April 17, 2016
Scripture:
Hymn 31 - Precious, precious blood of Jesus
Prayer
John 5:1 - 9
When Jesus was here He healed an impotent man. What does impotent mean? Well, potent is just the opposite of it. Potent is used to describe something that is strong. Someone who is impotent is someone who is weak or without strength. That might ring a bell for us. “For when we were without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”
Last time, we had the story of the nobleman and his son. The son was in Capernaum, and Jesus was in Cana. Now there is a feast in Jerusalem. On the Jewish calendar this would have been marked as the feast of Jehovah, but the religious leaders had changed it. Jesus went UP to Jerusalem. If you were to look at a map, you would find the Jerusalem lies below Cana and Capernaum. So why does it say He went up? Because it was up hill all the way.
Jerusalem was a city with a big wall surrounding it. Nehemiah had rebuilt the broken walls. It also had many gates, and this one was the sheep gate. They called this the sheep gate because it was the gate through which they brought their sacrifices to the temple. Their sacrifices were most likely sheep.
This gate was also a place of five porches, and these porches were filled with impotent folk. Some of them were blind, others were halt (lame), and some were withered (physically disabled). We can apply this to our spiritual life. Those who are blind cannot see the truth of the gospel. Those who are halt can’t walk for God. And those who are withered are helpless to be able to enjoy what God has for them.
The people at the feast were probably having a good time. But then there were the halt, blind, and withered, and they were most likely not feeling so merry. Where would you go? Well, we know where Jesus went.
Bethesda meant “house of mercy.” Why were all these impotent folk attracted here? Every now and again the water of the pool would be roughened up by an angel. The first one to step into the pool after this would be healed. You can just imagine the scene. All of these impotent folk all trying to get into the pool before everyone else. All trying to get healed and unable to do it. This is a picture of living under the law. The law was “This do and thou shalt live”, and there was no blessing if you didn’t do what you had to. But now we can open our heart to the Lord Jesus where ever we are. We don’t have to travel somewhere. The thief found forgiveness and blessing when dying.
There was a man at this pool that had had an infirmity for thirty-eight years. I wonder how long he had been sitting at the pool and how many years he had been tying to get healed. Well, Jesus came up to this man and asked him, “Do you want to be healed?” To us it seems like a totally unnecessary question. The man replied, “I don’t have anyone to put me in the pool. Someone always gets in before me. I need someone to help me.” Little does this man know he is face to face with Jesus, the only One who can help.
Jesus tells him, “Rise up. Roll up your bed, and carry it home.” Anyone who is not saved has no excuse. They must be willing to take the step of accepting salvation.
We see the the result instant, immediate. Salvation is not a long process. We are saved instantly the moment we accept Christ as our Saviour. Jesus blood washes away all our sin immediately. Those who were halt, blind, and withered before are now saved, and can walk for Him.
The pool was a picture of the law, but the law was not what that man needed. He needed Jesus. This man, who had been sick for thirty-eight years was now perfectly well, and was able to get up and walk away. The fact that he was able to walk was credit to the Lord. Does our walk reflect the One who saved us? When the man was walking upright, with strength, and carrying his bed it brought glory to the Lord and joy to him. It was the Sabbath day when Jesus performed this miracle. And it was a marvelous miracle that He performed.
Philippines 3: 7 - 15
Last week we saw Paul’s list of credentials. Before he got saved, he thought it was a pretty good list. When he met Christ, though, he counted it all loss for Him. Moreover, he continued to count all as lost for Christ; not just the items on his list, but everything in his life.
The Amplified Bible gives a much expanded version of v. 8: “Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One).” That’s some verse! It shows us the absolute blessing of knowing Christ. Have we ever entered into the full blessing of knowing who Paul calls “my Lord”? He had seen the Lord in glory, yet still wanted to know more about Him. Our Lord is revealed to us in so many ways; Saviour, Lord, Master, Shepherd, Advocate, a Friend that sticks closer than a brother, and the Brightness of God’s Glory. These are the excellencies of knowing Christ, and we should be in pursuit of them.
The magnitude of this is enormous. Not only should we enjoy Christ, but we should account earthly glories as loss. Paul was still doing this even after 30 years of walking with the Lord. It’s relatively easy to do this when we’re first saved, but Paul hadn’t changed even though time had passed, and there were chains on his hands. He still thought the Christian life was great. He wasn’t worried about a loss that his imprisonment brought him. It’s even possible that he was able to enjoy the Lord more in the quiet of prison than in the action of travelling around preaching the word.
Paul didn’t want his own righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ. There’s no such thing as human righteousness that can please God. The law required people to be righteous, but it never gave the strength to live that way. Romans 1 and 2 show us that man is depraved, but Romans 3 shows us that God offers His own righteousness to all that believe. This righteousness is without the law. If we had to earn our righteousness by the law, it would be impossible; but by faith, God accounts us righteous – justified. That’s a wonderful truth!
While down here, Christ suffered, died, and rose. To fully understand this, we almost have to go backwards; we need to start by possessing risen life. Dying and rising with Christ brings us into that life, and once there, God can work through us as we yield our lives to him. Then, we need to understand the power of the resurrection (the new, risen life), and that is done by understanding that our natural life has died.
Atheists think that suffering proves the nonexistence of God. Paul, however, actually expressed a desire to suffer, so that he might better understand the Lord’s sufferings. We would have no hope in our own sufferings and death, if there was no resurrection power working on our behalf. Thank God that there is!
Hymn 130 – To God be the glory, great things He hath done
Prayer