And if you can meet their need, if they'll let you meet their need. uh uh I would love to tell you what I think of Jesus, since I found in Him a friend so strong and true. I would tell you how He changed my life completely. He did something that no other friend can do. No one ever cared for me like Jesus. There's no other friend so kind as He. No one else could take the sin, the darkness from me. Oh, how much He cared for me. All my life was full of sin when Jesus found me. All my heart was full of misery and woe. Jesus placed His strong, loving arms about me, and He led me in the way I ought to go. No one ever cared for me like Jesus. There's no other friend so kind as He. No one else could take the sin, the darkness from me. Oh, how much he cared for me. No one else could take the sin and darkness from me. Oh, how much he cares for me. Amen. Praise God for his love. He's here for us. We'll dismiss the little ones in the classroom. The rest of us, please, can open up our Bibles to John chapter 5. Okay, Job chapter 5 in our Bibles tonight. And it was a good week this past week. Thank you for your prayers. Thank you for those that were able to participate, dig in and help us out a wee bit. And for the faithful kids that are coming out to the Bible Club. It's a lot of fun. It brings back memories. And watching the film brings back memories of my holiday Bible Club days in the States called BBS in the States. But going and mom and dad and our church running it and things like that. But we'd show some films. Back then it was reel to reel. You know, you got to do that. the two things going and the thing in between that you hope doesn't separate. And we would watch a film called Mr. Fix It. And I don't know if that's familiar to anybody, but Mr. Fix It, he ran a little repair shop. And kids would come in, they'd have their problems, you know, they need something fixed, and he'd start fixing it. And as he did that, it would always end up being a Bible story that he'd tell them to help them with whatever other problem they had in their life to kind of help them out. You know, my grandpa, had a repair shop like that of sorts. My grandpa was an upholsterer, and so he would fix furniture. He had contracts with the department stores in the states, and so if there was a furniture repair that he didn't do, he would do it. And then my grandpa had this old Ford van that I remember, and I don't know that I thought about this as a kid, but it was carpeted on the inside, on the ceiling, on the walls, and on the floor. And I realized now it was so that wood furniture going in and out didn't get scratched or anything like that. But I remember Grandpa had that. Down in the basement, he had his repair shop. And so he'd be down there when we'd visit, doing different things. If Grandpa came to visit, inevitably, some chair or some sofa or something would be on its head, and he'd be underneath there repairing it. That's just what he did. He loved fixing broken things and making things whole again. You know, Jesus grew up in a home like that. Jesus grew up in a carpenter's home, a place that objects were often getting fixed or repaired or built. They said in Matthew 13 verse 55, is not this the carpenter's son? And so his stepdad, Joseph, was a carpenter. So I guess there'd be the smell of wood around the home there for Jesus, maybe some wood stains, things like that. You can imagine him at a young age as the firstborn son, virgin born of Mary, the firstborn son, the oldest, helping out his father, Joseph, maybe holding on to some things as his father repaired those things. And so as carpenters, they were always making broken things whole again and fixing those things. Jesus became a man and went from fixing things that were broken in Joseph's repair shop to, by God's grace and by the power of his name, fixing broken lives. And only Jesus tonight is what I want to emphasize, can take a broken life and make it whole again. You might have noticed that idea of whole again in our text. It says there in our John chapter five, it says, will thou be made whole, Jesus says. It says, immediately the man was made whole. It says, behold, thou art made whole. It says, he that made me whole. It says, Jesus which had made him It was broken it was repaired by God and it was good again My prayer is, God, take this to our hearts. You know what? Our lives without Christ are broken. We're broken lives. We need Christ to fix us. We might be broken as an unsaved person. We might be broken as a saved person, somebody that's gotten away from the war, a sin has gotten from life. Jesus Christ makes it right. He's the one that can repair broken lives. And so it's great, and I ask the Spirit of God to speak to us tonight as we come to the Word of God. Father, we're grateful for the opportunity that we have to come to the Word of God this evening. Father, I just pray in our hearts just now for quietness that is spirit-enabled. And Father, the ability to set aside life and just consider tonight, are we broken in our lives? Is there something tonight that Jesus, we gotta come to you and ask you to repair? It could be something that's fatally broken by sin, never having accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior. And Father, we praise you that you can take a life like that, make it a life tonight, and transform that life. And Father, for us as believers, if we've got sin in our lives, if we've gotten away from obeying God, then there's things that need repairing. Father, we pray for that good work of grace tonight. And Father, we ask that you give us ears to hear. And Father, only by the grace of God and the Spirit of God can we take in the truth of the Word of God tonight as you desire us to. So we pray for that. We pray