Christ. And here's the truth of the matter.
We're all powerless. We're all impotent. We're all
blind, haught, lame, wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
That's what the Lord said to the people in Laodicea. You don't
know, but you're wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. People
say, I don't believe that. That's proof right there. Every one of God's people, when
the Lord saves them, when the Lord regenerates them, you know
what they find out? You know what they realize? I
was once blind. Like that man in John 9. He was
blind. But now I see. I was dead when
he quickened me. It's just a fact. You don't know
it until the Lord gives you life. And those that deny it prove
they're dead. Prove it. Because the Lord said
so. The Lord said so. And we know it by experience. He caused us to go through this
thing of life, given life. Well, a certain man, look at
this, verse 5. A certain man was there. Here
we go again. Yes, this salvation is for certain
people. Salvation is certain for God's
people. It's not a possibility. Christ
didn't come to make salvation possible for everyone. He came
to make it certain for certain people. His elect. A certain man was
there. It says in verse he had an infirmity
thirty and eight years. An infirmity. He was lame. He was lying there, bedridden,
and he had this for thirty-eight years. Now, this man is a certain man. given
to Christ before the world began, chosen by God the Father, and
given to Christ before the world began. And Christ has come to
save this certain man. He came a long way to save this
certain man. All right? And this man had an
infirmity thirty-eight years. I'm sure that everyone who knew
him thought it's hopeless for him. He'd been too long in this
way. Maybe the first year or two or
five years, they thought maybe there's hope. I don't know how
long he went to this pool and lay there, but maybe 38 years. Now, this gives me some hope. It doesn't happen very often,
but there's some people who sit under the sound of the truth
a long time. And the Lord never quickens them,
never saves them. But it's not hopeless. It's still not hopeless, as long
as the gospel's being preached. And in God's good time, if they're
one of His, He's going to raise them up. by his power, by his
gospel. Thirty-eight years. How long
did you lie in sin? How long did you... How long
were you without God, without hope, without Christ? Thirty-eight?
Thirty-eight years? John, you were about forty, weren't
you? Forty-eight? Fifty-eight? Doesn't matter. Sixty-eight? Seventy-eight. My wife's grandmother was seventy-five. That sounds familiar. Abraham.
Seventy-five. Virgie. How old was Virgie? How
old was Virgie? Seventy-five. Something like
that. It's not hopeless. My wife's grandmother was a dyed-in-the-wool
Methodist. Oh man, she's a good, moral,
upright, self-righteous woman that's just stayed. And the Lord saved that old gal.
He broke her. She loved the gospel. Loved the
gospel. I believe. Thirty-eight years.
How long? How old is your lost son? How old is your lost daughter?
How old is your lost husband or wife? There's hope. But this
is the hope. What I'm doing right now, what
we're hoping for right now is that God will move the waters. The Lord will move the waters.
What waters is that? Right here. The water of His
Word. That He might put you in Christ, who is the water of life.
and heal your Savior lost soul. Well, Jesus, verse 6, saw him
lie. Who saw who? Who saw who? The Lord Jesus saw him. This
man didn't see him. This man is lying on the ground.
It says there were a multitude of people all around. Can you
picture this scene? They're lying everywhere on these
five porches. Five porches, hundreds, thousands
of people lying around, standing, kneeling, lying or whatever.
This man's lying there on a bed. He can't see anything. He can't
even see the water. If it moves, he said, this has
happened to me so many times. When the water moves, I can't
tell it. And somebody says, the water's moving as soon as I try.
It's already over. He couldn't see, but thank God
Christ saw him. Christ came to him. Christ saw
him. People, you didn't see Christ
first, did you? You didn't see the Lord first,
did you? You were blind. Why are you here? If you're one
of His, it's because He first saw you. Because He first loved
you. Because He came to you. And our
Lord Jesus Christ came here for this express purpose, okay? He
didn't come and stand up and say, anybody want to be healed?
Did He? He came into this vast crowd
of people looking for someone. He didn't ask anybody anything.
He walked up in this vast crowd of people and walked up to this
certain man. You think this man loves election? He walked up to this certain
man and looked down on him in mercy
and love and grace and kindness. He'd come all this way for this
man. Later on this man just goes,
well right now he's in glory, unto him that loved us and watched
us and came for me, unto him that looked upon me, unto him
that found me, unto him that chose me, unto him that came
where I was, unto him that saw me, I didn't see him, he saw
me, looked on me, came to me and raised me, unto him, unto
him, unto him. Look at verse, I love this, it
says in verse 6, the Lord knew He knew. He knew everything about
this man. He saw him afar off and he knew
him. How long had he known him? For whom he did foreknow. Knew before the foundation of
the world. He knew this man. He knew everything about him.
It says he knew that he'd been now a long time in that case. I like that. In that case. He knew his case. What's his
case? Helpless. Powerless. Lame. He knew his case. This
is the great position. You know the only case that he
will take? The only case that the great
position healer of souls will take is those that are dead. Not somebody where I've got arthritis
of the knee. It's not that I can't come, it's
just that I limp a little bit. No, sir. He comes for those that
are dead. Remember Lazarus? He waited two
days. Is he dead? He's dead. And when
he came there, they all said, he said, is he dead? And they
said, yeah, he stinketh. Is it helpless then? Hopeless
for him? There's no way that he could
come out of that grave if he's dead. Right. He stinketh. He
stinketh. There's no way. He is dead. Barnard used to say,
graveyard dead. That's the case of the Lord God. Or this is the great advocate. This is the great lawyer of sinners.
