Turn to the Gospel of John, chapter 5. John, chapter 5. We will look at the first ten or so verses. I title this message, Hopeless
and Helpless. It has to do with this man who
lay by that pool at Bethesda, crippled, could not get to the water. This man had no hope, and he
was helpless. He tells us so. He said, I don't
have anybody. I don't have anybody to help
me. No man, he says, to help me." What we will see in these verses is what sin has done to us. We see this in ourselves. We
feel it in our bodies. We can see throughout this world
what sin has done to the human race. It has just decimated it. It really has. What sin has done
to this world. And then we will see the Lord's
mercy. See His grace. We call it sovereign grace, but
there's no other kind. If it's grace, it's sovereign.
There is no other kind of grace. There is no other kind of mercy
but sovereign mercy. He will see his power to save. The Lord is able to save, not
just from the guilt of sin, the damning power of sin, but
he's able to save from the power of it. Sin shall not have dominion
over you. It will not control you. You are not under its power anymore. or under the power of God's Spirit,
and we will see His sovereignty. A great multitude, a great multitude of impotent folk
lay on those five porches, and the Lord goes to this one certain
man. It says certain man. God calls
certain people by his grace. He calls them. If he did not,
no one would be saved. He said, you will not come to
me that you might have life. But I'm so thankful that he came
to me. I will not come to him. But he
willed to come to me. Just like this man. He walks
up to this man, asks him a question. Will thou
be made whole? And the man answered, I don't
have anybody to help me. And he was looking at the water.
He was thinking, if I could just get somebody to help me into
that pool first. It's like winning the lottery.
Whoever got in first, was healed and everybody else had to drag
themselves back to the porch and wait until that happened
again. And I'm not even going to try to explain what all that
was about. It said an angel came down and stirred the water at
a certain season. And this man could never get there first.
He could never get to the water. But I tell you this, the water
of life came to him. And that's what happens when
God saves. He comes to where we are, lifts
us out of the dust. Didn't I just read that in the
Psalms? He humbles himself to behold the things in heaven and
earth. He lifts us off the dunghill,
out of the dunghill. You see, that's where God finds
us. Now, we don't see ourselves there naturally, do we? We don't
see ourselves on a dunghill. I don't live on such a place
like that. Well, God says, that's where I found you. That's where
I found you. So we'll see these things. Now,
in the last four chapters, the Lord in the first chapter was
revealed as the Lamb of God. In the Old Testament, men would bring lambs bring lambs to be offered and
sacrificed. This lamb is God's lamb. This
lamb is God's lamb, which means he's perfect. It's the best. This is the best. This is God's
son. This is God's lamb. That's who he is. And then he
turned water into wine. Real wine now. He turned it in. It wasn't a fake. It was not
a fake. It was not grape juice. It was
wine. And the Lord turned the water
into wine. You know, there is no sin in
a bottle. There's no sin in drugs. Sin
is what we are. It's what we do with these things.
That's what that is. He turned the water into wine. And He saved many Samaritans.
Remember he met that woman at the well? And then she went into
town and they came out and heard him save many Samaritans. And
then he saved a nobleman and his whole house. Every day had
its agenda. That's why chapter 1 starts out,
after this, after this, After he had done all that he was supposed
to do, there was a feast of the Jews. And Jesus went up to Jerusalem,
and the reason he went up to Jerusalem to this feast was out
of obedience to God's law. Our Lord was obedient to all
the laws, the law of the home, the civil law, moral law. He was obedient. And this feast
was at Jerusalem, so out of obedience to his father, his heavenly father,
his law, he went to the feast. That's what he did. Now, it says,
there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is
called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five fortunes. Now, the
sheep market is the sheep gate through which the sacrificial
animals were brought. And these things pointed to the
Lord Jesus Christ. You know, there is nothing in
the Word of God that is trivial. There is not a word in the Word
of God that's a filler. There's no fillers in the Word
of God. This has real meaning. So he enters into it by the sheep
gate. Because this is God's land. This
is God's sacrificial land, and he enters in by the sheet gate. And there was a pool there called
Bethesda, and that means house of mercy. House of mercy. And there was
a man, a certain man, who's going to taste of God's mercy. He's going to taste of it. He's
going to experience the mercy, the saving mercy of God. It's only in Christ that we can
find mercy, saving mercy, forgiving mercy. Only in Him. Everything in the Word of God
points to Him. our sacrifice, our sin offering,
our priest. He's made to me all that I need. Now there were, he says, five
porches there. A.W. Pink said the word five
means grace or favor. And there was five porches there.
