"Help At The House Of Mercy.'
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I. Introduction.
I. Introduction.
There comes a time in every life, when you have to decide if the Bible really is good enough for you.
“Am I willing to wrap my heart around this book and choose to obey?”
You have to decide if it really is true, and once you choose to believe it is what it claims to be, you then face a choice that determines your heaven or your hell:
I didn’t say your life and death, because all men face life and death.
I said your heaven or your hell.
See it’s possible to enjoy heaven even while you’re still living!
And it is possible to taste hell, before ever you leave this life.
I’ve seen men do it! I know a man right now, with one foot already in hell!
I’m talking to people this morning, with one foot in heaven!
Every boy and girl, ever man and woman must make the decision for themselves!
“Will I obey and engage with this truth, or not?”
Is this Bible good enough for me?
Is it able to serve as my compass and guide me through stormy seas?
Is it able to transform me, to wash me, to cleanse my spirit, to disciple and perfect me?
This is the most important decision a person can make!
And once a person chooses to buy into the Word of God, that’s when life truly begins!
Wonderful and amazing doors open, when you finally make that choice:
“I will learn and obey and follow and serve, this will be my gold standard, my blueprint and my manual.”
This book that God has given us is so very rich and precious and true.
It speaks to every area of human existence and to every season of life.
We might look to any of it’s many pages and preach from any verse and that verse would contain Holy truth!
But where shall we go today? And what shall we read this morning:
Come with me to John 5:1-9
II. Scripture Setting.
II. Scripture Setting.
The story begins as so many others.
Chaos, suffering, loneliness and disorder.
Into this scene, steps the Man from Galilee.
He is not a doctor or a surgeon.
He is not a politician, or a revolutionary.
He is God.
As he walks through the gate, in that man Christ Jesus, dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily!
Yes, He wears sandals covered in the same dirt as the rest of Israel.
Yes, He has two arms and two legs and seems to be little more than just a man.
And yet, He is unlike anything the World has ever seen!
His spoken Word is sufficient to form galaxies, to separate night from day and establish the bounds of sky and sea and land.
Our text reveals Jesus entering a certain place at a certain time.
It is not a banquet of world leaders, or a university filled with the greatest minds of Academia.
Jesus walks into hell.
Or close enough:
It was called Bethesda, or “The House Of Mercy.”
Let’s read together, John 5:1-9
After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.
It was not a place you’d ever want to go.
Remember, this is an age before a modern concept of “healthcare.”
We have three big hospitals close to us this morning and when you need it, there are ambulances and even helicopters that will whisk you to one in moments!
Today in Jerusalem, there are two hospitals: Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital and Shaare Zedek Medical Center
But In John chapter five they had none.
No rehab centers, no care homes, Mental health facilities, no skilled nursing facilities, no nothing!
They didn’t look at disease or sickness like we do.
In their worldview, sickness was not perceived as a physical problem resulting from a virus or infection.
Disease and Disability were considered a proof of wrongdoing!
If you were sick or blind or lame, people had the same idea that Job’s friends had:
They figured you’d done something wrong!
The common thought was that sickness was God’s way of punishing sin and wrongdoing.
Even If you were born that way, your parents were blamed and always there had to be blame.
“Somebody is responsible for this.”
So, if you were blind, if you had a bad leg, a shriveled hand or any other physical imperfection, you had probably sinned and deserved it.
This was their thinking!
Sick people were not welcome in society!
It was a terrible predjudice!
They were outcast and disregarded.
The Pool of Bethesda was one of the few places in Jerusalem that you could go if you were ill or disabled in mind or body.
At least here, you didn't stick out so much.
Five porches surrounded that pool of water and every square inch was packed with people!
This water was their only hope!
If you took every emergency room in the Bay Area and Redwood Empire, every dialisys clinic, every rehap center, every chronic disease, Every paralytic, every pain management patient, and threw them into one place, you pretty much have the pool of Bethesda.
No pharmacist or perscriptions.
They did not have clean bandages for open wounds.
They did not have wheel chairs with ADA ramps,
There were no bed pans, no modern restrooms or showers.
And if the sight of all that human suffering wasn’t enough to turn you away, the smell was!
How anyone slept on those five porches, I’ll never know.
All night, voices would cry out in pain, disgust or anger.
And then, remember the other reason they were all there:
God had placed an angel on schedule to stir that pool every once in a while.
Isn’t it awesome, how that God can activate the supernatural in the most unusual places?
He has a way of meeting mankind at the point of our most desperate need!
When everyone else has given up on you!
When the whole world writes you off as a lost cause!
This is so often when my Jesus does his best work!
You know, It’s amazing to me, how people continually try to prove the Bible to be wrong!
John tells us this pool existed, but then none of the archaeologists could seem to find it.
Turns out that pool had been covered and built on in later centuries.
They found it in the 19th century and it took 100 years to excavate!
It was split into two parts by a wall, there was an upper, feeder reservoir, divided from the Mikvah by a wall, which gives us the five porches.
