The Need of Our Needy World — Morris Gleiser

Join us now for the chapel hour coming to you from the campus of Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. Our speaker today is dr. Morris Gleiser staff evangelist for a Burge Terrace Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The title of his message is the need of our needy world.

The Biblical Text: Jesus and the Needy at Bethesda

The text is from John chapter 5 verses 1 through 8. John chapter 5. This morning young people great to see you again. Day two of our time together as we are looking at issues regarding this matter of telling others about Christ and I look forward to Continuing to discuss with you and challenge you and hopefully do some instructing to you that even this morning regarding this matter of being the kind of effective witness we really need to be appreciate the opportunity I had to talk with several of you yesterday and Fellowship with you and I and I noticed almost consistently across the board everyone I spoke with there's a there's a little sense of weariness physically obviously you sense the Rounding of the bend and coming to the end of this first semester and you got a lot on your plate.

You've got a lot on your mind and and that's good. It's always good for us to face these responsibilities and I just sense always a need to ask you as you come in here, please put aside all the thoughts of of the pressures of the hour and the pressures of these Remaining days of first semester and allow the Lord and the Spirit of God to do a work in your heart.

Collect your thoughts how they want to run away from you. How they want to take off and think about other issues and things that have to be done. Allow yourself to hear from the Word of God. You've been doing it every day.

You come to chapel all the time there aren't there in the school year and as the week progresses I'm convinced That the Spirit of God wants to do a work in each one of our hearts. I said you yesterday Morris Gleiser is sitting in this crowd and I am being from the Word of God encouraged and challenged and guided my own life as I speak to you on this issue of telling others of Christ may God help each one of us to grab these Fugitive thoughts of ours and bring it into captivity and focus on the Word of God.

So give me just a few minutes of your time. This morning. I want to speak to you as I did yesterday and try to challenge again and do a little bit of Motivation. To urge you on and to encourage you and exhort you to go forth in this area of witnessing.

But I'd like to do a little even some more instruction with you this morning. That's what this week's all about a little bit of both. And I want to do what I can today to help equip you and instruct you.

I found that most young people that I've come in contact with and surroundings like this. Many times it's not further education that you need. It's more Exhortation to get with it. Now I understand somebody and maybe several somebodies in the crowd here today.

Really has never been instructed and taught as to how to win somebody to Christ. Well, well, I sure would like to be a help to you. And I won't give you step-by-step and detailed account ways in which you ought to witness.

I'd love to help you and you can get further instruction. Maybe we can talk later if you'd like to. But I would imagine many of you have been instructed and have been told many ways in which to tell others about Christ.

It's just important that you get a fresh new vision of getting with it and get going and doing what you know You need to do. I Want to take you back to a passage of time in which the Lord Jesus was walking on this earth.

I love the gospel of John and in chapter 5 We read about the time in which Jesus came back to the city of Jerusalem. And I want you to notice something probably you've seen before. Maybe you've heard taught before and preached to you many times before but let's go back and walk across this familiar ground once again.

Beginning in verse 1 of John chapter 5 the Bible says after this there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market or the sheep gate a pool Which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda having five porches five pavilion areas in which these sickly people sat.

Verse 3 says in these lay a great multitude of Very sick 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 in 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 sir. I have no man When the water is troubled to put me into the pool. But while I'm coming another step of down before me Jesus saith unto him rise Take up thy bed and walk.

Lord said would you like to be made whole. And he said sir, I really would I Need someone to help me. I Have no man. I have no one To help me. Scholars and commentators disagree and argue and somewhat fuss about what this all meant about this pool of water that would be troubled at certain times of the Year, and I don't want to get into the details of all the different various teachings about that particular passage.

The point is here was a man who was in need of some help. And all he recognized in his own life was a need for some physical help. He had an infirmity that needed to be helped and this man represents the need of our needy world he represents the crowd of which we walk in come in contact with day after day after day a needy world and Jesus spotted him and spoke to him and he said would you like to be changed?

