Posts
Harvest
March 23, 2014
Pastor Greg
John 5:1-18 / 1 Corinthians 11
1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
John 5:1-18 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda,[a] having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 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.[b] 5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. 10 The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.” 11 He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’” 12 Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” 15 The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him,[c] because He had done these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” 18 Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
As Christians, we don’t believe in coincidence; we believe in providence.
Nothing is “luck” it is the Lord’s leading.
John 5:17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”
The Jews wanted to kill Jesus because in that statement He made Himself equal to God.
Jesus reaches out to lonely people all of the time, like the woman at the well and Nicodemus.
Most people seem to have a very lonely part of their life. We all seem to have a lonely part in our life.
The person in this story, was sitting alone by the water. Hoping to be healed by the local legend that every once in a while an angel would come down above this water and heal people miraculously. In this man’s case, his sin and his illness were connected. That is not always the case, sin and illness are not always linked.
This man needed help, and God himself came to him.
John 5:14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned
John 5:3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.
Romans 5:6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Contrary to popular opinion, the Bible does not teach, “God helps those that help themselves.” To sum up the Bible, God helps those who can’t help themselves.
2 Corinthians 4:4 whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.
Proverbs 4:19 The way of the wicked is like darkness; They do not know what makes them stumble.
You could be lost, that is when God typically steps in and helps.
There is nothing you can do for a person that does not want to be changed. There are many sinners, drug addicts, alcoholics and others that don’t want to change. You can not help them. Greg compares them to a pig to a pig sty.
John 3:19-20 And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
Many are comfortable in the dark, and do not want to live in the light like a Christian does. Evil and sin are more comfortable in the dark so they want to stay there. The light of the gospel is too much for some.
Oswald Chambers said, "Sin enough and you will be unconscious of sin."
John 5:7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”
Jesus says this is not about getting to the pool, it is about getting right with God.
1. He asks the impossible. (John 5:8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”)
If God ask you to do it, then you can do it. God makes any thing possible. (Peter did walk on the water for a time.)
2. He removes all possibility of a relapse.
He told him to pick up his bed, meaning to remove the sin. Burn that bridge to sin.
Elisha in the Bible, chopped up his clothes and cooked his cattle for a meal. There was no going back, he burned those bridges.
At one of the Harvest Crusade 25 years ago, a drug dealer gave a counselor his pager. That pager is how he did his drug deals and getting rid of it was burning that bridge.
3. He expects continued success.
You have to do your part.
We don’t work for our salvation, but if you are a Christian you are to live it out.
If you say that you “tried” Christianity, did you do the following 7 things?
1. After you were converted, did you begin to study and memorize Scripture? (Psalm 119:11Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You.)
2. Did you actively and regularly get involved in a church? (Hebrews 10:25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.)
3. Did you get baptized? (Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.)
4. Did you turn from all known sin? (Psalm 66:18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, The Lord will not hear.)
5. Did you develop a prayer life?
6. Did you deny yourself and take up the cross?
7. Did you keep His commandments? (1 John 2:3-5 Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.)
If “it” didn’t work it’s your own fault, because we’re not dealing with an “it,” but a Him.
You can not hide from God, you can not pretend you tried. God knows what is in your heart.
Where are you, that is what God asked Adam? God ask where you are, so He knows how to get you to where you want to be.
1 Corinthians 11:23-31For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat;[b] this is My body which is broken[c] for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes. 27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood[d] of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner[e] eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s[f] body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.
John 5:14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”
Although Scripture is clear that illness is not always an immediate result of personal sin, it does teach some sicknesses are directly related to deliberate disobedience.
There is cause and effect, there are things you can do and then reap the consequences of.
As David said: Psalm 38:3-8 There is no soundness in my flesh Because of Your anger, Nor any health in my bones Because of my sin. 4 For my iniquities have gone over my head; Like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. 5 My wounds are foul and festering Because of my foolishness. 6 I am troubled, I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long. 7 For my loins are full of inflammation, And there is no soundness in my flesh. 8 I am feeble and severely broken; I groan because of the turmoil of my heart.
When you don’t confess your sin, it tears your up in side. David’s conscience was working, is yours?
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