Shades of night, two planes of
light, O praise His name, name it clearly. Now on a high, on
a hill, and with my soul, I know Him well, for one cannot tell
the ways to Him within me. From sinking sand He lifted me,
with tender hand He lifted me. That's good singing. Good song. All right, back to
John, Chapter 5. We sometimes in studying, going
verse by verse through the scripture, there's a tendency to get bogged
down and dwell on words and numbers and things like that, and you
miss the message, the spirit of the message. There are many
symbolic things here, but I don't want to be overly concerned with
them. I want to look at this story
of salvation here, of this man. Everything is significant, and
if we had the capacity, and we had the understanding, we could
dwell on one verse. We could go one verse at a time.
But we don't. But there's a story of salvation. We need to see that. That's what
we need to dwell on. All right, let's dive right in. The Pool, as it were. Verse 1. After this, after this. I'm not sure the significance
of this being placed where it is. I don't know. After this.
After these things, as Scripture says. After the nobleman's child
was healed. After this. I don't know why
this was placed there, I just don't know. But after this, there
was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. It
said back in, I didn't write this down, but back, let's see,
I think it was the wedding that he was invited to, the Lord and
his disciples. But at any rate, here's another
religious gathering, another religious gathering which our
Lord attended. And this whole story, this whole
story could be a picture, I believe, of religion. This whole story
could be a picture of religion and how that the Lord must come
to an individual, like this man, and reveal himself, and must
save that individual out of religion. Though Jesus is there, people don't know him as the
Lord. And the Lord saves us out of
religion, out of we go unto him without the camp, outside of
organized religion. See, Jesus Christ is all the
religion a man needs. Verse 2, now there is at Jerusalem
by the sheep market, or the word is gate, at Jerusalem by the
sheep gate, a pool. Now, this is right outside the
wall of the temple, there was this pool. If you have a map
in the back of your Bible, you can see it for yourself later.
But right outside the wall of the temple, there's this pool
out here. And it's said, it's called in
the Hebrew tongue Bethesda. And it had five porches. Now,
I don't know if it was shaped like a star with five sides or
what, but nevertheless, it had five porches. And this was right
outside the gate of all gates that went into... Now, remember
there were ear gate, eye gate, cheek gate, three gates? How many gates were there? Debra
helped into that. At any rate, I know of three
gates. into the temple. Shows how long
it's been since we studied that. But of all gates, it was the
sheep gate into the temple. And this pool was outside the
sheep gate. And the word Bethesda says in
the Hebrew tongue, Bethesda was the name of this pool. And it
had these five porches. Now, Bethesda means a house of
kindness. house of kindness. And here at
this Bethesda, this house of kindness was this pool for cleansing,
for healing, and it's right outside the Sheep Gate. This is where
they led the sheep in to the temple to be sacrificed under
the Lord. Now, there's no healing in this
place. In fact, there's no healing in
this place. No healing in a place, or a pool,
or in that pool. We've got a pool, haven't we? And this is the place where the
sheep go in and out. But there's no healing in this
place or in a pool, but there is healing and completeness in
the person that these represent. Christ represents all of these
things here. Christ is Bethesda. the house of kindness. Christ
is that tabernacle of God among us, the kindness of God, where
we go and find kindness from our God. Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all
spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. He is the Bethesda, the tabernacle
of God's kindness, where we go to find mercy and love and grace. And Christ is the pool. Christ
is the water. That's what he just said to that
woman. He said, I'm the water. I'm the one you immerse your
soul into, to be in Christ, to be found in Christ, to be found
healed from all your infirmities. Well, we bathe our weary, sinful
souls and come out clean. Bathe in his blood and come out
whole. And Christ is the sheet gate. He's the door, isn't he? Christ is the sheep-bearer. He's
the door, the way into the Holy of Holies, through which all
sheep enter into God, come unto God by him, pleading his blood,
pleading his righteousness. Christ is all these things, except
the five torches. Now, I thought we could say it's
