 So beginning in John chapter 5 verse 1 and reading to verse 4 John writes after this there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool Which is called in Hebrew Bethesda having five porches In these lay a great multitude of sick people blind lame paralyzed Waiting for the moving of the water For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water Then whoever stepped in first After the stirring of the water was made well of whatever disease he had now. We'll start there as we begin this in verse 1 it simply says notice there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem So this is one of those feasts that is unnamed We know that Jesus is what is referred to as an observant Jew So Jesus would observe the different festivals and feasts of Israel and so as an observant Jew Jesus determined to go and he went alone Now under the mosaic covenant Jewish males were required to attend mandatory feasts According to Deuteronomy chapter 16 verse 16 three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God in the place Which he chooses at the Feast of Unleavened Bread at the Feast of Weeks and at the Feast of Tabernacles And they shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed and so observant Jews males were Commanded to appear to observe that particular feast this one is not named It simply says there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus as an observant Jew Notice went up to Jerusalem. He'll never read it the scripture say went down to Jerusalem It's always ascending and so he went up to Jerusalem And he goes on in verse 2 to say there is in Jerusalem by the Sheepgate so he gives to us location of a pool Which is called in Hebrew Bethesda having five porches and so What we have here is a chapter that is recording Jesus's healing of a crippled man and the location is the city of Jerusalem This healing that we're about to look at is the third miracle recorded in the gospel of John John has already recorded that he had made water into wine and recently had he had healed a nobleman's son now In the gospel of John there are seven miracles recorded He didn't record every single miracle of Christ, but he chose to record seven of them with particular reasons Later he would write that There are also many other things that Jesus did which if they were written one by one I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written He said that in John 21 25 So he didn't record all the miracles, but this particular miracle is included in those selected for the gospel And so I'll begin by asking the question Why? Why would this miracle be included in those selected for the gospel of John seeing that he only record seven and Seeing that he closes his book by saying there are many others that could have been written and recorded Why did he record this one here? Well, the answer seems to be that the healing of the crippled man is Associated with the work of Messiah the healing of the lame or the crippled is Associated with works Messiah would perform You see in the Old Testament book of Isaiah chapter 35 verses 5 and 6 It says the eyes of the blind shall be opened The ears of the deaf shall be unstopped Then shall the lame man leap as a deer and the tongue of the mute sing For in the wilderness shall waters break out and streams in the desert And so the Jews knew that that particular verse those verses in Isaiah were speaking of the day of Messiah And so it would seem that John recorded this particular Miracle the healing of a crippled man because that would give credentials to Jesus so you'd see he is Messiah And so the location again verse 2 is it says in Jerusalem by the sheep gate. There's a pool now this is the gate that sheep were brought in to be offered in sacrifice in the temple which obviously is why it was referred as the sheep gate and This is in a place notice it says in Jerusalem by the sheep gate. There's a pool which is called in Hebrew Bethesda the word Bethesda means house of mercy and It actually is called Bethesda because of the work that Jesus performed there we go to this location every time we go to Israel and It's their initiative Jerusalem. It's a little bit. It's a little to the west of the Temple Mount and We go there every time we've been there numerous times and and we'll have a Bible study there because the ruins are still are still there and In the same location is a place called St. Anne's Church and at St. Anne's we'll go in and It's a beautiful church that is Just it was made in such way That when you sing You actually sound like you can it's just amazing and so we'll go in there and we'll we'll worship and You'll be in there sometimes in a group from a different land will come Perhaps Germans will come in or French will come in Italians will come in and and they'll sing worship songs to Jesus in their language And so you'll be in there and you'll be listening and sometimes you may Recognize the song they're singing so you may sing along with them and just worship in this place And so this location is is very well known. We go there every time we go to Israel It's a beautiful place and we always share from this passage here. So he says in verse 3 in these lay a great multitude of sick people blind lame paralyzed Waiting for the moving of the water For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water Then whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was made well of whatever disease he had Now some commentators as he's speaking about this as they're speaking about this see their physical condition as a picture of Their actual spiritual condition. I want you to see this notice again in verse 3 How it