A lot of preachers shy away from
this passage because they cannot explain about the angel coming
down, the water being troubled, and one person being healed.
Well, now that I've got your attention, I can't explain it
either. I cannot. But that don't keep
me away from this passage of Scripture. And this is where
the Lord has led us to speak from this morning and to speak
about the good news of the gospel. And the first good news of the
gospel is that you had nothing to do with it. In the book of Romans chapter
one, Paul called it the gospel of God. That is, it originated
with God. It belongs to God. And then he
went on to say, it's concerning his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. It's between God, the father
and his son, Jesus Christ. The second good news is simply
this. that Christ has done for us what
God required of us. Not many people are interested
in that. A lot of people say, we can't take
charity. We don't take charity. We pay
our own way. Well, if you don't wind up in
hell, you'll take charity. Because that's what salvation
is. You cannot buy your way, you cannot earn your way to heaven. And yet there's millions of religious
folk this morning that think they're doing just that. They
won't confess that's what they're doing, but they're working at
it just the same. There's an old song I used to
sing. Catchy song. I liked it. There's a lot of
things we like that ain't right. Did you know that? Little is much when God is in
it. Well, the truth is, when little is much, It's because
you're not in it at all. It's not about our two cents worth. We don't have two cents worth. And we've seen sometimes Jesus
paid it all. Did he or didn't he? Why don't we sing, Jesus made a down payment? That's
what most people believe. But if we sing, Jesus paid it
all, then why do we try to keep making payments? You say, oh, not me. Yeah, me. Now to the text, Brother Paul
read to us, John 5, verse 1, after this. After what? Well, this is early in Christ's
ministry, and this is after the second miracle. That's what the last verse before
it says. This is again the second miracle
that Jesus did. The first, you remember, was
in chapter 2. The wedding, Cana of Galilee,
where he turned the water into wine. And then the second year
at the end of chapter four, when he healed the nobleman's son. After this, there was a feast
of the Jews. The scripture doesn't say which
feast this was. But we know that Israelite men
were required to travel to Jerusalem not less than three times a year
to observe three of the seven feasts, Passover, Pentecost,
and then the Feast of Tabernacles. If this was the Feast of Passover,
some believe it was and some believe it was one of the others, But I'll just give us this now. John mentions in the Gospel of
John, three Passovers specifically. First, in chapter 2 and verse
13, it's called the Lord's, it's called the Jews Passover. Chapter 2, verse 13, the Jews
Passover was at hand. By the way, Back in the Old Testament, Exodus
12, 27 says it's the Lord's Passover. At the institution of it, it's
called the Lord's Passover. But now it's watered down to
the Jew's Passover. And somehow in our day and time,
the Lord's Day is watered down to Sunday or the weekend, fishing,
camping, ball game, visit grandma. No, it's the Lord's Day. It's
the Lord's Day. So they had watered that down,
the Feast of the Jews. No, that's the first one. Then
secondly, in chapter six and verse four, and the Passover, a Feast of
the Jews was nine. There's a second time and they're,
they're claiming it as there's the Jews also. And then the third
one specifically mentioned is when he was crucified in chapter
18 and verse 28. So these three would make Christ
public ministry at least between two and three years because the
Passover was just once annually. But if this one that we've looked
at here in chapter five, if this is a Passover, then it would make four. And
as most people believe this would mark his earthly ministry to
between three and four years. Most people believe three and
a half. Now to move on verse one concludes, and Jesus went
up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by
the sheep market, a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue,
Bethesda, having seven porches. Bethesda means house of mercy. The sheep gate, the sheep market,
every lamb, every year passed through the sheep gate. And on
this day, The Lamb of God passes through the sheep gate. And once inside the gate, there
was this pool named Bethesda. Having seven porches or places
around the pool were there a great multitude of impotent folk. They wasn't there on vacation.
