Joseph Prince - God's Healing For Long-Term Conditions
John chapter 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, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In this lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, 'Do you want to be made well?' The sick man answered Him, 'Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.' Jesus said to him, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk.' And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, 'It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.' He answered them, 'He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.' Then they asked him, 'Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk?' But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, 'See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.' The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath".
Now, this is a beautiful story. Many of us are familiar with this story, but there are wonderful nuggets of truth on healing, on health, how to receive from the Lord. And also most importantly, we can see Jesus in his beauty glories, his excellencies, amen? John chapter... all the miracles in John are signs. Say, "signs". That means they point to something and even this healing is actually a parable in action. All right, there's nothing trivial in the Word of God, nothing small, nothing unimportant, nothing insignificant. Write this down somewhere, there's nothing trivial in the Word of God. Every name, every topographical reference, every geographical reference has a value and a meaning, every detail, amen.
Let's go back to this verse 1, "After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem". Now, when you study the Word of God, it's all up to you. How much do you want to go into, amen? Do you want to go into the meaning of the names because there are layers upon layers and layers and you want more food, you dive into it, amen. There's milk for the young and there's strong meat for the mature, amen? But there are layers within the Word of God. Can I have a good amen? For example, when you read this, after this, even the first two words "after this" in the Gospel of John, it appears often. It appears exactly seven times "after this," all right?
It's characteristic of John whereas the Gospel of Matthew, you find the characteristic word is "then". Many chapters start off with "then, then" because it's the gospel of the King. And this is the gospel of the Son of God. The Gospel of Mark, on the other hand, a lot of places starts with immediately, immediately. It's a gospel of action, why? It's a gospel that depicts the divine servant, Jesus the tireless laborer, amen. He came to serve. He came to heal. He came to save, and he's working all the time. Even in chapter 1 of Mark, the very first chapter says, "Immediately he did this. Immediately he did that. And straightaway Jesus did this, straightaway he did that, straightaway he did this".
It's action all the time, but in the Gospel of John exactly seven times it appears in the Gospel of John alone, "After these things, after these there was a feast". After these there was a feast of the Jews. Now, this feast is a feast of Pentecost. Notice this phrase, "Feast of the Jews". It has become the feast of the Jews. In Leviticus 23 when God first mentioned the seven feasts of Israel, it is called the feasts of the Lord. It means it's the Lord's feast, the Lord's celebration day with his people, amen. They celebrate, there are seven feasts of Israel, but now it's become the feast of the Jews. It's become something that is their own feast. They're doing it for themselves and they're adding a lot of things into the feast, and it's become the feast of the Jews.
So after this, there was a feast of the Jews, which is Pentecost in this context. "And Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches". I said just now that there's nothing trivial in the Word of God, all right? Every detail has a meaning and a value, even every name. So, why did the Holy Spirit mention to us the Sheep Gate of all the gates? Now, in the time of Nehemiah after the children of Israel came back from Babylonian captivity, they built the Jerusalem walls, okay, and they built the gates around the wall to protect Jerusalem. And one of the gates, in fact, the very first gate mentioned is the Sheep Gate. There is also the Old Gate, there is the Dung Gate, there's the Miphkad Gate, and there is a Water Gate, believe it or not?
So, the first gate is a Sheep Gate. All depends on how much you want to go because you know that the Holy Spirit, if he mentions something by name, he mentioned something like, for example, Bethesda and then he says, "Having five porches". There's a reason why the Holy Spirit is giving all these details. Can I have a good amen? And if you are hungry, you want to know more, all right, the Word of God is so juicy, you can go deep into it and get a lot of nuggets. I'll just give you a little sampling, okay?
All right, let's sheep gate. Where's the first time sheep gate was mentioned? When Nehemiah, I said just now they came back from the Babylonian captivity and they start building the walls. That's when the fish gate and other gates were built. So, the very first gate is called the sheep gate. Nehemiah 3, "Then Eliashib the high priest rose up," notice, "the high priest and his brethren that built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They built it as far as the Tower of the Hundred, and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel".
Now, if you are like me and you're curious, you know there's no insignificant detail in the Bible. Every name carries a meaning, then you start looking at this and you look at the name Eliashib, the high priest with his brothers built the Sheep Gate. Eliashib in Hebrew means, "my God restores", my God restores, okay? Shib Eli, Eli, Jesus said, "Eli, Eli" at the cross. Eli is my God, Eliashib from the word shuv, turn around, return, Teshuvah, return. By the way, when someone repents, it's actually turning to God. Teshuvah, turning to hei. You can actually think you are repenting.
There are people say, "Well, I regret doing that kind of thing". That's not repentance. There are people who are actually sorry out of pride. They will start thinking that, "How in the world did I do that? How can I, someone of my standing, someone like me, how can I be lacking in self-control? Why did I do that"? Actually it's a form of pride and people think it's repentance. No, true repentance is turning to the Lord. Teshuvah, are you listening? All right, so Eliashib means, "My God restores". Now, watch the picture and tell me what you see, okay? I know you'll get it, okay? "And he built the Sheep Gate and he built it as far as the Tower of the Hundred". Keep the word hundred in mind. "And then consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel".
By now you all know hanan is grace. El is God, so it's God's favor. Hanan is favor, grace, favor of God, amen? Like if you have the name, Yohanan, Yoh is Yahweh, right? Yohanan, John, John, that's the name Yohanan. God's grace, Yahweh's grace. But El is also God's name but at the end, all right, Hananel, which is favor of God, okay? Got it? So, what is this picture here? The God who restores you when you are lost, all right? Jesus said there was a man, a shepherd who had, how many sheep? How many sheep? A hundred sheep, not fifty, not a thousand, hundred sheep. If he loses one, what does he do? He'll find it until he restores it, okay? And then he brings it back to the favor of God. So, this entire chapter, we're about to see him looking for the lost one, amen?
So, here is a picture of one of the parables of Jesus. Obviously everything in the Bible points to the Lord Jesus Christ, amen? So, for us to look at the names and all that, it's the story of Jesus, even many of the stories in the Old Testament, names in the Old Testament, details in the Old Testament, point to Jesus Christ, even to the story of his life and the miracles in his life. And even the parables, in this case it's the parable, how God restores one out of a hundred into the favor of God, okay? So, I give you a sampling of, you know, going into beyond the superficial level because many of us have heard this healing of the impotent man already, all right? And we're familiar with the story, but there's so much more, people. God has so much more, amen?
So, go back to John 5, "Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool". The Sheep Gate, by the way, is the gate by which the sheep enters into the temple for the sacrifice, all right? They enter by the Sheep Gate, okay? What a beautiful picture that Jesus, the Lamb went through the Sheep Gate to find the lost sheep, amen? By the way, the Sheep Gate is also known as the Benjamin's Gate. In Jeremiah 20, it says here that it's called, "The high gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord". I told you, right, the sheep goes to the Sheep Gate, the Benjamin Gate, to the house of the Lord for sacrifice. Okay, alright, go back to John 5. Are you all with me so far? And then this pool, there's a pool there, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. Again, the Holy Spirit gives us these details, why? Why having five porches? Why called Bethesda?
