The Invalid

We're taking a look at the healings of Christ. The Miracle Worker over the next few weeks. And so this is kind of an another intro to His healing pattern, as he lived on this Earth. First starting verse 8 to immediately. Jesus knew it is spirit that this was what they were thinking in their hearts. And if what they were thinking was that they were thinking that he had no right to forgive sins and he said to them. Why are you thinking these things? Which is easier to say to this paralyzed, man, your sins are forgiven or to say, get up, take your mat and walk but I want you to know that the son of man has the authority on Earth to forgive sins. So he said to the man I tell you get up take your mat and go home. He got up took his mat and walked out in full view of them all this amazed everyone and they praised God saying we have never seen anything like this.

You know, it when you think about which is easier, you we can say that your sins are forgiven, but there's only one who truly can forgive sins, and he is the only one that truly can heal. Also, Praise Your Name. Let's, let's go to prayer. But remember I will continue to pray for Tanya that she continue to heal. Our gracious Father in Heaven. How wonderful it is to know that we have a God who truly desires the healing of Our Lives. Both physically and spiritually more. So spiritually, father for that is the true healing. That you redeem us through the power of the blood of Jesus Christ and father we know that there are many in our community that think and believe that they are healed, spiritually and yet then Darkness because they have not chosen to follow you. So we pray for their lives. We pray that their hearts would come to that point of recognizing that there is a great and powerful need in their lives. Made that need be revealed through our lives as you, your spirit Works powerfully in each of us who know you to express your glory through what we do and say and think. Father, we do want to remember the needs and we think of Tanya and we pray for your continued healing on her. We Rejoice that she is doing so well at this point and pray that that healing would be completed and that she would be refreshed energized and have no pain whatsoever. Father we do pray for Those who have unspoken request and it for those needs of the heart that people are expressing to you even though they are not outwardly spoken for. You know, the mine and said the hearts of every single person it does not Escape you but you know where they are. And so father, we pray that those desires would be met through you. And do you know what is best? And so we pray that their hearts would be molded to your desire for each of them we do thank you for the opportunity to worship you and we pray. That is we continuing worship that? We would exalt you that you would be praised in all we do in Jesus name. Amen.

I'm getting a messed up, I don't know why.

I hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness, I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on. Jesus is a rock. I stand all other ground is sinking sand. When he shall call a trumpet sound in here, be found on Christ, the solid rock. I stand

On Christ, the solid rock. I stand

not nearly as smooth without my partner.

Supreme.

PennLive.

OMG, these are the words that I pray. I need my son.

I want to know.

I need my sleep.

I need my win. These are the words that I pray. I need.

I need my sweet.

Today.

Everyday. Yes.