They wasn't there to get a suntan. Impotent folk, they were put
there because they didn't fit anywhere else. Impotent folk,
and they're described in verse three by three more descriptive
words, blind, halt, withered. These were mostly Jews, I'm sure,
this being Jerusalem. And it speaks of their condition,
not just physically, but spiritually. Get this picture spiritually.
Impotent means feeble, weak, sick, and diseased. Blind, of course, means inability
to see. Halt means crippled and lame. Withered means shrunken or paralyzed. And they have a law here, a law
that relates to the old Testament law. And the law right here is
that when the waters of this pool are moving. Verse three
or verse four says troubled when the waters are trouble. The first
who stepped into the pool was made whole of whatsoever disease
he had. We know what disease they all
had, not physically, but spiritually. They were the same as all of
us, eat up with the disease of sin. Stage four, five, seven,
bad as it can get. They had their law, the Old Testament
law, they could boast in, but they were unable to keep it. Not only were they impotent,
diseased by sin, but blind, blind to their own impotency. Read
the four gospels and you'll find out how how much these people
thought that they were in the approval of God with their religion. They were blind to their empathy,
impotency. I can't say that word hardly. Blind to their wretchedness,
blind to their desperate need. They were blind to the deity
and the glory of the one who stood before them in there, right
in their midst. As Isaiah said, they saw no beauty
in him that they should desire him. And then there's the word
halt, which means lame and crippled. They had the law, but were unable
to walk in the way of God's commandments. We all are. Then withered, paralyzed,
incapacitated to the extent that they could not work it out. This describes the natural condition
of every sinner. No ability to contribute to our
own deliverance. So what were all these people
doing here? Well, this pool was the object of all their hopes. They all waited for the moving
of the water. Everyone there had the faint
hope of somehow being first to step down into the water. But
now here's where I'm getting at. They couldn't step anywhere. They couldn't even stand up to
take a step. They're impotent, blind, halt, withered. a great multitude that the system
hadn't worked for them. Nothing wrong with the system,
it just couldn't meet, they couldn't meet the demands of the system. There's nothing wrong with the
law, but man can't keep it. God's law demands perfection. He said, if you're guilty of
one little part, you're guilty of all. Demands absolute perfection. And if any one of us could keep
it in perfection, we'd have God's approval by our own doing. But it cannot be. We were born
lawbreakers. We were born in sin. We were
disqualified from being saved by our works before we were conceived
in our mother's womb. But yet we can't let go of the
law. That's what 95% of religion nowadays
is. They say it's about Christ, but
it's not. It's about law. It's about us and doing. What can I do? The rich young
ruler, what must I do? Those convicted at Pentecost,
what shall we do? The Philippian jailer, what must
I do? Saul of Tarsus on the road to
Damascus. What must I do? Man can't conceive
of a salvation apart from our doing. We think if I could quit enough
bad stuff and start enough good stuff, that's not it. We keep
hoping that I might stumble on the secret. of what it is I've
failed to do. But that's not it. All these
that asked the question got the same answer. Believe. Believe what? Not what, but who. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe that He did for you what
God required of you. It's as simple as pie. It's the
hardest thing you ever do. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And don't just believe that Jesus Christ exists. We all do. But believe that He accomplished
all God required in our behalf and quit making payments. Salvation is not in do, it's
in done. Done. You remember the women
who came to the sepulchre and they were very concerned, they
were Worried and troubled, who shall roll the stone away for
us? We know we can't do it, but it's got to be rolled away. What are we going to do? Millions of folks today will
listen to some false prophet telling them they've got to do
something to get through to God. And they'll confess, they don't
know what. But I've got to do something.
