It is indeed a privilege to be gathered together with God's people once again this evening, and at the close of a good day, and a day filled with sunshine, and just reminded of the many blessings that God has given to each one of us. And I had a special reminder this evening of the blessings of friendship, as some good friends decided to join us here this evening and thank you for your presence here and for the contributions in my life with Matt and Leona, Raybur and David and Amanda. We enjoyed spending some good times with them in Romania in years past and those relationships have continued and so we appreciate you all being here and just on behalf of our family, we've so enjoyed learning to know you all as a congregation, at least in a small part, and I've really appreciated that, and thank you so much for your hospitality. We feel very humbled by that, and I want to thank you so much for your gifts and simply allowing us to come and be a part of you, and that means so much. I know we can feel that. Christian community and fellowship and brotherhood. And as we experience that here, and we pray that that would continue in this church here and in the community, because we have a common goal of being that light and a witness that God has called us to. And may God help us with that. This evening for our family, it's just my wife and our youngest daughter here with us this evening. The children should be home in about a half hour. And so praise the Lord that traveling has gone well for them as they return home and get ready for school and work tomorrow. Thank you for your prayers and that. This morning I had mentioned that I'd have a story for the children and so we'd like to like to do that. I didn't ask ahead of time how you're used to doing Sunday school. I guess if I have a book here that has some pictures in it. And so if some of the children would want to come forward and sit on the front benches, you'd be welcome to do that. It wouldn't be obligated to, but you'd sure be welcome to. And go ahead and come up and there's room on these front benches here. And maybe that'll make it a little bit easier for you all to see some of the pictures. All right. We have a nice group of children here. And one of the things that we're used to in our church is when we have children's class is that we normally start with the children singing a song. Are you all used to doing that? Not really? You think you could get used to it? Well, I guess we could try it. We could try it. Why don't we just all sing together, Jesus Loves Me? Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. They are weak, but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so. Thank you for joining in that song. I was watching you and you were singing. The story this evening is a book by Max Lucado, and the title is You Are Mine. Now, this book uses some interesting names and some interesting words. And the main character is, we'll see this little boy right here. Now, he looks a little funny because he's made out of wood, okay? So it's a wooden little boy, and his name is Punchinello. I don't know where Max got that name, but his name is Punchinello. And he lives in Wemmicksville, because these wooden people are called Wemmicks. And so let's listen to the story. of Punchinello as he lives in Wemmicksville. And so once again, this is a well-written children's story, which means that the older you are, the deeper you can perceive its meaning. Okay, so this story isn't obviously just for the children. Punchinello lived in Wemmicksville just like other Wemmicks. He was made of wood. Just like the other Wemmicks, he was carved by Eli, the Wemmick maker. And just like the other Wemmicks, he sometimes did silly things. like the time he began collecting boxes and balls. Things started getting crazy when a Wemmick named Tuck bought a new box. Others had boxes, but Tuck's was a new box. Tuck loved his new box. He thought it was the best box in the village. It was brightly colored, and he was proud of it. Too proud, perhaps. He strutted up and down the street, showing off his box. Have you seen my new box? He would ask the Wemmicks as he passed on the street. Would you like to touch my new box? Tuck marched right up to Punchnello. Don't you wish you had a new box, he teased. Punchnello thought Tuck's box was beautiful, and he began to wish for a box of his own. Tuck kept showing off his box, thinking he was better than the other Wemmicks just because he had a new box. Nip, another Wemmick, disagreed. My box is just as good as Tuck's, he said as he showed off his box to Wemmicks on the other side of the street. Nip's box was not new, but it was a bit bigger and a bit brighter and a bit more than Tuck could take. Tuck got very quiet and gave Nip a mad look. We don't know what those are, do we? Then he had an idea. He stepped into a store and bought a ball. Now he had more things than Nip. He had a box and a ball. Nip frowned at Tuck's ball. Nip could do better than that. He bought two balls. With a smile on his face, two balls and a box in his hands, he marched over to Tuck and smiled, now I have more than you. Before he knew it, Tuck was in the store buying another box. Then Nip ran to buy another ball. Then Tuck bought a ball and Nip bought a box. Ball, box, ball, box. Tuck, Nip, Nip, Tuck. On and on it went. Someone could have stopped the whole mess right