1
00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:04,480
Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation

2
00:00:04,720 --> 00:00:06,760
Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast and I wanted to

3
00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:09,720
Speaker 1: thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you.

4
00:00:10,080 --> 00:00:12,280
Speaker 1: Hope it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective

5
00:00:12,320 --> 00:00:14,640
Speaker 1: to see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the

6
00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:22,759
Speaker 1: message now, John Chapter five, verse seven, Sir, the invalid reply,

7
00:00:23,400 --> 00:00:26,120
Speaker 1: I have no one to help me into the pool.

8
00:00:26,160 --> 00:00:30,880
Speaker 1: When the water is stirred. While I am trying to

9
00:00:30,960 --> 00:00:36,880
Speaker 1: get in, someone else goes down ahead of me. You're

10
00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:38,879
Speaker 1: gonna love this because you've been wanting to say this

11
00:00:38,960 --> 00:00:40,839
Speaker 1: anyway on my title, and I'm gonna let you say

12
00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:43,279
Speaker 1: it right now. And because I'm telling you to say it,

13
00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:45,720
Speaker 1: you will have permission to say it. Look at the

14
00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:48,199
Speaker 1: person next to you and tell them this, and tell

15
00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:52,839
Speaker 1: them in a convincing way, say trust me, I'm trying.

16
00:00:55,000 --> 00:01:00,920
Speaker 1: I'm trying. You may be seated. I promise I am.

17
00:01:01,200 --> 00:01:06,240
Speaker 1: I really am trying. I know I don't always hit

18
00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:11,520
Speaker 1: the mark, but I really am trying. Because for me,

19
00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:15,639
Speaker 1: I have a rule, especially as a boss the people

20
00:01:15,640 --> 00:01:18,560
Speaker 1: that work for me, is that I always try to

21
00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,600
Speaker 1: make it a point never to punish somebody who's trying

22
00:01:21,640 --> 00:01:24,840
Speaker 1: to be proactive. I feel like if somebody makes a

23
00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:28,960
Speaker 1: mistake because they took it a little too far, that's

24
00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:33,440
Speaker 1: a little Jesus. Jesus. Let Peter cut Malcus's ear off

25
00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:36,000
Speaker 1: in the garden and put it back on like mister

26
00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:39,800
Speaker 1: Potato had. But I think he liked Peter because Peter

27
00:01:39,840 --> 00:01:42,400
Speaker 1: wouldn't just sit around. Peter was like, all right, I

28
00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:45,440
Speaker 1: can do something about this. The spirit is willing, the

29
00:01:45,440 --> 00:01:47,840
Speaker 1: flesh is weak, and I'm about to use my flesh

30
00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:51,760
Speaker 1: to cut off. And that's a really interesting thing, isn't it. Now.

31
00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:56,320
Speaker 1: The kids will call somebody a tryhard It is like

32
00:01:56,560 --> 00:01:59,800
Speaker 1: a way of saying, you know, if it looks like

33
00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:02,960
Speaker 1: you you try too hard on your outfit. And I

34
00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,840
Speaker 1: get that, but I like people who will give it

35
00:02:06,880 --> 00:02:10,799
Speaker 1: a level of effort, and even if they miss, they

36
00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:16,359
Speaker 1: swing so big. I've always liked people like that. I

37
00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:18,280
Speaker 1: thought I should tell you this. If I ever come

38
00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:21,720
Speaker 1: up here to preach and I don't do good, which

39
00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:26,200
Speaker 1: I'm sure happens, it won't be because I didn't try.

40
00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:28,480
Speaker 1: So if you ever see me up here struggling in

41
00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:34,320
Speaker 1: this pulpit and you're like, I don't really understand this one.

42
00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:36,600
Speaker 1: I think I see what he was trying to do.

43
00:02:36,680 --> 00:02:40,200
Speaker 1: Did you catch that? Number one is probably your fault

44
00:02:40,200 --> 00:02:41,919
Speaker 1: because you didn't pray enough before you came to church.

