Jesus Can Do It (John 5:1-17 Jeff Kliewer)

this morning about waking up on a Sunday morning. I mean having your heart prepared even

Saturday night so that Sunday morning isn't all frenetic but realizing on Sunday morning the blessing and the opportunity to come here and intentionally be spending this time in worship to be bringing ourselves before the throne of God by his grace through the

Holy Spirit the whole Trinity thing Jeff but it is an awesome thing and then to realize as icing on the cake we get to come together with our brothers and sisters it is really cool before the service after the service to see how people congregate and fellowship with one another

I can only anticipate how awesome it will be in the New Jerusalem you ever think about that do you know that we only get one eternity to learn everything that there is to know about God that's all we get is one eternity there's so much to know about him that we're always going to be rejoicing and fellowshipping with each other

I want to start us out this morning in Psalm 129 verse 4 the

Lord is righteous there's a great proclamation right there the Lord is righteous he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked now we've done we have to confess and realize that in this world there are difficult times in fact was it

Jesus that said the world hates me it will hate you that's a paraphrase but we do know that we are under a constant attack from Satan it's his it's his bent on going after us it also teaches us in Scripture that God allows trials in our life in fact we're to rejoice over them we grow through them but we do know that any trials that we experience are within the confines and the constraints of a sovereign

God Satan cannot do anything but what God allows it but I will say this that he stays on the attack and his goal is to discourage you if you are believer

Satan is seeking to discourage you and he is seeking to find any way to get your focus off of God but we have a sovereign

God who cuts the cords cuts me free from the cords of the wicked all

I have to do is turn to him in all things that at all times God is faithful he holds me and he will deliver me then my goal our goal as believers is to listen to God and not to the world and not to Satan because our

God is sovereign and he has cut the cords from he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked we have some amazing things going on we're here in the middle of the fall now first of all we have out in the foyer still the

Operation Christmas Child boxes if you have not yet taken enough to hand out to your neighbors this is our opportunity to bless children around the world physically but also with the gospel message was encouraged to let you know that that cornerstone has a dedicated link that you can actually online prepare the boxes online and we encourage you to use the pastor

Jeff's pastor Graham has that and in fact here's a thought take the link that we have that can be used put it on social media so that people that follow you on social media will go on to that link and present these and fill these boxes for our children encourage you to that gentlemen our retreat is coming up a week from this coming

Friday we leave for the Pocono Mountain Bible Camp an amazing weekend of hearing from powerful powerful men speaking to our hearts about what it needs to be a man according to the

Bible not according to the world no political correctness in these conferences if you're interested in it but at this time it just doesn't fit economically we have certain amounts of scholarships available so if you would like to go but it just doesn't fit but you would like to go see

John Detoli see pastor Jeff see myself and we can make that happen for you so don't let that be the limiting item we're still working on establishing our ministry for the

Evesham police if you have not heard starting two years ago we spent a year ministering to the

Mount Laurel police and midnight we brought food for the police officers that served on the midnight the night shift so they could have some food during their shift and it was a great opportunity as God would give us to share our faith and why we're doing it we're going to do it now for six months with the

Evesham police with everything that's going on in the country with police being so brutally attacked throughout the country we want to encourage them that they're appreciated and that they're loved if you are interested in being part of this ministry again

Jeff's pastor Graham has a link but I want you to contact me directly we're getting close to having enough teams to have a critical mass that we can actually do this once we get to that level

I'm going to the police station with Stan Wilt we're going to talk to the police captain we're going to set this up and for six months at midnight on Wednesday we will bless those police who stand the front line for us prayerfully consider that Wednesday of this week there is a meeting if you are interested in taking part on the greeters ushers or safety ministries here at the church

Wednesday at 630 here at the church we encourage you to come out we also want you to remember the various fellowship and discipleship and worship opportunities tonight's prayer meeting at 6 we got the

Monday men's apologetics the women's have a precepts the women's have a study I think on Tuesday maybe that's backwards but Monday night and Tuesday and then there's all the small groups that are meeting as well as our midweek

Bible study on Wednesday so please take advantage of those let's go to prayer the

Lord is righteous and we acknowledge that we profess it we proclaim it the

Lord is righteous he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked when we realize the full extent of the righteousness of God we accept the sovereignty of God the sovereign will of God over the attacks of the world those attacks become less scary the

Lord is righteous the Lord is sovereign and he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked

Lord we pray that we would understand and rejoice and live according to that we pray

Lord that you would use us for the work of your kingdom in your church here in this world help us to understand to accept and to use the gifts that you have given to us for your glory for the one another

Lord to reach a lost word help us to see these needs and to step out give us the courage to step out and to be your ministers

Lord we pray that as we do this we're being blessed by the power of the

Holy Spirit it says in Acts you will have power after the Holy Spirit comes upon you and that Holy Spirit has come upon us pray that we would be obedient to going to Jerusalem Judea Samaria to the uttermost parts of the world using what you've given us for your purpose and so we pray

Lord that as we do these we rejoice for the impact that will be on your church the impact that we can have with one another building each other up and the impact that we could have being your salt and light in a dark world