there. In fact, that's what the mayor tried to do. You two are being silly, he said to Nip and Tuck. Why, who cares who has the most toys? You're just jealous, they replied, because you don't have any. Jealous? Of you. But within a few moments, the mayor was in the store buying an armful of boxes and balls. Other Wemmicks began to join in. The butcher, the baker, the cabinetmaker. I didn't make that up, by the way. The doctor from up the street and the dentist from down the street. Before long, every Wemmick wanted to be the one with the most balls and boxes. Some boxes were big. Some were bright. Some were heavy. Some were light. Some tall people carried them. Small people carried them. Everybody carried them and everybody thought the same thought. Good Wemmicks have a lot. Not so good Wemmicks have little. When a Wemmick walked down the center of Wemmicksville with a stack of balls and boxes higher than his head, the people stopped. Now there goes a good Wemmick, they would say. But when a Wemmick passed by with only one ball or one box, the others would shake their heads and think, maybe even whisper, poor Wemmick, poor Wemmick. Of course, Punchinello didn't want to be called a poor Wemmick, so he decided to get as many boxes and balls as he could. He searched through his chest and found one little ball. He dug into his pocket and found enough money for one small box. I know what I'll do, he declared. I'll sell my books to get more money to buy more boxes and balls. So he did. He bought a blue and green box with clouds painted on the sides, but he still wanted more. I'll work nights to get extra money, he told himself. So he did, and bought a ball. And since he was working nights, he didn't need his bed. So he decided, I'll sell my bed. And he did just that, to buy two more balls. Soon Punchinello had an armful, but other Wemmicks had more. Some of them had so many balls and boxes, they actually had trouble walking. It's hard keeping up with all my balls and boxes, they would say, acting like they were complaining. But really, they were bragging. Punchinello wanted to be like these Wemmicks, so he sold more stuff and he worked more hours. His eyes were tired from not getting any sleep. His arms were tired from carrying toys. He couldn't remember when he last sat down to rest. And worst of all, his friends couldn't remember when Punchinello last came to play. "'We haven't seen you for a long time,' his friend Lucia said to him one day. "'Why don't you come and play again?' asked his buddy Splint. Not everyone cared about balls and boxes. Punchinello's friends didn't, but Punchinello cared more about having boxes and balls than he cared about having friends. "'I've got work to do,' he would tell them, and his friends would sigh. Punchinello didn't care. He only cared what the other box and ball people thought. And no matter what he did, he couldn't buy enough things to get their attention. Finally, he had an idea. I will sell my house, he decided. That's crazy, said Lucia. Where will you live, asked Splint. Punchinella didn't know, but he didn't care. All he could think about was the boxes and balls he would have with all that money. So he sold his house. He bought boxes and boxes and boxes and balls and balls and more balls. He carried so many toys, he couldn't even see where he was going. His stack went way above his head, but he didn't mind. So what if his arms ached? So what if he kept walking in the walls? So what if he had no friends? He had boxes and balls, and when he passed Wemmicks, they would turn and say, wow, he must be a good Wemmick. Punchinello heard them. He couldn't see them, but he heard them, and felt good. I'm a good Wemmick, he thought. But then somebody changed the rules. It was the mayor's wife. She was very proud of her boxes and balls. She not only had a lot of them, but she also had special kinds of them. She bought them at the fanciest stores with funny names and left the names on the boxes so everyone could see them. She wanted to be the best Wemmick. One day, she had an idea. Not only will I have the most, but I will go the highest. So she climbed on top of one of her boxes and shouted, look at me, everybody. Immediately, all of the box and ball people tried to outdo her. One climbed on a fountain, another on a balcony, and then another onto a roof. It was the mayor who spotted the mountain, however. Behind the village of Wemmix was Wemmix Peak. "'I'm going to the top of the mountain,' he shouted, hoping to get there first. The race was on to see which Wemmick would have the most and climb the highest. Wemmicks loaded with boxes and balls began running up the mountain. It was a crazy race. Since the wooden people couldn't see where they were going, they bumped into each other. Since they were exhausted, they fell over their own feet. Since the trail was narrow, some fell down the side of it, but they kept going. Bringing up the rear was Punchinello. He was having a hard climb. harder than the rest. After all, he'd only been a good Wemmick for a short time. He wasn't used to carrying so many boxes and balls, but he was determined. He kept putting one little wooden foot ahead of the other, but since he couldn't see, he didn't know he was on the side of the trail. And since he couldn't see, he didn't know that he had left the trail. All that he knew was that all of a sudden, he