45
00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:50,320
Speaker 1: That's kiddy, But trust me, I'm trying, and I think

46
00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:56,040
Speaker 1: sometimes it can be frustrating when you are giving your

47
00:02:56,080 --> 00:02:59,960
Speaker 1: best effort, but what is required of you is beyond

48
00:03:00,200 --> 00:03:01,959
Speaker 1: your ability. And I'm gonna try to ignore this fly

49
00:03:02,000 --> 00:03:04,359
Speaker 1: buzzing around my head. But touch somebody and say, I'm trying,

50
00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:13,840
Speaker 1: I'm really trying. I'm really You must have had to

51
00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:17,360
Speaker 1: really trust Jesus to follow him when he walked the earth.

52
00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:19,600
Speaker 1: People say, oh, I wish I could have followed Jesus

53
00:03:19,600 --> 00:03:22,959
Speaker 1: and walked with him. You know. Now it's harder because

54
00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,160
Speaker 1: God is not visible like that, and it would have

55
00:03:26,200 --> 00:03:30,840
Speaker 1: been so cool. No, wouldn't It would have been so

56
00:03:31,600 --> 00:03:37,000
Speaker 1: difficult to trust Jesus and he was always getting in

57
00:03:37,120 --> 00:03:43,040
Speaker 1: so much trouble. He was always explaining his actions and

58
00:03:43,080 --> 00:03:47,480
Speaker 1: his intentions after the fact, and what that required from

59
00:03:47,520 --> 00:03:51,880
Speaker 1: his disciples was just this crazy amount of trust. I'm trying.

60
00:03:51,960 --> 00:04:00,960
Speaker 1: I'm really trying. I mean, oh, colcha, whatever you do,

61
00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:07,240
Speaker 1: just pray for me. Do them all do them all.

62
00:04:07,360 --> 00:04:10,720
Speaker 1: Let's back up and see why he's feeling so feisty today.

63
00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:13,920
Speaker 1: Sometime later, verse one John chapter five, Jesus went up

64
00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:17,040
Speaker 1: to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there's

65
00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:21,479
Speaker 1: in Jerusalem, near the Sheepgate a pool which in Aramaic

66
00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:25,839
Speaker 1: is called bethesda, means house of mercy, and it's surrounded

67
00:04:25,839 --> 00:04:30,440
Speaker 1: by five covered colonnades or porches. Here a great number

68
00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:34,200
Speaker 1: of disabled people used to lie, the blind, the lame,

69
00:04:34,839 --> 00:04:38,600
Speaker 1: and the paralyzed. It's important to note before I go

70
00:04:38,680 --> 00:04:42,040
Speaker 1: on that this is a specific dwelling place for people

71
00:04:42,040 --> 00:04:45,719
Speaker 1: with physical infirmities. And the reason I point that out

72
00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:48,560
Speaker 1: is because I'm going to make some spiritual parallels to

73
00:04:48,640 --> 00:04:51,880
Speaker 1: the physical infirmities that are mentioned in this passage. But

74
00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:54,000
Speaker 1: I don't want us to miss the historicity for the

75
00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:57,160
Speaker 1: sake of application. I think that would be irresponsible Bible teaching.

76
00:04:57,839 --> 00:05:01,560
Speaker 1: The people who were at this particular hospital, if we

77
00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:04,680
Speaker 1: can even call it that, it was more like a

78
00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:09,200
Speaker 1: public service. This pool was not a resort pool. Nobody

79
00:05:09,400 --> 00:05:12,479
Speaker 1: is bringing you little umbrellas in your drink at this pool.

80
00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:15,440
Speaker 1: This is a crowded pool and is pushing and shoving

81
00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:18,400
Speaker 1: and word has it that if you can get in

82
00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:22,680
Speaker 1: the pool when the angel stirs the water intermittently, you

83
00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:26,120
Speaker 1: can get healed. And this puts certain people who have

84
00:05:26,240 --> 00:05:30,560
Speaker 1: certain disabilities and an advantage over others. For instance, it

85
00:05:30,640 --> 00:05:34,200
Speaker 1: said there were the blind, the lane, and the paralyzed,

86
00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,040
Speaker 1: And so if you're a blind man by this pool,

87
00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:39,560
Speaker 1: you can probably feel your way to the edge of

88
00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:42,240
Speaker 1: the pool, so that when there's an opportunity to get

89
00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:44,520
Speaker 1: in and be healed, you'll be the first one there.