Let's pray. Grace's father once again, we come before you. You're the mighty one who is the eye than the Rector of Our Lives as we trust you. We see the path made clear. And so father, we look to you today, we pray that your Holy Spirit would be here in strength and power to touch each of our hearts then is we look at your word. We would see you powerfully involved in it and how you can be more powerful more involved in our lives, as we let our guard down and let you in. Pray that your spirit would also be powerfully in me to guide me in the word that I would that be walking in your life and your spirit would have full control to guide each word. We ask this in the precious name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Amen! well, we have been Looking last week, and this are two weeks ago and this week at Jesus, The Miracle Worker. And so, we're looking at the various Miracle City performed in why these particular Miracles are important in understanding our Lord, and Jesus Christ in his work as so. What are the things are each of us? Understand as we take a look at Miracles that there are very three, very important things that should come out of each of the Miracles. So we need to remember these in our lives. The first thing is this, that every Miracle is a gift from God and so the glory needs to go to him. You know, I'm as Mary mentioned earlier in Sunday school, you know, when we got to talkin with our doctor afterwards and all that he had done, you know, any says I can only do so much but it is God that heals and that's a recognition that. In all circumstances, God is the Healer. So, that's the first thing. The second thing is that miracles happen because there is a desire from the Lord to have spiritual change happen in life. And so every time we witness a miracle or see it happening, there is a desire. Also that that lead to spiritual change in each person's life. And the third thing is that God wants these things to reveal truth that happened to reveal truth about him in our lives and the lives of those that are influenced by that Miracle. So when you look at Miracles, you can look in those three areas, I'll give you an a sense of that for a little story and I have together when we were living in Grace, we had the opportunity to go to a gathering of Christian Believers on Cypress. These weren't normal Christian Believers, in the sense that they came out of a different environment. For they were Arab Christians, Christians that it come to Christ through our ministry in the Arab world. And there were over three hundred somewhere like 350, Arabs, that had gathered there and Cypress From 18, different countries, clear across from Morocco, all the way to Pakistan and they gathered to learn more about Christ and to celebrate him in their lives. And there was Mary Heather and I had the opportunity to just have some great times talking about Christ with all of the many of these different people. And we kept hearing these stories about this one lady who was there who had had a miraculous work happened in her life. I'll try to be quick about it and I had the opportunity to talk to her and I asked her, please tell me this story about your coming to know Jesus Christ, as Lord and Savior. And so for the next hour she talked about how God had made a difference in her life. I'll try to make it in just a couple of minutes. Anyway, she was talking about her. She had grown up in a very strict family and a family really focused on worshipping, Allah and celebrating him by the time. She was 13 years old, she had memorized the Quran. And I think about that, you know, how much of the Bible have, we been able to memorize each one of us would go not close to all of it? That's for sure though. She had she had memorised the Quran by the time she was 13 years old and she absolutely hated Christians. In fact, if she saw the Christian in the marketplace, she would spit on them and curse them. She hated Christianity, but God brought a problem into her life. And that problem dealt with her son, her son had an extremely bent backbone. Scoliosis. That was just unimaginable. And she, she wanted to get him healed. So she went to doctors in her country and they couldn't do anything. She went to Europe and saw the very best doctors she could find Europe to help out and nothing was happening. In the meantime, her brother-in-law had married, his her sister and he was a Believer and she hated him. That he wouldn't follow her leading a but her at her sister, became a believer in Christ also and she just was didn't want to have anything to do with them but she was out one night, just grieving for her child because it had just continue to get worse and worse. And she was out driving just lost control of the car and ran into the sand and I got stuck and she recognized that she was just a couple of blocks from her brother-in-law's home and so she walked to the home and she was just distraught with what what had happened to her her son and she just said, I don't know what to do. Would you please pray for my son? And so, he did. So, And she said, I'll tell you what. if God heals my son, I'll become a believer in Jesus Christ. The next day, she got up and her son was walking around without any bent at all. And she took the son to the local doctor and they did x-rays on the back. And the doctor said, well, this isn't the same person. They are X-rays show that it's just not the same person and yet she knew that it was God had healed her son. And she became a believer in Jesus Christ. And as vicious, as she was against Christianity before, she was just as profoundly fighting for Christianity afterwards and I noticed among the whole crowd in the reason I heard so much about her is because there was just an incredible respect among all the Arabs for this lady and that's one of the reasons is that she always was a pretty powerful one and pretty tough lady. But