was all alone. I must be ahead of everyone else, he thought to himself. And so he kept climbing up and up and up. I must be very near the top. I'm such a good Wemmick. I'll be the highest with the most. About that time, Punchinello's foot caught the edge of something. He tried to keep his balance. His toys swayed to the right and then to the left. He leaned back, then forward, but he couldn't stop. He was going to fall. He didn't know, however, that he had walked up the trail to Eli's house. Do you remember who Eli is? Who's Eli? That's right. He's the Wemmick maker. He's the one that made Eli. He tripped on the step of the porch and tumbled through the front door of Eli's workshop. When Punchinello realized where he was, he was embarrassed. For a long time he stayed face down on the floor, surrounded by his boxes and balls. One of the balls rolled across the floor and stopped at Eli's workbench. That's when the woodcarver turned around. Punchinello? Eli's voice was calm and deep and kind. The Wemmick still didn't move. He could feel his wooden face turning red. I'll let you figure that one out. Looks like you've been carrying a big load. The weary Wemmick climbed to his knees but kept his head low. These are my boxes and balls, he said quietly. Do you play with the boxes and balls? Asked Eli. Punchinello shook his head. Do you like boxes and balls? I like the way they make me feel. And how do they make you feel? Important, Punchinello answered, still with a small voice. Hmm, Eli observed. So you've been thinking like the other Wemmicks. You've been thinking that the more you have, the better you are and the happier you'll be. I suppose so. Come here, Punchinello. I want to show you something." Punchinello lifted his wooden head and looked at Eli for the first time. He was relieved to see that the Wemmick maker wasn't angry. Punchinello followed Eli over to the window. Look at them, Eli said. Punchinello looked out the window at the swarm of Wemmicks still climbing the mountain. They were tumbling, stumbling, fighting each other, even elbowing each other to get ahead. Do they look happy? Eli asked. Punchinello just shook his head. Do they look important? Not at all, Punchinello said, noticing the mayor and his wife. The mayor was on the ground and she was stepping on his back. She had a box on her head and he had a ball in his mouth. Do you think I created Wemmix to act that way? Asked Eli. No. Punchinello felt a big hand on his shoulder. Do you know how much your boxes and balls cost you? my books and bed and my money and my house. My little friend, they cost you much more than that. Punchinello was trying to remember what else he had sold when Eli continued, they cost you happiness. You haven't been happy, have you? Punchinello paused. No, they cost you friends. And most of all, they cost you trust. You didn't trust me to make you happy. You trusted those boxes and balls. Punchinella looked at the pile of toys. All of a sudden, they didn't seem so valuable. I kind of messed up. That's okay, Eli replied. You're still special. Punchinella ducked his head and smiled. You're special, not because of what you have. You're special because of who you are. You are mine. I love you. Don't forget that, little friend. I won't, Punchinello smiled, then he paused and asked, Eli? Yes. What should I do with these boxes and balls? Perhaps you should give them to someone who really needs them. Punchinello turned to leave but stopped again. Eli? Yes. I don't have a place to sleep. Eli smiled and offered, would you like to sleep here tonight? I sure would. I'm really tired. And so that night, Punchinello slept on a bed of wood shavings. He slept well. It felt good to be in the house of his maker. Maybe we could come up with some ideas of who Punchinello could give the boxes and balls to because he didn't need them anymore because he realized that, that the boxes and balls aren't the most important things in his life. So the lesson for Punchinello is to realize that when we recognize that, and in this case, Eli the woodcarver, Eli the Wemmick maker, he had made Punchinello special. And if Punchinello would have went to Eli and asked him, he said, should I buy all, should I sell my books and my bed and my house to buy all these boxes and balls to make so that I can feel special, Eli would have told him that, no, you're special because I made you, not because of the things you have. Thank you for coming up front and listening to the story. And you can go back to your parents. The difficult part about a story like that is it's so easy to see myself in there. You can be turning in your Bibles to John chapter 5. Maybe you're wondering what our topic is this evening. And obviously there's a reason why we chose to read the story about Punchinello this evening. And so we're going to contrast Punchinello with the, the portion of scripture that we have here in John 5, verses one through nine. And as Jesus is in his ministry here, towards the beginning of his ministry, and we have this happening here in these first nine verses that goes on a little bit more than just the first nine verses, but we're gonna concentrate on that. And so we're gonna contrast this man here in this story with Punchinello from the children's story. And we're going to try and find some things that can help us in life. topic, sermon title this evening is a question, and we'll get to it just right directly. John chapter 5, verse 1, after this there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now, there is at Jerusalem a sheep market, by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda. having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water. Whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. 