Would you like to get help and this man said I really would. But I have no man To help me. An elderly couple were driving in the state of Louisiana down in South, Louisiana several years ago. They were just taking a leisurely country Evening cool the evening drive together this man and his wife while driving down this Forsaken somewhat left alone country road.

They drove until the shades of the early evening were beginning to come across the trees of that forested area and Finally, they decided they had driven along together that far long enough and they decided to turn around.

The man took his car and just made a three-point turn there in the middle that old country road and as he did the headlights of his car went up into the trees of that forested area and He saw something reflect white from up there in the trees.

He looked at his wife and he said did you see that? And she said yeah, what was that? He said I don't know and they tried once again to get the headlights to go up into the trees and once again They could see something reflecting from up there in the midst of the forest.

They couldn't figure out what it was. So he pulled the car over it was still Somewhat light but he grabbed a flashlight on the glove compartment. The two of them walked up into the trees and they found what they had seen.

Hanging from the limb of some giant oak tree down in South, Louisiana. Tied to the top of that oak tree of that limb Was a white bed sheet and coming straight down and tied to the other end Was the body of a teenage boy Who had hung himself and that boy had a note up on his Clothing and here's what the note said.

Dear mom and dad what frustrated me most in this last year Was that I have built no ties to family or friends. There has been nothing of lasting worth and value in my life. I Led a detached existence.

I am a bomb of frustration and I should never marry. Nor ever have children. It is safest to defuse this bomb harmlessly now. Simply cremate me as John Doe, he said. I've made no ties to family or friends.

Every time I think about that teenage boy hanging from some limb. I wonder How many Christians knew that boy. I Wonder how many people he walked by that had gospel tracks in their purse or in their pocket, but they never gave him one.

I wonder how many stores he walked into after getting off his bicycle or getting out of a car. Taking a walk from his local house. I wonder how many parks he walked into the presence of other young people who knew Christ who never invited him to church.

Never invited him to know more about it their Savior. I wonder how many people really knew the boy and yet never really saw him. I'm not much into stats. I'm really not. I don't follow him much. But occasionally I run across some that grabbed my attention.

And stats can be nothing more than just empty numbers that I throw out at you here this morning. But I want you to listen to a couple of things young people hear me. Did you know that in America today?

There are 70 million Individuals in America that are under the age of 18. Most of us understand that people who come to know Christ for the most part usually do so before the age of 18. There are 70 million Individuals under the age of 18 in America today.

One out of three teenagers will consider suicide this week and One out of seven will succeed now. That's just a number to you. Let me be more specific. Somewhere between 90 to a hundred teenagers will take their life this week in America.

Over 200 teenagers will die in car wrecks in America this week. And yet we don't read about that in newspapers. We don't hear about it that often but it's a happening. It's happening every single day of our life.

It's occurring around us and yet we busily quickly run through our daily path and we never see people without Christ, oh. We see young people with their strange clothes. We see them with their strange hairdos and the spiked look and we see the body piercing and it and we were something.

We're so repulsed by it. That we revoked away from we get away from people with safety pins in their eyelids. I'm there's nothing safe about that and Something stuck in their tongue some old Earrings some stud hanging in their tongue and I'm thinking to myself how they eat.

One of the most important things of life is eating. How do you do that with that in your tongue? Why don't you do that? I wonder sometimes. You see young people walking around with their dark clothes with some gang attire.

You see them in the mall. You see them Hovering around with their little flock of friends and they all look alike. They all dress alike their makeup is alike their hairs alike and you almost walk away and say boy.

What strange people and we see them in that condition and listen to me, we don't see them desperately in need of hope. So often we'll see them in a strange attire, but we don't see that they're looking for a family.

They're looking for somebody who cares for them. They're looking for somebody who will help them find something that will feel that emptiness on the inside that will satisfy. That longing inside their own heart.

They're looking for it. This paralyzed man sitting in a porch at the pool of Bethesda in the midst of a great crowd of people. Jesus walks straight up to and here's a mark of the grace of God. Jesus walks right up to him and he says sir in the midst of this crowd in the midst of all these people.