also she was openly willing to just share would God have done in your life so she brought glory to God by sharing would got it done to her live? That Miracle changed her life. So it had a spiritual connection and thirdly, it brought truth to her lawn. She recognized it. I want was not God. Did he was false, but it was a lie. And the truth was a Jesus Christ was gone. And so that's what miracles do in our lives and sometimes we get to get the opportunity to see a miracle. We need to give God the glory and recognize that there's a purpose in that miracle in each of the Miracles. We truly read about in God's word, have that those connections that go along with it. What we're going to take a look at a miracle today from John chapter 5. And the verses 1 through 14, I'll just read the first 5 versus now and we're taking a look at the dividing line. Here sometime later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now, there is in Jerusalem, near the Sheep gate, a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda. You heard of the Hospital Bethesda where it got its name in which is surrounded by five covered Colonnades are a great number of disabled. People used to why the blind the lame, the paralyzed one, who was there, had been an invalid for 38 years, okay? To catch you up a little bit. You might have noticed that there's no chap, no verse for in this reference and in many bibles are is numbers for. But it was added later. I'll tell you what, verse 4. To say it talks about why all these people were surrounding this pool and it is because of the pool at Bethesda. The tradition is that an angel would come down and stir the water. And the very first person to enter the water was healed of whatever Affliction they had. And so he'd been waiting around. This guy has been waiting around for 38 years. To get his turn to jump into the water and hadn't been able to do it. Okay. So anyway, here's what I want us to get out of this whole thing. This guy had been working so hard to get a physical healing. And God is the one who actually does the healing. So, rather than looking to God, he was looking to his own efforts to get into the water, and that's what happens in our spiritual lives. We think that somehow we can do the work so that we can get into the water and be healed. And that's not the case that we are fully reliant on the Living. God is visions. That 289 says, this very clearly for it, is by Grace, you have been saved through faith, and then it is not from yourselves. It is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. In other words, your salvation, my salvation is not what I can do. It's what God has done in you to give you life eternal life. If you don't comes that way, we are made righteous through his acts, which is different from what was being preached that day. Remember the Pharisees and scribes, they were going around teaching that obedience to the law was what made a difference in your life. Obey the law. That will get you what you need in this life. And the problem was that that was false teaching that was leading people to stray and people were being lost just as the Pharisees and the scribes were being lost. Jesus was talking about that in The Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5:20 says for I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the Kingdom of Heaven. In other words, all the good that you think you can do makes no difference. It is only through Jesus Christ that makes you righteous and ready for the kingdom of God. You know, works works a little story of the rich young man who came to Jesus and he wanted to be justified in all that done. The ask Jesus. What, what if I need in Jesus as well? Have you followed all the rules and laws and everything? Oh yeah, I've kept it all off. I've done every one of them ride in my life. And then Jesus. Well you says this Luke 1821, all these have kept since I was a boy he said those things in Jesus said okay I'll let you need to do now is go sell everything you have and follow me. You know, the key wasn't selling all you had, it was in following Christ. It was going to make the difference in his life. And he walked away in despair. Why? Because he's been given so much. Were you here last week watching? Ryan Kaiser? Speak he spoke on that issue. If you remember, you know, he went to God and he said that, God came to him and said, you know, give me everything you have. Any said, well, I give 10%. Okay, I'll give you 20% house. That does that work? Well. Okay, last offer, I'll give you a 50%. John said, no, I want everything. You see what it comes down to it. Everything we have is from God, you have nothing that you have done to gain what you have on. You say oh yeah, I work hard to get what I've done. Was it, God gave you the body and the mind to get what you have is certainly wise. And so he deserves everything that we have. And that's the direction that we need to go to God. He needs everything hits by faith in him, in faith alone. We haven't Matthew 9, another picture, you know, of a paralyzed man brought to Jesus. You know, he gets out of the water in. This guy is brought to invite other people. He's paralyzed and And Jesus says to him these things. So men brought him, Matthew 9 to some men, brought to him a paralyzed man lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the man, take heart son, your sins are forgiven. In other words, he was recognizing some faith that they brought to him and your sins are forgiven. And once again, we're reminded that spiritual healing is far more powerful than the physical healing that can take place. Again, this is a battle that is going on in the world at that time and is still today. The battle is Did I'm doing right? And I'm okay. But God says, no, you need to be forgiven and you need to come to me. We'll come back to that little episode in, but let's continue to read on John 5 6, through 9.