says sick people and then describes them blind lame paralyzed So he's speaking of those who are sick blind lame and paralyzed. Let me show you something The commentators will see that This is a picture of their spiritual condition. So when John speaks of them as being sick They were sick people the word sick means diseased. It also means to be weak or without strength And so when it says that they're sick, of course, there's a physical illness But it also could represent the fact that they are weak being weakened by sin and in need of the Lord Jesus Christ Romans 5-6 says when we were yet without strength and do time Christ died for the ungodly And so when you see this that he's sick. They're sick. Yes, there are physically ill people But in a spiritual sense though, there are those commentators are saying you've got to see this as deeper than simply reporting that There are ill people there There were people who were showing up there who are representative of man without Christ Man without God and so they're sick. They're weak. They're unable to save themselves and then he speaks and says they're blind Well, those who are blind are incapable of discerning truth from error It could be spiritually blind not simply physically blind and again That's the condition of all humanity Because those who don't have the Lord and haven't been enlightened by the Holy Spirit are Spiritually blind in 2nd Corinthians chapter 4 verses 3 and 4 Paul said even if our gospel is veiled it's veiled to those who are perishing The God of this age is blinded the minds of unbelievers So that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who's the image of God Without the Holy Spirit's illumination People are going to remain blind That helps me. I hope it helps you too, especially if you share your faith with people There there were times in my early walk with the Lord when I felt if I simply willed the spirit the sword of the spirit properly That I can help people to see Well, the fact is those who are spiritually blind resist the things of the spirit of God It isn't your argument that is going to bring someone into the kingdom of God It's not your logic. It's not your capacity to put things together in a fashion that makes sense Because I've had those conversations where I've known beyond a shadow of a doubt that this makes sense and they ought to see this But they end up not listening and not seeing it at all And that's when I finally came to realize the scripture and what he's saying. He says no their minds are blind It takes the power and conviction of the Holy Spirit working in accordance with God's word To cause people to see that they are blind They have to you know, there is not so blind as the one who will not see and so when you share and And all that's why I've learned that it's my my my ministry to present truth But it's God's work to convict sinners And when his word is presented and we have prayed and we leave it in the hands of the Lord Well, one man may so and and another man may water but God gives the increase It's the work of the Holy Spirit and so on. These are people who are sick These are people who are blind and then these are people who are lame now We used to say that of our friends, man, you're lame the word lame Simply means that he's unable to go where he would like to go The word can be used of a person who is hesitant to move or Unable to walk by themselves Well in Ephesians 4 17 Paul said This I say therefore in testifying the Lord that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk in The futility of their mind So this is a person who was unable to walk by themselves a person who is hesitant to move a person Who can't go in the right direction? So without Jesus they'll never be able to walk they'll never be able to live in a way that he's pleased with as We've been going through Colossians in chapter 1 verse 10. Remember how Paul said that you may walk Worthy of the Lord fully pleasing him being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God he speaks of him them being paralyzed and They would say the commentators would say that's a picture of someone without faith without hope without love Without the fear of God they're lifeless and they're hopeless. They're paralyzed But God will give them an ability to have life when they turn to him and their sins are forgiven like the one who is at the gate called beautiful and and Peter and John were about to walk in and As they were about to walk into this particular gate there in Jerusalem there was a man who was laying there who'd been in firm from for many many years and and as Peter and John were about to walk past them the man looked up Because Peter said to the man look upon us and the man looks up expected to receive something Because he was there in a strategic location at this particular gate Because that would be a place where the pilgrims would enter in the people would enter in and It was a good place simply to beg to ask for things for alms And so he was expecting to receive something and the scripture is so beautiful when it says that Peter said look upon us and the Man looked up expecting to receive something and Peter said silver and gold have I none But such as I have give I thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth I say unto you rise to your feet and walk you see you cannot rise to your feet and walk Without Jesus You know and even in you are quote-unquote walking you're always walking in the wrong direction You're actually in reality spiritually paralyzed you may think that you're pursuing God But in fact you're actually drawing further and further away from him as he's pursuing you