Do you want to be healed? Would you like to be made whole and he said I sure would. But I don't have anybody that could help me. What he did not know was the one who could help him was standing there talking to me.

Jesus had the ability to know who it was that needed help and so frequently you and I we don't know who's searching so much. We don't know who may be longing for help at that very moment. But our God knows and he knows where they are and when we are available.

Listen to me. He will put us in contact with those very ones who are searching who are saying I just need somebody to help me. The psalmist said in Psalm 142 in verse 4. He said I looked on my right hand and beheld.

But there was no man that would know me. Refuge failed me. No, man cared for my soul. You know people let me tell you what it is that you need what this world needs and what we need to help this world.

Seeing the Lost Through Spiritual Eyes

That is in such need. Let me give you two things quickly and I'll be done. Here are things you need to give to this needy world that's in desperate need of hope this morning first of all we need spiritual eyesight.

We need to get to the point to where we see what the Lord sees. We need spiritual eyes. Spiritual eyesight. The first verse of John chapter 5 says that Jesus was going to Jerusalem because there was a feast going on there.

It only had to it had to be one of three feasts. It was either the Feast of Passover. It was the it was a Pentecost or maybe the Feast of Tabernacles. It was one of those three feasts. The point is hear me now the streets of Jerusalem those little narrow streets were packed and Jammed with people.

They were packed with people and especially men. There was so much noise of laughter and there was noise of Conversation and there was there was the talk of it if people interacting with one another and people running into each other there was partying.

There was laughter there was eating and there was a fellowship of people who got together in Jerusalem for one of these three feasts. It was the most crowded time in that city and yet here's a man who said No man sees me.

The streets are packed, but no man sees me. They're coming and they're going and I hear them talking and they're having fun and they're laughing and they're having their fellowship. But I have no man.

They don't see me. They're too busy. They're too involved with friends. They're too involved with family. They're too involved with their responsibilities. They don't see me. May I remind each one here in this room today that you need to get to the point to where every day of your life.

You say dear God put souls in my eyes. When I was here as a student, I'd sometimes read a sermon. I'd go to the library and read a sermon that Charles Spurgeon had preached and I remember sometimes scratching my head and say to myself What did he say?

I'd read a couple of paragraphs and I'd back off and said no. Wait a minute. I'm not sure I can comprehend this guy. What a brilliant man what a brilliant mind Charles Spurgeon was and I'd read those sermons and I'd say to myself Am I sure I want to enter the ministry?

I there's no way I could ever do anything like this. It's obvious. I don't. But as I'd read through those sermons, I think what a brilliant man what a brilliant mind, you know. One of the most brilliant statements Charles Spurgeon ever said here.

It was he said I pray every day Lord put souls On my eyeballs, there's brilliance the man said at the pool of Bethesda. Yes, I need help. Yes, I want him. I need someone to help me, but nobody sees me.

I've been sitting here for 38 years, but no one sees me young people. Do you ever see anyone else? Do you ever see anyone else but your own little group of friends? Do you ever see anyone else except your own needs and your own responsibilities?

Are your eyes ever open to see people around you who are without Christ? You say yeah, occasionally when I go out with my extension, I see souls. No, no, no, no. No, no. We're talking about every single day.

We're talking about every place you go. We're talking about when you're sitting at a restaurant. We're talking about when you walk up to a convenience store. We're talking about when you when you drive through some a drive-thru window on the way home.

We're talking about at a gas station. We're talking about everywhere you go souls that you see open eyes. I'll tell you what you need. You need spiritual eyesight. We all need it. We need to get to the point like Peter and John who were walking inside the temple in Acts chapter 3 and a beggar man was Reaching up and saying I need alms.

I need help. I'm a poor man. Can you help me and the Bible says in Acts chapter 3 that Peter and John? looked at him and They said we do not have silver and we do not have gold and everybody in this room can relate to that.

Can we not. I Don't have money to give you but such as I have I can give you and I can help you have a life. That's changed right here. If you'll listen to me and Peter and John had spiritual eyesight.

