Would you turn with me to John,
chapter five? Much of what takes place. In the book of John. Is a reaction
to what took place in this passage of scripture. As a matter of
fact. In John, chapter seven, if you
would turn with me there for a moment, John, chapter seven.
Verse 23, these are the words of the Lord Jesus. He says, if
a man on the Sabbath day received circumcision, that the law of
Moses should not be broken, are you angry at me because I have
made a man every whit hole on the Sabbath day? And he is referring
to what took place in the passage we're going to look at this morning
when he made a man every whit hole on the Sabbath day. From
that time, the Jews began to persecute and to seek to slay
the Lord Jesus Christ over what took place in this passage of
Scripture. Now, turn back to John chapter
5. I'd first like to read verse 6 of John chapter 5. When Jesus saw him lie and knew
that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him,
Wilt thou be made whole? Now what a question our Lord
asked this man. Do you want to avoid heaven or
avoid hell and go to heaven? Not do you want fulfillment and
satisfaction in your life, but are you willing to be made whole? Now, I pray that that question
will be addressed to you and I in the power of God's Spirit
this morning. Are you personally willing to
be made whole? Not, are you willing to avoid
hell? Not, are you willing to go to
heaven? Not, are you willing to have a better life? That's
not the question. The question our Lord asks this man is, are
you willing to be made whole? I look back at the first of this
chapter, verse 1. After this, there was a feast
of the Jews. Now, this feast was taught in
the Old Testament, but the people had degraded it so much that
John calls it a feast of the Jews. ordinance of the Old Testament
Scriptures, but he simply calls it a feast of the Jews. That's
how far they had degraded it. And there was a feast of the
Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. He was going to observe this
feast in obedience to the law of God. Verse 2, Now there is
at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the
Hebrew tongue, bedestah, having five porches, And in these five
porches or tiers lay a great multitude of impotent folk, 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 what a sight this must have
been. By the sheep gate, where animals
were brought into Jerusalem for sacrifice, there was an amphitheater
of some kind called Bethesda. You've heard that word Bethesda.
It's used for hospitals. It means house
of mercy. Bethesda Hospital. It's used for orphanages. It means a house of mercy. There
was an amphitheater of some kind called Bethesda, and this amphitheater
had five tiers with a pool of water in the middle. And these
tiers were filled with a great multitude of what the scripture
calls impotent folk. The word means powerless, not
just weak, not just not very strong, but people without power,
impotent, without the ability to produce life, powerless, powerless
people. John goes on to describe them
as blind and halt. and withered, and what a sight
this must have been, and what a sound it must have been. Can
you imagine going in here and you'd hear the sighs, you'd hear
the cries, you'd hear the moans of these impotent, powerless
people, groaning under the weight of their burden? I can't imagine
what that place must have been like. It must have been a very
depressing place to go into, these tears, with these helpless,
quadriplegics, these blind people, these paralyzed people, these
sick people. Oh, the diseases that had wracked
their bodies. And there they are waiting for
the moving of the water. Now, what a sight this affords
us of fallen human nature. When Adam disobeyed God and fell
in the Garden of Eden, what happened? Now, it's important for us to
understand this. We can't even go on in this message
without some understanding of what took place when Adam fell. Remember, he ate the fruit, he
disobeyed God, and what does the scripture say regarding Adam?
It says he died. It doesn't say he broke every
bone in his body. It doesn't say he became very
sick and very ill. It says he died in the day you
eat thereof, you'll surely die. And this is what happens to fallen
human nature. Now listen to me real carefully.
Everybody in here, young people, children, everybody, you were
born into this world with a dead nature. A sinful, fallen, dead
nature. And dead means You cannot do
the things that are required for life. A dead man can't breathe.