that the Word of God would have free porters. Father, I can't speak as I ought to speak. Even as Paul said to pray, pray that I would make the Word of God clear as I ought to make it. Father, I pray for that tonight. I pray the Spirit of God help me as I speak. I can't speak without your name in me. Father, I pray that you help me preach lovingly the precious truth of the Word of God, and Father, that the Spirit of God would just take it to our hearts this evening. Alright, so your life needs to be made full by Jesus. And so have you been made full? Are we assuming that tonight has a life that is made full by the grace of God? So to be made full, you must know that you are broken. It's got a big sense, doesn't it? They got to understand that your life needs to be repaired. So let's look again at verse 1. It says, after this there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there's at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. And these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into a pool of troubled water, and whosoever then first from the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had." And it's a little difficult to understand exactly what was taking place in the story of the pool of Bethesda. There was a common understanding as they looked at that pool that it had medicinal benefit. whether naturally or supernaturally, whether naturally in the sense that there were minerals in that spring water that at certain times when the water bubbled and it got moving and there were fresh water flowing into that spring that they understood that that was a special healing time, not a miraculous immediate healing time, but maybe a gradual healing time. where it's there, the common thought that an angel went down at that point and stirred the water. So we understand tonight that God has some power to do that, and we don't have scripture, nor do God, that says, watch for the trouble in the water, so that when in trouble, you step down into it. But that was the common understanding, that it was a supernatural work that was taking place. But whatever the case, it's not surprising to us, as we look at a pool like that, that gathered all around him would be people that understood that their lives were broken. Whether, again, as it lists there, they're blind or halt or withered, that they're there waiting for that water to be stirred. And you don't see, if you look at a physical condition like that, it's easy to identify, isn't it? I mean, somebody can't see, they know that. Somebody that can't hear, they get that. If they can't walk, again, it's very easy to understand that they have a need and that need needs to be met so that they can be made whole. Tonight, have you ever understood that you have a spiritual need that needs to be made whole? A little bit more difficult to discern, but I don't think totally difficult to discern tonight. I think it's a pretty common thing for us to look at our life like that, but I think the world tries to mask this. They'll say things like mental health, right? That's the big buzzword. You know, it's the last three to five years, we've got very famous people that are dealing with mental health. And if you stop and consider what they're speaking about, many times it's this. It's anxiety. It's guilt. It's fear. It's worry. It's passion, it's anger, it's depression, it's lust, it's hurt. So you look at those things and you think about those things biblically and what you understand about that. A lot of that has to do with the spiritual nature of the human being. is that we have a carnal nature that has intense desires, intense passions, whether depression or anxiety or fear or worry. These things that actually you can take a lot of it and you can put it actually under the heading of spiritual need. Now there are things like my dad has. My dad has Alzheimer's. So there are mental things that you can gauge and you can look at and say, this is a mental problem that is a scientific fact. But I'll tell you this, the Bible doesn't have much to say about mental health, but it has a lot to say. There's a lot to say about God being the answer to man's spiritual needs and God being the one that can heal somebody from the inside out. And I praise God for that tonight. I can't reach into this heart if I've got a problem. I can't do any work in there, but I know somebody tonight that can. Do you know Jesus likens man's spiritual need to physical needs? He said in John chapter nine, verse 39, Jesus said, for judgment, I've come into this world that they would might remain blind. And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words and said unto him, are we blind also? Jesus said unto them, if you were blind, you should have no sin, but now you say we see, therefore your sin remaineth. And it's basically like this, those Pharisees thought that they didn't have a spiritual problem. They thought that they were spiritually fine. They thought that they could see spiritually, but in actuality, guess what? They were blind. But because they said we see, and didn't recognize that they had a spiritual need, they continued in their blindness. See, Jesus was there. Jesus was the one that could meet their need. If they would have come to faith in Jesus Christ, Jesus would have met their spiritual need, but because they did not recognize the fact that they were, in fact, broken, that they needed the Spirit of God, Jesus Christ, to heal their spiritual eyesight. Because of that, they continued in the condition that they had. You know, again, if somebody, tonight, many people are this way, they have been diagnosed, they've got this problem, this problem, this problem, mental illness, mental illness, mental illness. But if it is depression, that is