My message tonight is a sovereign
salvation and I plan on speaking on a sovereign Savior next Wednesday.
John chapter 5 tells us in verse 1, After this there was a feast
of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now we don't know
if this is a Passover or Pentecost or the Feast of the Tabernacles.
We do know that back in Deuteronomy 16, 16, every male child in Israel
was told to go to the tabernacle, go and worship three times a
year. Always a good crowd, good opportunity
for the gospel to be preached, so our Lord went for that reason.
But he also went, I do believe, to fulfill the law, meet all
the obligations that you and I would have had. He went to
the tabernacle to worship. He wasn't to appear empty according
to Scripture. He was there to fulfill our obligations
at whatever this feast was. And it says here in verse 2,
Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, or the
sheep gate a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda,
having five porches. Now we won't go over there, but
in Nehemiah chapter 3 you can read There were ten gates in
the city. Ten gates. The Sheep Gate, the
Fish Gate, the Old Gate, the Valley Gate, the Dung Gate, the
Fountain Gate, Water Gate, Horse Gate, East Gate, and a gate called
Mitka. I don't know what that means.
But these gates were around the city. And here, this Sheep Gate
is the gate through which all the sacrificial animals entered. It's a picture of salvation,
a pool by the sheep gate, the sheep market, this pool. You
see, healing is found where the lamb comes in. That's a picture
of that, where the lamb comes through. It's called Bethesda,
which means pool of mercy, house of mercy. What a name, what a
name. Mercy at the sheep's gate, found
where the sheep come in. And here it says, it goes on
in verse 3 and 4, it says, In these lay a great multitude of
impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving
of the water. For an angel went down at a certain
season into the pool and troubled the water. Whosoever then first,
after the troubling of the water, stepped in, was made whole of
whatsoever disease he had." Now these porches, there were a great
number of people. We don't know how many there
were, but they're called infitent. They're blind. Blind now. It's a great picture of us by
nature. Blind. Unable to see. Is none righteous? No, not one. There's none that understands.
We had no comprehension. We're blind. Blind men, the scripture
says, halt men. Men who couldn't walk. Men who
were withered. We couldn't walk towards God.
We couldn't make a move towards God. We're dead in trespasses
and sin. Withered. Dried up. Palsy. Muscles just drawn up. That's what that's talking about.
Drawn up. Unable to have any strength. Unable. And at certain seasons an angel
went down and troubled the water. And the first one in was healed.
Now this is stated as a fact. It wasn't a superstition. I've
had people say, well that's just tradition. No, that's not the
way it's stated. It's stated as a fact here. And the reason
I believe these events have been taking place here is, as I said
a moment ago, to illustrate the sovereign grace of God in the
healing of a sinner. Because that's what you're going
to see here as we start to read. It's the sovereign grace of God
in the healing of a sinner. Impotent people. What does Paul
say in Romans? Look at Romans 5, verse 6. Romans
5, verse 6. There are so many verses on this
subject. Well, we could just do a study
on that. Look at Romans 5, verse 6. For when we were yet without
strength, in due time Christ died for the
ungodly. What were we? Blind. Halt. Withered up. Withered up. None righteous,
none that understands, none that seeks, none that does good."
Now that's just the state we're in by nature. As a result of
the fall of man, we are impotent, blind, crippled, unable to walk
after God. Unable to walk. You know, in this scene here,
I see the religion of our day here, if you picture it for a
moment. There was an angel that came down and troubled the water
at certain seasons. We don't know. The power of God
was manifested at certain times. There was a troubling of the
water. And the first man in was the
one who was healed. I see something. I see a picture
of God helps those who help themselves
with religion. You see that? The first guy in?
The guy that was quickest on his feet? He was the man. Now that's a little bit of what's
there. And the Lord's going to set this record straight here
in just a minute. He's going to set the record
straight about this. It says here in verse 5 that a certain
man was there and he had an infirmity thirty and eight years. A certain
man. I don't know how many times I've
heard preachers mention When you see the word certain man
in scripture, you need to pay attention because that is a certain
man, a certain 38 years. We don't know what the what it
was. We just know he was on a bed.