He can't see. He can't hear. He can't understand. He can't feel. He lacks the ability
to do these things because he's dead. Dead in trespasses and
sins. Now, these people are described
as impotent without Power and that describes you and I without
power, not not simply weak or not on a life support system,
but without power. Impotent, blind, that's the first
description is blind, what a blind man can't see. He can't see who
God is, no matter how clearly you describe. I can preach so
clearly from the scriptures, but if you're blind, you're still
not going to see. Well, somebody says, well, I can preach clear
enough to make them at least see. No, you can't. No, you can't. Only
God can give the blind eyes to see. They're described as halt,
paralyzed, unable to walk in God's commandments, withered,
unable to perform that which God requires, unable to do good
works. That's the state of a natural
man. Dead, blind, halt, withered, maimed, What a helpless, hopeless
condition. Here these people are, in these
tears, waiting for the troubling of the water. Waiting. Here they all lie, waiting. Now, there's been a lot of debate
as to whether or not this is a tradition or whether it really
happened, but I have no doubt it did happen. That's what the
Bible says. At a certain season, an angel
would come and trouble the water. And whoever was able to get in
that water first, they were made whole of whatsoever disease they
had. But here we have these people
and they're represented as waiting, waiting for something to happen. Now, here's another description
of human nature, not only unable and May God impress us with this. These people were impotent. They
were unable. They were totally powerless. There was nothing they could
do to save themselves. And I want you to remember this
too. We're talking about the inability
of a man to do anything to save himself. Inability does not in
any way negate responsibility. Let's say a man comes up to his
wife. and says, honey, I am just unable
to remain faithful to you. I just, I can't. She said, well,
OK, if you're unable, I can't hold you responsible. Of course
not. Inability does not negate responsibility. That puts us in a bad shape.
And here these people are, unable to do anything to save themselves,
but they're waiting. They're waiting for this angel
to come down and trouble the water. They're just waiting.
Now, there's a good kind of waiting. Wait on the Lord. That's a good
kind of waiting, isn't it? Wait on the Lord. He shall strengthen
thy heart. Wait, I say, on the Lord. That's
a good waiting. But there's a bad waiting, too.
There's the waiting of waiting for something to happen. We just
heard about feelings come and feelings go. Feelings are deceiving.
There's waiting for a feeling. There's waiting to change. There's
waiting to get better. Waiting, waiting, waiting. And here these people are in
this state they're in, blind, halt, wither, miserable, waiting
for something to happen. Now, the problem that I see here
is this particular miracle could not help somebody who was completely
unable to move. Let's say a quadriplegic. He
couldn't get into the water. He couldn't move. Unless maybe
he had a friend waiting there with him, he'd throw him into
the water. But if you were without a friend, this was hopeless for you. You
may wait there forever and never get in that water. If you couldn't
make the move in, if you were a quadriplegic and you didn't
have somebody to shove you in, you were without a friend, without
a hope, you were in bad shape. And this wouldn't help you a
bit. But here we have these people
waiting for the moving of the water. And I can almost hear
the moaning and the sighing and the crying and the misery. What
a spectacle this must have been. Look in verse 5. And a certain man was there which
had an infirmity thirty and eight Now, evidently, the infirmity
that he was talking about involved some kind of paralysis because
he goes on to say to the Lord that I don't have anybody to
put me in the water. He was not able to get into the
water, and he had this infirmity, this whatever it was, for 38
years. Now, 38 years ago was 1968. in our experience. Can you remember
what all took place in 1968? I got to thinking about this.
I can remember one thing from 1968. Pete Rose won the batting
crowd. 1968, batted 335. I can remember
that. I can remember how happy I was
about that. But I don't remember anything else. I don't remember
anything that took place. That was a long time ago. 1968, this
certain man lay in this horrible state for 38 years. How many times do we read this
phrase in Scripture? A certain man. A certain man. You know, we read
this in the Bible a lot. A certain man. Now, there's a
bunch of people in that place. Scripture says a great multitude
of impotent folks. But there is a certain man. that the Lord had mercy on. There
was a certain man that the Lord came to. Now, there were a lot
of people, and He didn't come to them all, did He? He came
to a certain man, and this man had this infirmity 38 years,
and what our Lord says to him down in verse 7, let's see, it's verse Where does
it say sin no more lest a worse thing happen to thee? Verse 14,
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 unto thee. It seems to me to imply that
some sinful course of life had caused this Problem that he had
this disease that he had because he did say sin no more less the
worst thing happened to these so evidently this man in this
horrible state some Sin some sinful habits some vicious course