The stone has got to be rolled away. Maybe if I go to church
one more time, I'll find the secret. Maybe I'll stumble on
it someday. Those women were all puzzled
and worried. And not one of them suggested
perhaps the stone will be rolled away when we get there. Not one of them suggested that,
but it was. And the message of the gospel
of Jesus Christ is that the stone is rolled away already. You don't have to do it. You
need not worry about doing something you Can't do. You need to believe what he's
done. Christ fulfilled the law for us. And the father said. I'm happy with it. Your son has secured your peace
with me. You don't have to. because you
can't anyway. Our debt is paid. Acceptance in Christ is sure. We cannot add to it. We cannot
supplement what Christ has done with our feeble efforts. How dishonorable that is to Christ
when we live as if What he did was not enough. No, he paid it all. He said to
the father in John 17, for I have finished the work thou sent me
to do. Why can't we take his word for
it? Why can't we believe he told us the truth? Why can't we trust
him as having done it? This is a problem we all have.
Now, there's a lot of folks say, oh, you ain't talking to me.
Bless God. I've been on the solid rock a long time. Well, you don't live in the country
I live in. And I think all you live in,
we struggle. Lord, I believe, but I don't
believe enough. I know I don't believe enough. Trust Him. Trust Him. So this
law was a good thing, but it hadn't worked for this impotent
multitude. Who are they? Adam's race to
be exact. It hadn't worked for me. It hadn't
worked for you. And we keep searching, searching
for that one thing, whatever it is. You fail to do. Well, here it is. Here it is.
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You say, oh, that's so simple.
It is so simple. Most of us have listened to so
much garbage. You don't tell us to believe
you're supposed to see the sky light up. He don't tell us you're supposed
to have chill bumps all over your body. He don't tell us you're supposed
to see an angel bring you a message on a silver platter. No, He don't
tell us any of that. He tells us to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. He don't tell us to believe your
flesh will quit loving sin, it never will. Don't believe any of that, believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. Now here's
the example in verse five, a certain man. God don't deal in possibilities. He deals in certainties. I challenge you to take a concordance
and look up that word certain. In the Strong's Concordance,
you'll find it 60 something times in the four gospels alone. Certain
man, certain place, certain people, certain town, certain this, certain
that, certain center. Certain centurions. Certainties. So this is a certain
man, certainly chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world. But he's one of a huge multitude that's had this problem for 38
years. He can't help himself. He's certainly chosen. He's certainly
a sinner fallen in Adam. He's certainly impotent and helpless
for 38 years. But He's also certain to be sought
out by the Lord Jesus Christ. And He's certain to be conformed
to the image of Christ. To be with Christ forever. So
there's the great multitude here. All impotent, all helpless, all
hopeless. And Christ came to just one of
them. I hope you're the one today. You listen to this garbage about
God's trying to do as much as he can for as many as he can
while he still has time. No, no, no, no. He came to save his people from
their sins. And here it's just one out of
this whole multitude. And I pressed you the one. And then it said in verse six,
the man didn't know who Jesus was. He didn't speak to Jesus, but
Jesus spoke to him. We don't read when the man saw
Jesus. But when Jesus saw him, that's
always the order. He didn't have a clue who Jesus
was. He called him, sir, in verse seven. But the Lord asked him a question
in verse six, five words. Now these are little words. It doesn't take a genius. They're
not rocket science. Just five little words and a
question mark. Will thou be made whole? Now here's the bondage of the
law. The man couldn't even answer
that simple question. It's a yes or no question. Will
thou be made whole? Why didn't he say yes? Or why didn't he say, as a lot
of people know, no, I'm happy right where I am. Yes or no,
that's all it was. But he didn't answer it all.
That's the bondage of the law. That's the bondage of religion. And what did he do? He started
explaining why the system hadn't worked for him. It would work if I had a little
help. I have no man when the water is troubled. I don't have
a friend in the world. I have no man when the water
is troubled to put me into the pool. Now there's his confession. I can't do it. I have the plan. It's a good plan, but I have
no man. We couldn't fault the Lord if
he'd have said, well, buddy, you're so messed up. He's going
to make a fool of you and went on his way. He didn't do that. He said to him in so many words, forget the plan. It's never going
to work for you. And forget the man. He'll never
be there for you. And then The Lord Jesus Christ in divine sovereignty, he who needs no man, he who needs
no plan, Emmanuel, God in human flesh, he says to the man, rise. That's not an invitation. It's a command. Act 1730, God has winked at our
ignorance long enough. And now, right now, commandeth
all men everywhere to repent. Not just repent of your hellishness
and not just repent of the wrongs you've done. That will come.