Now, in Hebrew beth means, what? House like very soon we'll celebrate Christmas. We'll say, "O little town of Bethlehem". Beth is house, lechem is bread. Even in Israel today they say lechem. Lechem is bread. Beth is house. Can I have a good amen, all right? Bethlehem, house of bread. The bread of life was born in the house of bread, to give bread to a lost and dying world, amen? So, Bethesda, is beth hesed. Hesed in Hebrew is grace. It's the house of grace. It's the house of grace. Today you go to Israel and there are Messianic believers, all right, we call them Messianic believers, Christian Jews, and you ask them for their New Testament, it's all in Hebrew.
If you look at grace and truth came by Jesus Christ, John 1:17, there it says, "Hesed ve emet". Emet is, if your name is Emmet, it means truth in Hebrew. "Hesed ve emet," grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. Notice, they translate grace as hesed, and here is the house of grace, beth hesed. And it has five porches. Porches are very interesting. It protects you from the rain and from the hot, fierce sun, okay? And you go through the porch. So, there are five porches. Five is the number of grace. Very soon we'll sing Isaiah where it says of the Lord Jesus, "Unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given". As a child, he was born. As a Son, he cannot be born. He's always there with the Father.
As the Son he was given, as the child he was born. "And the government shall be upon His shoulders, and this is His name by which He will be called". Come on, "Wonderful, Counselor, the Prince of Peace, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father," five. Jesus used five loaves to feed five thousand, right? Five is the number of grace. The Tabernacle is all measurements, in all its details and its greater parts as well as sum total, in multiples of five. If you look carefully, it's five, five, five, five, or multiples of five. The fifth time Noah's name was mentioned, it says Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. The fifth time David's name was mentioned, it says David has found favor. The fifth time Ruth's name was mentioned in the book of Ruth, it says, "Why have I found grace"?
Ruth found grace. Grace and five, number five. Got it? The fifth clause of the Lord's Prayer is, "Give us this day our daily bread". Grace is always providing, supplying bread, amen? Even the Ten Commandments, you know what's the Fifth Commandment? Okay, let me, the preacher of grace, tell you. The Fifth Commandment is the only commandment of the Ten Commandments that has a promise attached to it. "Honor your father and mother that things will go well with you and you will live long". It has a promise because grace, amen, it has grace in the Fifth Commandment, praise the Lord. And I can go on and on about this, but look at Genesis 43, verse 34. It says here, "Then he took servings to them from before him, but Benjamin's serving was five times as much as any of theirs. So they drank and were married with him".
You all know I have a sermon called The Benjamin Generation, and church, do you know that I believe that we are in the midst of the Benjamin Generation? You know, I just came back from the US and who are the people that we are attracting more than ever? Young people, amazing, amen. In Germany, about two months ago, again, young people, about 1200 of them got saved during that time I was there. And we have all throughout Europe, amen, young people responding, amen. We thank God for the graying ones, we got no problem with that. Amen? We thank God for those. And anyway, all of us are renewed in our youth like the eagles, come on church, I said come on, amen.
By the way, do you know nowadays they have movies coming out talking about in America, they have a movie recently about 20 again, something like that, or 17 again. And then, even in the east, we have dramas coming out of people going back to 20 years old again, back to school again, that kind of thing, a lot of dramas are based on that. Am I right? And how we wish we can be 20 again, right? I've got good news for you. You can, with God, you can. God says, God renews your youth like the eagles. Now there are many Hebrew words for youth, okay, depicting different times of our life. Infant, all the way down to teenage years and then your early 20s, and then also all the way to 40. Different Hebrew words, you know, for youth. Guess which one is the one where it says God renews your youth like the eagles.
I checked it out and it says your teenage years, 17 again. It's the dream for all these people coming out, the dramas and movies in America and also in Japan, Korea, and all that, but let me tell you this, ours is a reality. God renews your youth like the eagles, amen. Praise God, and Benjamin is the young generation. Joseph and Benjamin share the same mother, not only the same father, but the same mother. But his other brothers, they share the same father, but not the same mother. So in these last days, we have the same heavenly Father with many other believers, of course, but there are some believers that are against us because we and Jesus, our heavenly Joseph, share the same mother: grace. Some of them, they have the same heavenly Father but their mother is law, amen.
And they persecute... So, when Joseph saw Benjamin, he was so glad, amen. He saw his brother, his full brother, and he gave him five times more food than his other brothers. And a little while later, you see this. He gave his brother Benjamin, you know, I think we are in the midst of a Benjamin Generation I said, I don't think it's by chance my name is Joseph. I'm looking for my brother, amen. I said, I'm looking for my brother. Any brother of mine in the house? Amen, any brother that God can give five times more? Come on, okay, so yes, I hear the Word of the Father saying, "No bread until Benjamin stands in front of me". Benjamin is here today, that's why bread is released to the church, to the house of God. Can I have a good amen?
And it's the last days, amen, it's the last days. And the other brothers actually didn't believe that Joseph forgave them, and that's the problem with the church today, the last tears that Joseph wept is his brothers suspecting that he forgave them. They don't believe that he forgave them and he had to assure them that they are forgiven, that's the last day message. The church don't really believe they are forgiven. And that's why they are struggling with forgiving people. Anyway, five times more food for Benjamin. And a little while later, he gave Benjamin five changes of clothing. So five times more food, five times more clothing.
What does that tell us? Well, spiritually and physically, for the Benjamin generation, there'll be five times more spiritual food, revelation, like you never heard it before, amen. God is unveiling it from the Word, not extra-biblical, from the Word, but also five times more provision. And five times changes of raiment, what does it mean? That means you have, you know what we call it today of someone, he's multi-talented, okay? You have five anointings you can flow in. I said once you're like this, another thing, you're like that. Five full anointing, hallelujah, mm! Okay, so five porches, alright? The Holy Spirit does not mince words, every word has a meaning. "Having five porches," back to, yep. "In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. Because an angel came down and stirred the water. And the first one that stepped into the water, after it was stirred, was made well of whatever disease he had".
Now, this stirring of the water, back to verse 3 again, "In these lay a great multitude of sick people". I like the old King James because the Old King James is more accurate in this verse when it comes to the Greek. The Greek actually says, in the old King James, it says this, "In these lay a great multitude of impotent people". People without strength. In the Greek, astheneia is the word. All right, "Ai" is negate, which is no strength. People with no strength, people with disease have no strength, impotent people.
And there are three groups of impotent people, so let's use the old King James again. "In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind," the first category, "halt," second category, "withered," third category. And if you look at the New King James, instead of withered, it says paralyzed. Makes no sense because already you have lame in the center, halt is lame and then you have paralyzed. Today, we think of paralyzed as pertaining to the legs, but back then, it is the word withered, which means the withered hand. The hand, he cannot work with his hand. A withered hand, okay. So the King James is more, the old King James is more accurate here. So let's look at this, "Blind, halt, withered," and this is a picture of humanity, this is a picture of mankind. It's a picture of Israel, like I said, first and foremost, it's a picture of Israel.