Turns out that parts of the pool of Bethesda were 42 feet deep!
Imagine how those hundreds of pairs of eyes locked on the surface of that water!
And the first one that hit the water, after the angel stirred it up, would be healed of whatever disease he had!
We don’t know how often exactly, it would happen.
Did the angel make big, lazy swirls or small waves?
Did the water change color?
Did irridescent light filter it’s depth for that short period, as the angel did his work?
No idea.
But I’ll bet you there were fights for the real estate close to the edge of that pool of Bethesda!
And if you did somehow manage to get a spot close to the edge, always, your eyes had to be peeled on the surface of the water!
Hour after hour and day after day, you would gaze at the water!
And then perhaps the moment you looked away, or found a few minutes of sleep to escape from your hellish reality, the angel would come and somebody else would get your healing!
Now of all the people there that day, Jesus speaks to one man in particular.
Scripture calls him “A certain man.”
We never once hear his name, but Jesus has compassion on this nameless man.
Of all the poor and desperate people on those five porches, Jesus spoke to one particular man.
For 38 years that man had been there, and perhaps Jesus talked to him, knowing that this man had always been at the back of the line..
He asks him a simple question: “Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?”
Now listen, when God asks you a question like that, don’t ask questions!!!
Take Him at his word!!!!
“YEEEEEESSSSSSSSS! “Jesus, I want to be made whole!!!”
“Whatever you have for me, I want it!!!!
I mean it’s one thing to be healed of some malady, but to be “made whole” is far greater!
When Jesus offers to make you whole, I would imagine your entire person would be restored to perfect health!
I don’t think anyone “made whole.” by the Master retained a problem with high blood pressure or blood sugar or anything else!
“Would I like to be healed? Yes please! Would I like to be made whole by the touch of Almighty God? You better believe it!!!!”
I’ll take it!
I’ll take all the healing you have!
Heal my mind!
Heal my spirit!
My emotions!
My past!
My future!
Heal me Lord Jesus!
But our man does not quite seem to get it.
In his mind there is only one way to be healed and for 38 years someone else has beat him to it!
It sounds as though he has a victim mentality, and soon we start to hear the reasons why he has no hope and expects no change:
I don’t know, I can’t be hard on this guy, he had suffered so much.
And to be honest, if I was paralyzed, I would not want to roll into a kiddie pool, much less 40 feet of water!
“Sure I want to be healed, but I have no man to help me into the water, and as soon as the angel stirs the pool, someone else beats me to it!”
This man failed to understand that He was speaking to the Lord of Glory!
And sometimes we forget too!
Hey, don’t put God in a box!
He can heal your situation in a thousand different ways!
He knows what you have need of before you can even ask!!!!!
He wants to help hurting people!
And if you’re hurting here today, He wants to make you whole!
He has a process to heal and to help!
The best thing you can do, is surrender to His process!
Let God worry about the how! Just you get close to Jesus!!!!!
When He gets involved with your situation, let him fix you however He chooses!
Jesus Christ was God in fullness and in flesh!
All power in his hands!
I don’t think Jesus even raised his voice.
He gave a simple command: “Rise, take up thy bed and walk.”
And immediately, the man was made whole, and took up his bed and walked!
III. Scripture Support.
III. Scripture Support.
So many times, we see Jesus heal and resolve and redeem and reconcile!
How many others do we read of in the Gospels, just like that “certain man.” they had no other option for help!
Nothing else had worked!
With ailments and infirmity, they wore disappointment and rejection like a coat sewed on.
They just could not shrug it off!
Then came Jesus…
And time after time, we see Jesus moved by compassion.
He was not moved by their skill set.
He had no regard for their money, connections or social status:
Peter’s Mother in law, healed in less time than it takes to say it!
The Centurion, a man who wore the uniform of Jesus’ own executioners, when he asked that his servant be healed, Jesus healed him immediately!
Jesus opened blinded eyes, like he said he would!
He set those in captivity to unclean spirits, free!
Shriveled hands made straight, Lepers made whole!!!!!
Even there, before the lynch mob in Gethsemane, He was healing Malchus’ ear.
It’s just in Him!
Jesus is a healer!
Notice, that Jesus doesn’t set his sights low. He aims high naturally!!!
“Sure I can heal your most immediate problem, but listen, would you like to be made whole?”
Jesus saw their need and ministered to them out of love!
IV. Application.
IV. Application.
What are you suffering with today?
Don’t feel bad, that you’re not perfect and whole!
This is the human condition!
You are not alone! We all need help!
Is there an illness in your body? Is there a chronic pain or need in your family?
Is it worse than that? do you or your loved one suffer from a wounded spirit?
Jesus is able to heal you today!!!!!
He is able to touch you right now!!!!
Just one touch from the Master will change everything!!!
There is help at the house of mercy!!!!!
The Great Physician is able to heal you: body, spirit, soul!
He is moved with compassion!!!!!!!