And in these five porches, lay humanity. This is humanity. This is what
sin has done to humanity. Blind, halt, and withered. And it says in these lay a great
multitude. Sin has affected every person
born into this world. It has its grip on everyone that
has come into this world. Everyone. And on these porches, there were
people who were blind. They were halt. They could not
walk. They're withered. And what are they doing there?
They're waiting. They have some kind of hope in
this disturbance of the water, the stirring of the water by
an angel once in a season, whatever that season was. I don't know.
How many times? I don't know. But one time in
the season, the water would be disturbed by an angel. And whoever
stepped into it first, it says, was healed. I'm just going to
leave it right there. I'm not going to speculate. That's
when you get in trouble, you speculate. And these people were sitting
there on these porches, and no doubt begging, waiting, just
waiting. And the general sum of their
state is this, impotent, crippled, blind, poor. That's a good picture of Israel
at this time. Their religion, which was of God, had become
impotent. That's the way it was with them.
There was no power in their religion at all. It became nothing more
than the tradition of men. That's what it turned into. It
went from the Lord's Passover back in Exodus, When we get into
the Gospels, it became the Jews' Passover. And here's a detailed diagnosis
of the people on that porch, on those porches. Blind. Israel was so blind. Now, we've
been going through Exodus, and we'll get back into Exodus. And
they were given the pictures, the types, the ceremonies, the
priesthood. They were given all this. And when the Lord of Glory
came, they received Him not. He came unto His own, and His
own received Him not. That's what it tells us in the
first chapter of John. They did not recognize Him. He
spoke to them in power. They said, Never amiss. Make
like this man. He performed miracles. that no
one ever performed. He raised the dead. Gave sight
to the blind. And they didn't recognize Him. Did not recognize Him. You see,
when our Lord heals the blind here, He heals the blind eyes.
He heals the lame. He heals the deaf. These are
examples of how He heals sinners spiritually. Because I do not
need just physical healing, because I'm going to get sick again.
Really. He raised Lazarus from the dead.
You know what? Lazarus died again. Lazarus had
to die again. But I tell you this, if he raises
you from the dead spiritually, you won't die again. You will
not die again if he does that. I need spiritual eyes. I need spiritual
healing. I need the Lord to give me ears
to hear Him, eyes to see Him by faith, a heart to go after Him. Physical healing is the least
of our worries, really. It's the least of our needs.
The spiritual healing is what we need. And that's what this
indicates. This is what it's showing us. And then there was halt. Unable
to walk. Natural men have no spiritual
walk. Unable to walk in the ways of
God. Before I heard the gospel, before you heard the gospel,
believed the gospel, our walk was not after godliness. It was
not after God. Maybe after the God of our imagination,
but it was not after the God of heaven and earth. It was not
after him. And withered, it says. Dried
up. Spiritually dried up. You go back and read the Old
Testament. That's how it presents in a dry, a desert place. Children of Israel was led through
a wilderness. Spiritually dried up. Now it says they were waiting
for the moving of the water. All their hopes were in that
water. I tell you, that's not a very good
hope, is it? They had just enough room for
one, just enough, even for one, put it that way. It's just one got in, the rest
of them was like, man, didn't make it this time. And who knows
how long they had to wait again. I mean, they waited there. How
many times did this man who had this infirmity for 38 years,
how long had this man waited on that porch dragging himself
down to that pool and those who had lesser problems ran down
ahead of him or had someone else to help him get down there and
he had to drag himself back up to the porch? All their hopes were in that
water. They waited for the water to be troubled by an angel. It
says in verse 4, 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. I don't know about, like I said,
all that stuff. that God put that pool of water
there and that man there for that time, that he would heal that man,
he would receive the glory, that he'd come to one of his own on
that porch, unsought. That man was not looking for
Jesus Christ the Lord at all. He was keeping his eye on that
water down there. He wasn't looking for the Lord. And God put that
pool of water there and surrounded it with sick people until Christ
should come and heal that one man. It's amazing what God will do
for His own. Amazing. He said to Israel, I
gave Egypt and Sheba for thee. He said, I gave them for thee. This whole world tastes of God's
mercy because of his elect. It rains on the just and the
unjust, and the reason this world is blessed is because God has
a redeemed people in this world. That's why it's blessed. That's
why the sun shines. That's why the rain stops and
we're not flooded. That's why the crops grow. God
has a people. He has a redeemed people, redeemed
by the blood of His Son, by the blood of the Lamb, in this world. And as long as they are in this
world, this world is going to be blessed. It's going to be
blessed. Now it says, and you know in
reading the Gospel, this is said at different times, several times,
and a certain man, a certain man, The Lord had a certain man
in his sight. In his sight. He had his crosshairs
on him. Chosen man. It says he was there. He had an infirmity for 38 years. The whole reason for this story
is for the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ and the salvation
of one of his children. There was one of God's own there,
and his condition, and here's where I got my title as I was
writing this, his condition was hopeless and helpless. Hopeless and helpless. And the
Lord allowed him, or I should say, the Lord brought him to
this place. He brought him to this place of just being hopeless
and helpless. He brought him to the place where
he said, Lord, I have no man, no Savior, no help. I don't have anyone. I don't
have anyone. For 38 years, God let this man
lay there and suffer. Some of God's children suffer
much for a long time before they come to know Him. Some do. Mephibosheth. Wasn't he crippled from his birth?