But why did God raise Israel? Is it because they were special that God raised them. No, God raised them, that's why they are special. There's a difference. God raised them so that the world can know God through them. Something about these people, they are protected, an unseen hand is over them. That's grace, that's glory. God's purpose of Israel is that they reflect the glory of God. But they missed it, so instead of reflecting the glory of God, the goodness of God, they reflected the justice of God. Which is not what God wants them to see or the world to know him by. Does God have justice, yes, but God is love. Listen to what I'm saying here. God is just and God is love. Because God is just, he has to punish sin, but because he is love, he does not want to punish the ones that he loved.
So, what is the answer to this? Like the widow who told, the lady who told David about his son, Absalom. God will devise a means by which his banished can return to him. What a beautiful word. So, how can God welcome sinful men when God is just and must punish sin? But because God is love, God wants the embrace of his children, God wants to love his children, God wants to pour out on them. God's heart is so full of love, the painful thing about love is to be so full of love and not being able to pour it out. A mother feels that when she's engorged after she gives birth. She has a lot of milk, it's painful for her not to be able to pour out. God is like that, when God is full of love, the nature of love is to give, the delight of love is to give, the joy of love is to give, the thrill of love is to pour out, amen. But when there's no one to pour it out, it pains God.
So, God was waiting to give it and give it on a righteous outlet, give it righteously. So, how can God do that? The answer is the cross. Because on that cross, Jesus Christ allowed God to be just. God did not spare his own Son, because at the cross, Jesus became us, he took our place. He knew no sin, he did no sin, in him is no sin, but he became sin with your sins and my sins. He bore our sins and God is just to punish all our sins in the body of Jesus Christ. So, at the cross, God's justice, God's righteousness is magnified, the law is magnified, but also at the cross, we see the love of God is not you and I hanging there. It is Jesus, God's beloved Son. God sent his Son so that his Son would die in our place.
So today, God's holiness that we are afraid of is now on your side. God's holiness cannot punish you today for your sins because if God punishes you today for your sins, God would be unholy. God would be unjust because our sins have been punished in the body of Jesus Christ. The law of double jeopardy, do you understand that? Only God can think of something like this and God did. And today we are saved. You know something? I will never be condemned, I will never be punished, neither will you, because God is holy. How about that? Not because God is love, but because God is holy, we cannot be condemned. Mmm. "Amen, Pastor Prince"! That's the way to respond, all right? Praise God.
So, "In these lay a great multitude of people that were blind, people that were halt," that means they cannot walk, "and people who had withered hands". And God's heart goes out to them. I said before, why did Jesus walk to this place where there's a great multitude of the suffering and people in misery? Jesus's feet took him straight among the multitude of suffering and needy humanity. I love him. Don't you just love him? All right, he came in the midst of suffering humanity. That's where grace is attracted to. And just to let you know that the man that he's about to talk to is probably the man that's the most needy, the most suffering, and the longest suffering one over there, 38 years.
So again, grace is attracted to the worst case, amen. That's why I say the front row is the last to receive. God is attracted, he loves to pour out. You give him joy. Jesus said it like this, "It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom". The day we realize that God wants you healed more than you want to be healed, healing is not the problem. You see, we really don't understand the heart of God. God loves you just as much. He knows the numbers of hair on your head. He knows the pain in your heart. He knows what keeps you awake at night, the cares and the worries, he knows about it. Even if you don't tell your wife, God knows it, amen. God knows exactly without you even knowing how to express it to him, and he cares for you. All I ask of you is that you be conscious that he cares for you, you be conscious that he knows, and you be conscious that you have his personal attention.
What the devil wants to do is that he wants to de-individualize everybody. In the end times in the book of Revelation people will be known by their numbers, no more by their names, you know? And the Bible says all about numbers. In other words, you are just number 1-2-3, number 2-3-4, you know, that kind of thing. But sometimes it's to help facilitate order, but it de-individualizes the person. Notice when God calls someone, he calls their names, not once, but twice. "Samuel, Samuel". "Martha, Martha," right? He calls you by name, "Saul, Saul," in a very affectionate way; why? Because God is an individual God. And all the people said amen. Praise the Lord. Give Jesus the praise, the glory, and the honor, hallelujah. Blind, three groups, halt, and withered.
In other words, blind is our first condition. All mankind is blind, none so blind as those who say they can see, amen. Like I said, people partying away, having fun, and next door is the lake of fire. They act like there's no God. Even when they attend a funeral, they attend it out of dutifully, you know, attending because of relatives or friends or kind of thing, but they don't like to be there because it reminds them of their mortality. But, friend, let me tell you this. Why is there mortality? Is this God's dream for man? Did God make man for him to die? Did God make man and Adam and Eve, and God says, "Adam, you'll be the healthy one, and Eve, you'll be an example of the sick one". No, God made them all healthy.
Would you like to see God's standard? Just before I step out of here, Joe is my witness, right? God dropped something in my spirit and told me to tell you all this. Nothing short of this is his standard. Would you like to know? Would you like to know? All right, look up here in this verse. By the way, I didn't show this in the first service, so don't tell them, okay? Because I only received, I got this dropped into my heart just now, and it was the last minute I told them to put this verse up. It says here, Jesus says, "Are you angry at me"? He told the Pharisees. "Because I have made a man every whit whole". Every whit whole. I love it. Every whit whole. Nothing short of this is his standard. You think that God just wants to heal your knee? God just wants to heal your neck? Heal your lungs? No, he wants to make every part of you, every whit whole. I love it. Would you receive this right now?
Amen, I don't care about people out there saying, "Oh, he's a prosperity guy, he's a whatever guy". Wherever Jesus goes, people prosper. The sick, when they prosper, they get well, amen. Five loaves, when he touches it, it becomes well, amen, praise the Lord. So, the three groups of impotent, or people without strength represents all humanity. The first one, they are blind. They are blind to God. They are blind in their hearts, blind in their minds, okay? The second one is they cannot walk. They cannot walk for God. They cannot walk in the Spirit. They cannot walk. And behind every physical, there is a spiritual meaning, all right, that God wants us to learn. Yes, God wants to heal you physically, but more important than that, God is after your spirit side, because long before you had a sickness, all right, there's something happening in the Spirit. You listening, people?
And the answer is in the spirit, so watch this. Like, a leper is more than just a leper in the gospels. A leper represents sin, so when Jesus cleansed the leper, it's his power to forgive sins. Are you listening? Sometimes it doesn't even differentiate between forgiveness of sins and healing of the body. But let's take all that God has, okay? Some people when they teach this, they only teach the spiritual side, that God wants to heal our moral failures and falling and all that, but it's more than that. You know, Singaporeans, if you see $50 and $100, which one do you pick? Both. Spoken like a true Singaporean. Let's not just go for the spiritual. Let's go for the physical as well, amen. Jesus did make people well physically, even though there's a spiritual truth he is endeavoring to bring across for those who observe, because every miracle, in the book of John especially, is a sign. It's a parable in action, amen?