Philip was out in the desert wondering why in the world did God bring me to this desert? When all of a sudden up drove up on some caravan of wagons and and People coming from one place to another and he sees a eunuch searching the scriptures and Philip says I see what I'm supposed to see.

And he said hey, buddy, do you understand what you're reading and that eunuch said how can I now listen? Except some man should guide me. I Have no man. Philip said scoot over pal. I'll help you and he preached to him Jesus spiritual eyesight.

I Was preaching in California about five years ago at a camp Christian camp. And I suppose it was like Thursday of the week and I had tried to meet all the young people and then tried to get To know them all but as I was leaving one night, I think it was the Thursday night service.

I was walking out and as I did I saw about three or four boys sitting off to the side. I went over. I said hey guys. Have I met all of you and I shook their hands and I saw one boy that was sitting down.

And he wouldn't even look at me. He was staring straight ahead. It was almost like he was in a daze. Finally after I said hello to the other guys. I sat down. I said hey I said I Said if I met you and he turned and looked at me and young people tears were in his eyes.

He said no. I Said hey, what's your name? He said my name is Alejandro. I said Alejandro. I said where you live. He said I'm from Oakland. So that's it's nice to meet you. So that Alejandro what's bothering you buddy.

What's the matter? Young people he looked at me and he said one thing over and over again. He said They're going to hell. They're going to hell. I Said who's going to hell? He said my cousins. He almost looked at me like don't you know?

And of course I didn't. That's all he could think about he said they're going to hell. My four cousins I said where do they live Alejandro? He said all they live there in Oakland where I live. They live near me.

I Said Alejandro God's put them on your heart. I said you need to go home and tell them about the Lord. He's not all no. He said they won't listen to me. There's no way I said Alejandro God's put them on your heart.

You need to go tell him. He said would you pray for me? I said I sure will I put my arm around it and I said now Lord help Alejandro. He's got four cousins without Christ. He says they're religious, but they don't have they don't know Christ.

I said Lord help them to come to know Christ and give him the courage to say what he needs to say and I left It at that I prayed for young people. It was two years later two years past. I was back out at the camp.

Back there in California. I was preaching again and I was Remeeting some of the folks I had met in days in the two years prior to that time and and I was Finishing a service and after the service was over with I was walking out and I saw a group of boys sitting around talking.

I went over to introduce myself to them and I noticed the boys sitting there staring off. Again, I sat down. I said hey, I said have I met you before and he nodded his head. Yes, I said do we meet last time?

He said yes, I said give me your name again, buddy. I said I don't remember you and he said my name's Alejandro. I said yeah, I said I remember you. I Said sure. I said I remember us talking last time, but I don't remember what it was about.

I said Alejandro What's bothering you, buddy? He looked at me and he had those same tears that I'd seen two years earlier. He looked at me and he said he's going to hell. He's going to hell. I Said Alejandro who's going to hell?

He said my cousin. He said I got a 16 year old cousin. He won't get saved. I said Alejandro, where does your cousin live? He said he lives near me just around the corner from my house. I said have you ever told him about the Lord.

He said sure. I tried but he won't listen to me. I said Alejandro you need to go back home and tell him. I said who else is going to tell him if you don't do It he said he won't listen. I said brother.

I said he will listen. You need to trust the Lord. He can use you. He's putting on your heart. He's put him in your own mind. Alejandro said would you pray for me? I put my arm around him and I was about to pray young people.

And just before I started I said Alejandro did we have this conversation before. I Said man, this sounds familiar. He said yes, you prayed last time. I said well, I thought so I said good. Thank you. I put my arm back and I started to pray again.

I said, wait a minute. Didn't you have more than one cousin that you were praying for? He looked up and he said yes, I had four. He dropped his head. I.

Said well, what happened to the other three man?

I said aren't you burdened about them? And he said he looked up put a smile on his face. He said oh. They're saved now. He said I was able to tell them about the Lord. They got saved. I said Oh Alejandro.

May God help you to keep that burden for souls. Do you have anybody on your heart? You have any souls in your spiritual eyesight. You have anybody that you're thinking they're going to hell. They're going to hell souls on your heart souls in your eyes.