He was dropped by the nurse. He was crippled from his birth.
But he was the Lord's. When Jesus saw him lie and knew,
nobody had to tell him, no one has to tell the Lord where his
own are, and what's going on with them. He knows. Oh, that gives me comfort. That
gives me comfort at night when I lay down. Lord, you know. You
know where I am, who I am, and what's going on. I find comfort
in that. He saw him, and he knew that
he had been now a long time in that case. He said unto him,
without being made whole, Would I be made whole? That's
a loaded question. Now, anyone would say, well,
of course. Of course, I would be made whole. Do you realize how much responsibility
comes with being made whole? This man's got to go to work.
This man now has to get up and go to work. He's not going to
beg anymore. He cannot beg for his bread.
He's got to get up. And now he's going to be a responsible
person. They can draft him and send him
to war now. He's whole. When he was sick, he couldn't
go. But not now. Would you follow Christ? Would
you follow Him? A lot of responsibility in that.
A lot of responsibility. But our Lord demonstrates His
sovereignty here. Many were sick. Many were sick. It says a multitude. A multitude. He walks up to this one man.
Says to this one man, who did not ask for Him, who did not
seek Him, He walks up to this one man and says, Will thou be
made whole? Little did this man know that
God had His eye on him, that His mercy was upon him, that
His mercy had been following him all the days of his life. If I'm a child of God, His mercy
has followed me all the days of my life, even before I He has guided and directed my
steps long before I knew Him. He told Jeremiah, I formed you
in the belly. Before you were formed in the
belly, I knew you. Before you ever had any being, I knew you. He demonstrates His sovereignty
here. He comes up to this one man. He knew that man had been in
that condition for a long time. He knew that. He knew this before creation. God always knows our situation. He knows our situation, whatever
it is. He knows it. At the White House,
they've got what they call the Situation Room. I was watching
this on TV the other night. They've got the Situation Room.
And they gather in there. And I thought, God always knows. When I'm in my Situation Room,
He always knows what's going on. He always knows. And the Lord asked him, Wilt
thou be made whole? He was putting this man's attention
on his greatest need. Would thou be made holy? Would you be saved from sin? Everyone would be saved from
torment. Everyone wants to be saved from perdition. But would you be saved from sin? Would you be made holy? That's the question. Would you
be made holy? Righteous? Righteous. Would I be made holy? That's a question. An impotent
man answered him, Sir, I have no man, no Savior, no help, No
one, no family member to help me. There was no family there
with me. And I have no one to help me
when the water's trouble to put me into the pool, but while I'm
coming, another. It's like get out of the way. It's like being pushed aside.