spiritual. If it is anxiety, that is spiritual. If it is fear, that is spiritual. If it is sin-related, then guess what? They've masked it. And they're not going to go to Jesus Christ to get it fixed. My grandpa might come to my house and, you know, look at something, and he might say, you know, some customer's house or something. I see a problem there. It's broken. It may look okay, but it's broken. It needs to be fixed. If they don't listen to what he says, then they go on, and it continues to be broken. At some point, it's going to be evident that it's broken, and it's going to fail. And see, that's really what it is for us tonight, is for all men everywhere to understand that they can't say this tonight, you know, I'm fine. There's plenty of people like that who seek to introduce somebody to their need and they'll say, I'm fine, we cope. Romans 3.23, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. There's a need in their life, they don't recognize it. Because they don't recognize it, God is not able, because of their refusal, to meet their needs. So tonight, as we think about the fact that God can make us whole, the first thing is, you gotta recognize, you know what? I've gotta need my life outside of Christ. is broken. And then secondly, to be made whole, you must have desire. Desire, you know, desire is important to meeting needs. And I know it's a common saying, but you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him You can be a cowboy, you're on a long journey. You know, this is the last watering hole, but I got to go 40 miles before I get to the next watering hole. My horse needs to drink just a ton of water so that I can get to where I need to go. But he gets there, and if that horse isn't thirsty, there's nothing he can do. That horse has to have desire. The cowboy can have all the desire in the world, but it doesn't matter, because the horse is the one that needs to drink and take in that life-saving liquid. And see, as parents sometimes, you've got a child that's a slow bloomer, right? And you want to see them running around. And they're just content to crawl. And you have desire as a parent to get them up there and get them going. And if it's like Kayla, Kayla was kind of a mobily crawler. She wore skirts, and she would crawl on her hands and feet. I mean, she was just bent, and that's the way she crawled and stuff. But, you know, we're like, come on, stand up. And she didn't have any health issues that we're aware of, you know. But she did that for a long time. And as a parent, it's, come on, you know, get up there, get going. You got the desire, but you can't do anything until that child has the desire to read and the desire to speak. And I mean, it has to come from them. I'll say this for us tonight, we're in burdensome to us as believers. We desire to see people get saved. We understand that their need is the gospel. And we're praying, we're praying, we're praying. But the thing is, our desire does not make desire in the heart of that person. Until that person comes to that desire, we got a loved one, we got many represented here in our church, loved ones that we're praying for. Until that person comes to the understanding, you know what, that is what I need, and they desire it, they're not going to take it. And so we gotta understand tonight, that there is a need for salvation and desiring. We gotta understand tonight that there's a need for sanctification and revival as well. Let me add that application to the truth of that we're considering tonight. It's just that, not that people need to get saved, but it's this tonight, we need revival. It's this tonight, we need sanctification. You know, and we need to have believers that have a heart for God and for God's work. The Bible says, blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled. And if we don't have that appetite for the word of God, if we don't have that appetite for God's truth, then I say, God, you know what? Until I have that appetite, I'm not gonna get it. You know, he that with his souls is wise. That person that is burdened, like Eric Little, to go to China and take the gospel to the world. That person that gets that mission's desire, that desire for the things of God, promoting the gospel until that desire's there. They can have that need in their life, and it is a need in their life to obey the great commission, go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, but if they don't have the desire, it's not gonna happen. Jesus said this, my need is to do the will of him that sent me. You see, I've got this desire to do God's will, but again, until that desire is our desire, it's not gonna happen. God can do some great things. God can really make our life whole as a believer, but until we get that desire, it's not gonna happen. And so what do we see about desire in this passage, or the need for desire? That person ought to desire it, why? Because time is passing. It says in verse five, and a certain man was there, which he had an infirmity thirty and eight years. Now, that's a long time. He couldn't walk, he was powerless to get up and to walk. Thirty-eight years he had been that way. Now, if it was me, I would have been seven. when I got injured, whatever injury this man had suffered. Now he was older than that because the Bible speaks about it being a result of sin. And so he was somewhat older than that, but something took place in his life. It seems that this is a consequence of that. And so this man is older than that, but for 38 years, he hadn't been able to use his legs. That person that's in that place, I would imagine they get to the point where they think this is the way it's going to be. It's just going to be the rest of my life that I'm going to be like this. When I do