We know apparently he could not move. He couldn't walk, he was
helpless because he needed somebody else to help him get to the water
now. And you can just be sure that this man had tried every
other means in His power. When you're sick 38 years, you're
going to exhaust every means you've got. But it's all to no avail. He's
absolutely helpless and hopeless in this state here. And I want
to tell you something. That's a good place to be. You'll see
it. That's a good place to be. The
Lord brings all His people to that point. He brings them all
together. I think about this man. He knows
he can't get in ahead of anybody else. And yet he stays there.
I don't know how long he's there. I know he's sick 38 years. But
he knows he can't get in ahead of most people. So I can envision
him in the night seasons when most people were sleeping, thinking
maybe the angel will come this evening. Maybe when no one's
looking. The blind men won't be able to
see and those who are asleep won't see, but maybe He'll come
sometime and I can somehow drag myself to that point. Oh, I'm telling you, it must
have been a terrible existence. But look here in verse 6, when
Jesus saw him lie and knew that he had been now a long time in
that case, He said unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? when
Jesus saw him lie. That's sovereign grace. That's
sovereign grace. Here's a great multitude of people.
All of them are equally needy. They're all, in some sense of
the word, powerless. Unable to help themselves. And
here is the great physician God Himself incarnate in the flesh
walking through that crowd. And He sets His eye on one. And He knew that he had been
sick a long time. You know, our Lord was less than
33 years of age when this took place. And that man was 38 years
old. But our Lord knew that man had
been sick. How did He know? He's omniscient. How often in the Bible do you
hear of Him not speaking in certain people's presence because He
knew what was in the hearts of men. That's the Son of God. That's God in the flesh. He knew
that man had been sick three or five years before he had even
come to this earth. And He saw him. He saw him. This One of infinite power and
inexhaustible resources, this One who at His command could
have healed everybody in that room and everybody in Israel. He saw this man lie. Oh, I love it. A certain man. When Jesus saw him lie and knew
that he had been a long time in that case, He exercises His
sovereign prerogative towards that man. And I'll tell you,
bestowing a favor on whom He pleases, that's the way it is. Look at Romans 9. Romans 9. That's the way it is. Paul here does not apologize. He just says it the way it is.
Look at verse 14. Verse 13, it's written, Jacob
have I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we say then? Is there
unrighteousness with God? God forbid. Is this not right?
Is it not right for God to love Jacob and hate Esau? To do so
eternally? He hated Esau before Esau ever
came around. He loved Jacob. For he said to
Moses, and this is how he defends himself, this is how Paul answers
it. He said to Moses, I'll have mercy
on whom I'll have mercy, and I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth, nor of him that runneth, but God that showeth mercy. This
is the way it's always been. For even the scripture said of
Pharaoh, even for this 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, happy mercy on whom
he will have mercy and whom he will be hardened." This is the
sovereign prerogative of the Son of God, to walk by that entire
crowd and choose this man. And I'll tell you, there's nothing
in this narrative that gives any indication that this man
was looking for anything. He wasn't crying out, Oh Jesus,
Son of David, have mercy on me. This man was just sitting there
in the crowd. to indicate He was any different
than any others. There was no indication of Him
having any great faith in Christ. But I'm telling you, mercy found
Him. Mercy found Him. I love what
it says in Isaiah 65, verse 1, it says, I am sought of them
that ask not for Me. I am found of them that sought
Me not. That's mercy coming. Coming to
a child that needs mercy. unasked for. And the Lord saw
him and knew he'd been in this case. And you see no grounds
whatsoever for the singling of this man out. Just this one fact. The Lord knows his sheep. That's
the only reason. He knows his sheep. Look at verse
21 here in this very chapter. This explains the sovereign prerogative,
as the Father raises up the dead and quickeneth them, even so
the Son quickeneth whom He will. That's the sovereign prerogative
being shown. That's why He does it. And what
I want you to see here is the individuality of grace. It's individual. It's not, I've
heard people say, well, God has elected certain nations. Oh,
no, no, no, no. It's His people, one by one. One by one. We read Psalm 139
here just a few moments ago. And you read the description
of every member in my body being curiously wrought and made. And
he had them drawn out in his book before they were even put
together. You know, there was a drawing
of that hand if I could do that. You imagine that. All the lines,
all the fingerprints. of each and every one of His
people. That intricate is His knowledge of His people. How
great is His thoughts toward us. What'd He say? If I could
count them, they're more than the sand. You can't count the
sand in a bucket. But His thoughts towards His
people are more than the sand of this earth. Because He has
been thinking about every one of His elect from before the
foundation of the world. Every moment of every hour, every
second, every microsecond. He's done that and He's going
to do that throughout eternity. World without end. And that's
how great His thoughts are towards His people. His salvation. His sovereign prerogative. This
salvation is an individual matter. It's a peculiar grace. It's a
fetching grace. I always like that old expression,
fetching grace. He loved us and He fetches us.