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? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool. But while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked. And on the same day was the Sabbath." Now that last phrase leads into some of the other, the following verses there where the people had a significant issue with Jesus healing on the Sabbath, and Jesus is starting his whole, this morning we were talking about bridges and how Jesus was building on the Old Testament, and this would be a bridge passage where Jesus is building on that, and he's not doing away with it, but he's simply building on it. As we go back to some of these first verses, we have the Pool of Bethesda. Bethesda meaning a house of mercy. And it's right outside the Temple Mount. They've actually found what they believe is the Pool of Bethesda today. And it's located significantly underground. They've excavated part of it. And a fairly large pool. A series, actually a couple pools. Some of them, they think actually the one part of it might have even been 40 feet deep. But then other parts of it are shallower. A type of a part of it was probably called a mikveh, which is a ritual cleansing bath. And so this is a complex that we have here. And with the five porches, and think of the Middle Eastern sun that beats down and gets hot. And so the people that are there need some shade. So you have the porches and what kind of pavilion style edifices that provide some shade. And there's something unique about this. this pool and we have that that challenging versus those challenging verses in verses three and four that were sometimes we're not quite sure what to do with with an actual angel coming down and troubling the water and then the first person or two that gets in actually receives healing from that troubling some commentators would like to just totally discount that as a you know, just a tradition, but the problem is if you just try to discount that, then why are all these people gathering around there and waiting there for long lengths of time if it's just an old wives' tale or something like that? So obviously something to that, that's not necessarily the focus for us this evening. So Jesus is there and probably surrounded with a lot of sick people, impotent, lame, blind, and diseases that even today are very challenging diseases, but back then, extremely challenging, and most of the people that would be there would have these chronic diseases with really no other solution in sight for healing. And Jesus comes and he sees this one particular man. We're not given any details why Jesus would have chosen this man above the others. Did Jesus remain on the scene and heal everybody in the place after this? We're not necessarily told that. But the focus is just about this one man. So this certain man was there. He had an infirmity for 38 years. And he's a cripple, he can't walk, And Jesus sees him lying there, and Jesus knows, in verse six it said, he knows he's been there a long time. And Jesus asks him a question, and this is our question for the evening. Will thou be made whole? Another way of putting that maybe into a little bit more modern language was, do you want to be healed? I don't know about you, but picturing this scene and having all these sick people there and Jesus coming, I could think of a lot of questions that Jesus would ask this person other than the question, do you want to be healed? Isn't that obvious? That's the reason he's at the pool, is that he has a desire to be healed. That's why he's there. Why would Jesus ask him, do you want to be healed? Now, this man actually has an advantage over Punchinello in our story. See, Punchinello didn't realize that he was sick. He didn't realize that he was focusing on wrong things in his life until he stumbles into Eli's shop. This man, it was very obvious, he can't walk. But yet Jesus still asks him, do you want to be healed? And that is a question for each one of us here this evening. Do you want to be healed? Referring to the gospel, someone coined it this way, everyone would be a partaker of the saving grace of the gospel if they would truly realize their lost state. The hard part isn't getting people saved, it's getting them lost. It's helping them realize their lost state. Because once I realize that I'm in a lost state, then I start looking for answers. And those answers are found in Jesus Christ. But until I realize that I am lost, until I realize that I am sick, until I realize that I can't walk or I can't see, then I don't need healing. Just recently ran across a fascinating article. And this article is talking about an interview that someone had done with Richard Dawkins. and maybe you recognize the name Richard Dawkins, maybe you don't, an English physicist that really made a name for himself and is one of the more famous avid proponents of evolutionism and he's had some very high-level debates with Christians, with people that believe in creation, and with his degrees, and a very extremely smart