When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time. He asked, do you want to get well, you know, if you want to be healed and this guy has been sitting there for 38 years. Does it sound like a foolish question? You know? Of course he does. He said, sir the invalid replied. I have no one to help me into the pool. When the water is stirred. Well, I'm trying to get in. Someone else goes down. Ahead of me. Then Jesus said to him, get up, pick up your mat and walk at once. The man was cured, he picked up his mat and walked the day on which this took place was his Sabbath. Now, think about this, a little bit. Most of the time when we read about healings and scripture, it is somebody that comes to Jesus and says by faith, I need healing, please heal me. It didn't happen in this. This case in it. Jesus went to him. Do you want to be healed? Well, of course, he wanted to be healed a tried, but notice again that it was all his effort, you know, I just haven't been able to get past all these people to get into the pool. First, I need some help. Are you here to help me? You want to stand around for whatever time, it takes for that, Angela come down, the stair. The water and help me to jump into the water first. You know, that's kind of what he was looking for somebody to help him along physically in his life, but he had a greater need and God wanted to meet that need and we'll see later that he truly does getting that way.

We talked about that a little bit in Sunday school this morning and I have a reference to that particular healing that went on. In Sunday school. It was when Jesus came again, crossing the lake, he gets there and there was a man that came to him and said, please come heal my daughter, she's dying. And Jesus went along to help heal this daughter in along the way a woman reaches out and touches him. It Luke 8:43 in a woman. Was there, who would be subject to bleeding for 12 years? But no one could heal her. And she believed that, if she could just Touch the Hem of, Jesus is his garments healing would come into her life and is she reached out and she touched her garments. She was healed and she noticed right away that she was Healed. But so, did Jesus. Do interesting. He's he's on the way and he he turns around and he says, who touched me? And of course, there were hundreds of people, maybe thousands of people that were surrounding him in the disciples are going. What do you mean, who touched you? There are a hundred people here who touched you and Jesus kept it up. Well, who touched me? This lady comes forward. And said, she says, I did and talk about his healing and he said, you know, the Lord healed. You bless you, we need to remember that it is by faith. The healing takes place and she was crying out really to the Living, God to touch her and healer. And she recognized that Jesus had that authority to do so and we need to remember that. We need to remember that this man was helpless, and we see that a lot of lives and looking back at another episode where they were, some people recognize somebody is hurt and they want to help them. And part of that is that we pray for them. If somebody's hurting just like we prayed for Tanya earlier today she's hurting she needs help and so we're praying for that healing. Well, there are times when we have to break the God and so there were a few men who carried a leper to God. We see this often But there are times other times, when God comes to us in Acts chapter 2. We see Peter and Paul Peter and John, they're heading towards the temple than they are going there to worship and have time with their brothers in Christ and there's this beggar. That's at the where they are and it says, x-23 to. Now, I'm a man who was lame from birth, was being carried to the Temple, Gate called Beautiful, where he was put everyday to beg from those going into the temple and Peter, and John are going into the temple, and looks at them in the bag that they give him some money. And they say, well, we don't have any money. But what we do have we give to you and they healed him. He wasn't, he was again, not looking to be healed, it was just wanting money. Money and they gave him so much more. Remember what it is? That that healing is by faith. Will it wasn't his faith? It was Peter and John's Faith. They brought healing to that man. But it did make a spiritual change in the man. Because he turned to Jesus Christ. And recognized him as the Healer of his life.

