It has been a wonderful privilege
recently to be meeting with a young man that I knew as a student
some years ago. And most of you know, or I've
shared with it, he came to me saying he needed to be baptized
and that he was pressured by parents to say that because they
want him safe. And when we met together, I said,
I think it would probably be a good idea if we did some study
of God's word first and see what it has to say about the subject.
And we have been studying the book of John. And this last week
in the book of John, we went over part of chapter 5. So I
would like to go to John chapter 5 this morning and just pick
up a few thoughts that we brought out during that time. John chapter
5. Now some very interesting statements
made in this passage of scripture and some illustrations that the
Lord gives us. And I have come to the conclusion
that the Lord never went anywhere without a purpose. He never spoke
to anybody without a purpose. He never did anything without
a purpose. And he is on purpose here in this passage of scripture.
And he knows what day of the week it is too. He's not surprised. Oh no, I did that on the Sabbath.
No, he did that on purpose. And so as we follow this scene
out, now it was interesting that when you talk to someone that
has absolutely no religious training at all, you're not bucking up
against anybody else's teaching. So often when we talk to people,
they've already got their preconceived ideas. But when you talk to someone
that has no preconceived ideas, never been taught anything, I've
just stood in amazement. It's been so interesting. And
so as we went through chapter five, it tells us there in the
very first of that, in verse two, that there was in Jerusalem
by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue
Bethesda, having five porches. And in these lay a great multitude
of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving
of the water. Now, if you look that up in some
of the commentaries, they say, well, that actually couldn't
have happened. Water doesn't do that. I'm telling you, people
have all kinds of opinions about the Word of God, but I have come
more and more of the opinion of what is written on the front
of your bulletin. I don't know much about the man who wrote
it. But I like what he said about the best way to look at the scriptures
is by the scriptures. So if we just leave it alone
and let the word speak for itself, so often we're going to have
the answer to our questions right there. So there is some sort
of happening here. And there's a whole multitude
of people there that are waiting for that happening. And then
we find that it says, for an angel went down at a certain
season into 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.
And a certain man was there which had an infirmity thirty-eight
years." Now it's interesting that the Holy Spirit calls on
John to write about this event and share with us that there's
a certain man here. Now this certain man is known
of the Lord. We don't know his name. We don't
know much about him except he has an infirmity that he's had
for 38 years and he's there in a place hoping that he can get
some help. But he shares with us that because
he cannot walk, he cannot get down there and he has found nobody
else to help him do it. The impotent man, well, Jesus
said there in verse six, when Jesus saw him lie, he knew that
he had been now a long time in that case, he said unto him. Now, you know, the disciples
of the Lord, and we've read this many times, the disciples of
the Lord asked one time about a blind man who did sin, this
man or did his parents? And the Lord answered them, ìThatís
not the reason the man is blind. Heís blind so I can meet him
today, and that we might know the glory of God, that it is
God that gives sight. He is blind so I would be here
right now at this very moment doing what I do, and that is
take care of people and do for them what they cannot do for
themselves.î And he's illustrating the point that where he finds
us in our condition, our sinful condition, our fallen Adam in
our life afterwards, that it is he that takes the initiative.
He's the one that is seeking after us, even though we're not
seeking after him. So the impotent man answered,
Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me
into the pool. Now, what the Lord says, wilt
thou be made whole, when it clear over his head, because he didn't
even know, he has no idea who's talking to him. And he goes off
under the human way of doing things. I can't get down to the
pool, and I can't get anybody to help me get down to the pool.
He's looking at it totally as a physical thing. And the Lord
Jesus simply asked the question, will thou be made whole? Now
that is the gospel to us. Will thou be made whole? And
you know, we have all of these contrivances in our mind of how
we're going to get down to the pool. Well, someone can help
me. Or maybe if I, maybe if this
whole horde of people eventually get, I can get down closer, all
of the things that go through people's minds, it's religious
paraphernalia that we carry with us. The Lord says, will thou
be made whole. That is really the psalm and
substance of the gospel. Well, we know through the gospel
that it has to be blood-bought. We have to be purged of our sin
and all those things. And this man says, but while
I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Isn't that the
way of it? Everybody else is always getting
the best. And then the Lord says, said
unto him, a command. You know, we never find the Lord
suggesting anything. We always find the Lord commanding. 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, you know, when we look at
that, how did he know that he could do that? At the same moment
that the Lord commanded him to rise up, take up his bed and
walk, that man was given the faith to do that very thing. God gave him the faith to rise,
take up his bed, and walk. And then we find that little
caveat, it was the Sabbath. So somebody witnessing this is
going to find fault with the way the Lord does his business.