You know what case he will take? The only case he will take. The
only case that he will represent, that he will represent and he
will take. The only case is those that are
completely, 100% guilty. Condemned, damned and doomed. That's the only ones he'll take.
Not those that, well, I've got some faults, I've got some, you
know, I'm pretty good, I've got some... No, no, he won't take
those. The only case he'll take is those
that are completely guilty. See, he gets all the glory this
way. It's a miracle. Salvation is a miracle. It's
not part him, part us. It's all him. Now, he saw him
lie, and look at verse 6. He said, "'Wilt thou be made
whole?' He comes to the man and speaks to him and first asks
him a question." Now, this is a vital question. Our Lord is
not saying, if you're willing, I'm able. He's not saying that.
He's demanding an answer from this man. God's people are made
willing in the day of His power. He asked this man that he might
get a confession out of him. He knew the Lord was going to
raise him. He said, Will you be made whole? Do you want to be made well?
Do you want to walk? Do you want to rise up out of
this dirty porch? Do you really? Do you want to
be brought out of this mass of sinful humanity? Do you want
to be made whole? Holy? Do you really want to be
made holy, complete, without fault, without blame, before
God? Do you really want to be made
holy? Or do you just want to miss hell? Are you with me? It's a vital
question. Do you really want to be like
Christ or do you just want the benefits of God to bless you
this and that and the other? Do you really want to be saved
from yourself, from sin? Do you really want to rise up
out of this dirty place that we're lying in? Do you really
want to be brought up out of this present evil world or do
you want to lie there? Just do feeds and clothes and
promise you heaven when it's all over and you keep lying there
in your filth. See what he's saying. My pastor,
I heard him preach on this. He said, Will thou be made whole? Do you really want to get up
and walk? You've been served all these years. People have
been taking care of you all these years. Do you really want to
get up and walk and pull your own weight? Do you want to serve
now and not be served? Huh? Do you want to go to work? You don't have to go to work
now. You're not going to be a charity case now. You don't have to go
to work. Do you really want to go to work? Serve on it? Go to
war? You know, there was deferments,
draft deferments for people years ago. If you were sick or halt
or something, you didn't have to go to war. But, buddy, if
you were an able, well-bodied man, you had to go to work, to
war. If you're an able, well-bodied
woman, you're going to go to work in the factory back then.
Do you really want to go to war? This thing's not an easy, you're
not going to lie there from now on. You're going to war. You're
going to walk. You're going to war. You're going to serve. You're
not going to be served. I wish you could have heard my... Go
back and listen to my pastor. He talked about religious people
that are sick and babies, that you've got to baby and always
care for, be careful of hurting their feelings and all that.
He said, when I raise you up, you're going to walk, you're
going to serve, you're going to war, you're going to pull
your part, you're going to pull your weight, you're going to
go with us, you're going to be a disciple like the rest of us. It's not
going to be about you anymore. And I appreciate a strong man
to say things like that. Do you really want to be made
whole? Do you want to lie in your sin or do you want it gone? Good question, isn't it? That leper came down
from that mountain in worship of the Lord and he said, what
wilt thou that I should do unto thee? He said, one thing, I want to be I want to be clean." And the
man said this, and he said, well, he said, I have no man. The water's
troubled to put me in the pool. While I'm coming, another step
is down before me. I have no man. Can no man help
you? No man. I tried them all. No
man. And he said this, I thought about
this. He said, when I do try to get in the pool, somebody
gets in before me. Is there anybody here who thinks in your mind
and your heart that you're such a poor, miserable sinner, wretched,
blind, haughty sinner, you think, everybody else is going to make
it to heaven but me. Anybody? That's who Christ came for. You
don't have any man? Everybody there. Nobody there,
John, knew who he was. Nobody there was calling on him.
This man wasn't calling on him. Bless God, Christ came and called
on him and said, you've got a man. You've got a man, all right,
and I'm the man. Get up. Rise. I say unto you, he said it with
a word. Rise, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt
be saved. Take up thy bed, that thing you
were lying on all these years, that thing you were taking comfort
in, that world you're lying in. Pick it up. You don't need that
anymore. And walk immediately. You don't have to go through
years of seeking and searching and feeling guilty and waiting. People are waiting on this and
waiting on that. People are waiting on experience.
People are waiting on feeling bad enough. You know, one day
you'll feel bad, and then the other day you won't feel so bad.
Waiting on... Don't wait on anything. Do you believe? Do you believe? Believe. And thou shalt be saved."
If you believe, you are. And buddy, he took up his bed
and he walked. He walked. Where'd he go? Now
in verse 14 says, the Lord found him in the temple. In the temple. Where'd he go? Now he can walk now. He can walk
now. Now where's he going to go? Where's
the first place he's going to go? Is he going to go down to
the Joe's Bar and Grill? Is he going to go down to the
House of Ill Repute? Is he going to go where God's
people are? He came walking in. Can you see
this now? Everybody knew him for 38 years.
Everybody knew him. Knew he couldn't walk. Knew he
was dead in sin. Knew. Here he came walking in. That
was me. That was me. Would you look who
walked in this door. What a miracle. That's right.
He didn't come in of his own free will. The Lord found him.
The Lord sought him, bought him, and brought him. Here he comes.
Well, if you look at him, he's walking by faith.