Lord we continue to pray be with those in need Lord we pray be with our country it is so divided in contentious argument be with our leaders that they would turn to you and that they would lead according to your sovereign will powered by your

Holy Spirit today Lord as pastor Jeff opens the scriptures and we see the amazing power of our

Lord who can do and as he does we pray Lord that you would speak through him give him your words prepare our hearts we pray these things in Jesus name amen

I was so blessed that pastor

John in his prayer he had chosen to read from Psalm 129 which is it's considered a song of ascent there are 15

Psalms from 120 to 134 and there's called Psalms of ascent and what that means is the

Jews in the Old Testament were commanded to go to the temple three times a year for Passover for the

Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Booths and as they pilgrimaged to to Jerusalem they would sing these songs

Jerusalem the city sits upon a high plateau so anywhere from around Jerusalem that you have to go to Jerusalem you have to ascend to get to the city of Jerusalem and and the

Jews they would as they were on their pilgrimages they would sing these 15 Psalms and to get to the city of Jerusalem and then even to the

Temple Mount and Mount Zion they were constantly ascending to to go to worship to the temple and the

Lord just laid that on my heart this morning why don't we all stand

I'm gonna read from Psalm 130 first this is Psalm 130 this is a song of ascent out of the depths

I cry to you O Lord O Lord hear my voice let your ears be attentive to the voice of my pleas for mercy if you

O Lord should mark iniquities O Lord who could stand but with you there is forgiveness that you may be feared

I wait for the Lord my soul waits and in his word I hope my soul waits for the

Lord more than watchman for the morning Oh Israel hope in the Lord for with the

Lord there is steadfast love and with him is plentiful redemption he will redeem all

Israel from all their iniquities he became sin who knew no sin we might become his righteousness himself carry the cross love's so amazing love's so amazing

Jesus The Ransom from Heaven Jesus Messiah Lord of all

His body the bread His blood the wine

The earth trembled

And the veil was torn His name was seen

Lord of all Blessed Redeemer The rescue for sin

Jesus Messiah Psalm 127 is a song of ascent

Unless the Lord builds the house Those who build it labor in vain Unless the

Lord watches over the city The watchman stays awake in vain It is in vain that you rise up early

And go late to rest Eating the bread of anxious toil For he gives his beloved sleep

Worthy of every song we could ever sing Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring

Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe We live for you

Jesus, the name above every other name Jesus, the only one who could ever save Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe

We live for you Oh, we live for you

Holy Mary Inside you

Lord, fill me

Jesus, the name above every other name Jesus, the only one who could ever save Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe

We live for you Oh, we live for you

As you walk with your heart and lead me

Give love to those around me

I will build my firm foundation

Make it fully shaped

I'll decide

Psalm 121 This is a song of ascents I will lift up my eyes to the hills

From where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord who made heaven and earth

He will not let your foot be moved He who keeps you will not slumber Behold, he who keeps

Israel will neither slumber nor sleep The Lord is your keeper The Lord is your shade on your right hand

The sun shall not strike you by day nor the moon by night The Lord will keep you from all evil

He will keep your life The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in From this time and forevermore

Be thou close to me

Save that hour Thou my best thought

By day or by night Wake me or sleep me

Thy treasures my Lord Thou my wisdom

Thou my true word I ever will be

Thy light now is

Thy heaty praise

Thou my inheritor My Lord, my

King Thou my hope

Be one, Son Still be my vision

Forevermore Amen. Let's all be seated.

Let's go to the Lord in prayer. Lord, be thou my vision.

Jesus, you are the light of the world. We look to you. We pray,

Lord, that you would open the eyes of our hearts to behold wondrous things from your word.

We pray that you would give us eyes to see and ears to hear. Make our hearts open to your word.

You alone can do in us what we cannot do for ourselves. And we pray, Lord, that this morning you will do it.

What each of us need. Lord, speak to us. Your servants are listening.

In Jesus' name. Amen. Juan Elias Riesco had deep -seated strongholds in his mind until he found freedom in Christ.

Better stated, Christ found him and set him free. His family, the

Riescos, were from Cuba. And the grandfather had been arrested as a political prisoner by Fidel Castro and spent 10 years in a

Cuban prison until he got out and eventually the family was able to flee to the

United States of America. The Riescos settled in Chicago. And that's where Juan was born.

His mom and his dad ran a deli on the bottom floor of their apartment complex and it was called

Nini's Deli. Juan would help out and he, as a young man, began to go to school but he was not born again.

And so, in the Catholicism of his parents, he began to drift from that and started to shoplift after school.

And it became a stronghold in his life where every single day he was shoplifting from the local stores and became quite a kleptomaniac.

Well, after the rush of that had begun to wear off, he looked for greater thrills in his teenage years and became entangled in sexual sin in one hookup after another, which then progressed into homosexual behavior and he continued as a homosexual man for a number of years.

He decided at that time to move to San Francisco looking for opportunities in that way and he became a graffiti artist and still a shoplifter.

All of this time, in his mind, he considered himself to be a good person.

In fact, he would steal from the store but just to show how good he was, he would give some of that product away to other people and therefore convince himself that he was still good.