of life and had left him in this state and and here he had been
laying for 38 years and we read in verse 6 When Jesus saw him
lie and knew that he'd been now a long time in that case, he
saith unto him, Will thou be made whole? Now, here's something
I want you to think about. There was a great multitude of
people in that place, and if the Lord willed, He could have
healed them all. Isn't that true? I mean, there
was a lot of needs at that time. Multitudes of people in those
tears waiting for the moving of the water. And if the Lord
wanted to, could He have healed every one of them? Well, you
know He could. But He didn't. Why? Because He didn't will to. Now,
the first thing I want us to think about in this man that
had been in this case for 38 years, here he is, helpless. But there's people just as bad
a case as he is. Yet the Lord doesn't come to
them, but he comes to this certain man. You see, the Lord Jesus Christ
is sovereign. In whom he heals. And whom he
saves. Look down in John chapter 5 verse
21 while we're there, look at this verse of scripture. For as the Father raises up the
dead and quickens them, even so the Son quickens what? Whom He will. Whom He will. Now, He could have if He wanted
to. He'll have one of these people,
but He didn't. And that's the way His salvation is. He saves
whomever He's pleased to save. Everybody in this room, you're
in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. He can save you if He's
pleased to save you, and He can damn you if He's pleased to damn
you. Whatever He does is right. You're in His hands. And let
me say this. If you have a problem with that, you've got a real
problem. You've got a problem that there's
no answer to. And the only thing to do is bow. He saves whoever
He's pleased to save. You know what? I don't have a problem with that.
Whatever He does is right. And I believe that. He comes
to this certain man. And look what it says in verse
6, When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he'd been now a long
time in that case, 38 years, and I'd have no doubt that when
he saw him lie, he saw him with eyes of compassion and with eyes
of mercy. This was one for whom he came
to die. This is one he came to save.
He saw him lie. He knew he'd been a long time
in that case, and he asked him this very simple question, Will
thou be made whole? Now, I want you and I to think
about this. I want you to imagine the Lord
asking you personally this question. He comes to you, and He says
to you, Are you willing to be made whole and complete? Now, there's two parts to that
question. The first part is, are you willing? Are you willing? Are you willing? If you're not made whole this
morning, if you walk out of this room not being made whole, there's
one reason why you were not made whole. It's because you're not
willing to be made whole. That is the description of human
sinfulness. You will not come to me that
you might have life. If you're not made whole, here's
the reason. It's because you are not willing
to be made whole. Now, you can't say, well, you
know, it's a shame. It's unfair that I'm not made
whole, even though I'm not willing to be made whole. It's still
unfair and wrong if God doesn't make me whole. Wait, is it unfair
for God to give you what you don't... not to give you what
you don't want anyway? Now, if you're not made whole,
it's because you're not willing to be made whole. What did our
Lord say? Whosoever will. Whosoever will, let him take
the water of life freely. Are you willing? Now, he says, whosoever will,
let him take the water of life. Are you willing? Are you willing
to be made whole? I think of that, to be made whole.
This is what God does when He saves somebody. He makes them. This word has to do with creation.
You're made to be what you were not. What you're made, that's
what you are, isn't it? If He makes you some way, that's
exactly what you are. Are you willing to be made whole? To be made complete? To be saved, are you willing
to be made whole? Look over in first Corinthians
chapter one. I think this will help to explain this passage
of scripture. You know, that first miracle
that took place in John chapter two is when the water was made
wine. This concept is throughout the
book of John and throughout the scriptures. When God saves you,
he makes you to be what you were not. Look in first Corinthians
one verse thirty. But of Him, of God, are you in
Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us. Wisdom and righteousness
and sanctification and redemption. Now, this is such a wonderful
verse of Scripture. Now, here are four things that
I'm not. I'm not wise. I'm not righteous. I'm not holy. And I'm not redeemed. And that's
the way I am by nature. I'm not wise. I'm not righteous. I don't have a perfect standing
before God's law. I'm not holy. I'm not somebody
God can embrace and have fellowship with. That's not me. And I'm not redeemed. But the
Scripture here says Christ is made unto us. Wisdom. righteousness, sanctification,
holiness, and redemption. That means I myself, if Christ
has made this to me, as this passage of Scripture says, that
means I myself am wise. God views me as a wise person
fit for fellowship with God. You know, Abraham was called
the friend of God. God could look at this man, and
say, He's wise. He is competent for fellowship
with me. He's righteous, altogether righteous,
perfect before God's holy law, sanctified, holy, a nature that
God can embrace, redeemed, Every believer is that. He's made that. Christ has made that to him.