90
00:05:45,279 --> 00:05:47,760
Speaker 1: But if you're paralyzed, it puts you at a disadvantage

91
00:05:48,440 --> 00:05:50,719
Speaker 1: because even if you get yourself to the edge of

92
00:05:50,760 --> 00:05:53,320
Speaker 1: the pool, there's a chance that someone else can pull

93
00:05:53,360 --> 00:05:57,000
Speaker 1: you back. You are powerless. And that's an interesting thing

94
00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:02,240
Speaker 1: about life. I was out at the ballfield last baseball

95
00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:06,279
Speaker 1: season and I saw this really good dad with a

96
00:06:06,320 --> 00:06:12,680
Speaker 1: fanny pack. He didn't look happy, he didn't look like,

97
00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,479
Speaker 1: you know, these are the days making memories. He didn't

98
00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:19,320
Speaker 1: look sealfie ready. But you know, I liked about him.

99
00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:23,160
Speaker 1: He was carting this wagon. He looked like he had

100
00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,240
Speaker 1: some snacks first kids, and maybe he was on snack

101
00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,839
Speaker 1: duty that day, and I just admired him because he

102
00:06:29,960 --> 00:06:33,640
Speaker 1: was trying. I watched him pull that wagon up the hill.

103
00:06:34,360 --> 00:06:37,120
Speaker 1: I thought about it, how he was trying. He was

104
00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:39,680
Speaker 1: sweating all through his shirt. You could tell he came

105
00:06:39,720 --> 00:06:42,880
Speaker 1: straight from work. It wasn't a baseball shirt. He must

106
00:06:42,880 --> 00:06:44,760
Speaker 1: have had the wagon that he packed the night before

107
00:06:44,800 --> 00:06:46,479
Speaker 1: because he didn't have time to change the shirt. But

108
00:06:46,520 --> 00:06:49,120
Speaker 1: he just came out there. Shirt was untucked on one side,

109
00:06:49,960 --> 00:06:51,880
Speaker 1: looked like he spilled a little something on the collar,

110
00:06:53,120 --> 00:06:55,880
Speaker 1: and he was sweating through it. But he was trying.

111
00:06:57,200 --> 00:06:59,640
Speaker 1: And I've always loved the scripture that says that Jesus

112
00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:01,599
Speaker 1: looked at one man and he loved him. I thought

113
00:07:01,600 --> 00:07:05,560
Speaker 1: about that a lot lately, how Jesus would show up

114
00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:08,720
Speaker 1: to a place and look for somebody who was at

115
00:07:08,720 --> 00:07:15,040
Speaker 1: a disadvantage. I kind of imagine him walking around the

116
00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:20,400
Speaker 1: pull at Bethesda, and I'm sure his disciples were shocked

117
00:07:21,320 --> 00:07:24,560
Speaker 1: that he would waste time with a bunch of people

118
00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:27,840
Speaker 1: who they would call crippled. That's not a PC term,

119
00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:30,720
Speaker 1: but that's how they would have put it. Sickness was

120
00:07:30,720 --> 00:07:35,200
Speaker 1: connected to spiritual disorder in this time. Judaism in the

121
00:07:35,200 --> 00:07:39,040
Speaker 1: first century made a strong connection between your spiritual condition

122
00:07:39,120 --> 00:07:42,080
Speaker 1: and your physical condition. So like if you had money.

123
00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:46,000
Speaker 1: That was a proof that you were living right. That's

124
00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:48,000
Speaker 1: how they thought about it. We know that's not always

125
00:07:48,080 --> 00:07:51,160
Speaker 1: the case. We know a lot of times some of

126
00:07:51,200 --> 00:07:53,760
Speaker 1: the greatest people who are the most faithful to God,

127
00:07:54,320 --> 00:07:56,160
Speaker 1: they might not live in a big house on earth,

128
00:07:56,160 --> 00:07:58,320
Speaker 1: but we'll probably be cleaning their toilets in heaven for

129
00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:01,880
Speaker 1: the treasure that they're storing up after this life. And

130
00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:04,520
Speaker 1: yet there's this tendency to just judge things by the

131
00:08:04,560 --> 00:08:08,840
Speaker 1: physical always for all of us. So I kind of

132
00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:14,480
Speaker 1: picture him Jesus walking around and asking questions. One interesting

133
00:08:14,480 --> 00:08:16,080
Speaker 1: thing that's in the text. Let me show you this

134
00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:18,080
Speaker 1: real quick. It's too cool for me, just a reference.