His religion at that time was devoted to the sun and the moon. He believed that he prayed to the sun and the moon and that the moon and the stars were like watchmen that were watching over him, that he was protected and was doing well.

He was in many strongholds of mind and of body. Eventually, his mother could sense that something was wrong with Juan and so she drove from Chicago and convinced him to get in the car and come back home.

When he got home, he saw his brother who had been born again, who had encountered

Jesus and this man told Juan about the Lord Jesus and in that moment,

Jesus found him. As he continued to look at the cross and to pray and to read the word, by the washing of the word, he was not only forgiven of his sin and became a

Christian but the strongholds of mind and of body were broken because Jesus is able to set the captive free.

Juan Riesco was delivered gloriously of his homosexuality and of his kleptomania and any other addictions of that nature that he had.

The Lord gloriously redeemed him. He got married. He now has two children and another on the way.

But what was interesting about Riesco's story as if that wasn't interesting, what was notable in the world was his work after he got saved.

That little deli under their apartment complex, Nini's Deli, soon under his work became the most famous deli in Chicago.

One of the hundred most famous in the country. They had contracts with Nike. Derek Rose, the point guard for the

Chicago Bulls would wear the insignia of Nini's Deli on his cap.

It became famous in the city of Chicago because of the food and the service that Juan Riesco offered.

As he continued and served the community, you would think that those that he served and that loved him would have stood by him in 2020.

However, after the George Floyd incident, he continued to preach the gospel on his

Facebook page. And many activists said, no, you must say Black Lives Matter.

And he refused. He continued to show love to all people. But on the day that he posted

All Lives Matter, there was a protest rally organized against Nini's Deli in Chicago.

Everybody was aware of it because it was posted on Facebook. And so what did Juan decide to do?

He and his brother woke up early in the morning and went and stood in front of the deli and set up a speaker and got

Bibles in their pastor. And they stood there and preached the gospel in the midst of the protest.

At nine in the morning, there was only one person there. And Juan said to his brother, does this mean there's not going to be a protest?

And his brother said, no, these people don't wake up and come to work until later in the day. They're sleeping in.

That one young man who met them in front of Nini's Deli listened to the gospel, repented of his sin, accepted the

Lord Jesus Christ as Savior and was baptized into the faith. Well, later in the afternoon, the crowds did show up and it became very hostile against them with crowds of people mocking and scorning them.

The flags that they waved had 666 written on the flag and rainbow colored stripes mocking the

American flag. Things became increasingly hostile. The next day, it would become thousands of people and they painted his wall black with the

Marxist fist. By that time, the second day, he had to flee the city as Paul fled the city under circumstances like this.

But the gospel continued to go forth. On that day, 12 people were born again and baptized into the church of which he was a part.

And he continues to go on. To this day, he goes across the country from Chicago. They started a new church in Dallas.

They are part of the same ministry that we are called Love Life. And they go to the women's centers to preach the gospel and to plead with women to offer help.

It is amazing what our Lord is able to do. The world will tell you with all the dogmatism of the most religious fanatic that homosexuality cannot be changed.

That there are strongholds of the mind that cannot be broken. And things are the way they are and nothing can change it.

But I'm here to tell you by the gospel of Jesus Christ that Jesus can do it.

He can do this and anything. With God, nothing is impossible and he's done it for thousands and thousands of years.

Church, he raised a crippled man at the pool of Bethesda and he set that man free from strongholds as well.

We're going to turn to John chapter 5 this morning. Before we read the first five,

I mean the first verses of John chapter 5, I want to review some of the things that we've seen in John already because there is a theme emerging in the book of John.

And that is that Jesus finds sinners in their sin and rescues them.

It's not that they find Jesus but ultimately that he finds them.

And he brings help from the outside. Their salvation does not come from within them but God rescues the sinner.

Jesus saves. So turn with me to John chapter 1 and you'll notice in verse 29 that Jesus found

John the Baptist. It says the next day he, referring to John the

Baptist, saw Jesus coming toward him. That's an early indication that it's

Jesus who finds us and not the other way around. John the Baptist, being alerted of this by the

Holy Spirit in his ministry, is able to declare, when he sees him, behold the

Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The next day, chapters 1 verses 36 and 37, once again it is

Jesus who approaches where John the Baptist is. And it says in verse 36, he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, behold the

Lamb of God. Verse 37, the two disciples heard him say this and they followed him.

So the two disciples were found by Jesus. He came by.

And they heard the declaration from John himself, this is the Lamb of God.

Once again you have the story of Nathaniel in chapter 1. And his brother finds him.

Philip says, come, come see the one that the prophets wrote about. But notice in John chapter 1, verse 48,

Nathaniel said to him, how do you know me? Jesus answered him, before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree,

I saw you. Jesus knew him first.

He saw him first. The Son of God was drawing him and this encounter was no coincidence, it was no accident that Bartholomew, also known as Nathaniel, would find

Christ. He was seen before he met him. Next we have in chapter 2, verse 14, you recall those who were selling oxen.

Notice the language of John and this is no coincidence, John is very strategic in the words that he chooses.

In John chapter 2, verse 14 explicitly says, in the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons.

And you know the rest of the story there, he cleanses the temple, he drives these things out. But don't you understand, he had to drive their sin away in order for them to see him for who he was.

