The Lord
didn't create man to be full of heartaches and
heaviness, pains and problems. Had there been no sin
there would have been no sickness or sorrow. Turn
with me to the 5th chapter of the gospel of John and
see how sin deceived and diseased a certain man.
Mark the
condition. In Jerusalem there's a pool called
Bethesda. Within the porches there lay a great number
of sick folk - blind, lame and paralyzed. There was a
man there who had been an incurable for 38 years. He
was helpless and hopeless, lonely and lost.
Mark the
compassion. The Lord Jesus, who is the Friend of the
friendless, the Helper of the helpless came to this
place and person. Though the crowd had failed him,
the Lord hadn't. He knew all about his aches and
agony, and He chose him in his affliction. You and I
don't choose someone who is loveless to love, but the
Lord does. He comes to us when we're sightless to
make us see, when we're lame to make us leap, and
when we're withered to make us whole. He comes to us
not for what we can give Him, but for what He can
give us. He knows all about your defeats and
disappointments, and He loves you.
Hear the call.
It wasn't the sinner who spoke first, but the Savior.
He always takes the first step and speaks the first
word. The Lord Jesus asked him, "Wilt thou be
made whole?" Do you say, "What an idle
question?" Oh, no! It's an important one. The
Lord couldn't deliver him if he didn't desire to be
delivered. Just so the Lord comes to you this moment.
He's far more ready to save you than you are to be
saved. He's far more willing to deliver you than you
are to be delivered. And He asks you, "Wilt thou
be made whole?"
Hear the
complaint. "Sir," answered the man, "I
have no man when the water is troubled, to put me
into the pool." How true to life. He had more
faith in the means than in the Maker. He was more
concerned about the pool of man than he was about the
Person of God. Can it be that you feel the same way?
When the Lord asks you, "Wilt thou be made
whole?" do you answer, "I don't know which
church to join!" If you joined every church in
the world that wouldn't save you. It's not the church
that saves, but Christ. The Bible says, "Thou
shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His
people from their sins."
Heed the
command. The Lord Jesus said, "Get up, take your
bed and walk!" But first He asked, "Wilt
thou be made whole?" You see, He'll never save
you against your will. To be saved, you must say,
"I will." After the will is excited, the
faith is exercised. For "Faith cometh by
hearing, and hearing by the word of God." On
hearing the word of God, he didn't struggle or
strive, he believed. Won't you?
Look at the
change. God's precepts carry His power. Whatever He
enjoins you to do, He enables you to do. The Bible
says, "Immediately the man was made whole, and
took up his bed and walked." Do you ask,
"What did the Lord Jesus mean when He said, take
up your bed and walk?" He was saying in effect,
"Make no provision for a retreat!" Julius
Caesar came with his men of war to fight the enemy.
As he approached the cliffs he saw the enemy lined up
to defeat and destroy them. Afraid that his men might
retreat, he commanded, "Burn the boats!" So
our Lord says to you even as he said to the man at
Bethesda, "Take your bed and walk!" or as
Caesar said to his men, "Burn the boats!"
Make no provision for a relapse or a retreat. For the
Bible says, "Let the wicked forsake his way, and
the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return
unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and
to our God, for He will abundantly pardon."
Because the
cripple was cured and converted, he confessed Christ.
His confession is recorded in John 5:15, that reads,
"The man departed and told..that it was Jesus
who made him whole." A little fellow was taken
to the hospital for a serious operation, and he got
well. But before he left the hospital he called for
his doctor. As the doctor walked into the boy's room,
he said, "Willie, do you wish to see me?"
Throwing his arms around the doctor he cried,
"My mother will never hear the last about
you." If you've come to Christ, the Great
Physician, and He has made you whole, you'll say to
Him, "My friends will never hear the last about
You!"
copyright 2000 Guido Evangelistic
Association
All Scripture verses are
quoted from the New King James Version.
Click here to go
to the next message in this Sower Scripture Study on
the book of John.
This series of messages on the
books of the Bible were originally written for
broadcast on Dr. Guido's radio program, "The
Sower." They are collected and reprinted here
for your enjoyment and spiritual edification.