just five points of Calvinism, but I think that's pressing a
little too far. That's what they say about David's
five stones. I like that. I made no apologies for being
a Calvinist, but I don't think it means... Calvin came a long
time after David. They aren't Calvinist
points, anyway. John Gill said this, he's the
only one I could find that made any sense. He said, I believe
that these five porches represent the five books of Moses, five
books of the law. Wherein all these impotent people
were laying, resting, waiting, looking for something. But there's
no healing laying on those porches, is there? There's no healing
there, there's no cure in the law. Many, look at verse 3, in
these, in these five porches, on these five porches, a great
multitude of people lay. That's where they were resting,
on these five porches. And many people do that still,
don't they? boast themselves concerning the
law, go about to establish their own righteousness, waiting for
the water, or go into the water, move the water, trouble the water
a little bit, get into it, baptize. Or they're waiting for miracles,
signs, and wonders, and so forth. When their salvation is not in
those porches, it's not in that pool, it's that one standing
over there that they knew not. Like John said, if John had walked
in that place, he said, you can't be saved here. Look. One standeth among you whom you
know not. He it is that must save you. He it is. Well, this is religion. This is a picture of religion
right here. And this is where the Lord found many of us, didn't
he? in religion but lost, not looking to Christ, looking to
our baptism, looking to our profession of faith, right? Looking to the
law, trusting that we had kept it. But the Lord says here, the
Scripture says we're impotent. Impotent means powerless, without
power. without strength, without God,
without help, without hope in ourselves, impotent, weak, helpless. We're dead. Dead. Blind here. It says here, blind,
a great multitude of blind. And that's us, isn't it, by nature?
Don't see Christ? Don't see our need of Christ?
Don't see ourselves as we are? Look at that. I like that word. Halt. That's me, isn't it? Mr. Ready to halt. Is that Psalm
38, John? Ready to halt. Halt. Or like Mephibosheth. Halt means
you're lame. Lame on both legs. Not one leg.
Both legs. Halt. Christ said, You will not
come unto me. No man can come unto Him. Halt. Withered. I thought the first
thing that came to my mind when I looked at withered was an old
piece of fruit. Hannah came up the other day. She was taking the garbage out
and had a bunch of bananas. They were all just black as that
piano there and all withered and all that. Not good for anything. They're supposed to be fruit
for our use, but they're withered. And that's why I said That's
man. Supposed to be a fruitful creature.
He's withered. He's of no use to God. He's of
no use to anybody. He's withered. He's withered,
waiting for the moving of the water. Men and women by nature
waiting for something. Waiting for everything. But the
one thing needful. Our Lord, or Paul, said, Wait
on the Lord. Wait, I say, on the Lord. Wait on the Lord. But look at
verse 4. It says, And an angel went down
at a certain season in the pool, and troubled the water. And whosoever
then first, after the troubling of the water, stepped in, was
made whole of whatsoever disease he had. An angel troubled the
water. And whoever got in that water
was made whole. I'm not sure of the meaning here,
but perhaps this typifies a gospel preacher who's called an angel,
his angel. He wrote the letters to the angel
of the church at Laodicea, the angel of the church at Ephesus,
the angel of the church at Philippi and so forth, at Ephesus and
so on. An angel, an angel, a preacher of the gospel. A preacher of
the gospel comes with this water of his word, and that water troubles,
troubles the heart, troubles the mind, troubles the soul,
stirs us up. We see our need of Christ, and
if we are put in the water by the Holy Spirit, put in Christ,
of God, in Christ, we're made whole. But that doesn't fit the
context here. That doesn't fit what I think this is all typified. That certainly works, doesn't
it? But I believe this is, like I said, I believe this water
represents baptism and the porches and all that. And this actually
happened. This was an actual miracle. The
word records it, that actually an angel came down and stirred
up the water, and whoever got in first, whoever got in first
was healed. But, you know, that's not salvation. The last shall be first, and
the first last. And it's for all in between,
whoever comes to Christ. It's not quick, it's not by might,
not by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. It's not whoever. This man, this man was really
empty. He couldn't get in the water.