And it didn't take long. It says that it was the Sabbath
day. And immediately the man was made
whole, verse 9. And verse 10, the Jews therefore said unto
him that was cured, it is the Sabbath day, it is not lawful
for thee to carry thy bed. And he answered them, and he
that made me whole, the same said unto me, take up thy bed
and walk. And they asked him, What man
is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? And
he that was healed was not who it was, for Jesus had conveyed
himself away, a multitude being in that place. And afterwards
Jesus findeth him in the temple, and saith unto him, Behold, thou
art made whole, sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon
thee. And the man departed, and told the Jews, It was Jesus which
hath made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute
Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things
on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered them." I find
that very interesting that Lord Jesus gets into the presence
of these accusers. Instantly He is there. He is
going to deal with them, and they are going to try to kill
Him, it tells us here. It says in verse 17, but Jesus
answered them, My Father worketh here unto and I work. Now there
must be a little more significance in the original language because
those people knew exactly what Jesus was saying. And it tells
us in the next verse that therefore the Jews sought the more to kill
him because he had only had broken, not only had broken the Sabbath,
but he said also that God was his father making himself equal
with God. So they are in a tirade now,
ready to kill Him, because not only did He break the Sabbath,
but He is equal with God. Now, in the next few verses,
the Lord Jesus goes through various statements to make them know
more that He truly is God, that God is His Father, that He is
equal with God in every way, that they are all omniscient,
they are all omnipresent, they are all omnipotent, and He declares
that through these verses of Scripture. Now, in verse 21,
I'd really like to spend just a little more time today on verse
21. The rest of them are so important.
They all declare that Jesus Christ is God. Not a God, not a created
God, but God the very God. In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. and the Word
was made flesh and dwelt among us. We have the incarnate God
among us, as we're reading about here. Now, in verse 21, it tells
us, for as the Father raiseth up the dead. That's an interesting
statement. The Father, as the Father, for
as the Father raises up the dead and quickeneth them, Not only
does he raise them up, but he quickens them. He gives them
life. Once they have life, they do
not have life, and God gives them life back. That is such
an interesting way that God does His business. Now, He's speaking
of several things, but the most important to us is that we fell
in Adam, and we are, we all, I have misquoted that verse of
scripture. I was corrected when I read it last time. It doesn't
say in Adam all died. It says in Adam all die. It is an ongoing, progressive
thing. All die. Every day we die in
Adam. And unless the Lord should deliver
us from that, we will have eternal dying. All right. And then it goes on in that very
same verse, even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. You know, it's the first time
I've ever read that to anybody that they didn't say, you know,
I don't believe that. It was so refreshing. He didn't
say anything. And then I said, you know, at
this verse of Scripture, we need to look at some other verses
of Scripture, because the Scriptures interpret the Scriptures. And
the more that the Scriptures share with us the truth of God's
Word, the more we are blessed. Now, God give us faith in our
resurrection to believe the Word of God. It is not something that
is normal. It is something that is godly
given. It is faith of God's elect and
God's people believe God's word. Now we will quickly say we don't
understand very much of it. But we do never say, I don't
believe it. That's unbelievers. All right. It tells us there in verse 21,
for as the Father raiseth up the dead and quickeneth them,
even so the Son quickeneth whom He will. Now, I shared with this
young man, turn over to the book of Daniel, chapter 4. And he turned over to Daniel
chapter 4, and I began reading, and he read Daniel chapter 4. Would you turn there with me?
Daniel chapter 4. It's such a familiar passage
of scripture how God did his business with a very pagan king. And at that time, this man probably
ruled one of the largest empires that the world had had up to
that point, Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was a very powerful
king, and at his word, people were spared, and at his word,
people lost their lives. And now we have this important
statement recorded in the book of Daniel, not by mistake, but
on purpose. It was just like him being there
on the Sabbath, meeting a certain man, healing a certain man, and
you know what? He didn't heal another person
at that place. And we wanted to explain to this
young man why. All right, Daniel 4, verse 28. All this came upon the king Nebuchadnezzar. At the end of 12 months, he walked
in the palace of the kingdom of Babylon. The king spake and
said, Is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house
of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the honor of
my majesty? You know what? He's just saying
what natural man says in his heart every day. I am my own man. I have pulled myself up by my
own bootstraps. Now the only thing that Nebuchadnezzar
had going for him above anybody else is his dad had kingdom before
he did. And his dad said the same thing.
And it goes clear back to the Adam. I am what I am. I can do
what I please. And I'll shake my fist to God.
And then it tells us, while the word was in the king's mouth,
there fell a voice from heaven. O king Nebuchadnezzar, by name. King, by position. O king. Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is
spoken, the kingdom is departed from thee. and they will drive
thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the
field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven
times, or years, shall pass over thee, until thou know that the
Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever
he will. You're gonna learn something
in this. I'm gonna reveal something to you, and this is God of heaven
speaking. And the same hour was the thing
fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from men. Who
did that? His counselors or whatever. He
was driven from men. He did eat grass as an oxen.
His body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hairs were
grown like eagle's feathers and his nails like bird claws. Hmm. What an intervention God did
with this very most powerful man. Why? The same reason that
we read over there, whom I will. Whom I will. And then it goes
on, at the end of the days, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my
eyes unto heaven, and my understanding returned unto me, and I blessed
the Most High, and praised and honored him that liveth forever,
whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is
from generation to generation. What is he saying? Mine is a
puny, his is a great. Mine is human, mine is fleshly,
his is spiritual. He has a much greater power than
I have. You know, in retrospect, when
God does that for us, we bow and say, thank you, Lord, for
ever showing me my true nature in my heart. that it was truly
raised up against you and I was most proud of where I had accomplished
myself. There's nothing worse than having
this idea that we can get better and better and better and better
over time by our works. Now, we may find ourselves, as
the old preacher said, I'm not what I used to be. I'm thankful I am what I am.