Everything happens for a reason in the hands of God. We also go back to the Matthew 9 healing. And Jesus says, in that case, get up take your mat and go home. What Jesus was doing in that particular case in Auto and really will see that it is in this case as well, was that he was trying to unfold truth in the lives of people in a Matthew 9:6, he says but I want you to know son of man has Authority on Earth to forgive sins and so he said to the paralyzed man get up, take your mat and go home and This man was able to rise and take his men go home while they weren't upset that he was taking the mat. They were upset that he was forgiving sins. Nobody can forgive sins but God right. Is that true? Yes, they were right? That is absolutely true. While he was trying to show that there is truth going on here because not, only can I forgive sins, but I can heal, and the forgiving of sins was the most important, but nobody could do that and nobody could heal. But to reveal his ability to do both, Jesus healed them. He healed the man, do I change. Kind of a needle in the sides of the Pharisees, they often disputed with Jesus, about different things. And one, one of those things was the washing of hands disciples came in to eat and they didn't wash their hands, like they were supposed to and they just child in with the food and the Pharisee said, you know, your disciples are obeying the laws Jesus says, this is Mark 7 8. You have let go of the commands of God in her holding on to uman, Traditions. You see, Jesus wanted truth or were and that's what he's doing in this healing of the invalid because it was on the Sabbath. But he's also does it in other episodes in life and to have to recognize that it is their laws that they're trying to hold on to and that's destroying their lives as well as their walk with the Living God. And he's revealing truth to the Sadducees and Pharisees. The problem is he was giving them truth and God is giving truth to us. As we read his word everytime we read his word, we're getting truth and we need to remember that. That's why that song this morning was so important to me as I was saying, you know, my words are lamp unto my feet and a light to my path. The wonderful Words of Life. Anyway, continuing on this, look at the last portion, the Traditions John 5 10 through 14. And so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed it is the Sabbath the law. Forbids you to carry your Matt but he replied the man who made me well said to me pick up your mat and walk you know who has the authority here. The guy who healed me are you guys who have? Let me sit there for 38 years and done nothing. So they asked him, who is this fellow? Who told you to pick up? Pick it up and walk, the man who was healed, had no idea. It was for Jesus has slipped away into the crowd. That was there later. Jesus found him at the temple and said to him. See you are well. Again stop sending Or something worse. May happen to you. Remember again, what we're trying to do, when we see a miracle, what a miracle is supposed to do its supposed to bring glory to God, not Mankind. And that's what Jesus was doing here. He was bringing glory to God. The second thing is that it called for Spiritual change and that man did not have spiritual change at the beginning. And it wasn't until after Jesus came to him and said, okay you've been healed by God. Now it's time to follow God and do the right thing. Evidently there might have been something in his life that he was doing in proper and God wanted to change him and make it right. And so he called him to follow him. And finally, the truth is revealed, truth is revealed. He carried that Matt, it didn't make any difference, whether it was Sabbath or not, the Sabbath. It was just one of those laws of tradition. But Jesus was pointing out the truth of all things that he is our the light. And this is a struggle that they had and it's actually a struggle that was important for Jesus Christ. It was a struggle with that the Pharisees and the teachers of the law that was common throughout his ministry. They were looking to stop that and believe it or not, that's important that they wanted to do that. Why? Because Jesus would have never died if they didn't actually believed that he was who he said he was, he talks about this and Matthew 23:4. They tie up heavy burden, heavy cumbersome loads and put them on other people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. In other words, there was no Authority there. They could ask them to do terrible things, but there was no authority to really change alive. The Pharisees were changing lives. Because of the burdens they were laying on the people. It was only Jesus Christ who could change their lives because of the freedom. He gives through the removal of all those burdens of sin that each of us having our lives. But it comes home to obedience. Obedience. Do what God says, jumping back to that healing in Matthew. Where Jesus healed, the paralyzed man told him to take up with, is a mat and walk away. It says, in verse 7, then the man got up and went home. The man got up and went home, because he was called by the Living God, to do, what he asked him to do. And we need to remember that. God asks us to do a lot of things. He asked us to give up certain things in our lives to come in line with who he is and what he hires for us. And that's so important.