They were caught in strongholds that they didn't even know they had.

And it was mercy that Jesus drove the money changers out of the temple in order that they would ultimately believe in him.

Then you know of Nicodemus, chapter 3, verse 2, who found who?

In chapter 3, verse 2, it sure looks like Nicodemus found Jesus, right? It says, this man came to Jesus by night.

He came to Jesus. But why was he coming by night?

Look at verse 8. The wind blows where it wishes and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes.

So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. Nicodemus didn't know what was drawing him to Jesus.

He didn't know what was happening. But like a wind that blows a leaf and it falls down onto the grass and goes wherever God would send that leaf,

Nicodemus was being blown by the wind. The Holy Spirit was drawing him to the

Son of God that he would be born again, which ultimately he was and helped take

Jesus down from the cross after the crucifixion. Chapter 4, verse 4, John notes that Jesus had to pass through Samaria.

Was there no other way that Jesus could have gone to the northern part of Israel? He could have crossed the Jordan, gone north and crossed back over like most

Jews did or taken the western route along the Mediterranean. But Jesus had to pass through Samaria because we're told in verse 7, a woman from Samaria came to draw water.

Jesus was finding her. There was a divine appointment from the Father that he would go through Samaria to meet a woman at the well, that this woman who was caught in sexual immorality with a man to whom she was not married, having had five husbands and in the bondage of Samaritan religion, hated by the

Jews, yet loved by God, he went to Samaria to find her.

And the hundreds of people who would then come, verse 40, the Samaritans came to him.

They asked him to stay with them and he stayed there two days. He found them and they declared, this is the savior of the world.

And then you have the son of the official, verse 46 of chapter 4, so he came again to Cana.

What was he doing? He was finding the official and his son, where he had made the water wine and at Capernaum, there just happened to be an official whose son was ill.

Notice what John is doing. He is presenting us with a Messiah who is a shepherd that goes after the lost sheep.

He finds the sick son and the official who's given faith.

He finds the Samaritan woman. He finds Nicodemus. And today, as we read chapter 5, you need to notice this.

He goes into a multitude of people. It's not just one man hanging out at a pool in his backyard.

But he goes to the pool of Bethesda where the text will note, verse 3, in these lay a multitude of invalids.

He's there amongst the multitude but he's looking for the one, the individual.

He's finding this lost sheep. He's going to give him grace. And so it is with each of us here this morning.

We are individuals made in the image of God and he deals with each of us individually. He has compassion for each of us and his word should speak to each as we listen this morning.

Let's read it. John 5. After this, there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool in Aramaic called

Bethesda which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, and paralyzed.

One man was there who had been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him,

Do you want to be healed? Sick man answered him, Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up and while I am going another steps down before me.

Jesus said to him, Get up. Take up your bed and walk.

And at once the man was healed and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the

Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, It is the Sabbath and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.

But he answered them, The man who healed me, that man said to me, Take up your bed and walk. They asked him,

Who is the man who said to you, Take up your bed and walk? Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was for Jesus had withdrawn as there was a crowd in the place.

Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him,

See, you are well. Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you. The man went away and told the

Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting

Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them,

My father is working until now and I am working. Amen.

The Lord bless the reading of his word. Paul tells Timothy to devote himself to the public reading of scripture.

And so each Sunday, we want to devote ourselves to first of all the reading, just the plain reading without commentary of what

God says. And then we exposit what is there to better understand. So guys in the back, could you put up the picture of Bethesda?

Do you realize as Christians, when we read stories of Jesus's miraculous healings, these are not like the fables of ancient

Greece pagan idolatry. They're not fanciful. They're not like the myths of Muhammadism, of him flying on a beast to Jerusalem.

These are real events that happened in real time to real people. And so archaeologists have dug up the pool of Bethesda.

And it's here to this day. If you want to go, where's the other picture? If you want to go to Bethesda today, you will find this archaeological site and you will see some of the colonnades still intact.

Real people in real history, a place called Bethesda near Jerusalem.

So as we look now into the text, chapter five, verse one, maybe the first thing you noticed or perhaps you didn't, as you were reading in the

ESV or another of the modern translations, that the verses count like this.

Look at your Bible. One, two, three, five, six.

Anybody notice the problem? Yeah. We're missing a verse.

What's up with that? If you're in the ESV, you'll have a footnote at the end of verse three.

If you have the NASB, you'll have a bracket around some additional words.

If you have the King James Version, you will have those additional words only footnoted.

What's going on with this? Guys, every English translation or translation into Egyptian or into Papua New Guinea language or into an

Indian language, every translation is a human product of an infallible word.

The infallibility of the Bible is in the manuscripts as God gave them to those who wrote.

And there's an entire field of study called textual criticism, which does its best to recreate the earliest possible reading.

And as some information comes out, new manuscripts are being discovered. For example, the earliest manuscript of the

Gospel of John is known to textual critics as P75, which stands for Papyrus 75.

It dates to about 175 AD, maybe as late as 225 AD. It is the earliest manuscript intact.

Now, we have earlier manuscripts of John. For example, P52, the John Ryland manuscript, it just has a little fragment.