So, when you're blind, you can't walk. You can't walk, you can't work. Withered means withered hand, right? And God put work last. The church put works first. But revelation happens first. When you see right, you believe right. When you believe right, you walk right. When you walk right, you will work right. Can I have a good amen? By the way, I was reading this one day, and the Lord dropped this in my heart. "All three I healed on the Sabbath," all three. Then I start studying it, it said, "Blind". I said, "Yeah, the blind man, right"? In the Gospel of John in chapter 9 Jesus healed the blind man on the Sabbath. "Now it was a Sabbath when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes".
So, the blind is healed on the Sabbath. Then the halt, the halt, back to John chapter 5, the halt is in this very same chapter we read just now, the man who was lame, impotent in his feet for 38 years. Jesus healed him on the Sabbath. And the last one, withered hand, also on the Sabbath. I want to read this passage because there's something I just want to share with you. Matthew 12, "And behold, there was a man who had a withered hand". Say withered hand. Same Greek word as the one withered hand just now, withered, all right? "And they asked Him, saying, 'Is it lawful?'" The Pharisees, the religious leaders, you see how religious people can become? They asked Jesus this question. "'Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?'" They didn't ask him, "Can you heal"? They knew he can. "They asked Him, 'Is it right to do it on a Sabbath day?' that they might accuse Him".
Okay, then Jesus said, drop down. "'What man is there among you who has one sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore, it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.'" Listen, when people are sick, all right, don't ask, okay, if it's their fault. Don't ask, "Whose fault is it? Whose sin is it"? Now, we're about to see that sometimes sin, like a sinful action or whatever, can cause, like you keep on smoking, amen, it's a sin against your body, amen. God gave you a body, you only have one house you live in. Take care of your house. It's the only house you have, you know. You keep on smoking, right, you're going to have disease in your body.
Now, is that a result of sin or God cursing you? Of course it's a result of sin, right? But It's not right. Like Jesus told his disciples when they saw the blind man, blind from his mother's womb, from birth, they asked, "Did this man sin or his parents sin"? Jesus says, "Neither". Now, the funny thing is that he was born blind. How can he sin to be born blind? Did he kick his mother's womb too hard? His parents sin, I understand. But anyway, you know, don't ask these questions, the Lord says, "Don't ask these questions. But I am the light of the world. He's in darkness. I'm going to open up his eyes". That's all you need to know. The need exists for grace to meet it. Can I have a good amen?
All right, so watch this now. Jesus considers people who are sick as like a sheep that fell into a pit. What a compassionate view. Instead of that, "Well, you know what? Serve him right, now his lungs are like that. Keep on smoking all the time". But Jesus sees people who are sick as falling into a pit. When a sheep falls into a pit, you don't stand on there and say, "Serves you right". No, you retrieve it, you recover it. So, Jesus told the Pharisees, "'It's like a sheep that fell into a pit. Will you not lay hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep? Therefore it is lawful to do good.'" Now drop down. "Then He said to the man, 'Stretch out your hand.'"
Now, in Luke's gospel, Luke is a doctor, and he's the only Gentile of all the writers. Luke, who is a doctor, says it was his right hand. Now the right hand is a means of livelihood. It's his business. You do work with your right hand, right? Most of you are right handed, that's what I mean. By the way, Benjamin means son of my right hand, okay? So, when Jesus restored his hand, this is amazing. That means he gave him back his livelihood. It's more than just a physical healing. "Then he stretched it out, and it was restored as whole as the other". Then the Pharisees rejoiced and brought other sick people there that He might heal them. Then the Pharisees brought their mother-in-law as well. Like this guy was saying one time to his wife, "It's not that I hate your relatives or I dislike your relatives, it's just that I love your mother-in-law more than I love mine".
"Then the", some of you are getting it. Oh no, where's my mother-in-law? No, she's mother-in-grace, praise God. "Then the Pharisees went out and plotted against Him, how they might destroy Him". Oh, it's terrible. When you get religious, man, all you have is hatred. God wants people under grace, where the result is love. Under the law, you try your best, you can only produce hatred, because the law was designed to bring the worst out of us. Grace will save the worst of us; amen? Back to John 5, okay, praise God. So, they were waiting for the moving of the water. What a picture we have here, and a sad one. We have a multitude of people that are sick, they are waiting for the spectacular, they are waiting for the moving of the water when right in their midst is the Savior, the great physician.
They are waiting because all the hopes and aspirations of Jewish people is to wait for the Messiah to come, amen. They are waiting for the Messiah. Their posture is that of waiting. But there he was already in their midst. I mean, see Bethesda, greatly surrounded, and see Jesus completely unheeded. What a sad picture. Could it be that we can actually be involved in religion, Christian religion, and yet miss the Savior in our midst? So, they're waiting for the moving of the water. Verse 4, we know the angel comes down, and whoever, see, this verse 4 tells us that you need strength to partake of this healing. You need to be able to get up, okay?
Watch this, watch this. Number one, you must see the stirring of the water. But if you are blind, how to see? Number two, whoever steps in first. It's not for everybody. Whoever steps in first will get well, but if you are lame, how to step in? So, the whole idea here is a picture of the law. And don't forget, this angel coming down is a picture that the law was given, the Bible says, by the disposition of angels. When God gave the law, God gave the law by an angel through Moses to the people of Israel. Grace is direct. Are you listening?
So, even the law was given by the disposition of the angels, and the law actually implies that you must have the strength to keep it. You shall not do this. You shall not do that. You shall not do this. Implying that you have strength. But what if you have no strength to not do the do's? You cannot. So, the idea of the law, so is God mocking man by giving man the law, knowing that man cannot? Is God mocking them by stirring the water? No, listen carefully, God never mocks man. It's in order for man to see the better. God has something better. But man, being man, never despairs of his own strength. When God gave the Ten Commandments, instead of the Ten Commandments, by the law is the knowledge of sin, all right?
By the law sin become exceeding sinful. Instead of seeing the law as bringing out your worst, man is trying to keep the law to bring out the best. Instead of the law being the knowledge of sin in man's life, man is using the law as the knowledge of holiness in their lives. Today they'll say God gave the law for us to be holy, but let me tell you this, the law is the standard of holiness, yes, but it's beyond the law. God's holiness is not just confined to don'ts. The law says, "Thou shalt not commit adultery". It doesn't say love your wife. Grace says love your wife, and you won't commit adultery. So, church, the whole picture of the stirring of the water is a picture of the law, and there's Jewish people around there.