The challenge was would be continual and its continual in your lives and our lives. And we need to be standing on the truth of God's word. If we live, in obedience to the truth of God's word, we're doing it, right? One more episode of the Pharisees and their desire to make things, right? It was a Sunday afternoon or Sunday, a Sabbath afternoon. And Jesus was walking with the Pharisee with the disciples, through the fields, and the disciples were picking grain and eating it as they went along, and the Pharisees came and said, look at what your disciples are doing. You're disobeying the login, you know, laws made by man. They're not supposed to be eating Grain on the Sabbath. Does Matthew 12 to win the Pharisees saw this, they said to him look your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath. And once again, Jesus had to set it aright that sound, you know, it's not you who make the loss. It's me and is found in my word. Nicole is by God to make our lives are right. God wants us to make our lives, a right in every way and that call is to change ourselves and the reason we might see a miracle in our lives and the hope is that we do see miracles in our lives is those Miracles are to change Us in the spiritual sense. Last episode of healing. Not really healing. It's a spiritual healing that takes place. Remember and John ate the first part of the chapter the the the Pharisees, bring a woman before Jesus who was called in the caught in adultery and they say, okay. The law says that we Stone her because she's sinned against God. What do you say in? Jesus said, okay. The one of you who is without sin cast the first stone riding on the ground? We don't know what it was riding. A lot of suggestions are that he was riding the sins of those people who work challenging tries to make a connection here and and stone this lady.

But they began to walk away one at a time. John 8-12 says, Jesus asked her, who's here to condemn you and she says, no one And then he says, then neither do I condemn you Jesus declared go now and leave your life of sin. you say that the biggest thing that God wants from everyone of us, Is that we change our lives so that we fall in line with but Jesus desires for a lives, you know. Even as Believers we need to be certain that we're following, what God asks us to do and he asks us to follow him to not send anymore and that's what he did to this woman. Remember that when Miracles occur they can be physical or they can be spiritual and this case it was a spiritual Miracle. She was healed. Spiritually, So in a miracle there's glory to God you know who gets the glory god or to get the glory every time, no matter how good your doctor might be, he's not the Healer. Jesus is the Healer. Okay, the second thing is that we need to realize that there's a spiritual change that ought to happen. It doesn't always, because the human heart is wicked.

But there ought to be a spiritual change. When we recognize a miracle that happens in life. And finally, we need to know that there is truth happening. That something is wrong when a miracle happens in life. And the God is teaching us something.

And keep praying, God does bring miracles in the life. And we don't know when and, but He does bring miracles. Some of those Miracles are physical and that's really neat and important and that's what we pray for us. So often, isn't it? You know, somebody sick, we pray for him, right? We're supposed to that's what the word of God asks us important. But you know what? The greater Miracle is the spiritual healing that goes on in the life of people. That's the greatest feeling that there is and we need to recognize that. And when that happens, true truth comes forward because God is the worker of Miracles, the change of life for all eternity. We need to look for that. Let's pray. Gracious. Father, we thank you for the Miracle of Life. We thank you for the miracle that you've given to those who have truly called upon your name, who truly desire to have a new life and you, and I thank you that the people here have made that step how glorious is that? And father we thank you for the physical healings. We see because it does Reveal Your Glory and it does give us opportunity to give you praise and honor. And we thank you for the truth of your word that is powerful and mighty. And we can see that in our lives when we truly are walking in your life. So guide us, oh, Lord, and help us to keep praying and keeping your eyes open for the miraculous work that you do do day by day. May we see it in our lives? Is this name? Amen. A standing clothes.

Brie Bella Vita from Evil thing. Old Lord, we cast down our Idols, so give us clean hands.

Give Us Clean Hands.

Will you buy aloha? We Bend our knees from Evil. The old Lord, we cast down our Idols to give us a Google home.

Thank you.

Give Us Clean Hands.

Truly father, may you give us clean hands and pure hearts? It Is by your power and strength if that happens. And so, father, it comes with, trust our faith in you, may it continue to grow as we look for your miraculous work in our lives, throughout this week for you are the one that brings a difference bless us? Oh, Lord. In Jesus name? Amen. Man, praise God, from whom all blessings flow.

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