It's a minuscule of John 18. But that dates to maybe 115 or 125

AD. So it's a very early manuscript. But as far as full, intact Gospel of John, the first 15 chapters, as well as the

Book of Luke, P75 does not have what we call verse 4.

Now, the numbering of those verses were only included in 1551. Stephanus, when he added the pagination to it.

But the earliest Greek manuscripts do not have that verse. The earliest appearance of them in the

Greek text record is in the 900s. Three manuscripts then have it.

Earlier than that, you have some Latin manuscripts that have verse 4. And where it probably originated is in the writings of Tertullian.

Here's a quote from Tertullian. He wrote a book called On Baptism. And this is late in maybe the 3rd century.

But he's writing in Latin. And Tertullian writes this. What is likely to have happened is that the text as given by the

Holy Spirit, what John originally wrote, did not include what we call verse 4.

But a scribe took what was written in Latin and wrote it as a marginal note.

Why would they do that? Were they deceivers? No, look at verse 7.

There is a reference to the stirring of water. And someone reading that might not understand the context.

And so a later commentator would make a marginal note to explain it. Verse 7 says, Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up.

A later reader would say, What are we talking about here? And so a scribe had made a note in Latin and in the

Vulgate, which was the Latin translation of the Greek New Testament, explaining what was going on here.

And that worked its way into what became the King James. And so therefore was popularized that way.

But the important point is, how do we know what is authentic? How can we trust our

Bible? How do we know? First thing that needs to be said, minor differences like this in the textual record don't affect any doctrines of Christianity whatsoever.

It's just an incidental point on the side. But no doctrine of Christianity is affected by something like this.

That's important. But secondly, textual scholars have a science to determine these things.

They look at what's the earliest reading. So if we have P66 and P75 from the second century, and the earliest appearance of the later is in the 900s, well, we side with the earlier text, right?

The other thing is the majority reading, which is also in favor of how the ESV handles it here.

So we have over 5 ,000 manuscripts from the early centuries.

No other work of antiquity comes close to that. So we have the ability to compare one thing for another.

This is what the textual critics called multifocality, different focal points.

You can compare what was passed down in Syria or Rome or Alexandria.

And as you look at all the different text types, you can see how the text record came to where we have it today.

Does that make sense? So we can be certain, fairly certain, of the reading here. But here's the point.

It could well be that an angel stirred up the water and the first person in was healed.

That might have actually been a miracle that God was doing. We had to spend some time on it.

Otherwise, when you come to your Bible and you're missing a verse, you might wonder what it is. But don't miss the forest for a tree.

The issue here is you have a multitude, verse 3, of invalids, a multitude who cannot help themselves, physically unable to make it to the water.

But there's something deeper going on in verses 6 and 7. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, how did

Jesus know that he had been there a long time? How did he know that Nathaniel was sitting under the fig tree?

He's God. John is presenting him as all -knowing and Jesus knows everything. In fact, he knew how long this man had been there.

He asks a question that at first glance, at first blush, it seems kind of insensitive, doesn't it?

He says to him, do you want to be healed? Why would

Jesus ask, do you want to be healed? And as we study through the scripture,

I think we need to learn to follow the text, follow the argument.

And in verse 7, the sick man answers him. So what Jesus was doing in asking that question was drawing out from the man what was going on inside of his head.

That's what John wants us to hear. That's what we need to see. So the man will explain, sir,

I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up and while I'm going, another steps down before me.

Can you hear the loneliness in that man's voice? In the synoptics, we learn of a man who had friends that were helping him get to Jesus.

They went so far as to climb on a roof, tear the roof apart and lower him down to Jesus. This man has no one like that.

He says, there's no one to help me get in the pool. And while I'm going, somebody gets in ahead of me.

So he's able to go. Maybe he's paralyzed from the waist down. He can use his arms and he can pull himself to the water, but there's always somebody swifter into the water.

And you can hear the frustration in his voice. Whenever I read this verse, my heart feels compassion for him because he had been there for so long.

Can you imagine what this must have been like for this man? He has a name.

Maybe it was Jacob or Luke or John. Maybe he was a boy running with his friends, playing in the yard and they decided to climb a tree and he scrambled too high, not expecting that the branch that he grabbed would break.

And he fell and he hit the wrong way and he discovered he couldn't move his legs.

And the family mourned and they rallied around him and they prayed. And then one day, years later, someone comes to the house and says, have you heard of the pool of Bethesda?

It's where you'll get your healing. People are healed there. And here's what happens. An angel serves the water and the first one in will be healed.

And this young boy, his mind lights up with hope. This is my hope. If I could just get to the pool.

And so the family makes a decision that they're going to leave their boy, maybe a young teenager at this point, and for 38 years, he's paralyzed.

But how many of those, decades probably, does he lay on the cold hard concrete of the colonnade?

And every time they see movement in the water, he fixes his mind. I will get there.

And he pulls with all of his might to get there. And just before he does, somebody else is jumping in and he assumes that they go away healed.

Do you see what's become, in his mind, the very point of his life?

It's a fixation. It's become a stronghold in his mind that life for him for decades is about getting to the water.

And getting healed. It's become a stronghold in his mind.