evangelism, and I get to speak to people about evolution and death, I'll maybe look at a tree that's growing right beside us as we're speaking, and I'll say, you know what? You know this tree came from a seed. This plant came from a seed. And you know what? His parent came from a seed. His parent came from a seed. His parent came from a seed. And you know this today, that tree would never happen today without a seed, correct? And they say yes. I say it doesn't get more likely with the passing of time. The passing of time doesn't make things that are impossible, possible. It's no more likely tomorrow than it is today. Therefore, it's not going to happen. Now, that's impossible, but I say this, praise God tonight, it's possible for somebody to get saved. It's possible for somebody to get revival. It's possible for somebody to get on fire for God. That's possible. I say praise God for that. But let me emphasize this. It's no more possible tomorrow than it is today. If I don't stop and look at my life and say, by God's grace, this has to change. See, sometimes I think people think, well, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week. I'll get saved. Maybe next week, I'll get burdened about missions. Maybe next week, I'll get burdened about whatever there is in my life that's broken that needs to be fixed. And the thing is, we gotta desire it today. Why? Because time has passed. And listen, if we stood before Jesus Christ tonight, we would look back at our life. No doubt, no matter what kind of Christian we are, no matter what we've done for God, we would look back at our life and say this, I wish I had given him more. And so again, it'd be good for us tonight to say, I desire that. Lord, I desire, you know, I understand the passing of time, and time is ticking off my clock of things that I can do for God, by God's grace, I desire it. Why? Because time is passing. And secondly, desire it because Jesus cares about you. It says in verse six, when Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, You know, Jesus didn't just walk by this man, and very interestingly, I know he's got an incomprehensible understanding of everything that's taken place about him, but to think about this, he didn't just walk by and ignore a man with a knee. As he's passing by, he sees the man, he knows that 38 years ago this happened, he knows what happened, why it happened, how it happened, and he looks at him with concern. I say this to us tonight, and I praise God for this, as a minister, that God cares for me. I praise God for this as church members. God cares for us tonight. I praise God for this as somebody that is a sinner that's away from God, having never accepted Christ, and Jesus Christ looks at that person in that condition and says tonight, I care for you. Casting all your care upon him, for he careth for you. God is not without compassion tonight. See, some people have this idea, God is like, God is shoving them away, God is pushing them away, but it's really not the way it is. God is like this, like Jesus looking at Jerusalem and saying, oh, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often do I have gathered thee unto myself as a mother hen doth gather her chicks, but he would not. Now, Satan would do everything in his power to tell us those lies about God, but the thing is tonight, God is a compassionate God, God is a caring God. So what should we think? I only desire it because Jesus cares. So much so that he died in the cross for my sin. So much so that he paid the awful price for my sin. So much so that his blood still avails for me as a believer so that I can have what I need to obey God by God's grace. And so desire it, Jesus cares about you. And then desire it because Jesus is asking you now. He's asking you now. Notice what it says, it says in verse six, and he said unto him, Jesus said, will thou be made whole? Now let's just imagine tonight that the man ignores him. Not understanding who he is, not having any concept of the man that was speaking to him, but imagine that he ignores him. Would Jesus pass that way again? Would there be a second chance? Would there, could you wind back the clock to that moment where the spirit of God through the word of Jesus Christ looking at this man that had a physical need and says, hey, will you be made whole? Do you want to? And tonight the thing is this, we ought to hear that in our hearts tonight. And listen, just think about from this, let's step away from salvation. I want to come back to salvation. Well, let's think about it with the Bible. Let's think tonight, what if the Spirit of God and God was willing tonight to give us revival? And God said, will thou be made whole? If that's what he's asking, there's gonna be drastic changes that take place in our life. There's gonna be a lot of things that happen. And you know, our life is very busy. We got these things going on. But to consider tonight, do I really want that? And then for that unsaved person that needs Jesus Christ as their Savior, that if they died right now, they'd spend eternity in the lake of fire. And to hear Jesus say, hey, without you we'd be whole. Do you want your life tonight to be fixed by God? There's a, again, we mentioned men's home in Ireland. There's a man that works there, his name's Aidan. Aidan has come here with Leighton and shared his testimony. Aidan, if that is cold back there, you can shut that door. I'm not sitting in the back, so if you feel it, go ahead and shut it up, all right? But Aidan, Aidan, And Aidan somehow, I'm not sure of the story, but he lost the money that may help for the gang. And because of that, they took him out in the woods. They stripped him and they broke all his limbs and they bit off part of his ear. He was in his room