man. And he, but he is, he is, very adamant that there is no God. And he does his absolute best to take the scientific knowledge that he has and what he believes are the results of that scientific research to prove that there is no God. And he's been very influential in his realm and in promoting his false thinking that there is no God. In this interview, it was simply fascinating for, as this, so he lives in, so he's in England, and in England there's been a, over the last 10, 15, 20 years, there's been a significant, actually in all of the UK, influx of Muslims into that area, with their proximity there to Northern Africa, and coming from different regions, there's been a lot of Muslim infiltration into London at one time, I don't know currently, London had a Muslim mayor, and they were seeing a lot of influence, and there's been some discussion about what's gonna happen here because the voting majority is, there's a lot more citizens there and voting people that are Muslims, and how is that going to affect some of the laws and some of the things that are going to be taking place there in England. And so they were discussing this. And this commentator asked Richard Dawkins, he said, so what do you think of this Muslim influence? And he was very, he definitely knew what his opinion was of it. He said, oh, I don't like it. He said, I do not see that as something beneficial to our society. And he went on to say that the way that London and England in general has been governed with principles that have been based on biblical principles, he said, I'd a lot rather live in a society like that. than allowing some of these other influences to come in. And he went on to describe it in detail. And what he was describing is biblical principles that he wanted to live in a society governed like that. Now he made it clear that he doesn't believe in God, but he wanted to live in a society that was governed by biblical principles. And I'm reading that and just dumbfounded. How can a man be so blind that he wants It's like I enjoy apples. And it's like me saying I love a good John of Gold apple. It's nice and crisp. And when you bite into that and get that crunch and that flavor, that semi-tart, sweet flavor just flows through, I just love that. Now, I obviously don't believe in apple trees. But I love the apple. Now, don't try to convince me that you've ever even seen an apple tree, because this is not going to happen, because I just don't believe in apple trees. I love apples, but I don't believe in apple trees. That's what Richard Dawkins is saying. And just, yeah, I don't know how to actually rationalize through that. Richard has a problem in that he, He can't see the area that he needs healing. He's chosen to be blinded. He's chosen to not see the areas that he needs to be healed. Wilt thou be made whole? Do you want to be healed? Jesus tells this man, he says, he gives him three things. He says, rise. The first thing you have to do is get up. Rise, take up your bed, and walk. He gave the man something to do. He says, and immediately the man was made whole, took up his bed, and walked. And on the same day was the Sabbath. Obviously, the Jews had a problem with him even carrying his bed on the Sabbath. Later on, we see Jesus meeting that man again, because that man didn't even know who Jesus' name was. But verse 14, it says, afterward, Jesus findeth him in the temple. Look at what he did after he was made whole. He went to the temple. Before, with his infirmity, he was unclean. He wasn't even allowed in the temple. Now, once he's clean, we find him in the temple. He's worshiping God. He knows the source of his healing, and that prompted within him an outpouring of worship to God. And so, Jesus finds him in the temple and told him, he said, behold, thou art made whole. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. And then the man goes and tells the Jews, the leader of the Jews, that it was Jesus And they are not impressed that Jesus did that on the Sabbath. Once again, not our topic for this evening. See, the Jews, and part of the reason for that is the Jews thought that their sickness was all wrapped up really nice and pretty in the Romans. They thought that that was their sickness. And so when the Messiah comes, that's obviously, the place that the Messiah is going to heal them by getting rid of the Romans and freeing them so they can be a free country again and they can rule themselves because obviously the Romans are the problem. And when Jesus came and he was trying to tell them, no, the Romans aren't your problem. Your problem is your hard heart. Your problem is not being able to see God the way that God would have you see him. Not the physical persecution or affliction of the Romans. Think back to an Old Testament story where we have Elijah on Mount Carmel, and we have the grand showdown there where Elijah's God, who is the one true God, answers by fire, consuming the sacrifice. And as a result of that, the people band together, help him, and they kill all those false prophets, and And right on the heels of that, we have the rainstorm coming. And Elijah, you can imagine, is riding on cloud nine. But what happens right after that? Enter Jezebel, who sends a message to him and says, May the gods do the same to me if by tomorrow, at this time, your life is not as the life of those false prophets, of those prophets that you just killed. 