And that's what He's doing here. He fastens his eyes on this one
who was given to him before the world began. What does he say
over there in John? Look at John 1. I want to show
you something. John 1, verse 47. Ah well, Jesus saw Nathanael
coming to him, and he saith to him, Behold an Israelite indeed,
in whom there is no guile. Nathanael said unto him, Whence
knowest thou me? And Jesus answered and said unto
him, Behold, the four Philip called thee, when thou wast under
the fig tree, I saw thee. And Nathanael answered and said
unto him, Rabbi, you're the son of God, thou art the king of
Israel." You know, there's an old tradition, and I hate to
mention it, but I will. Nathanael was supposed to have
been born about the same time as Christ, and he was supposed
to have been born in Bethlehem. And when they killed the children,
it was said that his mother hid him under a fig tree. Now, I
don't know. I don't know if that's true or
not, but I want you to know that whenever he saw him under that
fig tree, Nathanael was so impressed with him, he said, you're the
son of God. That's what I'm saying. It's
individual affection, grace, a knowledge of his people that
exceeds anything. Jeremiah, look at Jeremiah. I
love this. Jeremiah 31, verse 3. The Lord hath appeared of old
unto me. You listen to this. Saying, I
have loved thee with an everlasting love and therefore with loving
kindness have I drawn thee. Now that's what's going on. That's
what's going on back here in the text. The good shepherd is
finding his sheep. So I want you to see how this
grace is an individual grace and I want you to see that Christ
Himself takes the initiative here. Do you see that? He walks
up and looks down at this man and says, Wilt thou be made whole? Our Lord took the initiative.
It's always that way. It's always that way. I hear
people talking about you take the first step. As a matter of
fact, I answered an altar call back in 1971. An old black preacher
got up and got me to come forward by telling me that if I would
just take the first step, the Lord would meet me. And he didn't. I'm telling you, the Lord takes
the first step. The Lord takes the first step.
He was there on a mission and said to this man, Wilt thou be
made whole? Sovereign, distinguishing grace,
always moves first, because you and I were children of wrath,
even as others. You know that. But God, that's
what he says in Ephesians. It's always but God. Always but
God. Will you be made whole? Well,
that's a good question. Now, you know this man's answer
would have been, well, certainly that's what I'm doing here. I've
been waiting for you to be made whole. I wish people felt the same about
spiritual things as they do about physical things. Because you
could ask most men on the street today if they'd be made whole
and they had no interest. But this man had an interest
in being healed here this day. And he looked over and our Lord
asked this question for this reason, to focus the man's attention
on his need and to have him plainly declare his total inability. And you're going to see that
right now. His need, his inability, his hopelessness is what you're
going to see. And that's where we've got to
be brought. Look at verse 7, back in the text. Imagine that
situation. I've been here so long, I don't
have a man. You know, when you get sick, Initially, people will help you. Your friends will come by and
bring you something to eat. You know what I'm saying? But when
you've been sick 38 years, your closest friends are apt to disappear. And I'm telling you, this man
was laying there saying, I don't have a man. My kinfolk are gone. When the angel comes down, I'm
helpless. I've got no human help. I'm absolutely
helpless. And I'm telling you, my friends,
that's a terrible state to find yourself in unless you're telling
that to the Lord Jesus Christ. You see that? You tell the Lord
Jesus Christ, I don't have a man. That's good. That's exactly where
you need to be brought, where you're not looking to men. You
don't need somebody to help you get in the pool. I ask you if
you'd be made whole. Oh, my. Oh my, I've asked you. Do you want to be made whole? This man was completely, utterly
without help. You can read Psalm 107. That's
the condition of the redeemed throughout history. They all
find themselves without help. Verse 8 says, Jesus said unto
him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. The Lord Jesus Christ, according
to his own will, in fulfillment of his own divine purpose, said
to this man, rise, rise. I tell you, that's a command. You've heard it said and it's
true. The gospel we preach is not an invitation. It's a command.