And the only way this can be understood, there's only one
way this can be understood, how I can be wise, how I can be righteous,
how I can be holy, sanctified, how I can be redeemed, is because
Christ has made this to me. He's made this to me. Substitution. Here's the word, substitution.
He was made what I am on the cross. He was made to be seen. You know that that song we sung
that in the bulletin explains that. He was made to be what
I am. And just as truly as he was made
to be what I am, he was made to be seen. I'm made to be what
he is. Is he wise? Is Jesus Christ the
Lord wise? You know the answer to that?
I am too, because I'm united to Him. Whatever He is, I am. Is He righteous before the Father?
I am too. Is He holy before the Father?
Is He perfectly sanctified before the Father? I am too. Is He in glory, final deliverance? I am too. Wilt thou? Are you willing? Are
you willing to be made whole? Somebody says, are you talking
about free will? Of course not. It doesn't have anything to do
with free will. It doesn't have a thing in the world to do with
free will. There's no such thing as free will. Well, doesn't man
have free will? No. His will's chained to sin. You can't any more change your
will than you can create a universe. But are you willing? You see,
His people want Psalm 110.3. It says what? Thy people shall
be what? Willing. Willing in the day of
thy power. Are you willing right now to
be made whole, complete, without sin, perfect and sound? Now, in this thing, just the
language of it tells you it's not by works. It's what God does. He's the one who makes you whole.
Your works don't enter into this. It's what He does. You're totally
in His sovereign hands for Him to do with you whatever He's
pleased to do. Now, are you willing to be made whole? You can answer
that with a yes or no. I'm thinking about him asking
that to me. You know, he says, are you willing to be made whole
in such a way where God gets all the glory and none goes to
you and He makes you perfect before God by what He did without
reference to your works? Are you willing? I am. And I know it's because He made
me willing. I realize that. But I'm willing. Are you willing
to be made whole? Verse 7. Back to our text. The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man when the water
is troubled to put me into the pool, but while I'm coming, another
steppeth down before me. Now, this poor man evidently
was not listening. Or at any rate, he misunderstood
the question of the Lord because he immediately began to speak
of what he could or could not do. I don't have anybody get
me in the pool. I can't get in the pool. Now,
the Lord didn't ask him if he was able to get into the pool
or if he had any friends that would help him. He asked him
if he was willing. To be made. I think of the question again,
the Lord is not asking you what you can or cannot do, the Lord
is asking, are you willing to be made whole? By him. where He actually makes you whole,
complete, perfect, sound, nothing lacking. Are you willing to be
made whole? I think of this scripture, Colossians 2, 9 and 10, in Him
dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete,
whole, sound, nothing lacking, you are complete in Him. Now,
are you willing for God, by His sovereign grace, to make you
whole? Now, if you say, no, no, I'm
not willing, I just I just don't believe that. Well, OK. I'm not going to argue with you. But are you willing? Now, look at the Lord's mercy
to this man, this man didn't understand the Lord's question.
I have no man when the water is troubled to put me into the
pool, but while I'm coming and other steps down before me. He
didn't understand the question. He, like you and I, was spiritually
stupid. He doesn't really hear what the
Lord says, and how often that is the case. People misconstrue
what's being said, don't understand what's being said. This poor
fellow, he's just like you and I, spiritually stupid. He just couldn't understand.