135
00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:20,840
Speaker 1: I want to make sure it's very vivid. Yeah, is

136
00:08:20,920 --> 00:08:25,200
Speaker 1: that one who was there verse five had been an

137
00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:30,600
Speaker 1: invalid for thirty eight years and when Jesus saw him

138
00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:36,320
Speaker 1: lying there and learned. Now, what stood out to me

139
00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:40,720
Speaker 1: about that text wasn't that Jesus saw him. What stood

140
00:08:40,720 --> 00:08:42,719
Speaker 1: out to me about this text wasn't that the man

141
00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:46,120
Speaker 1: had issues. We all have issues, and frankly, we all

142
00:08:46,120 --> 00:08:49,080
Speaker 1: have areas of paralysis. And I'm going to talk about

143
00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:52,400
Speaker 1: yours in seven minutes, So buckle in and get that judgmental,

144
00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:56,800
Speaker 1: look off your face because I'm coming for you. On

145
00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:59,959
Speaker 1: this particular occasion. What stood out to me is Jesus learned.

146
00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:05,080
Speaker 1: I didn't think he could do that because he's the

147
00:09:05,160 --> 00:09:08,280
Speaker 1: image of God, He's the wisdom of God. How can

148
00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:13,439
Speaker 1: the wisdom of God learn information? I figured that he

149
00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:16,800
Speaker 1: must have been walking around asking how about her? How

150
00:09:16,840 --> 00:09:21,320
Speaker 1: long has she been here? Somebody said, well, she just

151
00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:26,560
Speaker 1: got here last week. She said, nah, not her? How

152
00:09:26,559 --> 00:09:29,559
Speaker 1: about him? How long has he been like that? The

153
00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:34,920
Speaker 1: blind guy right there? Yeah, is recent, it's recent. It's

154
00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:38,000
Speaker 1: been it's been two months, I think two months, two months,

155
00:09:38,600 --> 00:09:43,200
Speaker 1: Jimmy two months, yeah, two months, two months in three days? Yeah,

156
00:09:43,200 --> 00:09:48,160
Speaker 1: two months in three days? No, No, no, not him?

157
00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:55,240
Speaker 1: How about that one? Three years? We'll see. Put him

158
00:09:55,240 --> 00:09:59,520
Speaker 1: on standby because he's looking for somebody to heal. He's

159
00:09:59,559 --> 00:10:03,600
Speaker 1: looking for somebody who can experience a miracle. He's looking

160
00:10:03,679 --> 00:10:09,320
Speaker 1: for a platform to demonstrate his power. How about him?

161
00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:13,560
Speaker 1: Five years? Eh? How about her? Seven? How about that guy?

162
00:10:13,640 --> 00:10:16,959
Speaker 1: How long's he been like that? Nine years? Eh? Getting closer?

163
00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:20,760
Speaker 1: How about him? And finally somebody figures out how it's like, Well,

164
00:10:20,880 --> 00:10:22,840
Speaker 1: if you want somebody who's been here a while, I

165
00:10:22,880 --> 00:10:28,760
Speaker 1: see what you're doing. Thirty eight years long enough that

166
00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:33,079
Speaker 1: he has given up hope that anything can ever be different,

167
00:10:35,160 --> 00:10:40,680
Speaker 1: And Jesus learned that there was one. I'm gonna try

168
00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:43,400
Speaker 1: so hard not to cry when I say this to you.

169
00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:48,080
Speaker 1: But verse five says one who was there had been

170
00:10:48,120 --> 00:10:51,600
Speaker 1: an invalid for thirty eight years. What does it mean

171
00:10:52,120 --> 00:10:56,240
Speaker 1: that Jesus, who only had three years to do ministry

172
00:10:56,600 --> 00:10:59,719
Speaker 1: and was on his way to a feast, would come

173
00:10:59,760 --> 00:11:04,680
Speaker 1: by for one? Does it mean? Could it mean that

174
00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:08,160
Speaker 1: out of everybody that I'm preaching to today, out of

175
00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:11,160
Speaker 1: everybody that made a decision to show up at a campus,

176
00:11:11,840 --> 00:11:15,160
Speaker 1: that God might want the one in the back who

177
00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:19,200
Speaker 1: got here twelve minutes late, pulling a wagon, just trying

178
00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:23,440
Speaker 1: to get through the week. Could it be that God