And it seems insurmountable. But there's nothing else he can do. He can't think about anything else.

He's in this cycle in his brain. It's more strangling. It's a deeper stronghold than the physical itself.

How many of you here this morning have strongholds in your mind? Cycles of thought that plague you.

That you can't get out of your head. Sexual addictions. Sexual thoughts that you think define you.

Strongholds of the mind. That's what this story is about. See, I have an uncle.

I had an uncle. He died a couple years ago. Named Herb. When he was in his 40s, he fell on a farm where he was operating a tractor and he hit the hitch just the wrong way.

Was paralyzed from the waist down. But the rest of his days in Linden, Washington, as a paralytic, were spent serving the

Lord. He prayed for healing, but the Lord didn't grant it. Remember, there were multitudes at the

Pool of Bethesda. But he spent his days joyfully worshiping God and he would travel about Linden in his wheelchair and tell people about Jesus and hand out tracts.

And when he was alone there in his room, he would handwrite copies of the Bible because he was setting his mind on things above.

And his mind was free. It was not captured like this man's was.

Let's look at the resolution. Verses 8 and 9. Help didn't come from within.

Every TED Talk that you could possibly listen to will tell you the same thing. You can do it.

But the paralyzed man couldn't do it. He couldn't change the state of his legs. And he couldn't change the patterns of his thought.

He could not do it. Verse 8 says, Jesus said to him, Get up. Take up your bed.

And walk. And at once, the man was healed.

And he took up his bed and walked. Jesus can do it. You might be caught in a stronghold this morning and you have been in the same way of thinking for decades.

It might be anxiety, depression, sexual sin. Things that you think will never change and can never change.

Jesus can do it. He can heal you just like he healed this man.

And the key is he began to look to Jesus and talk to him rather than staying stuck in the patterns of his thought.

Don't you wish the story just ended right there? For one, you could go home and eat lunch and Pastor Jeff will be done.

But we would miss the next element and we're beyond the halfway point, but just a little bit. It says now, that day was the

Sabbath, which is a transition in the text. But it unfolds the rest of the story.

Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, it is the Sabbath.

Don't you wish they had rejoiced that this poor man who had been struggling for decades is now walking?

That's the big thing that they're missing. And they fixate because they themselves are caught in a stronghold of tradition.

Tradition. And they say, it's not lawful for you to take up your bed. But he answered them, the man who healed me, that man said to me, take up your bed and walk.

They asked him, who is the man who said that to you? Take up your bed and walk.

Notice these men are not seeing the light. They're not coming into the light.

They themselves are caught in a stronghold of tradition. But lest you judge the judgmental.

Turn with me to Numbers 15, briefly. Numbers 15 verses 30 to 36 tell an interesting story that might surprise you.

We'll pick up at verse 32. While the people of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks on the

Sabbath day. And those who found him gathering sticks brought him to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation.

They put him in custody because it had not been made clear what should be done to him.

Look at verse 35. Who speaks? And the Lord said to Moses, this man shall be put to death.

And God's economy was Sabbath -breaking in the theocracy that was Israel at the time.

A theocracy meaning it wasn't just laws relating man to man, as in the second table of the law, the second of the two tables that Moses brought down, which were manward, but also vertical.

In the theocracy, how they related to the command of the Sabbath, which is in God's ten commandments, all of these things were under God as king and breaking those laws were punishable by death.

What does it say? Verse 35. So don't be too hard on the Pharisees yet. The man shall be put to death.

All the congregation shall stone him with stones outside the camp. Verse 36.

And all the congregation brought him outside the camp and stoned him to death with stones as who commanded?

The Lord. So who was right? Were the

Pharisees right to complain that Jesus told him to pick up his mat and go home?

Or was Jesus right to tell him to pick up his mat and go home? How do you understand a text like this?

I see a realtor in the room. The laws of real estate are location, location, location, right?

As we're studying scripture, the law of interpretation is context, context, context.

Look up with me at verses 30 and 31. In the context of Numbers 15, 27 to 29, there are unintentional sins that people commit.

But there is a kind of sin, hear this now, this is very important, which is intentional that the

Bible describes as a sin with a high hand. Verse 30, but the person who does anything with a high hand, whether he is a native or a sojourner, reviles the

Lord and that person shall be cut off from among his people. Because he has despised the word of the

Lord and has broken his commandment, that person shall be utterly cut off and his iniquity shall be on him.

What the man gathering sticks did was a sin with a high hand.

And what Moses does here in recounting this for us in Numbers 15 is give us an example of a sin with a high hand.

It is to flaunt God. It is to hear the word of the Lord, to know exactly what you're told to do in the

Ten Commandments, not to work on the Sabbath, and to intentionally reject the word of the

Lord, despise the word of the Lord, and in front of everybody, go and do what you're going to do.

It is a direct assault on the authority of God to tell you what to do.

And so you have the sin with the high hand. Moses has just finished giving the law. The people have received the

Ten Commandments and he takes one of the Ten Commandments and breaks it in front of their faces intentionally.

God knows what was going on inside of his heart. He was despising the word of the

Lord. He was working because he is saying, nobody can tell me what to do with my

Saturday. I'm going to work because I want to work. And he did that right in front of their face.