I'm sure. When this happened, you can picture
this in your mind, when this happened, there was a lot of
pushing, shoving, knocking down, trying to get to that pool. No mercy there. While I'm coming, while I'm dragging
myself down to the pool, someone stronger than I, Someone not
as bad as I jumps ahead of me and I lose out. I lose out. Jesus said to him, now this is what happens when
God saves a sinner. He speaks and it happens. He speaks and sinners are saved. There's not a chit-chat going
on here. There's not a begging contest going on here. There's
not a tug-and-a-pull going on here. He commands. He said unto
him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And with that command came the
power to do it. The Scripture says, Believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And with that command comes the
power to do it. If He commands you to do it,
if He commands you to believe it, you're going to believe it. Because with the command comes
the power to do it. He said to this man, Rise up,
rise, take your bed and walk. Get off this porch and go. You're not going to stay here. You're not going to stay here
no more. This is not your home. This is not your place no more. What power there is in the Word
of Christ. if he would just speak a word
tonight in power. I mean, speak it in power. If
you believe the gospel, you know something of what that is. You
know what it is when the Lord speaks in power. When He speaks,
power goes with it. Power to believe. Power to repent. Power to come to Him. Power to
call upon Him. If He commands it, power goes with it. When He said, let there be light,
there was light. When He said, walk, you walk. You cannot stay as you are where
you are. Wherever He finds you, and calls
you out, you come out. You walk out. Lazarus walked
out of that grave. He walked out of that grave.
He was dead. He was so dead he was beginning to stink. But when
the Lord commanded life and commanded him to come out, he walked out
of that grave. Take up your bed and walk. You're not going to lay around
here anymore. Walk. And take your bed with you. You're
not coming back. You're not coming. But what if
I get crippled again? You're not coming back here.
You're mine. You're mine. When the Lord saves
a person, He puts them on a heavenly journey. How many times has he
walked by somebody and said, come follow me? Follow me. Our walk is to follow him. Enoch walked with God until one
day he walked right into heaven with God. And that's what happens
to every believer. What happens? We walk with God
by faith in this life, and someday we are going to walk right out
of this life into His presence. Right into His presence. And
the Lord said to that man, walk. Take your bed and walk. Each
day we walk closer to home. I'm closer to home today than
I was yesterday. I'm closer to home. I don't know how long the Lord's
given me to live on this earth, or how long He's given you. I'm
55 years closer to it than I was. I know that. I'm a lot closer
to it now than ever before, because I'm not going to live another
55. It's getting shorter. It's getting shorter. And immediately, Immediately,
the man was made whole. Immediately, the man was made
holy as well as whole. When God saves, He saves now. You see, the law will put you
on probation. Grace does not put you on probation.
The law saves. I mean, when God saves, He says
now. And it is a complete salvation.
Now we will experience the completeness of it when we leave this life.
When we die, we rise from the grave and receive a new body. But I'll tell you, as far as
God's concerned, it's complete. It's complete. And that man stood
up. He didn't stagger. I do not believe
he staggered trying to get up. I believe that man stood up.
Like a young man, like a young man. And he stood up and he,
and he, it was as if he had never been sick. That's how complete
our Lord, when the Lord saves, he saves. When he saves, he saves. It's complete. And he did this
on the Sabbath day. Did that make them mad? That
made the Pharisees, that made them so mad that he did this
on a Sabbath day. The Jew said to the man that
was cured in verse 10, it's the Sabbath day. It's not lawful
for you to carry your bed on a Sabbath day. They didn't care
that he was sick. They didn't care that he'd been laying there
for 38 years. It's the Sabbath day. You don't do that. You don't do that. If Christ
sets you free, you do that. The law can't condemn us if Christ
sets us free. They were so offended at this
crippled man, they wanted to kill him. They were so offended
at it. He said in verse 11, He that
made me whole told me to do it. He told me to do it. Who told
you to do it? Let me tell you who told me.
The Lord of the Sabbath. The Lord of the Sabbath told
me to do it. It says in verse 13, And he that
was healed knew not who it was, for Jesus had conveyed himself
away, multitude being in that place. Afterward, where did the
Lord find him? In the temple. That man went
straight to the temple. And he said to him, Behold, thou
art made whole. Sin no more. And you know what?
The Lord meant exactly what he said. He said this before. Go and sin
no more. Be ye holy, for I am holy. He
never proves of sin. Never proves of it. He never
makes an excuse for it. He said to that man, go and sin
no more. Is that what you want to do?
Is that not what you and I want to do? Sin no more? I would to God I sin no more.
But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father. Go
and sin no more. But if any man sin, when any
man sins, 1 John 2, We have an advocate with the father. And
he told that woman, it's called adultery. Go and sin no more. And he meant exactly that. And
boy, I tell you what, when you read that, you realize how much
you need him. You realize how much you need
that advocate.