There are many people in our county and our world.
We rub shoulders with them every day.
Sometimes the apparent need is a physical one.
Others are perfectly healthy in body.
But their emotional hurts are deeper than any pit!
“A great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for help!
I am so glad friend, that help is availiable at the house of mercy!
The walmart Grocery, my go to, feels to me, like those porches at the pool of Bethesda.
You feel it in the mall, in the library.
Go downtown, buy a coffee at Barnes and Nobles and watch the people.
Stroll through the square, it is just like the pool of Bethesda.
Hurting and wounded, they are blinded by the god of this world.
Sin has a way of hollowing a man out.
Sin is a cancer to the soul.
It has no mercy.
It pollutes the human frame.
And watch how that the inner stain spreads to the outer man.
I’m not just talking about meth mouth, or the polish of absolute self absorbtion, I’m talking about something deeper and more intrinsic than that.
You look in their eyes and there is a certain haunted look.
They are on the run!
I see it on the face of the wealthy and the poor.
You sense it and you hear it in the voices of the well educated and those with little or no education at all.
It is a human condition and no one is exempt.
Somebody put it this way:
A corpse would not feel a four pound weight placed on its chest.
Neither would it feel a four hundred pound weight on its chest.
So it is with people who do not think they are sinners or need Christ. They cannot feel sin’s weight because they are dead in trespasses and sins.
Brothers and sisters, the Master is calling us to action this morning!
He calls us to move beyond the status quo and into the unknown!
Yes, these victims of sin may have one excuse after another.
Yes, they are at times pathetic and hard to be around!
But somebody has to love them!
Someone needs to be moved with compassion for them!
Help is available, at the house of mercy!!!!!
I know, I sound like a broken record.
I'm preaching about lost souls.
“There He goes again.”
Pastor Louw is riding his hobby horse.”
Only I can’t help it!
The church was never intended to be a talent show!
It was never supposed to be a broadway production.
The church is supposed to be a rescue station at the very edge of hell!
I used to flip the pages of my dad’s Bible study chart as a boy.
He would go into those shantytowns, and by the light of a kerosene lamp, he would teach.
I remember that old Bible study chart, I still have it.
The picture shows a great gulf, a never ending pit of fire.
On one side is a city like any other, full of people.
On the other side is heaven.
A narrow bridge exists over that gulf, it is shaped like a cross, but there are very few who find it.
Most of the crowd, the masses of people do not even see the bridge.
They walk almost as in a trance, closer and closer to the edge.
You almost want to shout out to those figures:
“Stop!!! You don’t know what you’re doing!!!”
And finally you see the men and the women, the boys and the girls spill over the edge, into hell and judgement.
I hate that picture!
I hate it because it’s true!
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
Paul wrote to the Corinthians in His second letter to them, the fifth chapter:
“Therefore, knowing the terror of the Lord, we persuade men.”
Man of God, woman of God, you are a first responder!
We’ve got to help the people!
We’ve got to tell them: There is help at the house of mercy!
He goes on to say in 2 Cor 5:14-15
For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.
And then in verse 17-20, we hear a challenge and a charge
Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
It is a commission! A charge to you and me! The ministry of reconciliation!!!
God has chosen you with this work!
You’ve got it to do!
V. Conclusion.
V. Conclusion.
It seems wherever I go anymore, from clients in high rise buildings in the financial district, to the gas station and the grocery store, I see that certain man.
He’s living John chapter 5.
It’s not one man, it’s every man.
It is a condition.
It is not a physical pool with five porches that I see.
It is not physical illness and disability so much,
But everywhere I go, I sense that same scenario:
Spiritual paralysis.
Victim mentality,
Hope all but gone.
I see those people at the check out, in line, at the pump.
And I look to their eyes.
The eyes have much to say.
And in my heart rings that same question:
“Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?”
I cannot do it, but I know a God who can!!!
I am asking God to anoint this church with the ministry of reconciliation!
Help us reach them!
Give us the words!
Give us the love that we need to overlook their condition and overwhelm them with love.
Im asking God for a fresh baptism of love!
The ministry of reconciliation!
Always offer people hope!!!!!
Try to connect the people you work with, the people you know, connect them with hope as often as you possibly can!
“Be thou reconciled unto God!”
I’m telling you folks, it cannot happen until we pray!
We need to get a revelation of prayer and fasting!
We need a good old fashioned, all night prayer meeting!
Pray, pray and pray again!
No prayer? No power.
Some prayer, some power,
LIttle prayer, little power,
Much prayer, much power!
Great prayer, great power!
True prayer, true power!
Pray for the hurting!
Introduce them to this Jesus!
Bring them to a Bible study, a service, a meal!
Spend your compassion and grace on them!
Nobody is a lost cause!!!
Jesus is able to reach them!
He can deliver anyone from anything!
Only He can make whole!
But we’ve got to do our part! We’ve got to love them!
We’ve got to serve our generation!
And we can help them!
Becasuse there is help in the house of mercy!