for the next three years after that. He wouldn't go out to see anybody. He used the toilet in his room. I mean, he tells a story. It's an affordable story. He's trapped in this life. A missionary knocks on the door and says, I've heard about your son. God can help him. And Aiden talks to him, he says, we'll get you over to Scotland, I believe it was, or it might have been England, and we'll get you some pee, and pee, and we'll help you. And Aiden goes over to this place, and he's struggling, he's coming off of drugs, he goes up to the guy that handles the meds, and he says, they've got some meds for me, I'd like to get them. And the guy says, okay, what is it? And he says, it's pee and pee. The guy smiles, and Aiden says he doesn't like the fact that the guy smiled, but the guy says, that's prayer and paracetamol. And Aiden goes, all right, I'm leaving. He turns to walk out, he's walking out of that place, and the Spirit of God says to him, if you leave, that's it. And he turned and he went back. You watch on Friday nights on Facebook Live, when New Hope Residential's on, you'll see Aiden up there standing up there preaching. He went back, why? Because that was his opportunity. That was his opportunity, the Spirit of God said, will thou be made whole. Now some people, I don't know, I imagine there's plenty of times where people have just said, forget it. But there's a lot of people with the wisdom to look at it and go, you know what? My life needs to change. My life is broken. Jesus Christ has asked me, will God be made whole? Now's the time. Behold, now is the day of salvation. Behold, now is the accepted time. We can't look at tomorrow and say, I'll get my life fixed tomorrow by God's grace. And the spirit of God says to us tonight, will God be made whole? By God's grace, we gotta respond and say, yes Lord, yes Lord, tonight. Desire it, why? Because men will never make you whole. Men will never make you whole. Verse 7 says, the impudent man answered him and said, Sir, I have no man when the water is troubled to put me into the pool. But while I'm coming, another step down before me. You know, as he says that, what do you understand? He wanted it. There was desire, and he's looking around and saying, somebody help me. It's like he's crying out in his heart for help. He understands he's got a problem. He needs help, but there's nobody that will get him the help that he needs. I want to remind us tonight that man is not the answer to our needs. You know, the SMP this past week, you might have seen the statistic that they're getting close to 10,000 drug deaths. since the S&P has been in power. That's, by the way, just the drug deaths that are specifically saying this is due to drugs. 10,000. See, the S&P hasn't solved the drug crisis. They haven't solved the alcohol crisis. They haven't solved the immorality crisis. They haven't solved the fact that there is suicide taking place because hearts are so cold and so calloused they haven't solved it. We understand tonight that no government, SNP or otherwise, Westminster has no power tonight to give what is necessary to meet the spiritual needs of this nation. But there's a God in heaven that has the ability tonight, by God's grace, to set people free from drugs, to set people free from alcohol, to set people free from immorality, to set people free from atheistic, hard-hearted rebellion against God. God has the power to do it tonight. For those that listen to Jesus Christ, when he asks that question, will thou be made whole? They desire it, but if they're looking to men, they're looking in the wrong place. And so tonight, to be made whole, you have to have desire. You gotta be, not just recognizing the fact that your life is broken, but to say to God, God, I do have desire. Give it for us again as believers, just to cry out to God and say, God, there are great things that you desire to do. God, give me an appetite for that because I desire to see you work in my life. Desire. And then to be made whole, you must obey God's word. You must obey God's word. You know, if I deal with an evolutionist, I'll say to them, you know, first of all, just God exists. You know, the trees give us oxygen that we breathe. There's life here and nowhere else. There's nobody else like you. You're an individual. I mean, there's nobody else in the world like you. We all have two arms, two legs, two eyes, one nose, two ears, right? We're all the same. which is pretty clever if it's evolution. We'll understand it's not clever because there is a creator. And so there is a God, but secondly, how does God communicate? We'll talk about natural revelation. We'll talk about the fact that you can see God in nature. God is wise. God loves beauty. God has humor as we laugh and we're reflecting the Godhead in that man that's made in God's image. There's natural revelation, then there's specific revelation. and is thus saith the Lord. This is what God says in his word, and because of that, false religion tries to add to this, false religion takes away from this, but very centrally tonight, the best way to read this book is saying, what does God say? And so, as we consider that tonight, to be made whole, you must obey God's word. Just obey the simple commands of God. Just obey the simple commands of God. It says in verse eight, Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. That sounds simple. I mean, if I said, rise, take up your bed, and walk, I think he could handle that, right? But the thing is, he couldn't, because he's infant. I mean, it's a simple command, but it's like impossible. There's no way that you do, but the truth is this. The command that was given, because the command was given, the ability was given to obey the command. And it was a very simple