All right, they must have strength to partake of the benefit. So, Jesus came, grace came, now watch this. "Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years". I told you, don't forget that everything has significance, even the number 38. Why is this mentioned by the Holy Spirit, 38 years? Because he's a picture of Israel, and when Israel wandered in the wilderness, we say 40 years, right? But actually, the judgment for their sin of unbelief was at Kadesh Barnea, when God says, "Okay, go into the land, and when you come out, don't forget, you can send spies". By the way, it wasn't God's idea to send the spies. All right, it was their idea, "Let us spy out the land". God really said the land flows with milk and honey.
You know, the idea of flowing is abundance. It's not the land has milk and honey. No, the land flows with milk and honey. Milk, if it doesn't flow, it goes bad. Gotta be flowing. The more it flows, the more you have. From a little stream, it becomes a brook. From a brook, becomes a river. As long as it's flowing, it becomes wider and wider. You never become smaller and smaller when you flow. You don't flow, you dry up. When you flow, that's the way to multiply. Can I have a good amen? We learned last week in the multiplication of loaves and fishes that God's economy is totally different. Jesus broke the bread, okay? So, it is addition by division. The more he broke, the more it grew. The more he broke, the more it grew. And then he divided it to his disciples who divided it to the people. So, it is multiplication by subtraction, right?
So, the whole economy of God is totally different from man. Can I have a good amen? Jesus, there are two occasions of feeding of the multitude. One is he used 5,000 to feed, 5 loaves, excuse me, to feed 5,000. The other one, he used seven loaves to feed lesser, 4,000. What does that mean? In God's economy, the bigger the problem, the easier for God. He used more to feed less. He used less, five loaves, to feed more. Okay, so God's economy is there's nothing difficult for God. But for us, it's like, "Oh, this situation, what do you have"? "Headache". "Oh man, what do you have"? "Cancer". "I gotta pray hard". This one pray soft, this one pray hard. It's not your pray soft, pray hard. It's who you pray to. And if you have a perception like him, the bigger the problem, the easier for God, you're on your way. Tell you the truth, the bigger the church, the lesser the problems, all right?
Now, having said that, it's not a sin to be in a small church, all right? But God's way is always addition and then multiplication. Don't believe that you need to stay small. More in the church means, what, less in the world. Can I have a good amen? Come on church, amen? May churches multiply all over the world. There's a Benjamin generation rising, praise the Lord. Okay, 38 years. Now go to Deuteronomy chapter 2. "And the time we took to come from Kadesh Barnea," God told them that, you know, because they didn't believe God, they came back, they say they saw giants, they talked about the problems and all that.
Okay, "From Kadesh Barnea until we crossed over the valley of the Zered," before they crossed into the Promised Land, there's a valley called the Valley of Zered in Jordan area, and they have to cross that to go to the Promised Land, "was thirty-eight years, until all the generation of the men of war was consumed from the midst of the camp", 38 years. The 40 years is the totality. 38 years was from the time of the spice incident, they didn't believe God all the way to entering the Promised Land, 38 years. What does that tell us? That tells us this, that this man has been there, it's a picture of Israel in unbelief, Israel wondering, W-O, wandering, W-A, in the wilderness. You know why? Because they are always fighting until the men of war are consumed.
We are still fighting. We are so strong, the problem is that we are strong. Grace is attracted to our weakness, but then we always put our best foot forward. We think that God is after our strength. We forget that the parables is all about the lost, the last, the least. These are the heroes of the parables. We think that God wants, before men, you must put your best foot forward. Before God, I tell you this, you show your worst foot, you get more grace. You tell God, "God, I got this problem, Lord. God, I'm weak, Lord. God, I can't do this, Lord. God, I can't do that". God says, "No problem, I'll be your strength". And of all the people there, Jesus went to this guy who suffered the longest and the most, why? Grace is attracted to that. Are you listening?
We tend to think that we got to be strong, we got to be... no. I even heard a sermon one time of Jacob and the Lord's wrestling, you know the story? How his name, Jacob, became Israel. He was struggling and then I hear preaching like this. "We gotta have moments and nights alone with God. We gotta learn to struggle and lay hold on God. We gotta hold onto God and say, I won't let you go unless you bless me, unless you bless me. Learn to struggle with God. Learn to wrestle with God. When did you last wrestle with God, child of God"? The story is that as long as he was wrestling, God wants to leave. God wants to leave. God says, "Let me go. The day breaketh". And he says, "No, I won't let you go," right, right? God always wanted to leave. When he had strength, God wanted to leave. And finally, God says, "Okay," God touched his little backside here, boom.
All right, the Bible says the right thigh, he fell flat. Now he was weak, and God cannot leave. God says, "What's your name"? "Jacob". "From now on, you'll be Israel. You have prevailed with God". Flat on his back, prevailing with God. Can you understand God's ways? If two persons fell into the river and they both cannot swim, the only one you can save first is the one who has given up completely. But the one who still has strength, you try to save him, he's going to bring you down as well. You have to wait until they are completely devoid of all strength and all attempts to save themselves. The problem with us then, we fight a lot. We even fight with God. We misquote the Bible that says, "The violent take it by force".
One day I'll teach on that. No, you lay hold on God and you prevail with God with your weakness. With your weakness, God becomes a divine captive, and I say that reverently, to you. But as long as he was strong, he was struggling, and God was always wanting to leave, amen? Praise God. So, back to the guy, he was like this for 38 years. Jesus came just on time. It's a picture of Israel. Then Jesus asked him, don't forget, Jesus asked him first. Jesus always initiates, man doesn't. "When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition for a long time, Jesus asked him". So, Jesus knew that he has been like this for 38 years, Jesus knew. Jesus saw him lying, and Jesus knew. "And Jesus asked him, 'Do you want to be made well?'"
Do you want to be made well? What a question. What a strange question. The guy is there near the water, and obviously he's there, and Jesus knew he has been there for 38 years, suffering from the condition for that long. And he asked him the question, "Do you want to be made well," why? You know, it's not a strange question as we think it is. When you think of the fact that there are people who get accustomed to their bondage or to their sickness or to their addiction. For them, that is normal. They will forget what it is to be well. And don't forget, maybe if this guy needs to go to the restroom, I believe there are people who carry him. He's used to being carried. After for a while, it gets pretty comfortable.
Jesus says to you, "Don't forget the standard, every whit whole. Do you want to be made well"? That's all Jesus asks. So, if Jesus appears to you right now and asks you, "Do you want to be made well"? what do you say? Yes. Look at this guy's answer. "The sick man answered Him, 'Sir, I have no man.'" "Do you want to be made well"? "I have no man". What, man? What an answer! The other day, my wife and I and Jessica, we were on our way for dinner somewhere as a family. We were on the way, and I was talking to my wife about physical conditions. You know, how when we do certain things, it can affect us. When we move our body this way, it can affect, you know, a certain part of our body and cause inflammation.