Equipping Witnesses With Scripture and Prayer

Only do you need spiritual eyesight, but number two young people we need spiritual equipment. The Lord Jesus had exactly what this sickly man needed and Young people don't miss this truth. You need what Jesus had.

What did he have? He had his own word. Let me give you three things that I want to quickly say to you. You need a spiritual equipment as you had home over the holidays and even before you go home and for the rest of your life.

Here's the equipment that you need now for some of you. This is nothing more than a reminder for many others of you. This is something that maybe you need to learn for the first time. I don't know where you may be personally.

But we need first of all the Word of God. When we come this matter of telling somebody about Jesus Christ, don't depend upon some creative personality trait about yourself. Don't depend upon some gimmick of some creative way in which to get somebody.

Don't get caught up in just methods. Use the Word of God. This is a sword. Or how many times have I seen somebody's life changed because of just a message from God's Word. Just from the expression of the quoting of Scripture.

Just letting them see the Word of God it Penetrated their heart and they saw their need use the Word of God young people. Jesus said do you want to be made whole? Do you want your life changed. And the man said I sure do but I need somebody to help me.

He used the word the Lord himself was the word. He said rise. Stand up take up your bed and start walking. I'm gonna tell you something the very Word of God can change somebody's life. Use the Word of God you say brother Gleiser.

What scripture should I use? Oh, there's so many passages. You can almost turn to any passage in the Word of God and find your way to the cross of Calvary. But you can use passages out of the book of Romans.

Romans 3 10. Romans 3 23. Romans 5 8. Romans 5 12. Romans 623. Romans 10 9. Romans 10 13. You could read to them first. John chapter 5 verses 11 to 13. I love that I use that frequently first. John 5 verses 11 to 13 a Powerful passage that tells us we can know that we have eternal life.

You can turn to John 3 and tell them about the Lord and about about being born again. You can take them to all sorts of passages and tell them about Jesus Christ. I say you just turn the Bible loose. Use the Word of God.

Use Scripture, but number two, you need the equipment of prayer. May I say to you young people don't be guilty of just depending upon your own creative ability and personality. You need to pray for God to use you.

Listen to me. The Apostle Paul said to the people all the time in his epistles. He said pray for me. That an open door of utterance will be given to me that I may make the gospel clear. Pray young people start praying right now.

Are you listening start praying right now for the Lord to open up doors for you when you go home as you drive home? There ought not be a gas station. There ought not be a fast-food place. There ought not be a place of between here and wherever you live that doesn't get a gospel track.

Give them the Scriptures and pray for God to use you. Does God use tracks. He sure does he uses all the time. He uses his Word. Get your hands on some good gospel tracks and hand them out everywhere you go.

The Power of the Holy Spirit in Witnessing

Souls on your eyeballs. Use the equipment of God's Word and pray. And number three. You need the equipment and forgive me for using that word. I'm just using it as a as a tool to express what I need to say.

We need the power of the Holy Spirit if you depend upon your personality young people. You'll only get what your personality can give you. You depend upon your intelligence. You'll only get what your intelligence can give you young people.

You depend upon money. You'll only get what money can do. You depend upon your creative charm. You depend upon your wit and your humor. You'll only get what those things can give you and they'll only last so far.

But you tell you hear me you depend upon the power of the Holy Spirit and you'll get what God can do. The Lord Jesus started his ministry With the anointing of the Holy Spirit upon his life. In Acts 11 and verse 21 the Bible says of the people of Antioch the hand of the Lord was upon them.

Listen, the hand of the Lord was upon them. And a great number Believed and turned unto the Lord. What in the world would happen if every young person in this school. If everybody under the sound of my voice right now would go home under the influence and the power and the dynamic anointing of the Spirit of God.

What could happen? But ye shall receive power. After that the Holy Ghost has come upon you. You say I don't know what to say. Get the power of God upon your life. He'll tell you what to say. You say I don't know what verses to use.

Have the hand of God upon your life. He'll show you what passages to use. I Don't know where people are that need to be saved. You ask God to anoint you and guide you and he'll lead you to people who need to be saved.