And I'm not what I'm going to be. But thank God I'm not what
I used to be. God is still working on us. All
right, it goes on to tell us here, now Nebuchadnezzar said
there, at this time my reason returned unto me for the glory
of my kingdom, my honor and the brightness returned unto me and
my counselors and my Lord sought unto me and I was established
in my kingdom and most excellent majesty was added unto me. Now,
Nebuchadnezzar prays and extols and honors the King of heaven,
all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment, and those
that walk in pride He is able to abase. What did it say in
verse 35? I skipped over it. It says, And
all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and He
doeth according to His will in the army of heaven, that's among
all the angels, all of its created beings, and among the inhabitants
of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, What
doest thou? You know, as we travel through
the scriptures, we find that almost the same thing is mentioned
in the book of Romans chapter nine, as the apostle Paul was
used as a secretary to write God's purpose over there. Because
there were going to be people constantly bringing up this idea,
just as we read there in the book of John chapter five, that
he raiseth or he quickeneth whom he will, and people will say
instantly, that's not fair. You know, that was wonderful
about this young man. He's just coming along with the point of
view that God's Word has to be true. Now, that's not here yet. That's here. I pray that it gets
here. It's nice to have it here. It's
nice to argue with God's Word. It's nice when you read it and
you say, well, that's God's Word. That's what it means. It's so
refreshing. But turn with me to the book
of Romans, chapter 9, if you would. And that's where we went.
We went over to the book of Romans, chapter 9. And there in chapter
9, there's much said, but verse 11, let's look there at verse
11. For the children, Romans chapter
9, verse 11, as we read concerning the Lord, He quickeneth whomsoever
he will. It's his business. He healed
whomsoever he will. He met a woman at a well. No
doubt there were hundreds of women came to that well. And
probably all of them were in the same condition that that
one woman was. But he met with one. A leper here healed, a blind
man healed. Out of hundreds and thousands
of sick people, the Lord met up with certain. All right, here
in the book of Romans chapter 9, for the children being not
yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpose
of God, according to election, might stand, not of works, but
of him that calleth. Now, I had someone tell me the
other day, well, Paul's just out of sync. Paul's out of sync. He's just not up with the time. This is not Paul's writing. This is God's writing. He's simply
a secretary. He is a secretary that faithfully
wrote what God commanded him to write. Now, it just happens
to be that after Saul of Tarsus was saved, he agreed with all
of it. He didn't fuss with it, he didn't argue with it, but
he was just a man and God used him to write this. All right,
he goes on to say, it was said unto her, the elder shall serve
the younger as it is written. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. And, you know, we stopped there
for a moment. I said, what does that mean, it is written? He
said, well, it has to be somewhere else then. It is Old Testament
scripture, Malachi chapter one. Same thing is written there.
All right. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? No, there isn't. God can raise
whomsoever he will. For he saith to Moses, I'll have
mercy on whom I'll have mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So then it is not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy.
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for the same purpose
have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that
my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore he hath
he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will, he hardeneth. Thou wilt say then unto me, why
doth he find fault? For who hath resisted his will?
Nay, but O man, who art thou that replyest against God? Shall
the thing form, say to him that formed it, why hast thou made
me thus? Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump? I asked this young man, what
would you think if you're turning out a pot and that pot raises
up in your hand and says, I don't want to be that way? Well, he said, that would be
strange and it wouldn't happen. The pot is not going to raise
up against the potter. The stone is not going to carve
itself out into a carving. Wood is not going to turn itself
into a dumb idol. It is the person working on it.
And the human is never gonna raise up to the level of God
until God delivers us from that. He's the one that lifts us out.
So, what if God willing to show us wrath, verse 22, and to make
his power known, endured with much long suffering the vessels
of wrath, fitted to destruction, that he might make known the
riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he hath afore
prepared unto glory. Well, what a statement. the Lord
made, just turn back there if you would to the book of John
chapter 5 and verse 21. For as the Father raiseth up
the dead, and quickneth them, Even so the Son quickeneth whom
He will. Absolute unison. Absolute agreement, absolute
work of the Holy God is here. And as you follow this down through,
you find out that the Lord Jesus declares in several manners and
in several ways, the Son of God is equal to God. And those people are I can just
hear them rattling those stones. Every time he said another thing,
they're ready to take him out and stone him some more. And
he declared who he was and only those that he revealed himself
to, just like he did with that man, he healed from that malady
that had it for 38 years. Jesus told me. Jesus, it was
Jesus that told me. What a revelation that God gives
His people to know Him, and that we find out it's not a boastful
thing, it is of grace, and grace alone, and no works in it that
man didn't twiddle, even turn over his thumb to get what he
got. In fact, he completely misread
Him, I can't get down there, and Jesus commanded. rise, take
up thy bed, and walk." And immediately he did that. And Jesus shares
with us, as we find throughout all of the Scriptures, he raiseth
whomsoever he wills.