24 hours yet to live, Elijah, and I will make sure that your life is no more. One way to think of that would be if Elijah had just witnessed God sending a bolt of fire down that not only consumed the sacrifice and the wood, which is normal, but also the stones and the water and cleaned everything up. It was a flat piece of land left after that. He had just witnessed that. And God had given him the strength to kill all those false prophets. Once again, we could develop that thought quite a bit on what could have been his response. Elijah runs. And he wasn't willing to face Jezebel. God had to get his attention finally with a still small voice. And I think God had to try to get his attention and to point out where he still needed healing. I don't want to be too hard on Elijah. I'm not sure what I would have done in that situation either. But it was obvious that God was trying to get his attention with that. Because God, well, when Elijah had ran away and he actually left his servant and went another day's journey further into the wilderness and then Later, God sends a, what is there, fire, and there's a windstorm, but God is not there. God was in that still, small voice, trying to help him see where he needed healing. David, recognized in the Psalms. That's why the Psalms speak to us so much, because David does a good job of recognizing where he needs healings. He says, God, I need your help. I'm stuck in this cave, Saul is after me, and I can't do it on my own. I need your help. We talk sometimes about sanctification as a process. Sanctification is becoming more like Christ every day. A significant part of sanctification is recognizing areas that need healing in my life. Because it's only then that Christ can speak into those lives. Christ can heal those areas in my life. Now for Punchinello, at the beginning, he was having fun with those balls and boxes. That was great. Until it came to be a burden. But even then, the appeal of being one of the important ones overcame that, even that discomfort, even the lack of logic in some of his actions. And we're sitting there thinking, well, how ridiculous is that, that someone would sell their things just to get things that, other things that, would make them appear to be more important in the eyes of other people. Jesus said, unless you become as little children, you cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven. You know the advantage that children have? They know when they need help. They're so quick to ask for help. Dad, can you help me tie my shoe? Dad, can you fix this thing? And we look at it and say, well, that's pretty easy, but sure. I mean, and sometimes we say, well, can I help you do that? I think I made this statement the other evening that God enjoys leading his children. God enjoys healing his children. That's his heart's desire. As he wants us to become more and more like him, he wants to touch those sores in our lives, those places that need to be healed. And sometimes we as humans, we so, I'm not sure what the word is that I need to use there, but in a ridiculous manner, we want to hang on to those. Wait a minute, you think I shouldn't be quite so angry? Well, I need to use a name that's not present. I don't know if there are any Swartzentrubers here or not, but I'm gonna, if you are a Swartzentruber, excuse me, I'm gonna use that. But the Swartzentrubers, we're known for a little bit of anger there. That's part of who we are. And God, you would ask me to give that up? Well, I'll just hang on to a little piece of it. And things that God in his word wants us to, wants to heal us. And so that brings us to the next thought. What does a healed life look like? Is it possible? Or is this just a pie in the sky? Something that, it's out there and maybe some days we might get there. And praise the Lord, it's not that. Now, sanctification is something, we just talked about it being a process. And the more you, the deeper you go in sanctification, the more you realize there is. Jesus talks about us being perfect, being complete. And we realize that that's an ever-expanding goal. You know, when I was taking language lessons, trying to learn Romanian, and after a while I was like, wow, I've kind of got this. I have a nice list of vocab words. I figured out the grammar of it a little bit. And then it's one of those things you realize that the more you know, the more you realize that there is to learn yet. And it just grows and grows. And there's things about that in life. And some of you younger ones looking at, if you turn around and look at some of the gray haired ones behind you, you're like, wow, they pretty much got it together, don't they? And then you ask some of the ones with the gray hair and they're like, we've got a lot to learn yet. Don't get discouraged. But there's always more to learn. And sanctification is like that. The healing process is like that. So I'm asking you, don't get discouraged that you're not totally healed yet. It's okay. But we can go to the house of the one who made us. And we can receive comfort. And if we're tired, we can even sleep on a bed of shavings for a night. because he has that prepared for us. Please turn with me now to some positive scriptures here as we find them in Galatians 5. Galatians 5, as we think about what does a healed life look like, Now, the way to get a proper perspective