But first repent of the wicked way you've worked at getting
to heaven, ignoring the Lord Jesus Christ. Boy, do we need to repent of
that? Oh yes. Oh yes. Repent of it. Rise. It's a command. But have you noticed I'm an invalid.
I can't rise. Christ didn't ask, can you rise? He commanded him to rise. And He commands you today. He commands me today. Take up
thy bed. You're getting out of here. You're
through laying around with this impotent crowd. trying to work
the system. This is not your crowd. And some of you hobnob with the
religion of our day. It's only getting you in deeper
and deeper and deeper. When Paul said in 2 Corinthians
6, be not unequally yoked with unbelievers, He didn't say nothing
about marriage. That's the only time I ever hear
that verse. You don't supposed to marry somebody that's full
of hell. Well, if you're full of hell, why not? He ain't talking
about marriage at all. He said, be not yoked together with
unbelievers. That's not your crowd if you're going to believe
the gospel, if you're going to trust Christ. For what fellowship hath righteousness?
with unrighteousness. The righteousness of Christ has
no part with that other. If you're going to obey Christ,
you can't lay around this crowd trying to work the system. Take
up thy bed and walk. Boy, this fellow hadn't
heard that word in a long time. Walk? I can't walk. I've got to work the system. I've got to pick some church
or some preacher and abide by the list of do's and don'ts that
they give me. I've got to work the system and
just maybe I'll find the secret someday. I told you the secret. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ. This man responded to the command
of Christ. This is the sovereign almighty
power of God. Notice Jesus didn't say, now
you try this. And all of you have heard that
little religious cliche, try Jesus. No, he's not on trial. It's not try Jesus, it's believe
and be saved. He didn't say you try this and
I'll help you if you can't do it. No, He said do it. Get up, pick up your bed and
walk. You're not lying here any longer.
This is not your crowd. Get out of here. Let me show you this in verse
9 and we're finished. This works crowd in our generation. They can cuss me all they wish.
But in verse 9, get a hold of this. Was the man made whole after
he took up his bed and walked? No. He was made whole. He received and believed the
Lord Jesus Christ. Then He was made whole and took
up His bed and walked. The secret was not in doing.
The secret was in believing. The doing was the result, not
the cause. Leave the doing to Christ. Just
believe on him. Maybe this is the day. Most of
you have been here a lot of times. Maybe this is the day the Lord
would say to your heart, instead of lying around whining
about how the system hadn't worked for you. Instead of continuing
to beat yourself up, nothing changes year in and year out.
You don't make the grade and you know it, but you keep trying.
Keep working the system. No, no, no. Oh, that this would
be the day that the Spirit of God would
help you to walk away from the system and believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. Don't disbelieve in Him. I believe in that chair. I believe
in it. I believe it would hold me up. But I must sit down, rest. I must take the load off me and
put it on the chair to believe on it. So I'm not asking you to just
believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, but believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. Trust Him. Rest your load upon Him. Isn't
that what He promised? Come unto Me, all you that labor
and are heavy laden. Now He wasn't talking about you
laboring on your job 40 hours a week. No. He's talking about
you that labor under the guilt and the shame and the heavy load
of your sins, if you'll come unto Me, I'll take that. And I'll give you rest. Believe that He pleased the Father
for me. He paid my debt. He's my Savior. In Ephesians 1.6. The God of eternity, the God
of the universe, the God of creation, God hath made us accepted in
Him, in Christ. Not acceptable, but accepted
in Christ. Can you believe it? Can you believe Him? Can you
trust Him?