Couldn't. He needed somebody to put him
in it. That's a better picture, isn't it? All right, verse 5. Look down at verse 5. A certain
man. You were waiting for me to get
to that, weren't you, Stanley? A certain man was there. A certain man
was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. A certain
man. There was a great multitude with
him. Lots of people around this pool. Whole lots of people around
this pool. But a certain man. A certain
man. See, God saves certain individuals. Oh, yes, he most certainly does. He saves certain individuals. You see, this gospel concerns
a certain Savior for certain sinners elect, they're called,
whom he most certainly and successfully saves. He does. That, I'm certain. And you better
be certain. Certain men. We looked at that
once before, didn't we? We've seen all through the scriptures
certain men. There was a certain woman, a
seller of purple, named Lydia. There was a certain man, a blind
man, sitting by the wayside. Here was this certain man laid
by this pool. Had an infirmity thirty-eight
years. A long time. A long time. Verse 6, when Jesus saw him lying
there. It doesn't say when he looked
up and saw Jesus. Does it? When the Lord saw him
lying there. You see, this man wasn't looking.
He was looking to the water. Wasn't he? He was looking to
the water. He was looking for a sign. He
was looking for a miracle. But when Jesus saw him, When
he saw him, that's salvation, when the Lord God looks on us.
When he sees us. When the Lord saw him, Scripture
says, Thou, Lord, seest me. When did the Lord first see us? Before the foundation of the
world. He said, I have loved thee with an everlasting love.
He had his omniscient eye on us from the very start. Before
we were, as the old saying is, a twinklin' in our daddy's eye.
We were the joy and rejoicing of his heart. He had Job before
there was ever such a name. He named you, and he had that
name written on the palm of his hand. He set his eye on you,
his eye of love, his eye of affection, his eye of mercy, his eye of
grace. And the Lord had his eye on this man before the world
began, and like that Samaritan woman, Just a little while before
this, like that Samaritan woman whom he must need to go by and
see. She's sitting on a well. He must
need to go through Bethesda. There's a man laying on a porch. Common folk, Joe. Just common
folk. Fell up a tree, woman on a well,
man sitting on his porch. Ah, boy. And beggars on the dunghill,
man mucking out stock. Christ must need to go to the
pool of Bethesda. There's a man there whom he loved
before the world began. There's a man whom he would die
for. There's a man whom he would raise from the dead. There's
a man whom he would reveal himself to. Look at verse 6. When Jesus
saw him lie and knew that he had been now a long time in that
cave. A long time in that cave. How long had you been in this
case before he found you? Huh? Some longer than others. How
long had you been in this state before the Lord found you? The
song says, years I spent in vanity and pride. Caring not, my Lord
was crucified. Knowing not, it was for me He
died on Calvary. Mercy there was great, and grace
was free. Pardon there was multiplied to
me. There my soul found liberty at
Calvary." How long had you been lying in that state? Thirty-eight
years or more? So the Lord came to this man
where he lay, and he asked him this solemn and needful question,
and it's still the most pertinent and needful question today. We still need to be asked this
question even now. Wilt thou be made whole?" He doesn't say, Will you accept
Jesus? He doesn't say this or that. Wilt thou be made whole?
He asked the leper something similar, didn't he? The leper
came and fell down and worshipped him. And the Lord said, What
would you that I should do unto you? He said, Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean. He said to the blind man, Bartimaeus,
what do you want? The blind Bartimaeus said, that
I might receive my sight. He said to John's disciples,
what seek ye? They said, where do you dwell?