So the context of Numbers 15, then you see it again in Jeremiah and elsewhere in the

Bible, it was a rejection of the command to rest on the

Sabbath and so a person intentionally does his work to make money, to provide for his family.

God said six days you work and on the seventh day you rest. That was part of the theocratic system of Israel and with a high hand he rejected that and so he was stoned to death.

That's the justice of God. Worst things can happen to you than to be stoned.

We'll hear that from Jesus in a minute. So go back now to John chapter 5.

Where did the Pharisees go wrong? The word of the

Lord spoke against a rebellious heart, an intentional sin with a high hand, completely despising

God and his authority and working. But the Pharisees went beyond what was written and added their own words.

Something that's not written in the text. Here is their language which comes not from the word of God but from their tradition.

The Pharisees wrote this. If any man on the Sabbath bring in or take out anything on the

Sabbath from a public to a private place if thoughtlessly he's done this he shall sacrifice for the sin but if willfully he shall be cut off and shall be stoned.

The Pharisees borrow language from numbers and they're rightly understanding the difference between willful sin and the unintentional.

But they've added to the word of God. They add the word anything. If you carry anything that's not in the

Bible. There's a difference between rejecting the Sabbath law as an Israelite and working to provide by carrying this firewood and doing your work and carrying your bed where you had been laying to get home.

They added the words public to private place that wasn't in the word of God. They added traditions and layers upon layers and here's the thing about Phariseeism, legalism.

It goes beyond what is written. What was the purpose of the law? Hear this, this is so important.

Ray Comfort likes to say that the law when used lawfully destroys legalism.

The law when used lawfully, meaning the right way as God intended it, actually destroys legalism.

We think that it's like law versus gospel. Actually the law is what shows us our need for the gospel.

Used lawfully we read the commandments and we see in ourselves that we are lawbreakers.

The commandments show us our need. Paul read the 10th commandment, thou shalt not covet.

And whereas he thought he kept the rest, he didn't commit adultery, he didn't murder, he didn't steal, he never took the

Lord's name in vain. He kept the commandments but the 10th commandment was thou shalt not covet. And the 10th commandment then pushes the level of sin to the heart.

Maybe you've never stolen but you've coveted what your neighbor has. Maybe you've never slept with your neighbor's wife but you've entertained the thought in your brain in the mental stronghold of your mind.

Thou shalt not covet is at the level of the heart, not just the outward obedience. So the law actually exposes our need.

The Pharisee had this backwards. He thought that he was keeping every law perfectly, like the rich young ruler of Matthew 19.

I've kept them all for my youth. I'm squeaky clean. You see the legalism comes up from the person who thinks they're righteous by the law.

Just like any other religion, if you think you're following the eightfold path of Buddhism and now you're enlightened or you're following the five pillars of Islam and now you're righteous, following the 10 commandments of Judaism and so you are acceptable to God, that's

Phariseeism. But the law used lawfully exposes us in our need and so we look to God as Savior and our only hope is to come into the liberty that he provides.

We call on him, we beat our chest and say, have mercy on me, the sinner. That's what the law is to do.

So the law is not opposed to gospel, it brings us to the gospel. It's a mirror that shows you what you look like.

You go to the mirror in the morning and you see you got something on your face and so you wash your face.

The law shows you that you have something on your face. It's a mirror and it's a tutor to bring you to Christ.

So here he stands in the text, notice in verse 13 we left off, he's like the hound of heaven.

The man who had been healed did not know who it was for Jesus had withdrawn as there was a crowd in the place.

Remember how we opened the sermon with the sub -introduction? The theme that John is developing, look at verse 14.

Afterward Jesus found him, he found him in the temple and said to him, see you are well.

Jesus is after more than his physical healing. There's something even more important than that and so he goes on to say, sin no more that nothing worse may happen to you.

Talk about politically incorrect. Sin no more. Well what could be worse than being an invalid for 38 years and being captured in his mind fixated on this healing that he was chasing.

That sounds pretty miserable but it wasn't comparable to what could have happened.

In number 16 after the sin with the high hand there was another who sinned with the high hand. His name was

Dathan and Abiram and Korah. Korah was the leader, the others were following but they rejected the authority of Aaron and Moses said separate yourself from the people,

God will judge and here's how God judged Dathan and Abiram and Korah in Korah's rebellion.

The earth opened up and swallowed them whole and alive into Sheol. There is a worse fate than physical death and that is to be brought alive into Sheol.

Hell is a real place. It is a place that Jesus describes more than any other.

It is such a heavy topic that maybe nobody else could handle it the way Jesus did but Jesus is the one that speaks of hell more than any other.

A place of weeping and gnashing of teeth where their worm does not die. It's an outer darkness.

It's a place of eternal torment. You're not annihilated. You continue on forever.

So 38 years compared to 38 billion years and then an eternity after that.

Many people think that when you preach the gospel you should only focus on love, love, love and the promises of God, forgiveness in Christ.

Yes, that is the good news but the good news is offered as the remedy to what we deserve for our sin.

The wages of sin is death and if you get the second birth you will never experience the second death.

If you're born once, you're going to die twice. If you're born twice you only die once.