And so we have people here in verse 3 described as being sick blind lame and paralyzed And that is an actual literal condition. They are sick. They are blind. They are lame. They are paralyzed But it also could be a picture of their spiritual condition and their need of the Lord They're waiting according to verse 3 for the moving of the water and then verse 4 is what is called an explanatory note For an angel went down at a certain time into the into the pool and stirred up the water Whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was made well of whatever disease He had So John isn't authorizing by the way the stirring of the water by an angel is genuine What this is is an explanation. He's explaining what drew these people to be there by that water He's explaining what they believed and He is also saying this is what they did in response to their belief and It seems that the people thought that the one moving fastest would be the one who receives the healing Now think about that for a moment because even today people believe a variety of things will result in their being healed Some believe that if they drink or bathe in water from certain locations like lords They'll be healed Somewhere scapulars Some send money to radio or television evangelists for prayer cloths When you go to Israel's there are there are people that will buy olive oil or water And it will take it home believing that that it has healing power. I'll never forget my wife Marie and I were by the Jordan and we're standing there many years ago now and These Italians were there Right next to us and they were real excited in everything and they they were drinking beer by the Jordan I'll never forget this. They were drinking their beer They poured it out Then they filled it up with the water to take home because they considered it holy and I thought how interesting That really is you know down your beer quickly so you can get some holy water to take home It never made sense to me. It still doesn't even telling you that but that's what they did But what we have here is an insight into how the Lord works in spite of our misunderstanding him This shows us how God's mercy is manifested. It reveals to us something of what God is like The Psalmist in Psalm 6 verse 2 said it well. He said have mercy on me. Oh Lord for I am weak. Oh Lord heal me for my bones are troubled and So these people would be laying in that condition hoping the water would stir There are those who say commentators who say that the water stirring was not an angel It was it was a naturally fed spring On occasion the water would be stirred up by water coming in an artesian spring And it would begin to move and they had superstitiously begun to say that that is an angel stirring it And it stirred the faith in people to say well Then I ought to get in because the rumor went out that if you got in first you would be healed now To develop something for you here I'll go a little bit further We need to remember that throughout the Bible. God does perform healings and they occur in a variety of ways And I believe that that the reason that when you read your Bible and you see in the New Testament especially When you see God performing a healing through Jesus They occur in different ways for a reason That's so you don't put God in a box by developing methods of receiving healing Because you may pray for somebody will say and they get well And you just you'll blow your mind like God did something. I'm amazed Wow And that's what it's supposed to do by the way it's supposed to make you go well That's what miracles do they amaze you because something happened, but You can fall into the trap of saying Well the next time somebody comes and says Will you pray for me? Then you say no sure of course now. How was I standing last time? I had my left foot in front I had my right foot back I lifted my left hand, but I touched him and you can actually do this you really can You can start thinking what were the words I spoke Did I furrow my eyebrows because I was so intense you can really do that that that sounds silly, but it's true You can actually think there must be some technique of some sort Something I did and so in scripture you discover that the Lord does miracles simply because he does miracles It hasn't anything to do with us and you'll see that in Jesus's ministry When you looked in your bible sometimes This miracle healing will occur in response to someone's personal faith in Jesus Remember in in the gospel of matthew for example chapter 9 verses 20 through 22 Those verses speak of a woman who had an issue of blood and she had this issue of blood for 12 years And so she said within herself If I but touch his garment I will be healed So there was a personal sense in her that if I but reached to him And that's a personal faith and as a result Jesus actually commended her faith But then again sometimes these healings when you go through your scriptures Well, they occur in response to somebody else's faith We just saw in the case of the nobleman's son that the nobleman came on behalf Of his son So the son Was not the one who was requesting to be touched by the Lord. It was somebody else And there's times when you may be saying god on behalf of my wife my sister my brother my mom my dad My aunt my grandmother my friend You're interceding And there are times that the lord will hear your prayer and these people aren't asking it of their own selves You're interceding and god does this work and you see that And sometimes no expression of faith is evident at all Remember in mark chapter 2 remember that man who was brought by his four friends And was brought before the lord