And he says to this impotent, blind, half-withered, wretched,
miserable, poor, naked sinner, what do you need? Wilt thou be
made whole? Will thou be made whole? And
I thought about old Peter. You know, the Lord came and washed
their feet, and Peter said, Lord, wash me all over. Oh, I need
to be made whole. David said in that Psalm 51,
created me a clean spirit, renewed within me a right heart. Lord,
wash me thoroughly, through me from my iniquity, because from
the sole of my feet to the top of my head, there's no soundness
in me. Yes, I'd be made whole. Well, listen to this poor, ignorant
man's pitiable answer. Look at verse 7. The impotent
man answered him, Sir, I have no man when the water is troubled
to put me into the pool. So while I'm coming, another
steps down before me. I have no man to put me into
the pool. Now, maybe this poor fellow was
a true seeker. Maybe he was. And maybe he was
like the Apostle Paul, who said, I obtained mercy because I did
it ignorantly, in unbelief. Maybe. Maybe he was a true seeker. And he thought, and he came and
he needed a man. Just that man just put him in
the water. If he'd just get baptized, he'd be all right. He'd need
something. He's not sure what. He'd need healing. He knew he
was in a man. He knew he was sick. And he knew he was impotent
and so forth. And maybe he'd just got to get
religion. Maybe he'd just got to get baptized and everything.
There's some folk in here that have been in that shape. I know
one man in here in particular who had a man put him in the
water and thought, it's going to be all right. Thought it was going to be all
right. But later on, found out that he needed the Lord of Glory
to raise him from the dead. We don't need a man, do we? To merely baptize us, we need
the Lord of Glory to pass by where we are and to reach down
and pick us up and set us on our feet, set us on a rock, This
man was desperate now. No mere man could do anything
for him. Sounds to me like he'd been laying, well, he'd been
laying there a long time, and evidently he had some friends
and some family. They prayed for him. Here, his
sister, this fellow's sister had been praying for him a long
time. But she quit. She found out this fellow's desperate. He's a hopeless case. He's all
blue. Might as well quit praying for
him. They all left him alone, see? They left him alone, finally,
laying on that porch. Good. And here it is again. Lord and
a sinner. One on one. One on one. We don't need a man to pray for
us. We need the Lord to come by and raise us up. This man
was desperate. This man was in despair. Like
me. The Lord reached down. I was
near to despair when Christ came to me there and told me that
I could be free. Then he lifted my feet, gave
me gladness complete when he reached down his hand
for me, way down for me. Wilt thou be made whole? Where
was he? Was he? When was he made whole? Well, the Lord didn't even wait
for him to make a decision or be willing or whatever, and he
said the wrong thing. He didn't know what he needed,
did he? The Lord did. He knew what things he needed
even before he asked. Well, look at it. When was he
made whole? Look at verse 8. When Jesus said unto him, Rise. When the Lord spoke the word.
When the gospel came, not in word only, power. When the Lord
called him, he arose. He said, Rise, take up your bed
and walk. Take up your bed and walk. And
when the Lord called us, that's when we rise. That's when we're
quickened by his power from being dead and trespassing sin, and
to walk by faith in Christ, to walk in paths of righteousness,
to walk in newness of life. He said, rise. Just a word from
the Lord, look, rise, live. Take up your bed. I thought this
was significant. Take up your bed. That thing
you've been lying on all this time is a play on words, which
says, when Jesus saw him lie, Let God be true in every man
a liar. We were resting in a refuge of
what? Lies. Lying to ourselves, hoping that
what we had done would save us. It couldn't save us. That bed,
see the bed is shorter than a man can lay on. Isn't it? It's shorter than a man can lay
on. The covering won't cover you. That robe of our self-righteousness
won't cover. It won't cover. We need to be
like Bartimaeus. You see, Bartimaeus threw away
that rag. Threw away that rag. This man
just picked up that bed. He wasn't going to lie on that
bed anymore. He wasn't going to lie on that bed. He's not
going to rest in that profession he'd made. He's going to walk
with Christ. He's going to walk by faith now.