command. and he had the power by God's grace to follow it. You know, there's a Ford Porter track that you might be familiar with. It's called God's Simple Plan of Salvation. And I love the title because that's what it is. God's Simple Plan of Salvation. Listen, this past week, Holiday Bible Club, we've been sharing the gospel with the kids. Why? Because kids can understand the gospel. The Bible's written on a level that a child We were dealing with some very basic truths. Romans 3.23, for all of sin. I've come short of the word of God. Romans 6.23, the wages of sin is death. I could ask the kids tonight, hey, if somebody dies without Christ, where would they go? And I trust that our church kids would have the right answer. They'd say, that person would die and go to hell. What is hell? Hell's a fire. It's black. It's eternal, it's separation from God. The sounds that you hear in hell are weeping and gnashing of teeth. It's a place where the damned are sent and it's everybody that goes there is somebody that does not have the blood of Christ applied to their life. And yet the Bible says in John 3.16, for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. God made a way of salvation. How? By crucifying his son in our place, the wages of sin is death. Jesus Christ died. He didn't stay dead. Jesus Christ rose from the dead. On the cross, he showed the power to forgive my sin. On his resurrection, he showed the fact that he has the power So Romans 10, nine, that thou shalt confess where thy mouth, O Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised you from the dead, thou shalt be saved. It's so simple tonight. All somebody would have to do is not even get on their knees, but I like to say get on your knees, because get on your knees and just pray and say to God, God, I'm a sinner. Jesus Christ died for me. Would you please forgive me of my sin and give me your gift of everlasting life that you know he has because he rose from the dead? And just like that, obeying that simple command, somebody can get saved. And he was a leper, and so he had leprosy, an incurable disease, and the Bible pictures often as sin. It's something that man can't take care of, man can't get rid of. You have this corruption in your body, it's this thing. And just like that, this little maid says to her mistress, if he would go to Israel, there's a prophet there that could heal him. And so the king of Syria sends this man, Haman, that's in his army to Israel, and he ends up at, Elisha's door, and I think it's Elisha, I get confused here, let me make sure. Elisha or Elijah, one of those prophets for this morning. But 2 Kings 5.14, his servant came near and spake unto him and said, my father, if the prophet had been to do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? And here's the thing, he got to the door, the prophet doesn't even come to the door. He just says, go dip in the Jordan River seven times and you'll be made full. And Naaman gets upset, he's like, these rivers back in my area are so much better, I would get in those, but the Jordan River's a dirty river, the last thing I'm gonna do is go down there and dip in that thing. But this servant wisely says to him, my father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? How much rather then, would he have said it to thee, Washington King? Then when he downed and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God, and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean. Why? Because he obeyed the simple command. And see, tonight, somebody can struggle with that. See, it's so simple, just really get on my knees, pray, and say to God, God, forgive me of my sin, you know, believe me in the crucified Christ and what he did in his resurrection, and that God will give me his gift of everlasting life. And the answer is this, tonight, absolutely yes. Yes. Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. It's very simple, but it has to be obeyed. For somebody to have their meat in that, this man had to take it by faith and stand up just like Jesus said. And so just obey that simple command of God. And then just keep obeying Jesus. It says in verse nine, immediately the man was made whole. And he took up his bed and walked. And on the same day was the Sabbath. And again, aren't you thankful that God's power is immediate? Praise God tonight. I mean, nobody has to continue in their life like, oh, this is horrible. You know, I just wish that I could have victory over this sin. I just wish that I could have victory over this death and this destruction that's in my life. I get saved by the grace of God tonight. The power of Christ is sufficient to set any man free and it's immediate. It's immediate. The power is broken. We are crucified with Christ. The old man that was us before we got saved is crucified. He's dead. The new man that's alive in Christ is alive. We gotta take it by faith and understand there's some things that we gotta grow into, but the fact is this. Yes, the power of the devil that is in our life through sin is canceled and God's power is alive. but just keep obeying Jesus. He picks up his bed, he walks. The same day was the Sabbath. And the Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, it's the Sabbath day. It's not lawful for thee to carry that burden. As soon as this man was saved, you know, by God, in God's power, the false religion comes along and says, you can't do that. You can't go that way. You shouldn't do that thing that you're doing. But this man knew that the God man that changed him was a man that could command him. That the one that had the authority to say, rise, stand, walk, that he had the authority to say to him whatever he wanted to say and that he would do it because that man had that kind of