I was talking like this because it's something I read, right? I didn't realize I was talking about it, you know, so much so that I was so engrossed in it, and a voice came from behind. It was my five-year-old. Exactly these words. "Live the let-go life, man"! Wendy and I looked at each other. Jessica was...we were like... like a voice from heaven. With a man down there, Normally he doesn't say a man. "Live the let go life, man". Then we turned around and said, "Justin, why do you say that"? "I don't know, I just felt like saying it".
And here I was talking about, you know, what I read, you know, something like movement can affect, can cause inflammation. I just found out that day, I was frightening myself, telling you, giving this information to my wife, you know. And I said, "We gotta be careful, don't do this kind of thing". And all of a sudden, on the back, "Live the let go life, man". I was rebuked, praise the Lord. So, "Jesus asked him, 'Do you want to be well?' 'Sir, I have no man.'" So, all the while, by the way, he didn't know who Jesus was, right? His eye is not on Jesus. Sometimes we know about Jesus, and Jesus talks to us, but our eye is not on him. Even right now, Jesus is talking to you, but your eye may not be on him. Your eye is on the means, the water. Never cause something of Jesus to become separate from him.
Even the Communion is, "Man, this is my body and my blood". Never separate it and becomes a means. "I got Communion, I got this". You separate from him, you don't talk to him when you take Communion, you don't receive as from him, you are not conscious of his presence, it is void of power, amen. Don't put your eyes on means. Put your eyes on the Lord. Can I have a good amen? And he has his eyes on means, on the water, the surging of the water. Not only that, he has his eye on men, mankind. "Sir, I have no man. Other people have people to carry them. I have no man". His eye is not on the man from glory. His eye is on man, "I have no man". Can I say something about healing? Sometimes healing is easier than we think. We complicate it.
Then another thing is that his eye is also on himself. He says that, "I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me". So, while he's scooting, all right, he can't walk, right, he's scooting. "While I am coming, while I am coming". In other words, his eye is on his action. "I can't scoot fast enough to go to the water". His eye is also on himself. Can you see that? Eye on anything else but Jesus. There are people who are so weak in themselves, you know what they say? Today they are so transformed. And I hear their testimonies. All they say is this, Jesus keeps on telling me, "Don't worry about having faith. Just look at me. Don't worry about trying to be transformed. Don't try to change yourself. Just look at me. Don't worry about not having enough faith to believe me for. Just look at me".
I'm going to tell you something right now. This man does not know who Jesus is. The next words of Jesus with authority and power, Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk". Now, in Hebrew, kumi, "Arise, take up your bed and walk". Now, watch this now. I'm going to say something that may catch me some flak in the future, but I don't care, right? It's true anyway. I have never seen Jesus in person. People ask me, "Have you seen Jesus in person"? No. Jesus says, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe". I am blessed, but I've seen him a number of times in my spirit. And sometimes it's so clear in my spirit that I am now of the persuasion no picture, no animation, even our animation of the cross, I'm still dissatisfied with that. Because nothing can depict the Jesus that I saw.
I tell you what I saw in the spirit. You look at him, the Bible says his whole demeanor is like the cedars of Lebanon, majestic. And yet, there's a kindness, there's a majesty, and there's an approachableness. Holy, and yet prostitutes, tax collectors, sinners would rush to him. There is a fire in his eyes that never compromised on sin, amen, but a fire that beckons. You can sense that in the presence of a great prophet, they call him, some of them, and yet sinners will come and weep over his feet and come so close. Something about him is altogether lovely, but there's a majesty. And I've seen him before, and I've said this many-a-times. I can't describe to you, when you see him in the spirit, you don't have to ask whether you have faith. Even if you do not know who he is, just to see him, faith is there. Faith is there.
The Bible says his whole demeanor, in Song of Songs, is like the cedars of Lebanon. Have you seen the cedar of Lebanon? A cedar tree goes up straight and it's majestic. There's such a majesty about him. And yet, he does not dress like the rich and the famous in his day. He moved among the suffering, the misery. And yet, you can tell a prince walks among them. You can tell there's a royal touch to him. He touches the leper, the leper is cleansed. There's a power, he uses his power never for himself, always for others. And there is such an authority, there's such a love, and still a majesty, a dignity that even though the disciples walked with him and they say that when you spend time night and day with someone, no one is a hero to his valet, you know.
But yet, the disciples were so afraid to ask him questions sometimes. There's such a dignity about him. They never took him for granted. They felt like they were in the presence of majesty, even though they saw the in and out of daily living. It's hard to maintain a standard of dignity with someone that you live with. There's something about Jesus. I've seen that, I want to see more of that. But to see him, and this is what I believe, the man was lame in his feet. He looked up, and there's an authority. "Kumi, kumi," all right? "Rise, take up your bed". I believe that he didn't even shout, "Kumi," because he shouted and the guy got healed, the rest all want to be healed. I believe it's just, "Kumi," such an authority. It's even hard to describe. "Arise".
Are you ready to do what you cannot do? Are you ready for me to do for you what you cannot do for yourself? Are you ready to be adapted to grace? Kumi. And with the words come the power. See, the law wants you to have the strength before you can keep the law, before the law can bless you. But grace, as it speaks, the power is there. Now, I'm not against motivational teachings and all that. I'm for it. Many of them are great people. Many of the great motivational speakers in the world today and in times past are Christians, are believers, so, you know, far be it from me to even knock down motivational teaching. But let me tell you this. Motivational teaching is based on you must do these seven steps and then you will have the results that you're supposed to have. And if you don't have the results, don't blame me, 'cause I gave you the steps. Whereas grace is different. Grace, as grace speaks, the power is there.
As you come and listen, even before you start applying, you get healed. That's why the power is just in the hearing, in the beholding. The power is there. A lot of people out there, they don't believe that. They don't believe that the power is just by beholding. They must find things to do in the sermon. You must give people things to do. My friend, the doing will come later, the work will come later. The revelation must come first. Their blinded eyes must see, then they can walk, then they can work. And God wants your hands that are withered to be hands that prosper in everything it touches. It says of Joseph that everything he touched, God made to prosper, so much so that Potiphar saw that and Potiphar was very smart. This guy is very sharp. He put two and two together.
If everything he touches, he touched the cabbage patch, it becomes prosperous. It grew luscious bumper crops, all right? He touched the animals, and the animals were in good spirits, gave a lot of milk and all that. And whatever he touches, it prospers. "I'll put everything under his hand," except for his wife. She was going to come under his hand, but he didn't, all right, thank God. And the Bible says Potiphar put everything under Joseph's hand because he saw that everything that he touched, God prospers it. That's why we lay hands on the sick. Do you understand? God wants your hands to be hands that prosper, that blesses your children, blesses your family. When I walk into a plane, now you are stewardess, I meet many of you from church, and you all see me also, right?