We command men everywhere to repent. It is a command to rise. You think about this sovereign
grace, the Savior pronouncing a life-giving word to a man here
who had absolutely no appreciation of the one who was talking to
him. He didn't know who he was. You're going to read on here,
he didn't know who he was. And I like what Pink said about that.
Arthur Pink said, if the Lord waited to save us, only after
we had a full understanding of his person, a full appreciation
of who he is, none of us would ever be saved. Now that's a fact.
If He waited to save us until we had a full knowledge and appreciation
of who He is. This man, this man is told to
get up. I love it. Get up. Rise. The command, the word itself
of Christ, that command, that word is the vehicle that gave
that man the strength to do it. It's the Word of God that accomplishes
these things. It's the Word of God that causes
faith. This man is filled with a divine
power. The command that Christ said
there, rise, was basically a command for that disease to depart. You
see that? You're not only getting up, but
that disease is going to leave you right now because I sent
it. Rise. Rise. Distinguishing grace gave
him The power. You see, that's how you believe.
Distinguishing grace. Sovereign grace. Sovereign grace.
Comes to the heart of a man, a child of God, in time, a sinner
to that day, and he says, you lie. You get up. You've been
in that grave too long, boy. He rolls a stone away from your
heart and pronounces. Tells you to come on out of there.
Tells everybody around you, take them grave clothes off. Like
he did that day. He called Lazarus out of that
tomb. He says, you get up out of there
and you take up your bed. It's a perfect cure. You're not
going to need that bed. Roll it up. Put it on your shoulder. Take off walking. You're not
going to have to walk three or four feet and put that thing
back down and get your wind. Lay down for a little while.
It's a perfect cure. You see? You rise, take up your
bed. You're changed from this time
forth. You think about the new life
that went through that man. Thirty-eight years. withered,
unable to move. And Christ speaks to him. And
suddenly, this man who had no strength is a stout boy. I'm telling you, there was a
light. Something went through that man.
And I want you to know, if any man be in Christ, he's a new
creature. Old things have passed away.
Behold, all things are become new. You just know that man was
excited. Pick up my bed. No problem. That
baby's going on my shoulder. I'm going down the street. I'm
going. What a public testimony. Not
a better day to do it than on the Sabbath day. It's surely
going to rile everybody. This man's out there with the
Bed on his shoulder, and the Lord said, not only do you rise,
pick up your bed, you walk. He didn't say, you rise, get
up, go over in that water. You've been waiting for the trouble
in the water. No. There would be no claim of glory for that
water. There'd be no claim for anyone
in this matter, other than the one who told him to get up and
walk. It would be an all or nothing salvation by a sovereign Savior. Don't you go to the water. I
told you, pick up your bed and walk. You pick up your bed and
walk. Oh Christ, our Lord gets the
job done. There's no provision here for
relapse. Take the bed and go. Walk. You walk in the light.