power. Verse 11. He answered them and he said this, he that made me whole, The same he said unto me, take up thy bed and walk. And he was just kind of simple about it, but he goes, if God, you know, whoever this man is, he doesn't understand this guy, but he healed me. He said, take up thy bed and walk. You know what? I'm gonna take up my bed and walk. What would you think tonight? This is imagining, right? What would you think tonight if that man got healed, he stands up, he looks at Jesus, he goes, throws his bed aside, goes and does his own thing. I mean, we look at that and say, Ingrid, man, look at what God did in your life. You don't even care. Stop and say thank you. Stop and bow to me and say everything that I have was given to me by you. Whatever you want, God, you've got it. Let's consider our hearts tonight with the big giving salvation. Think how grateful it is tonight to say, but I can do my own thing. Now that I'm saved, I just do whatever I want to do. It doesn't matter that God says it's wrong. It doesn't matter that it violates God's law. I can do whatever I want to do because it's my life. And the answer is what? No. What? No, you're not. That your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, which is in you, which you have of God, and you are not your own, for ye are bought with a price. Therefore, Glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. God purchased us. When we got saved, God has the right now to say to us what we do, what we don't do, where we go, where we don't go, who we're with, who we're not with, what we wear, what we don't wear, what we listen to, what we don't listen to. All those things are now under the authority of God because God, in his mercy, And so the Bible says in Romans 12, one, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, they can present the bodies of living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is a reasonable service. You know, the expectation tonight for those that follow God is that their life being holy, what's that mean? It means sanctified, what's that mean? It means that it's dealing with sin and getting the sin out of that person's life. that we're looking at here tonight, and that is to just obey and stay away. from sin. Just obey and stay away from sin. Verse 12 says, Then ask they him, What man is that which saith unto thee, Take up thy bag, and walk? And he that was healed whist not was where Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and saith unto him, Behold, thou art made whole. Sin no more. That's interesting, is that a sin no more? I mean, he was a man that was paralyzed, and Jesus comes to him and says, now that I've fixed your life, sin no more. We understand that in the story of the woman taken in adultery. Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. She was an adulteress, we get that. But this man, apparently, to our perspective, isn't a sinner, but to the perspective of Christ, God looked at it and said, it was because of sin that this came into your life. You know, we understand tonight not all physical illness is a result of sin. John chapter nine, in the healing of the blind man, the disciples asked the Lord the question, who did sin, this man or his parents? And Jesus said, neither did this man sin nor his parents. He was born blind so that the glory of God could be seen in him. And so there might be things like that that God allows in our life that is for his glory, but specifically in this man's life, you're driving or something, you might get a ticket. I've only gotten one ticket. I was a student down in South Carolina, and I had been ill in Barge, Osco. And I got well, and my sister's birthday had taken place while I was in there. And I said, I'll take you to the mall. It was a mall we'd never been to, and so we went off campus, which was a big deal back then. And I'm driving, I'm on a road I've never been on before. And normally, you can take a right on a red light in the United States, normally. me that I didn't see who saw me take a right on red he pulled me over and no mercy I got a hundred and forty dollar ticket 20 years ago but anyway no mercy I wish he had said to me warn him And if he had given me a warning and asked, anybody would respond to a warning and respond correctly. They look at that and say, I got mercy. Oh, I'm gonna grab hold of that. I tell you what, I'm not gonna go down that path again. I'm not gonna do that again. No, sir, officer, I'm gonna walk the straight and narrow because you've been so good to me. And Jesus looks at the guy and says, look, I've been really good to you. We'll put off until next week, the Lord's Supper for the Sunday school hour because of what we have tonight. But in the Lord's Supper, 1 Corinthians chapter 11, it says that if you're partaking of that with sin in your life as a believer, it's profaning that meal because Jesus Christ died for our sins. So how can we come to a memorial service with a smoking gun of our sin behind our back? We've got to deal with our sin because that's why Christ died. And it says, they took of it wrongly, and for this cause many are sick and weak among you, and many sleep. It means many die, and that's a believer that dies, they sleep. Why do they sleep? Because they thought they could just sin, and that's fine. The Bible speaks about chasing. The Bible speaks about severe chasing. The Bible says this, if I continue in sin, that God won't allow that, and it's a believer. And so by God's grace, we gotta say, God, I don't wanna continue in sin. The Bible says in Romans chapter six, verse one, what shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin? That grace may abound, God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer? Now, two things real quick about