But I'm giving away my secret. When I step into an airplane, you see my hand doing this... Touch the plane, why? I believe, all right, this simple hand, this beautiful, long, slender, artistic hand... saranghaeyo. I believe that these hands, when I touch it, something happens. I actually say, "I cover this plane with the blood of Jesus," amen? And I believe that the entire plane, as long as I'm on board, it will not go. You gotta believe that. You gotta believe that whatever you touch prospers. Now, it doesn't matter if you are told by your boss to take someone else's job, okay? Because this person has resigned. You cannot do a good job. It doesn't mean that you also not do a good job. I believe that when you take that person's role on the laptop, whatever it is, when you touch, it prospers. I believe that, why? Because the Lord has restored you. It's not a matter of what job it is, it's a matter of who is sponsoring you, who is supplying you, amen.
So, Jesus says, "Rise, take up your bed and walk". Why take up your bed? By the way, you know he cannot rise, right? Thirty-eight years, he cannot rise. But there's authority in the words. When you start acting upon his Word, power comes. Let me tell you this, one of the secrets of healing, after you pray for God to heal you, I can't begin to tell you the number of times I had pain in my body, in my study, what I do is I pray and I believe I receive. I still felt the pain, and the next thing I do is, like, what do normal people do when they are well? What do they do? They exercise, amen. So I say, "Pumping position down," and I start exercising, hallelujah. And I still felt the pain at first, but something happens. More than once I have received healing while I am exercising. It's like faith, it's like a fire, a spark that's on the powder keg of healing.
When you act, boom. It doesn't happen when you just pray. You say, "Father, heal me. Father, heal me". All right, just take Communion and all that. It's what you do after that. You gotta rise and act like you are healed. Ask yourself, you've been asking God for healing, for healing, for healing. Some of you have been asking God to renew your youth like the eagles, but do you act young? Or do you sit down there and say, "I'm tired"? and you see the cup over there, the mug over there, you want a drink of water or whatever it is, and you look at the mug and you imagine yourself going there, filling your mug with Milo, chocolate, whatever it is, and you come back and you realize you're still here. Get up, rise, amen. Act young, act strong, act well, and you will be well, amen. Amen! Ask your... amen, come on, give him praise! Take a praise break, hallelujah. Praise the Lord, amen.
That is what is lacking. Many a times my wife will also help me to remind me, all right? God has healed you. God has, I gotta be, you know, we are to help each other. What would you do, this is a good question to ask. What would you do if you are well? "Well, I think I will go to the gym". Start doing it. "Well, I'll go to the gym when I'm well". And then because you don't go to the gym, you become more unwell. Now you're unwell-er because you didn't go and exercise. "But one day, Pastor Prince, I'll do a brief walk when I'm well". But then you've been asking God to heal you and never start walking. Now you don't walk for a long time, your body is in a sedentary position, now you have more other conditions because you didn't do it, all right? It's a catch-22, it's a vicious cycle. Somewhere along the way, you're going to break all this.
What would you do if you are well? Now do it! What would you do if you are 20 again? I'll join my daughter in her party. Well, mercy on your daughter, amen. But hey, whatever it takes, amen. Have fun, think young, live young, act strong, act healed, act well, rise. Take up your dirty laundry, amen. Now, as he rose, he found the explosion happened. All right, "Wow, he's well," amen. And then Jesus says, "Take up your bed". What does that mean, "Take up your bed"? In other words, make no provision for relapses. As long as the bed is still there... by the way, their bed is like a mat. You know, you roll up your mat. It's not like a Simmons bed, you know, the big bed. All right, "Take up your bed". "Yes, Lord". This will be a double miracle, amen. No, no, no, no. I gotta finish, you guys.
All right, y'all, don't stop me, okay? I gotta send you off some. So, he rolled up the bed, it means what? Make no provision, make no... don't have any backward thoughts. No thoughts of failure, no thoughts of relapse. Roll up your bed. Your days of lying on it is over. Take it up, and now walk. Have you noticed he didn't say run, uh? Walk. So, I like walking instead of running. No, it's okay. If you run, let me give you a verse of Scripture, okay? They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. Okay, so I give you a verse, are you happy?
All right, but many a times he says, walk, amen. Running can affect your joints and all that. But walk, he says, "Take up your bed and walk". He knew very well their custom. Sabbath is a day given by the Lord for the Jewish people to rest, but they have included other kinds of laws in Sabbath which means you cannot even carry your bed. Jesus knew it. Jesus knew it, and Jesus said, "Take up your bed". So, he took up his bed and rolled it up. "Now walk". Jesus knew he's going to attract attention, right? So, the Bible says, "Immediately the man was made well, took up his bed". Notice, he became well when? After he took up his bed? No, when he rose up. After he was made well, then took up his bed, notice that? So, the rise is where the action that really happens. All right, "Take up your bed and walk". "And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, 'It's the Sabbath; it's not lawful for you to carry your bed.'"
Have you noticed the Jews never said that, the Jews here in the Gospel of John is always referring to the Jewish leaders. They didn't say to him, "You've been made well". They say, "You're carrying your bed"! Now the area, they all probably knew him very well. He's been there for 38 years. Some of these leaders were born, then he was still there in their childhood. They knew who he was, but they say that "You're carrying your bed," instead of saying that "You're well, hey, you're well! Hey, you're okay"! "Hey, you're carrying your bed"! Have you noticed that religious people can point fingers at us and miss everything, all the good testimonies, all the amazing testimonies and all that and find something to find fault with? Look at how he answered. I love this. He answered them, "He who made me well". His emphasis is, "He made me well". What an answer! "He who made me well said to me, 'Rise, take up your bed and walk.'" "He who made me well".
Now, he gave them the answer, right, in case they do not know that he's the one who was sick. Now he tells them. "You don't know who said, 'Take up your bed and walk?' The one who made me well". Then they will ask him, right? Naturally, all right, "'Who is the one who made you well?'" Right? "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk?'" You know, how cruel. When you turn Christianity into a religion, grace is not in the picture. You don't care what God has done. I don't care if Joseph Prince has all these testimonies or not. He doesn't agree with my doctrine of taking up the bed and walking on the Sabbath. That's what they zero on. Now, I don't believe that these men knew what they were trying to fetch out of him. These people knew it was Jesus. They probably suspected it was Jesus. The word has got around. But he probably thought they wanted to find the answer.
Okay, I need to go through this. "And then the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place". Now, Jesus had withdrawn. I love the Lord Jesus. He doesn't push himself forward. After he does something, he doesn't go around saying, all right, "Hey guys, look at what I did". Have you noticed that he never looks to be the center of attraction? He never performs anything for ostentatious purposes. He never does things to be the popular idol of the day. He just withdraws. Heal, withdraw, I love it. That's our Lord Jesus, amen.
So, then, next verse, "Afterwards Jesus found him in the temple". I love where Jesus found him. Jesus found him in the temple. Probably for 38 years he has not been able to go to the temple, and now the man is there, probably to offer a thank offering, a thank offering to the Lord. So, he was at the temple, and Jesus found him there. Now listen. Jesus said to him, "'See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.'" Now, I want to share something like this. I can't let you go without me sharing something like this, because you might have the wrong impression that when you sin, something bad will happen to you and all that. Number one, he's not referring to that kind of sin. After you're saved, how many realize that we still sin here and there? We don't want to sin, we're not interested in sinning, we're, interested in serving the Lord, glorifying him in our lives. But listen, we still sin, right?