and his friends exhibited faith But that man didn't what could he do he couldn't fight them He was paralyzed. He was on a mat And they lowered him down and jesus really was responding not to that man's faith at all There was no faith evident in that man whatsoever and at the lord jesus christ did work because God heals and he makes the determination how and when he does that that's not something that we decide on his behalf And so what we have here Is we have a story of a man who's going to be healed by jesus Verse five a certain man was there who had an infirmity 38 years When jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been in that condition a long time He said to him Do you want to be made? Well The sick man answered him Sir, I have no man to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up But while i'm coming another steps down before me Huh Notice verse five this man had an infirmity 38 years Now why the number 38? Why did he have to mention to us that he had had an infirmity 38 years? Well one of the commentators that I use said it may be that That they wanted us to remember israel's wandering in the wilderness In the book of deuteronomy chapter 2 verse 14 it reads The time we took to come from kadesh barnea until we crossed over the valley of zared was 38 years So his paralysis could symbolize israel's paralysis Because israel is spiritually paralyzed without jesus But he's been in that condition as it says in verse Verse 5 38 years verse 6 says jesus saw him lying there and knew They had already been in that condition For a long time and that's the second thing we can see i want you to notice this jesus saw And jesus knew In spite of the multitude And this is an important point in spite of the multitude His eyes were on one person And and again by way of application Sometimes you may feel that you're just one person in a crowd And there's so many around you that have needs And sometimes perhaps even greater needs than you have And you may think that you are simply one of many And i just love i you'll see you'll see i'll repeat this over and over as we go through john's gospel you see this often And you're going to see that jesus not only sees multitudes, but he also sees individuals That is such an important thing to remember always He ministers to multitudes But he also ministers to you He wants to reach everybody But he also wants to touch you And there were a lot of people this this isn't the only person who's there by the pool There are others And jesus knows though in verse six again. He says he sees him lying there And he knew that he had already been in that condition A long time Jesus knew in spite of the multitude his eyes were on that one man and i say as 65 24 It reads it shall come to pass that before they call I will answer and while they are still speaking I will hear So even in a noisy crowd John makes it clear that jesus is aware of you I was at a pastors conference back in 1982 and I remember there were That's when there were a lot fewer calvary chapel ministries There may have been a couple of hundred people in the room at that time And I remember as I was seated there I can even remember where I was seated in proximity to the to the pulpit in the and the platform I remember very well as I was there amongst all these pastors and leaders I remember and that was just a young man. I was 31 32 at the time I remember as we were having a time of waiting on the lord in an afterglow I remember saying to the lord I want to get out of here I want to leave Jesus, I just want to go I just want I just remember I was so discouraged. I just remember that so well Jesus, I just I just want to go I shouldn't even be here I want to go And I was just I had my head down and I was just talking to the lord One of the brothers had a word that he spoke And he said this he said There's someone here right now Who is saying to the lord? I don't want to be here I just want to go And he says and the lord is saying to you You need to be here because he wants to minister to you And that's when I began to actually though I knew it in my head I began to understand it in my life That there may be a lot of people around me at any given time But that doesn't mean that Jesus doesn't know I'm there That doesn't mean that he's not aware of my cry You know, it's kind of like any parent can say this It's kind of like you have a nursery nursery filled with 20 or 30 babies But every parent can recognize the sound of their own You hear it sometimes you cringe because you know it's yours But it's true because a mama A dad knows the sound of the cry of their baby They know it and our ears are attuned to their cry for a variety of reasons But we listen and we'll hear I remember I was teaching a bible study an evening study We used to have the uh the nursery on the right next to us So you could hear the babies and we only had three And I can still remember uh sunday night I was teaching And then I started I heard I heard a baby crying And there's a small group of people 80 people or so And I started looking through the through the church And I saw mamas You can see if their eyes the eyebrows go up, you know their eyes get and they get kind of stiff And I saw they were right in front of me all three moms And then one by one and it all goes it happens quickly First one mama's shoulders stopped shrugging Then this other mama's shoulders stopped shrugging The other one's shoulders stayed up and I said that's the mother That's the mother and it was She recognized the sound of her own baby The other two mamas knew it wasn't theirs. Why because mama hears the cry of her baby And you know what your