You do something you've not been able to do. You carry that bed. We've been called to do something
we've never been able to do. We've been called to walk in
the Spirit as a result of the new life our Lord has given us. It's an instantaneous cure. And
immediately the man was made whole. Verse 9. Immediately he
was made whole. He took up his bed and he walked. And on the same day was the Sabbath. The Lord's salvation is instantaneous. We're complete. Look at Colossians
2. Colossians 2. We go over things that we all
know. I love to go over things I know. Look at verse 9. Colossians 2. Wherefore God,
excuse me, I'm in Philippians. I've got a new Bible and the
pages stick. Verse 9, For in him dwelleth
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete
in him, which is the head of all principality and power. We're
in Christ. Believers are in Christ. The
cure has been instantaneous. Instantaneous. When we look to
him, it's an instantaneous cure, you know. Our Lord just does
not make or put us in a savable state. This man wasn't put into
a healable state. You understand? He was not being
put into a healable state. That man was evil. And that is
exactly what I'm talking about. It's a salvation that's accomplished. Christ saves us with a perfect
salvation the moment we believe. Now we learn, we grow, we grow
in grace. I always like that illustration
of a child being born. The day it arrives, Everybody
counts them toes and fingers. That kid's got everything he's
ever going to have the day he's born. Not going to grow a third
arm. Not going to grow another head,
hopefully. Everything's there, and everything's growing. That's
the way we are. We start out, I know that whatsoever
God doeth, it shall be forever. Nothing can be put to it, nor
anything taken from it. And He does it that men would
worship, that men would fear. Our Lord healed this man, and
as I said a moment ago, I'm sure he did it to rile these people
on the Sabbath day. To rile them. He could suspend
any law concerning any Sabbath any time he wanted to because
he was the Lord of the Sabbath. Look at Matthew 12. You can see
that there, Matthew 12. You know, works of mercy have
always gone on. The priests were sacrificing
in the temple on the Sabbath day. You had people being circumcised
on the Sabbath day. You had work taking place. Joshua,
when he walked around the walls of Jericho, he marched around
seven days. He was marching on the Sabbath day. So this is,
you know, these folks just wanted to lock in on this tradition.
They had put so many things on top of it that they were going
to make this the deal. And our Lord here, he just doesn't
have to answer all these things. Look at chapter 12. Let me read
a few verses here, 1 through 8. That time Jesus went on the
Sabbath day through the corn. His disciples were hungered,
began to pluck the ears of corn to eat, and when the Pharisees
saw it, they said, Behold, your disciples do that which is not
lawful to do on the Sabbath day. He said unto them, Have you not
read what David did when he was a hungred, and that They that
were with him, how he entered into the house of God, and did
eat the showbread which was not lawful for him to eat, neither
for them which were with him, but only for the priest? Or have
you not read in the law that on the Sabbath day the priest
and the temple profane the Sabbath, and are blameless? I say to you,
now, if that there in this place is one greater than the temple,
if these men could do these things in the temple and be blameless,
I'm telling you there's somebody right here in your presence that's
greater than that temple. That's what he's saying. But
if you'd known what this means, if I'll have mercy and not sacrifice,
you'd not condemn the guiltless. For the Son of Man is the Lord
even of the Sabbath day. He's the Lord of the Sabbath
day. And here, these men decided that they were going to speak
up here. Verse 10, the Jews therefore said unto him that was cured,
it's the Sabbath day, it's not lawful for thee to carry thy
bed. Now imagine that. Self-righteous, blinded men that
completely ignored the mercy that this man received. And that's
religion. Religion's got no time for mercy.
Religion's got no time for grace. Here's a man that's got blood
flowing through his veins and strength he never had. You know
he had a smile up both sides of his face. And they said to
him, what are you carrying the bell and sabbath day for? Why
are you carrying your bed? It shows here. It illustrates. It just illustrates
the unbelief and the depravity of wicked human hearts, religious
hearts, to get caught up in tradition so much so that you could lose
sight of mercy. We just read that. I'll have
mercy. I'll have mercy. And he answered them, verse 11, he that made me whole,
the same unto me, said unto me, take up thy bed and walk. I'm not going to argue with you
folks. I could see him just doing this. What did you say about your Sabbath?
