Matt Hagee - When The Long Wait Is Over
Would you stand for the reading of God's word. If you brought your Bibles, turn them to book of John 5:2 through 9, as this Sunday, we gather for the last Sunday of 2017. You need to know next year will not be a better year just because it got one higher. Next year will be whatever you make it. Now I don't know about you. Maybe some people that you know, but there's a few of us that didn't do everything just right in 2017. Many of us should have said more "I love you's," and more "I'm proud of you," and more "Thank you," and more "How are you"?
The things we did and didn't do: all of it has the opportunity in this moment for us to consider, and then make up our minds that tonight when the clock strikes midnight, it is time to move on. Today, we get to decide. And this morning, I want to tell you that no matter what you expect God to do in your new year, no matter what you're believing for in your life, no matter how long you've been waiting for it, I believe that I'm sent here today to let you know the long wait is over.
John 5:2, "Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate, a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches. In these 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 38 years". Somebody say: waiting. "When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been in that condition a long time", somebody say: waiting. "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'. And 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 day".
Heavenly Father, thank you for the power of your word and its purpose in our life today. For each and every heart, soul, mind, and body that's in this place that has been waiting, I ask you to move upon them this morning: that they would not have to wait one more moment, but they would feel your revelation power and be able to move from this place filled with the favor of God in their life. In Jesus' name, we pray. And all of God's children said, praise the Lord.
You may be seated. I'm certain this morning that there are many of you, who know exactly what you want God to do for you in 2018. For some of you, they're professional goals. For others, they're personal goals, things that are so secret inside of you: you haven't even whispered them to another soul. But I know that not only do you know them, but God knows them. This morning, I believe that if you have faith in God, you'll understand what it means when I say, "The long wait is over," because the God that is inside of you, he is much greater than the hell that opposes you. The work that he began in you, he is faithful to complete even unto the day of Christ Jesus.
This year, I declare over you, and your family, and your business, and everything you put your hand to, no weapon formed against you would prosper. Every enemy will be defeated, because God himself is in this place! And when he is here, all things are possible! The question that we have for the man in John 5 today is "What are you waiting for"? Allow me to describe where he lies. We read in the Bible that there is, in Jerusalem, a holy place: Jerusalem, where the Temple Mount is: Jerusalem, where God says that he would dwell and meet with his people. "There is by the sheep gate a pool, and it has five porches". If you read it with your natural eyes and you think with your western thoughts, you'd say, "Well it's a nice, little day spa". No, it's not. It's called in Hebrew "Bethesda", it means "House of mercy".
Oh, well it must be a very beautiful place. Wrong. This is the place where every traveler and every Pilgrim, who was coming to Jerusalem to sacrifice, would bring their dirty, filthy, muddy, nasty lambs and bathe them before they took them clean to the temple. Could you imagine a pool where literally tens of thousands of sheep, every feast and every festival, are being washed? And the Bible says that on these five porches that are around this pool, there is a multitude of blind, of sick, of lame, and paralyzed people. And they're waiting. They're waiting. They're not waiting here because they want to be here. They're waiting here because they were left here. This is no house of mercy. This is a place of cruelty.
You see according to the law, they had to be perfect and they had to be well before they could walk through the gates of the temple. If they were lame, if they were paralyzed, they could not go in. So not being able to go in, they got them just as close as they could. They're right by the sheep gate. They get to hear the prayers. They get to hear all of the things that are happening inside the holy place. But they can't go because they're not right. Except on the occasion that every now and again, an angel comes from heaven, and he stirs the water. And the first person, who can get in the water right after the angel stirs it, he gets the healing that he's looking for. And whatever was his problem is no longer his problem. And he leaves the pool of Bethesda never to go back there again.
You see for 38 years, there's one man who's been there and he's been waiting. He's been there so long that his 38 years is actually longer than the average life expectancy of a man in Israel in his day. The Bible says, for 38 years, he laid there on a mat. Maybe in year one, he was back on porch number five. And it took him five, ten years, but he crawled his way to porch number four. And maybe three years later, he got help from a friend, and they took him to porch number three. And he stayed on porch three for 15 to 20 years. But then suddenly, he decided it was time for a change. And he got to porch two. And 38 years of crawling across the ground covered by the filth of the animals that they bathed there, LeRoy makes it all the way to the edge of pool number one. He has been waiting a long time.