daddy hears your cry too And even though there may be a room full of people and you can feel Nobody knows I'm here. Nobody cares if I'm here. Nobody's aware if I'm here. God is aware that you're there God is aware of your cry. Keep that in mind His ear is open and to Your cry He hears you and he loves you and even though there were so many crowded There around this pool Jesus approaches that man He knew he'd been that way for a long time and he sought him out He saw him and he approaches him again verse 6 and he said to him Now this is an amazingly important question. Do you want to be made well? Questions have a way of revealing our hearts Jesus provokes him to ask himself Whether he really wants to be healed Now he had a kind of faith to be healed according to the superstition of his day But Jesus wants him to direct his faith To the one who can heal him If within us there is an inclination to remain as we are Often no changes will be made You want to mark that down because some people Myself included in the past and I probably still do it Can make excuses For remaining where you are Even while saying but I'm trying so hard This guy is trying hard. He's there. He's paralyzed. He wants to be He's got all of those verbal cues going but Jesus this is This is so important Jesus asks him a question. Do you want to be made well? There are um, okay, let's see how I can put this without it sounding harsh I can't so I'll just say it this way I try to be careful how I say things because I realize that Sometimes the way you say something isn't how you mean it and I try to be careful like that I think that there are many churches in the united states that are filled with people who think they're christians because they're doing the superstitious thing They go to church Maybe they give sometimes they serve I believe that what has happened in the last generation of our church history since the jesus movement to now Has been that quite a number of people consider themselves to be believers because They go to church they may pick up the bible once in a while They do religious things But so many times when an invitation is given People come forward To be saved Who have been in the church for a long time because you can do The religious thing but never really Never really want to be changed Never really wanting a new life Never really wanting to walk As a matter of fact When someone speaks to you and says to you You you you've been a christian for a while. How how come you're I don't want to judge it just wondering how come you still party how come you still Don't judge me bro. Don't judge me, bro Now wait a minute. I'm not I'm asking you Do you really want to be made well? When I was a brand new christian i'm talking within a month of my salvation. I was reading a booklet I began reading booklets on the christian life And this fella said in order to be saved you have to have the same desire to be saved As if you were in a house that was burning And You wanted to get out of that house before it burned up And I remember saying I don't think that's true That sounds kind of legalistic to me That doesn't make sense to me But guess what I now understand what he was trying to say Lot is told to get out God is going to destroy Sodom, Gomorrah and these surrounding cities to better get out And don't look back. You just keep going forward He takes two daughters and he takes his wife And off they go because his other ones wouldn't leave Off he goes and we all know the story Jesus all he had to do is say remember lot's wife because The scripture says she stopped and she looked back And when you read that it just you look back what's the no the The intent of that is She looked back with longing because her body May have left Sodom But her heart remained behind It's not difficult for a person to walk up an aisle When their heart is still in the seat When they haven't really gotten up and moved And then later on they say and I tried God and it doesn't work No He didn't you didn't have the desire To get out of that burning house And now you're blaming God for the burns that you've suffered I think the question is an important one Do you want to be made? Well Have you gotten in other words for us in practical terms? Have you gotten are you in that place? Will you say I am sick of being sick? And I am tired of being tired I am I hate I hate what's going on in my life That's how I got saved Where I finally said God I am sick of hurting people. I am sick of being hurt. I am just I I Can't do this anymore That's Jesus asking do you want to be made? Well And it's interesting Because notice verse seven the sick man answered sir. I have no man to put me into the pool when the water stirred stirred up but while I'm coming another steps down before me I can't help myself and I have no friends who will help me And so when he says that this puts him in the place where the Lord can reveal himself to this man And Jesus says in verse eight rise Take up your bed walk I don't know if you've noticed but I can't I'm paralyzed I've been in this condition 38 years And you're telling me to rise and not only to rise but to pick up my bed the thing that has been carrying me I'm supposed to carry that Rise Jesus gives impossible commands as a matter of fact when you read your bible He does this more than once There was a man with a crippled hand in the synagogue and and and Jesus spoke to him in front of the scribes and Pharisees Luke tells us in chapter six verse 10 That jesus looked around at them all and then he said to the man stretch out your hand He can't his hand is crippled How am I going to do that and yet jesus said stretch out