The one that told me to pick up this bed and walk. The one
that healed me told me to do this. That's a good way. That's a good way to live. I
look at your customs and your traditions. I've got one simple
answer. He that made me whole told me
to take up my bed and walk. The word that healed me, the
one whose word healed me is the one whose word I'm going to obey. That's what he told me. And that
should be the heartfelt conviction of everyone that God Almighty
heals. The Son of God healed me. I'm
going to obey His Word. I don't care about customs, traditions,
whatever you think about yourself. If He can speak and heal me,
He's obviously got divine authority. And I'm going to obey Him. Contrary to all traditions. I
love what it says in Galatians 5. Look at that for a second.
Galatians 5. I should have brought my whole
Bible. Well, it says, stand fast in
the liberty wherein Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled
again in the yoke of bondage. This man was not about to be
entangled by these people. And I'll tell you something here.
So look at verse 12 and 13. They ask him, what man is it
which said unto thee, take up thy bed and walk? And he that
was healed wist not who it was, for Jesus had conveyed himself
away, a multitude being in that place." You know, this shows the ignorance
of this man. He did not yet know. He did not
comprehend all there was to know. And our Lord himself had conveyed
himself away so that he would be left alone for a while to
be tried. Something I want to say too about
this verse here. He that made me whole in verse
11, the same as the one who said take up the bed and walk. These
folks are approaching Him purely negatively. They're wanting to
argue. They're wanting to talk traditions.
And His answer is a purely positive one. You see that? I'm not the
one that made me whole. You tell people, you witness
to people what the Lord's done for you, rather than argue with
Him about the tradition. You witness about what the Lord's
done for you. Our Lord disappeared in the crowd.
He left one of His sheep alone here for a while. He says here in verse 14, afterwards
Jesus findeth him in the temple. I'll tell you, our Lord doesn't
leave you He doesn't leave His people ignorant.
And He said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole. Sin no more,
lest a worse thing come upon thee. He comes and reveals Himself
to this one. He lets them know He's done this
one. And I know that man was healed
physically. And I tell you, I believe and I know that man was healed
spiritually because my Lord said to him, don't sin no more. You know, salvation by grace. Sovereign salvation is a wonderful,
wonderful thing. You can't possibly put a price
on it. But it's not something that makes
a man want to live any old way. Our Lord said, Go and sin no
more. And you know that man? You know he sinned again. But
I'll tell you, I know those words were in his head all the days
of his life. There is a worse thing that can
come upon you than being 38 years. To lie eternally in hell is a
much worse thing. But I believe that man was one
of the Lord's sheep. And Pink here made this statement.
He said that intelligence concerning the person of Christ, our Lord,
follows an experiential acquaintance with the virtues of His work.
It follows. When we know Him, we'll know
the doctrine. You know that? When you know
Christ Jesus, you will know the doctrine. Absolutely. To know Him is to
know the truth. To meet Him, to really meet Him
and be saved by Him is to know He is sovereign. Said that a
while ago, sovereign salvation. You think this man had any doubt
about the sovereignty of God and salvation? It was completely
contrary to all expectations. Nothing went the way he thought
it would be, but his thoughts are not our thoughts and his
ways are not our ways. It was an absolute sovereign
Savior that came there and those who meet him know that. And I'll
tell you, those who know him know that he unconditionally
elected them to salvation. Can there be a doubt? Does anybody
who knows his heart think for a minute that God looked down
through eternity and chose you because you were good? Oh, no. Oh, no. Only a lost man can think
like that. That's a man who doesn't know
himself and does not know the God of the Bible. And to think that this one died
in some attempt to save everybody. It's unspeakable. It's something
that if you know Him, you know He's not a failure. If you know
Him, you know His justice would not allow that. He's just. He's the just God and Savior. You know He died for His people.
And to know Him, to meet Him, is to know that His grace is
absolutely irresistible because He swept over you with it. He
walked into that Pool. That porch. And He singled you
out among all the halt-blind imbeciles. And He walked up and
said, will you be made whole? And you told Him some lame story
about how helpless you were and you had no help with men. And
He just said, stand up. He gave you life. You know if you know Him. You
know He called you. And you know if you know Him
that He keeps you. These things follow salvation. These things are obvious to those
who have been saved by the Son of God for His sovereign salvation.