I believe that there are people, who understand what it's like to wait for a long time. This man, for 38 years, waited, and he watched, and he wondered, am I ever going to get there? The only thing he tried to do was get in the pool. But suddenly, something dramatic happens in his existence. And this is the beauty of this moment, because he's no longer in need of the pool when the right person walks right up to him, Jesus Christ, the son of the living God, and he sees him just as he is. You're sitting here this morning wondering about what's going to happen next year. You're waiting for the time to be right. When Jesus shows up, the time is right. Stop waiting, stop wondering, and start believing that God has better things for you tomorrow than you've ever known in your past!
When we read this conversation, it's very peculiar to me. We read that Jesus came by the pool and he saw him. Say that with me, he saw him. Now Jesus being fully God and fully man, not only saw him with his natural eyes. But being sovereign, he saw him, and he knew all about him. You need to know Jesus knows all about you today. He sees you. He sees the things you're trying to hide from others. He sees the things you don't say to anybody else. He knows the heartache you've been through. He knows the times you've tried and failed. He knows what you want for tomorrow, and he knows what you need. But seeing this man, Jesus walks up to him. And he doesn't say, "LeRoy, you've been here for 38 years: you're healed". He walks up to him, and he asks him a question that you and I are going to have to answer today, because the same Jesus that was by that pool is in this sanctuary, and he hasn't changed. He walks up to this lame man, and he says, "Do you want to be made well"?
Think about that. Thirty-eight years, you've been lying on this mat, imprisoned by its parameters, can't move without somebody there to help you. And some guys walks up and asks you, "Do you want to be made well"? Jesus didn't ask him, "Do you want my help"? Jesus didn't ask him, "Would you like to get in the water"? Jesus looked at him, and said, do you want all of this to change? And he said, I can't. Every time I try, somebody gets in before me. Every time that I want to be better, I can't be better. Jesus walks through the aisles of this sanctuary today, and he says, do you want to be made well? Do you really want to change?
What Jesus was doing is looking beyond this man's condition, and asking him, do you really want to become the person that I created you to be? Do you really want to move past where you are and walk into your destiny? If I touch your physical body and I heal you, are you going to take responsibility with the wellness that I bring to you? Do you want to be made well? Because this man had become so comfortable with his existence, that when the power of God showed up right nextto him, he made an excuse instead of moving forward. Today I have to tell you that I am thankful that there are times that God ignores us in our excuses. Because this conversation goes like this, "Do you want to be made well"? "I have no one to help me up". "Rise! Rise"!
Jesus didn't say, "Well I'm so sorry that you've gone through 38 years of suffering. And I understand your heart break and plight. Let's sit down together and analyze exactly how we might create a better atmosphere for your future coping". And there are times that we want Jesus to get down here with us and cope with us. You don't understand: I've been through more than anybody else. Jesus says, I'm not going to take that for an excuse. Impossible is an insult to a God who says, "All things are possible". Jesus didn't look at this man and say, "I understand your situation". Whenever he made an excuse, Jesus ignored the excuse. And he just said, "Rise! Rise! Rise"!
Have enough faith to believe that the one, who created heaven and earth with the power of his word, could speak something to you today that would cause everything that you need to come to fruition all at once. You don't have to be here another day. All you've got to do is believe and rise! Today, some of you are so accustom with your existence that right where you are is where you want to stay in spite of how badly you want to change. Child of God, you need to know that God will do it. God will do it. Don't let fear take away the joy of your tomorrow, because God hasn't given you a spirit of fear. Don't allow others, who have failed you in the past, to keep you from believing what God wants to do in your future.
If God be for you, who can be against you? You see for 38 years, this man put his faith in other men. And because others failed him, he had trouble believing that God could help him. And there are many of you in this place the same exact way. Others have failed you. Your father failed you. Your family failed you. Your life feels like it has failed you. And because of what others have failed to do, you do not believe that God can help you. Here is what 1 Thessalonians 5:24 says. It says, "He who called you is faithful". Say that with me. "He who called you is faithful". And here's the last three words of that verse. It says, "He will do it".