of what a healed life looks like, sometimes we do best to contrast it, as we did with Richard Dawkins, trying to make the case that, yes, I want to live in a society based on biblical principles, but just don't put God in the picture. And we realize how foolish that seems. But, In chapter five in Galatians, as the title of my Bible says, the privileges of Christian liberty. We talked just a bit about freedom, just a few tidbits about freedom the other evening. But here it's Christian liberty. Christian liberty is the freedom to live life within God. to live life under the influence of the Holy Spirit. That's freedom. That's Christian liberty. Let's pick up here in verse 16, and we'll just skip over verses like. like verse 15, like we wouldn't want to dampen the spirit here by saying, but if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another. We'll just skip that verse and go to verse 16. This I say then, walk in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. We see the contrast there. Walking in the spirit or or the lusts of the flesh. Walking in the Spirit is capitalized, we're talking about the Holy Spirit here. Verse 17, for the flesh lusteth against the Spirit and the Spirit against the flesh. We're in a battle here. We have to agree that there's a battle here. And these are contrary, the one to the other, so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. Wait a minute, so that ye cannot do the, so in other words, we want to do good things, but you can't? Oh wait, that sounds familiar. When I try to do things on my own, and Punchinello tries to fit in and tries to do what, I guess what he thought was good things, but it ends up being an utter failure. Verse 18, but if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Those boxes and balls can just go away. were not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, they're the things that show up, which are these, adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revelings, and such like. I thought about trying to do that all in one breath, but the list was too long. That's a sad state of affairs. And then we realize that, oh wait, that sounds like human nature. Continuing on in 21, of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And praise the Lord for verse 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. Against such there is no law. That's what Richard Dawkins was actually talking about. There is no law against those things. Love, joy, peace. You realize that on a general poll among almost any type of, in any category of humanity, those are the three main things that people want. Love, joy, and peace. In their human nature, they try to attain that by all kinds of boxes and balls and other things that they come up with to try and get to those three pieces in their life. but it never satisfies. Verse 24, and they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit. Jesus told the man, he said, rise, take up your bed, and do what? Walk. It's a choice. I've now chosen to walk in the Spirit. It's something that I've chosen to do. We talk about the infilling of the Spirit, the baptism of the Spirit. And yes, that is, as we become Christians, as we make that choice to follow Jesus, Jesus has promised the Holy Spirit to be with us. And then it's our choice that we have to make to walk in that. There's a young man in our community that was known for, well, I knew him a little bit by reputation. I'd never met him personally, but anytime you're talking about some of the drug use and just the negative things that happened in our community, oftentimes his name came up as one of the worst, as a prime example. two or three times almost died from an overdose. Until he decided that he wanted to be healed. And that healing for him took on a physical aspect as well as a spiritual aspect. And he, as he made the choice to follow Jesus, follow the principles of life that are found in scripture instead of the very ugly painted boxes and balls that he was carrying around in trying to gain approval from those people around him. And the first couple times that he and his girlfriend showed up in church, they would sit in the back, come after Sunday school, sit in the back. I think he was there for three or four times before I actually had a chance to shake his hand because as soon as the amen was said, he would slip out the door. He just simply wasn't ready for that interaction. slowly started growing in his Christian life. Today, they have a beautiful family with several children. The road hasn't been without its twists and turns for them. But he chose to walk in the spirit. When he came back from the rehab program that he was on, that he made a choice, I'm going to go to a program because I recognize that I need help. I recognize I cannot get rid of all these vices in my life on my own. 18 months, he was in Chicago at a rehab program. And when he came back for, what, two, three years, he didn't even have a cell phone. He would use his, girlfriend's cell phone and they changed the number a couple times so that his old friends did not know how to contact him. He recognized where his weakness was. He recognized the areas that he needed to be healed in. And even today, he doesn't have a complete driver's license. He can drive for work. related events and drive to church, and that's it, because of some of the things in his