It was beyond him. But look what the Lord says in
his mercy. Verse 8, Jesus saith unto him, Rise Take up thy bed
and walk. Do you know what the Lord did
at this time? He made him willing to be made whole and he made
him whole and this was a command. He said to this man, rise. It
wasn't an invitation. He didn't say, if you just do
this, then you can rise. No, He said, rise. This is the call
of irresistible, invincible, almighty grace. Now, listen to
me. If He says to you, rise, you'll
rise, won't you? He doesn't command and that command
be disobeyed. No, nobody has a choice here
in this command. When He said, rise, you rise. You take up your bed. And you
walk. Now this is the call of the gospel. The Lord tells him to do something
he was completely unable to do. The call of the gospel. Now somebody's
thinking, you can't tell a dead man to believe and repent. I
know I can't, but he can. And he does. The hour is coming
and now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of
God. And they that hear shall live. He calls the dead to do what
they cannot do. And you know what they do? They
do it. Now, when He said, Rise, take up your bed and walk, He
couldn't. He was paralyzed. How's He going to get up? He
was unable. Doesn't the Lord know you're
not supposed to tell people to do things they can't do? If He says to do it, you can do it. If He says rise, take up your
bed and walk. You'll rise, take up your bed
and walk. Now I'm calling on you right
now to do what you are completely unable to do. Rise from the dead, take up your
bed, and walk. Believe the gospel, believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Now, he said
to this fellow, Rise, take up your bed, and walk. And what
happened? Verse 9, And immediately the man was made whole, and took
up his bed, and walked. And on the same day was the Sabbath. Now, the first thing I want you
to notice about verse nine is the order. Immediately, the man was made
whole. Notice the order. He was made
whole and then he rose, he took up his bed and he walked. It
doesn't say he rose, took up his bed and walked and then he
was made whole. He was made whole by the sovereign will of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He was made whole. Immediately.
It wasn't a gradual process. He didn't gradually get better.
He was plum made whole when Christ willed it to take place. And
that's when he rose, took up his bed, and walked. Notice the
order. He was made whole. And he rose,
took up his bed, and What? You see, the ability comes with
the command. If He commands you to believe,
you can believe, can't you? Why, the very fact that you believe
right now, if you do, it's because He commanded you to. That's why
you're doing it. Remember when He says to that man with the
withered hand, oh, it was withered and crippled. He said, stretch
forth thine hand. It's withered. How's he going
to do that? The Lord told him to. And immediately he stretched
forth his hand. He tells this man in this impotent
condition, rise, take up your bed and walk. He's made whole.
The Lord made him whole. It was His work, the work of
His sovereign grace. And he immediately rose, took
up his bed, and he walked. If He commands you to rise from
the dead, you can rise from the dead, can't you? If He commands
you to. But let's look at this from another
angle. The ability comes with faith. The ability to do what you cannot
do comes with faith. When Christ commanded him, he
believed he could do it. He would not have got up if he
didn't believe he could through Christ's command. Now, Christ
commanded him to rise. He'd been laying there for 38
years in this horrible condition. Christ said, get up. And what
did he do? He got up. He didn't say, well,
I can't. No, when Christ told him to do
it, he knew he could. The ability comes with believing
the command. Ability comes with obedience
to the command of Christ. He could have said, I can't get
up. I'm paralyzed. But in seeking to obey Christ,
he was given strength. Now, Christ, the Lord commands
you. To believe his gospel right now. Quit waiting for something to
happen. Quit waiting for feeling. Quit waiting for experience.
Quit waiting until you get better. Quit waiting until you know more
or understand more. Believe His gospel right now. Don't wait for anything. You
believe. You believe that who He is makes
you, what He did makes you holy before God. Believe that. If he tells you to, you can. I believe. And there's a reason
I believe. He told me to. And that's why
I believe. That's the only reason I need.
I don't need any other reason. All men everywhere are commanded
to repent. Are you in that group? Then do
it. Rise, take up your bed, and immediately
he took up his bed and walked. There was no gradual process.
Immediately he was made whole, saved completely. He got up,
picked up his bed, and walked. And the same day was the Sabbath. Now, I think it's interesting
that the Lord picked the Sabbath day to perform most of His miracles. And it's amazing. This is what
we'll look at next week. But the Jews therefore said in
him, verse 10, the Jews therefore said in him, that was cured.
It's the Sabbath day. It's not lawful for thee to carry
thy bed. Now, can you imagine that? I mean, the Lord healed
this man. He was raised up. He walked. He carried his bed. They said
that ain't right. You're breaking the law. It's
not right. Remember, the Son of Man, he
said, is Lord even at the Sabbath day. He's in control of all things,
but are you willing? This is the thought I want to
leave you with. Are you willing to be made? You don't have any works in this.
You can't, you can't, can you create anything? Can you make
anything? Of course you can't. Only God can actually make something.
He created the world from nothing. That's the way he saves. Are
you willing to be made whole? Well, I am. And even in being willing,
I'm already made perfect and complete in the sight
of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I rise. I take up my bed
and I walk. Let's pray together.