your hand and he did so and his hand was restored as whole as the other When the apostle peter was walking on water Well, Matthew tells us that jesus said to him Come to me peter was in the boat jesus was walking on water and jesus says to him Come on to me and peter answered him and said lord if it's you command me to come out Come to you on the water and he said come and when peter had come down out of the boat He walked on the water. That's impossible Every time we're in in israel. We're on the sea of Galilee And almost almost every time our our guide or someone will say anybody want to take a walk Because it's impossible. We all know that and yet jesus made the sea as hard as concrete But it's an impossible command stretch out your hand. My hand is withered I can't walk on water It's impossible to walk on water So with god all things are possible With god he takes the cripple The one with no power And he gets him the ability to stretch out his hand to the one who cannot walk Jesus says pick up your mat and take a walk To the one who could never do the impossible of walking on water jesus says come He said the lord does that and so as he says that rise take up your bed and walk notice verse 9 immediately the man was made well He took up his bed walked And that day was the Sabbath and so jesus commands the man to do something that was Breaking the law of the Sabbath at least the way that was understood The law prohibited all work And especially the carrying of burdens But jesus tells him To take up his bed. Why would he do something like that? Well one of the simple Answers to that is that he was a poor man And if he had left his bed he might have lost it So it's a way of him just saying carry that with you. So it's not lost amongst all these people and what's about to take place So as he tells him to do that verse again verse 9 again notice that day was the Sabbath Now this work Provokes the first signs of hostility towards jesus because verse 10 the jews therefore said to him who was cured It's a Sabbath. It's not lawful for you to carry your bed And he answered them you who made me well said to me take up your bed and walk and they asked him Who's the man who said to you take up your bed and walk? But the one who was healed did not know who it was for jesus had withdrawn a multitude being in that place But afterward jesus found him in the temple and said to him see you've been made well Sin no more less the worst thing come upon you And the man departed and told the jews that it was jesus who had made him well So immediately notice in verse 10 now they said It's not lawful for you to be doing that you see in israel the Sabbath begins at dusk on friday it ends at dusk on saturday And and the Sabbath is intended for the jewish people to rest and to worship god Christians have have kept the first day of the week because that's the day jesus was resurrected So worshiping on sunday Is not something that is a hard fast rule, but it has been what the church has done from the beginning Now because this healing occurred on the Sabbath the religious authorities are in our up in arms Because they believe that both jesus and this man violated the law Now they said jesus violated the Sabbath Because they believe that healing Was actually work in that interesting But they believe that the one performing a healing was actually working on shabbat When you when you read luke chapter 13, there's a story of jesus healing a crippled woman And when he did so he's rebuked for doing so according to luke 1314 The ruler of the synagogue said there's six days on which men ought to work Therefore come and be healed on them and not on the Sabbath day So they believe that a work like jesus performed was actually Violating the Sabbath, but they also believed the man violated the Sabbath because he carried his mat Now the Sabbath is a day dedicated to god It's not to be filled with pursuing the things of the world and therefore they get upset over that and also they say in verse 10 It's the Sabbath. It's not lawful for you to carry your bed So they were conforming to the letter of the law, but not its spirit because he should have they should have been rejoicing that god had Done a work for this man, but instead they're judging him Well in verse 11 the man Says well the he answered them and he said he who made me well said take up your bed and walk So it seems like he's blaming The one who made me well is the one you should be speaking to At this point, there's not really a lot of observable gratitude It may be almost that he's distance distancing himself from the lord I'm not sure about that, but it can appear that way So they asked him in verse 12. Who is this one? Who's the man now when they asked him who is the man who is the man is intended to contrast Jesus a man With god's law which is divine Well, he didn't know his name He couldn't see jesus anywhere in the crowd because according to verse 13 jesus had left And the crowd in the area was getting agitated. They'd be reacting to the miracle So he withdrew himself He hadn't finished his work He wouldn't expose himself to the envy and malice of the jewish rulers But verse 14 afterward jesus found him in the temple and said to him See you've been made well sin no more Less a worse thing come upon you a worse thing Let's look at that for just a moment You've been made well sin no more less a worse thing come upon you Let me say something that uh, it would just take a moment to say early in my ministerial life I remember somebody writing a column a column in a magazine stating that jesus never Never referred to people as sinners And I thought that was interesting