Anything that's not of faith is sin, so if that's the definition, then what? We all still sin, right? Anything that's not of faith is sin. To him who knows what to do right and do of it not, to him it is sin. But is that what he's referring to? Because you don't have the right translation or picture, you will think all the time, the worst thing is coming, the worst thing is coming, the worst thing is coming. No, no, listen to what I'm saying. The word no more is something that he did in the past. The word no more in the Greek is meketi, which is no longer sin. The sin you did last time, no longer.
Now, sometimes, when someone is suffering, I've read this, you know, you can check this online and all that, you can check with doctors also. Sexually, STD, sexually transmitted diseases, can affect your feet. So, when Jesus tells him, "All right, in other words, don't go to the brothel anymore. You used to do that 38 years ago, stop doing that". Do you understand that? Lest the worst thing happen to you. If I tell a person who's smoking all the time and he had lung cancer and we prayed for him, he got healed, completely healed, verified by the doctor, we know of cases like this, right? Then we tell him, "Hey, smoke no longer". Can you understand that?
"Lest the worst thing happen to you". It's a specific thing. Hamartio refers to a verb, a specific act that this guy knows of, so don't think like, any sin, the worst thing will happen. No, no, no, listen, we are all forgiven of our sins, all right? Some sins will have consequences, all right? And some of the consequences, you cannot reverse. So, be wise, understand, you know, where he's coming from. Let me bring this to a close. "The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well". Now he didn't know their intention. They thought they wanted to find out the identity, all right? He went to them, notice his emphasis again. He didn't say, "Oh, the one who told me to take up my bed". That means he had a bad reason. But no, he's very pure in his heart. He went and said, "Hey, the one who made me well".
Again, the emphasis, "He made me well". "The one who made me well, you're finding out who is it? It's Jesus". Look at their reaction. "For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath". Drop down. "Jesus answered them, 'My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.' Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God". Look up here, I'm going to close with this. My Father is working, therefore I'm working. But why is the Father working and why is he working on the Sabbath?
Let me tell you a very sad story. God's dream was shattered, because God gave man a free choice. When God made man in creation and the morning stars sang together, God made everything well. There was no hospitals, there was no COE, there was nothing, all right, there was nothing that disrupted, there was nothing that was disease, there was nothing that was short of God's glory. Everything was perfect, and then man sinned against God. Now, watch this. When man sinned against God, God's Sabbath, which he rested, is the Sabbath of creation. God made everything, and God rested, not because he was tired, because creation was finished. And God saw everything that he made, it was good. When God made man, God said it was very good, and God rested.
So, the Sabbath, which is on Saturday, the Jewish people until today celebrate Saturday as their Sabbath, it's actually the rest of creation. But creation was disrupted, man fell, and because man fell, God started working again towards man's redemption. God has been working ever since. And then Jesus came and cried, "It is finished"! And he rose from the dead, not on the Saturday, but on the first day of the week, on a Sunday. Sunday is a rest that celebrates redemption, not Sabbath for creation. In creation man has to work the first six days and on Saturday they rest, but in redemption you enter into rest first and then you can work, hallelujah! That's why we celebrate Sunday. It's there in the Bible. "Upon the first day of the week they gathered together".
Jesus appeared after he rose from the dead from one Sunday to another Sunday to another Sunday. There's a purpose for that. We are now in redemption. We are no more in creation. A lot of people are going back to creation to redeem their bodies. They're going back to creation, back to Eden's diet, but Eden has fallen. Even the good food, organic food and all that, they're all robbed of their nutrition today. Unless God blesses in redemption, nothing avails. But we don't put our trust in creation. We put our trust in redemption, amen? Give Jesus the praise, amen, hallelujah. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, amen, amen, amen! Every head bowed, every eye closed all across this place.
Friend, all three, the blind, the lame, and the withered hand, Jesus healed them all on a Sabbath. Could it be that when we are out of rest, we become blind, it affects our walk, it affects our work? Could it be that the first thing the devil attacks is your rest, to move you out of rest? Because Jesus healed all three on the Sabbath. Now you can walk because you have been cured. The law says walk before you are cured. No, no one can walk, but now that Jesus has healed you, he has redeemed you, he has saved you, you can walk.
Now the man can walk, he can walk to the water, he can walk to the temple, he can walk anywhere. It was the best Sabbath ever. It's the true Sabbath of his life. And, friend, God wants to bring you to the true Sabbath. Number one, Sabbath rests in your conscience. Do you know all your sins are forgiven, that God is holding nothing against you? He imputes no sin upon you because he has imputed all your sins to Jesus Christ on that cross. You need to have that first, to have rest in your conscience. Number two, rest in your mind. Know that God is working. If God is working, you need not work. God is working, Jesus is working, the Holy Spirit is working in us, we rest.
The more we rest, the more we see. The more we rest, the better we walk, and the more prosperous our work. But perhaps you are here, you've never even begun to walk. But now you see, you see the fact that Jesus came to save sinners. And you say, "Pastor Prince, I'm a sinner". Well, Jesus is a greater Savior than you are a sinner. He loved you, friend. He died on the cross for you. Now, wherever you are right now, if that is you, you want to avail yourself of what Jesus has done, pray this prayer with me right now. I'm going to help you pray. Let's all pray together:
Heavenly Father, I thank you that you sent Jesus Christ to be my Savior. Christ died on the cross for all my sins. He loved me while I was still in my sins. He died in my place, took my sins, bore my judgment. And when I was justified in him, you raised him from the dead. Thank you, Father, Jesus Christ is my Lord and I'm saved forever, completely forgiven, every whit whole, filled with your Spirit. Thank you, Father, I am now your child. Teach me and cause me to walk in the Spirit. In Jesus's name, amen, amen.
Now, stand to your feet. Arise, rise, take up your dirty litter and don't walk out just yet. Let's bless you before you go. Lift your hands all across this place. The same God who spoke to that impotent man and said, "Rise," It's the same God who tells you, "Rise out of your addictions. Rise out of your bondage. Rise out of your bad habits. Rise out of your sickness. Rise out of that chronic condition, and begin to walk". That same walk that you dreamed that you would walk in, now you have it. Start acting like it. Walk out of this place blessed, favored, prosperous, amen. God is with you.
The Lord bless you and your families throughout this week. The Lord bless you with the blessings of Abraham, the blessings of Deuteronomy 28. The Lord smile on you, be favorable to you and your loved ones. May you walk in the supernatural favor of God everywhere you go throughout this week. The Lord protect you and your loved ones throughout this week from every danger, harm, from terror, from evil people, from sickness, from infection, from all the powers of darkness. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord grant to you and your loved ones his shalom shabbat health, wholeness, peace, rest. In Jesus's name. Act blessed, act healed, act well. Walk. God bless you.