We need spiritual eyesight and The equipping of the Holy Spirit in our life. I was praying every day of my life as a teenager 18 years of age for the Holy Spirit to come upon me. I'll tell you something young people I didn't even know what I was praying for.

But I was praying for the Holy Spirit to guide me. And I was asking for the Holy Spirit to show me what I ought to do and and to guide my life I was I was just so hungry to see something of God's anointing upon my life.

I didn't know what I was asking for. I'm just saying Lord. Give me your power. And one day I was driving around my little town I grew up in in Texas and I drove up to a stoplight. I Looked over and I saw a card on the floorboard of my car and I pulled up and I picked it up and I looked At it and there was a name of a boy on there that I didn't recognize and I remembered that was a name given to me by my youth pastor of a teenager that was from the local high school who That he had written down as a boy for us to as a church youth group to go out and visit and invite to church.

And my thought was that needs to be visited later on. I need to give that card back to my youth pastor. That boy's not been visited yet. And then it dawned on me. Maybe the Lord wants me to go by and visit this boy.

And then I tried. I said no Lord, I you know, I know no, I can't do this. We always go two by two and I'm sure that's in the Bible. So I'm by myself. It won't work. I Tried my best to talk myself out of it.

I picked that card back up and I said now Lord, please now I said Lord There's no way I said, you know, it's a Friday night Lord. He won't even be home. No teenagers are home on Friday night. He won't be there.

It won't work. And I fussed with God. Finally I said, okay, I'll tell you what Lord I'll drive by their house and if if there's a light on that'll tell me somebody's there. But I said there won't be a light on I'm sure I drove by there.

You thought they were shooting fireworks in her house or so many lights and that on the house is all lit up. I said Lord Okay I'll do it. I Walked up to the door and I knocked on the door a man came the door and I said is John at home.

He said yes, he is just a second man. He's home. I can't believe this. In a while a boy came around the corner and he stepped out on the front porch and I said hi John. I said you don't know me. I said, let me just tell you why I'm here.

I said I'm here because I got your name from my church youth pastor and I said We're just out inviting teenagers to come visit our church. I said, would you like to come go to church with me about that plane?

I said you would you like to come to church with me this coming Sunday? He said no Morris. I can't do that. I said, okay, just thought I'd ask I said before I leave. Let me ask you one more question. I said if you died today, do you know that you'd go to heaven?

He looked at me and he said no, I don't know that. Do you I? Said yeah. He said can you help me? He said I was just in my room thinking about that very thing wondering what's gonna happen to me in my future if I die.

Can you help me? I'm gonna tell you if there's some way I could have kicked myself I would have done it. Why in the world was I fussing about going this guy wanted to be saved. I said, yeah, I can help you.

I took my New Testament long story short. I opened it up I took him to some scriptures and young people. He bowed his head on his front porch and accepted Christ as his Savior. I said John as I got through I said look I said I want you to come to church with me.

You need to start growing in the Lord. Can can you come to church with me this Sunday? And he said no, he said I told you I can't come. I said well, how about next Sunday? I want you to come with me. He said no, he said let me tell you the reason why I can't come is because he said I'm leaving in the morning Saturday.

He said I leave in the morning. He said I start my freshman year as a student at Texas A &M University. He said that's why I'm home tonight. I'm packing in my room getting ready to leave and listen. He said you were just lucky.

That you caught me. I said no John that wasn't luck. That was the Lord's leading. And young people I drove away from his home that night and I said Lord. If that's what it means to be led and filled by the Holy Spirit.

I want that the rest of my life. Young people as we come to this conclusion time. There's a world that says I have no man. We need spiritual eyesight. And we need spiritual equipment. May God help us aspire heads for prayer.

A Prayer for Spiritual Eyesight and Effective Witness

I know you're about to rush out the door. But before you do take just this quiet moment and say dear God help me help me to see those lost folks and Give me the words of Scripture and the power of God father bless this Short and to the point message and may these dear young people See the potential of Helping a lost and needy world.