And I was really new in ministry and I thought hmm Jesus never referred to people as sinners. They never called someone Or made reference to their sin and this person was very well known and I thought how interesting And So I began to look into that. Is that true? Is that true? And I'm doing that on purpose. I'm bringing this up for you on purpose because I want you to see verse 14 Sin no more less the worst thing come upon you Sin no more less the worst thing come upon you so There's a story we're going to be looking at in chapter 8 of a woman Who got uh, who was was a sinner? And jesus speaks to the woman and says I don't condemn you And then he goes on to say to her go and sin no more and here he's saying the same kind of thing to this man Um Some commentators say that the sins of his youth may have resulted in his paralysis The same kind of thing might be said of the man on the mat in mark chapter 2 So jesus would know what caused his infirmity and he would be warning him not to repeat it So one jesus will say go and sin no more because sin very often Has resulted in something in our life That we end up reaping consequences for And yeah, jesus does say not to sin Because he came to save the world And he came to lay his life down to cleanse us from our sin But at the same time what we see is a warning in the midst of his mercy And when he says You've been made well sin no more or less the worst thing come upon you When you've been cleansed by the lord it is best not to return to the old life Oh gosh, I don't want Some things I want to share with you would take longer than I can and I'm going to conclude in a moment, but Just keep this in mind. I'll put it like this Never take the grace of god Because a lot of people like to talk about how gracious god is and he is And we're saved by grace and we're gifted by grace and we walk in grace. It's all grace But never take it for granted Because some people stretch grace to cover over the sin they want to continue to practice And then they get upset at the person who says but The lord says we're to be free of those things That a person who is Who's in sin is in bondage to it and didn't jesus set us free and And didn't he give us the power of the holy spirit to live for christ And and and weren't you crucified in christ? Aren't isn't your old man dead and buried in him and doesn't the spirit who raised christ from the dead Doesn't he dwell in your mortal bodies and doesn't that same spirit give life to you now? And if that's the case, how can you make an excuse to remain in sin? So go in sin no more. It's real simple And yet there are arguments going on right now in the minds of christians Maybe even in this room right now that sounds like legalism. No, that's called the gospel We've been set free from sin Not to remain in it or return to it. We're not the dog who returns to his vomit We're not the pig who returns to the the mire that it was washed from Those are the old things of the old life that destroyed us That caused us to cry ourselves to sleep at night That made us afraid sometimes to be around certain people because they were after us or we ripped them off Those are the old things that that are crucified with christ that old that old man is dead And so don't return Don't return to it You know, one of the things the enemy I can say this with 100 certainty One of the things that the enemy whispers in your ear is this It was better before you knew jesus He whispers that to you It was better when you used to use it's friday now you got no place to go You used to party used to have friends people show up They took you out now you're by yourself because you're a christian You're lonely and and and nobody likes you anymore go back Give her a call She likes you Take her out for some coffee No biggie And before you know it you're waking up in her bed the next morning And you're saying how did I get here? It's because the inclinations of your flesh Is a desire to wander back to what you were washed from And jesus said go and sin no more Move forward don't move back Lest a worse thing come up a worse thing than laying on a mat A worse thing than being paralyzed for 38 years. There's something worse than that. Yes judgment 38 years is a long time eternity We can't even figure out how long that is I tried to figure it out once I can't It would be like It'd be like you or me counting every single grain of sand on every beach and desert in the world One by one And once you get to the last one You start again Can you fathom that I can't it is time without end Never ending what is worse than 38 years eternity without god That's worse it never ends It never ends. There's no getting up up that mat and walking It's just Your life forever And so that's a stern warning Matthew 20 not 10 28 i'll close with this do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul Rather fear him who was able to destroy both in soul and body both soul and body in hell So the mandi parts according to verse 15 tells the jews that it was jesus who made him well Now what maybe that he did this to secure himself from the the charge of Sabbath breaking Or it may be that he saw this miracle as validating christ as the one who was sent from god Somebody said it is probable that he went in the simplicity of his heart Desirous both to publish what christ had done to his honor And also to do good to others who might also stand in need of his help Whatever the case may be He departed and he told jesus Jesus sought him out the first time and healed him. He sought him out a second time and warned him So may god speak to us because not only has he healed us, but he also warns us