past. And, but I've just, just recently as I was thinking about that and just watching them as he is learning to be a good father to his children. Their oldest is in first grade in school. and just watching him interact there and thinking back to what his life was like several years ago, four, five, six years ago. It's just astounding. And you realize that this is an example of someone who has, when Jesus asked him, do you want to be healed? He said, he gave a resounding yes. And when Jesus said, rise, take your bed and walk, that's the choice that he made. And as he chooses to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh and the lusts of his flesh from his old life, God gives him the strength. And they that are Christ have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. He finishes up, why didn't he just stop in verse 25? Stop on a positive note, right? But he finishes up by reminding, look, that human nature, we have to guard against it. We have to make steps against that human nature so that we don't get into this thing of vain glory and provoking one another. and envying one another. But see people as God sees them. See myself as God sees me. Because God made me. And he placed value in my life that goes so much deeper than any boxes or balls that I can accumulate. What are some tools that can help me with this? Just flip back a couple pages and you'll find Ephesians 6. Another call to action here. In Ephesians 6 verse 10 it says, finally my brethren, finally my brethren. After all of this, the next step is, Be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. We're still in the battle. And hopefully we could all recognize that. Because recognizing that is an important step to recognizing where the healing comes from. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked, and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints, and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. As Paul is writing to the Ephesians here, and as he puts together this beautiful passage talking about the tools that we have at our disposal as we grow in our Christian life, And he's giving us tools for success. And then he finishes it up with just a bit of a personal part there. And he prays that he may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. Paul needed prayers to open his mouth boldly? Wait a minute, he's the one that is the epitome of boldness. We look to him for examples of boldness, right? Shaking the snake off of his hand into the fire, no big deal, surviving all those shipwrecks, being beaten outside the city and then crawling back into the city and preaching again. But he has to pray for boldness? Yeah, that's you and me. I'd like to finish with a poem. I don't know the author of this one, but I pray that in recognizing and finding ourself in this poem, I pray that it's a comfort to us. We've talked about recognizing the areas in my life that need healing, recognizing who the healer is, and asking for healing in those areas in my life. and then the tools of walking forward. How do you put all that together? Does it sound daunting? You afraid you're gonna mess up? Actually, if you're a little afraid there, that's okay. That's part of healing. Eternity. I stood with God on the edge of the world, and my hand was in his hand. I looked down the road of the past, and it stretched away in the dim distance, till it was shrouded in the mists of time, and I knew it had no beginning. And a little chill wind of fear blew about my head. God asked, are you afraid? I said, yes, because I cannot understand how there can be no beginning. So God said, let us turn and face the other way. And I looked into glory, and my heart rejoiced with joy unspeakable, and then my mind went ahead a billion, billion years, and I knew there would be no end. And again, that little chill wind of fear began to blow, and God asked me again, are you afraid? And I answered, a little, because I cannot understand how there can be no end. So God asked me tenderly, are you afraid now? today with your hand in mine?" I looked up at him and smiled and replied, oh, my father, no. And God said, every day in eternity will be today. Let's kneel for prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you once again for your word Lord, thank you for the example of when you healed the man by the pool, the man who recognized that he needed healing. Lord, I pray that you would help us to identify those areas in our lives where we need healing and go to you for that healing touch that you are so ready to give. Lord, thank you for the tools that you've given us so that we can move ahead move forward in that healing. And I just pray a blessing on each one of us here. Lord, I pray that as we go from here, Lord, as we live out the lives that you have called us to live, and wherever our lives intersect with those that you have placed there for those divine appointments, Lord, I pray that our lips would be ready to share what you would have us share with them. that we can call others into your light, into your healing. Pray a blessing on the church here at Messiah and their leadership. And just pray that they would continue to be a light and a witness here in Ohio and in the numerous places that they interact with people. And Lord, I pray that your name would be glorified. Lord, because you alone are worthy. We pray this in your name, amen.