And this man was changing residences. He's not going to live right
there in the law now. He's going to quit trying to
live according to the law, and he's going to follow Christ from
here on out, changing residence. He's not going to lay on that
porch and rest with the water watchers. He's going to look
to the water of Christ, the water of life. He's going to go out
with Christ. Later on, and I'm going to quit, later on in this
chapter, it says that they persecute him. Well, look down there. The
Jews, verse 10. The Jews said unto him, it was
cured. It's the Sabbath day. You can't
carry your bed on the Sabbath day. Man, that's the way religion
is. That's the way religionists are the meanest people on earth.
They really are. And all they were concerned about
was the Sabbath day. This is the very bunch that insisted
on taking the Lord's body down from the tree because it was
the Sabbath day. Oh, my. Go to great pains to tithe, mint,
and anise, and cumin, and keep the Sabbath, and so forth, and
omit the weightier matter of the law of mercy. This scripture says, mercy, mercy. You can't carry your bed. What
are you doing carrying your bed, man? It's Sunday. It's Saturday. It's Saturday. So he had to bear
the reproach, didn't he? He was on his way out of that
place and carried his bed, just doing what the Lord told him
to do. And he was accosted by religion.
You can't do that, it's a Sabbath. Whatever he sayeth, that's what
I intend to do. If the Lord says keep the Sabbath,
I'll keep it. But if he says Sabbath was made for man, not
man for the Sabbath, that's just what I'll do. I'm resting in
Christ anyway, I'm not resting in a bank. Right? I ain't resting on that old bed. You can lay on that old stinking
bed if you want, that old stinking mattress of loft if you want
to. I'm going outside and air this
thing out. Go outside bearing his reproach without the camp.
And he did. Well, where was this man saved?
The Lord, it's immediate salvation, John. Isn't that right? Immediate
salvation. I just heard that day. Immediately,
first night, when the Lord said, rise, take up your bed and walk,
immediately the man was up. There was no lengthy period of
repentance or law conviction. That's what reformed fellows
like to do to us. They like to get us, like to
have us languish on the bed, you know, moaning and groaning
over our sins and under the guilt and conviction. Some people may
do that, but that's not the way it is with everybody. That's
not the way it is. Some it's a gradual thing. Some
it is a long period of conviction. But it's immediate, though, when
they look to Christ. Whenever any sinner looks to
Christ, they're immediately made whole. Immediately. Immediately. When Moses lifted up that serpent
on the pole, And he said, look, when were they? And he took up his bed, and he
walked. He took up his bed, and he walked,
and he walked. Oh, if we knew. If we knew, we'd
ask, and he would have given immediately. Now, Sunday night,
Lord willing, we'll take up this story and look at it in an entirely
different light. We're going to look at this as
a man who was not saved at all, but who experienced somewhat
of a miracle, like the blind man. Remember the blind man who
saw men as trees walking? But he didn't know who he was.
Salvation is knowing Christ, to know Christ. And we're going
to look at it in that light. He comes face to face with the
one that did this work. All right, let's stand. Our Heavenly Father, thank you
for your word. Thank you for this place. and we can come and hear the
Word. It's a place where the water of your Word is found,
and we can bathe our weary souls in and find completeness in Christ. Christ is the water of life that
we come to immerse ourselves in. Thank you, Lord. Thank you
for the gospel of our salvation, so great a salvation. Thank you,
Lord. for calling us, thank you for
coming by where we were, finding us, looking on us where we lie,
and calling us and raising us from the dead to walk by faith
in you. Oh Lord, but we need this daily.
We need this daily. When we become rich and increased
with goods and feel we have need of nothing and know not that
we are wretched, miserable, poor, naked, impotent, lame, halt,
withered, blind. Oh Lord, we need this same healing
daily. Your mercies are new every morning.
We need them. Your grace, we need more grace. Bring us back to the Lord's day
to hear these same things that are so needful. Bless these people. Let them chew on these things
for a few days. Go in the strength of this meat,
this honey out of the rock, Christ Jesus. In his name we've met
together this night for his honor and glory for our good. Amen.