The physical birth and the physical death are inevitable but if you have the spiritual birth you will not be touched by the second death which is eternal separation and punishment in hell.

Jesus is not politically correct but he is referring to this when he says that nothing worse may happen to you.

I don't know if this man is ever saved. How would we know?

Jesus' point is his life will be changed. He will no longer live for the flesh but he will go and sin no more.

Not earning his salvation but demonstrating that he now believes in Jesus. The problem I have is the next verse in the text.

It seems like the very first work that he does is negative. Wouldn't it be a shame if he got healed of 30 years, 38 years of paralysis but lost his soul?

What does it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your soul? The very first thing is he went away and told the

Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. Knowing their anger he doesn't seem to be looking in faith.

It could be that he eventually experiences something worse. Now, let's not be too hard on him.

Maybe he's just doing as told and that's actually obedient. Could very well be.

Could be that he's saved. We hope. We don't know who's saved, do we? In this room, who is the judge of the living and the dead?

Do you know who's saved in this room? We can't know that with certainty but I think fruit demonstrates over time a pretty, you know, the tests of 1

John are clear but the warning is not meant ultimately to send you out of this place trembling that you might not be saved.

What is it for? It's to point you to Jesus. Flee to him.

Take hold of him. He is your life. He is your only hope of being saved from a fate that is worse than what befell this man.

So lastly, this is why the Jews were persecuting Jesus. But Jesus answered them,

My Father is working. See the parallel to the Sabbath. The Father is always working and he claims equality with God by saying, and I am working.

He is in fact the Sabbath. We'll get into some of these things next week. But in conclusion, here we have the story of this is a hopeful story, isn't it?

No matter what your stronghold, however strong it feels to you, Jesus can break it.

And it's simple for him. He just speaks the word. Get up. Take your mat. Go. Walk. Boom. It happens. Why do you think your stronghold is stronger than the king of kings and the lord of lords?

Why do you think that the way you think can never change? Your anxiety, depression, sexual sin, these things that are strongholds of the mind and of the body,

Jesus can do it. So all you have to do is look to him and by the washing of renewal by the word of God, be changed and conformed to the image of Christ.

Run to Christ. Take hold of him. He will prove himself to be a perfect savior. Don't believe the lie.

See, one of the things about the lie, and I think this is what had the paralytic just entangled and in knots.

The lie told him that it had to be that way. Nothing could change it.

He was just stuck. He couldn't do anything else. He couldn't go be a singer of Israel.

Could you imagine this man might have had a wonderful voice, although he couldn't use his legs.

He could have been worshiping God and useful to the king in that way. His mind could have been a blessing to the church just as when

Russell made a video for us that we would be encouraged by his testimony of the king of kings and lord of lords in his life.

Useful for the kingdom in the things that were given. We are stewards of whatever we have. Instead, he was stuck in what he didn't have and his mind was in knots all the time when all he really needed to do is look to Jesus.

Well, Jesus found him and rescued him from that horrible cycle. Jesus can do the same thing for you.

Look to him. Look to the cross. Think about him. Turn your eyes to Jesus.

Look full in his wonderful face and the things of earth will go strangely dim in the light of his glory and his grace.

If Juan Riasco was caught in these strongholds that the world says is unbreakable and yet Jesus set him free, he can do the same thing for you and for me, for all of us.

Just look to Jesus. Juan is part of the same ministry that we do with Love Life. I want to encourage each one of you to take some time this week to watch on YouTube Paint the

Wall Black, the story of Nini's Deli. Just google that.

Watch it on your own time. It's 45 minutes, but it's a testament to the power of Jesus Christ to break strongholds.

Let's pray. Father, we need you in this place this morning because we are aware that in ourselves we do not have the power to heal ourselves physically, let alone mentally, spiritually, emotionally.

We cannot do it. We need you to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

Jesus, you can do it. You are hope. You are life. You are healing.

You are forgiveness. You offer these things, I should say, Lord. And so we are asking that you would do this in this room right now.

Lord, for the one who's been stuck in strongholds of the mind, set the captive free.

For those who are caught in anxiety, depression, give peace where there is no peace.

For those caught in destructive habits and patterns of sin, set your people free.

We're calling on the name that is above every name, the name of Jesus, and we're looking to Jesus Christ to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.

In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. Stand for a final song.

Stand by my part An empty grave is there

To prove the Savior lives Because He lives

I can face tomorrow Because He lives

No fear is gone Because I know

He holds a future And life is worth the living

Just because He lives And one day

I'll cross the wall

With victory

And glory And I'll know

He lives Because He lives

I can face tomorrow Because He lives

No fear is gone Because I know

He holds a future And life is worth the living

Just because He lives Because He lives

No fear is gone

Because I know He holds a future

And life is worth the living Just because He lives

And life is worth the living Just because He lives

So quick note definitely watch Paint the Wall Black and secondly if you parked in the fire lane you're going to want to hustle out right after the benediction because the fire marshal might be coming by so you want to go quick and so if next week anybody wants to park across the street that will help with the parking snarl so praise the

Lord for His good word to us let's take this benediction Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy to the only

God our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, dominion and authority before all time and now and forever