sin. There are sins of commission and sins of omission. Commission is this, God's word says not to do this, and I do this, sins like steel, Sins like murder, that's commission, breaking God's law, okay? They're sins of omission. And that's this, God says undo it, and I refuse to obey. Profaning the Sabbath, that idea that this is the Lord's day, honoring the Lord on the Lord's day, that the one day a week is to be set as holy unto God, that we're to worship God on that Lord's day. That's a sin of omission. Going into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature. Now, I'm gonna be active and evangelist, and I'm gonna be a participant in getting the gospel out to the world. I'm to be the spiritual head of my home as a dad. I'm to lead my family in devotion to God. The Bible says in the Old Testament that I'm to teach the scriptures to my kids. Again, that's sins of homage. And again, I have a look at my life today and say, you know what? The Lord Jesus said to this man, go and sin no more. By the way, it's not that you can be sinless, but it's that you can live in victory over sin because of the sufficiency and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ and His righteousness. The blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 2 verse 1 says, My little children, these things right I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, righteous. We understand tonight that we will sin, but the thing is this, I do not plan to sin, I am not living in sin, I'm not continuing in sin, I'm not regarding iniquity in my heart. Why? Because by the grace of God, I've heard the word Jesus Christ say this, go and sin no more. Okay, lest a worse thing happen to thee, even as he said to this man here. And then lastly tonight, just obey and testify of Jesus. It says in verse 13, man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay him because he had done these things. It's conjecture a little bit, but I understand this tonight. Jesus was pretty well known. This guy didn't know who he was, but when he found out it was Jesus, I suspect that he might know that these men that he's gonna tell that it was Jesus aren't gonna like it. If he didn't know before, he knew it afterwards. He very quickly understood that as he testified of Jesus, that there was persecution that was gonna come from them. And tonight, I just wanna encourage us, just like this man, God had changed his life. He needed to stand up and say, you know what? God has changed my life, he could change your life too. My life was broken, my life was wrecked, but I'll tell you this, Jesus came by, he said to me, will thou be made whole? He said, rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And this man, by the grace of God, began to testify of the good work that God had done in his life. My grandpa, Grandpa Roth, was a little bit like Mr. Thickson, all right? Just picking up those broken things and putting them back together. That's a great thing. But you know, even better than that tonight is what Jesus Christ was able to do. It might be that somebody's looking at their life tonight and they're not saved. And they understand that if they were to die, that they'd spend eternity in a lake of fire. You know, it's a great thing tonight that tonight could be the night that they accept Jesus Christ as their Savior. Savior doesn't want it. Satan's gonna close it, Satan's gonna do everything he can to prevent it, but you know, praise God tonight, if that person will desire it, if that person will recognize it, they can say to God, God, yes, make me whole. For us as believers tonight, we can accept the way we are and just say, this is just the way it is, you know, I'm not that happy as a Christian. I certainly don't know much about the joy, peace aspect of Christianity, or I can look at my life and say, you know, my life must not be where it needs to be for God, righteousness, peace, and joy, and the Holy Ghost. and to say, Lord, is there sin in my life? And he said, no sin no more. Sins of omission, sins of commission, do I need to get right with God? Because God's able to make my life right tonight. He can make it satisfying, he can make it fulfilling, but the answer is Christ, because he fixed it, it's broken lives. And so may God just speak to our hearts tonight. Let's bow our heads and pray. Father, I thank you for the grace that you give. And Savior, I just praise you that you have an interest in making broken things whole again. And Father, I pray tonight that the Spirit of God not allow anybody to escape the truth of this text. Father, especially somebody that's not saved. Father, as much as we're burdened as believers, we just know that Sylvanesia is saved, that God can fix her life, we can't do it for her. And so, Father, would you, by your grace and your mercy, just speak to these people's hearts, Lord, that we could see them brought to the understanding of their need and recognize that Jesus has the answer, that they would listen as Jesus says to them, will not be made whole. And Father, as believers tonight, we can ask the Lord Father, that doesn't mean that we're really functioning as we ought. There could be broken things in a believer's life tonight. Broken because of sin, whether sins of omission or sins of co-omission. And so I just pray, Lord, I think it's obvious the Spirit of God's working in our hearts tonight. I know that. And I pray for victory. I pray, Lord, we don't wanna just continue broken. Father, we wanna have the power of God. So Father, would you pour out the power of your spirit tonight to fix lives. And so Lord, we commit this service to you. Pray as we sing this hymn of invitation, Lord, that people would act upon the truth of the word of God tonight. And Father, we come to you.