That miracle that you've been waiting for, he will do it! The sickness that won't go away, the healer will do it! The unsaved loved one you want to come to the cross, he will do it! He is faithful! He is true! He is loving! He is kind! And nothing is impossible to all who believe! And so we see in this moment the thing that makes the difference between last year and next year, the thing that makes the difference between yesterday and all of your tomorrows. And it's a choice that you and I have to make. Will you live by reason? Or will you walk in revelation? You see natural reason told LeRoy that he had a mat that he was supposed to lie on and he couldn't move. But revelation walked up to him and said, "Rise". Don't let reason talk you out of what God has made possible for you this morning.
Here we have this conversation taking place. And for whatever reason, in the midst of it, Jesus looks at the man, and says, "Rise". And he thinks to himself, what can it hurt? And all of a sudden, a leg that didn't move before, it just moves a little bit. "Let me try the other one". He gets them right where they want to be. He says, "I wonder what my back will do? Oh, it's stiff, 38 years". "I need a better sleep number". He gets to right here. And you know what? When you have been lying flat on your back for 38 years, this is pretty high up there. And there are some of you in 2018 that you're going to tell God, "If you can just get me to here, I'll believe more next year". That's not what "Rise" means. He moves beyond this low place. He says, "Hey, I haven't fallen flat on my face yet". He stretches out his legs. He says, "Let me catch my breath before I stand up". And suddenly, he begins to straighten his back. And you almost hear every joint in his spine just snap, crackle, and pop. Whew. Thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus! I never thought I'd get this far, but thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus!
The next thing that Jesus says to him is very important. And it's something that you're going to have to do about midnight tonight. And that is, "Take up your bed". What Jesus said is, where you've been for 38 years is well beneath who I created you to be. And in order for you to never come back here, we've got to go and take care of the past. We're just going to pick it up and we're going to get rid of it. It's gone. You see there's a lot of people that get a touch from God, and they do what they've never done before, but they don't deal with the past. And the second that life becomes uncomfortable, they say, "Well just let me unpack all my baggage".
That's not good enough. Rise. Take up your bed. Get rid of your yesterdays. You're not who they said you were. You are who he created you to be. You're not defined by your limitation. You are called and created in the image of a God who is magnificent, awesome, and mighty! And the last command he receives, "Walk". There are people in this room today that you'll rise. You'll take up your bed, but you might be too afraid to walk. Don't allow fear to keep you from walking into tomorrow, because God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of sound mind. Walk, believing that victory is yours today. Walk, believing that the past is behind you, and that your tomorrow is a place of victory. Walk away from the excuses of yesterday and live in the full glory of your tomorrow! But you've got to walk. And know that when you go on your walk, you're going to meet some people that don't like the fact that you're walking.
You know how I know that? Just keep reading the story. Thirty-eight years, he's been by a pool. And the first guy he runs into, he looks at him and says, "LeRoy, you can't do that. It's unlawful. I've got reasons why this revelation can't be true". Now here's where LeRoy's breakthrough came in. He looked right back at the guy who said, "You can't do that". And he said, "Listen, friend. You couldn't fix me for the 38 years that I was broken. But somebody walked into my life today and he changed everything. He didn't tell me about the rules concerning the bed. He just said, pick it up and leave. And I would rather believe in his power than listen to your noise. If you couldn't fix me when I was broken, you can't help me now that I'm whole. So I appreciate your opinion, but you're going to have to take it up with Jesus, because he's the one who showed up by the pool. He's the one who touched me when I needed it. He is King of kings and Lord of lords! Bless his holy name"!
Just as Jesus went to the pool, he promised in his word that he would be here. Just as he had power to change that man's life that day, he has the power to change your life today. The question that you have to answer is, "Do you want to be made well"? I believe with every fiber of my being, if you have faith enough to rise, take up your bed, and walk, then in your life today the long wait is over. It's over. This morning, if you believe that God's presence is in this place, and if you are ready to be changed and receive your touch, I want you to lift a hand towards heaven as a sign and a symbol that you're reaching out to touch the hem of the garment of the King of kings who said he would be here. Repeat these words with me:
Lord Jesus Christ, today I thank you for the revelation power of your word that has told me to rise. Today I believe, and I act upon your word. I am going to rise above every fear, above every excuse, above every pain in the past. And I am going to walk, in faith believing, knowing that my future is far greater than any day in my past. Thank you Lord for what you've done for me through your son, Jesus Christ. Thank you father that you have called me and created me. Thank you Jesus that my answer is here and I have forever been changed, in Jesus' name. Amen.