179
00:11:23,559 --> 00:11:25,720
Speaker 1: is looking for the one who had the worst week,

180
00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:30,160
Speaker 1: the worst upbringing you, the one that other people said

181
00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:33,600
Speaker 1: could never be anything, the one who has gotten so

182
00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:38,040
Speaker 1: used to how it is, this is really what happens

183
00:11:38,040 --> 00:11:41,280
Speaker 1: in life. You get so used to how it is

184
00:11:42,520 --> 00:11:46,280
Speaker 1: that you cannot recognize that how it used to be

185
00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:51,280
Speaker 1: is no longer what's in front of you. All right,

186
00:11:51,320 --> 00:11:53,360
Speaker 1: So let's work on this a little bit bring in here,

187
00:11:53,440 --> 00:11:56,160
Speaker 1: Jesus says, Now, when you get to heaven, you'll probably

188
00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:58,440
Speaker 1: be shocked who's there and who's not. How many agreed,

189
00:11:58,640 --> 00:12:00,959
Speaker 1: there's going to be some people in heaven that are

190
00:12:00,960 --> 00:12:07,320
Speaker 1: going to shock us, like WHOA she made it? That

191
00:12:07,400 --> 00:12:10,079
Speaker 1: must have been like a thief on the cross deathbed

192
00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:16,480
Speaker 1: kind of she got in right under the wire. WHOA

193
00:12:16,640 --> 00:12:20,640
Speaker 1: they made it. I thought they believed weird stuff. They

194
00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:23,440
Speaker 1: were new age, and they made it. I think we're

195
00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:28,600
Speaker 1: going to be surprised who's there and who's not, because

196
00:12:28,600 --> 00:12:32,400
Speaker 1: I think we're always surprised who God picks and who

197
00:12:32,400 --> 00:12:38,280
Speaker 1: he uses and who he doesn't. One was there who

198
00:12:38,280 --> 00:12:41,439
Speaker 1: had been lying there for so long that you can

199
00:12:41,520 --> 00:12:44,280
Speaker 1: even tell in his response and the questions Jesus asked

200
00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:50,280
Speaker 1: him that he had he had gotten tired of trying.

201
00:12:52,280 --> 00:12:56,080
Speaker 1: My message today is for anybody who's tired of trying

202
00:12:56,120 --> 00:13:00,360
Speaker 1: in an area of your life. Tired of try trying

203
00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:06,320
Speaker 1: to repair a significant relationship, tired of trying to be

204
00:13:06,440 --> 00:13:11,800
Speaker 1: open so that you can experience relationships, Tired of trying

205
00:13:12,160 --> 00:13:14,880
Speaker 1: to overcome the thing that you keep going back to,

206
00:13:15,240 --> 00:13:17,400
Speaker 1: and it's been since you were even in your teens.

207
00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:21,440
Speaker 1: And now you're a grown man. I edited it for YouTube,

208
00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:25,080
Speaker 1: and now I'm tired of trying because there was a

209
00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:27,680
Speaker 1: time where I tried to get people to help me

210
00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:30,439
Speaker 1: to get into the pool, but now I found out

211
00:13:30,480 --> 00:13:32,839
Speaker 1: that there's no one to help me. Now, what's mind

212
00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:36,520
Speaker 1: blowing about the situation at the pool at Bethesda is

213
00:13:36,559 --> 00:13:39,960
Speaker 1: how many different ways I have heard this preach that

214
00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:44,920
Speaker 1: completely contradict the heart of God. For instance, when Jesus

215
00:13:44,960 --> 00:13:47,000
Speaker 1: comes up to the man and learn that he had

216
00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:49,800
Speaker 1: been lying there and he had been in this condition

217
00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:55,080
Speaker 1: for a long time. Pause, how many of y'all have

218
00:13:55,200 --> 00:14:02,439
Speaker 1: been in a certain condition for a long time. Jesus,

219
00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:04,520
Speaker 1: I need help. There's three honest people in the church.

220
00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:08,160
Speaker 1: And I forgot I was coming out to speak to

221
00:14:08,200 --> 00:14:10,720
Speaker 1: the perfect saints, the ten out of ten a plus saints.

222
00:14:10,720 --> 00:14:12,720
Speaker 1: I forgot I was talking to the all stars today.

223
00:14:12,720 --> 00:14:14,560
Speaker 1: I thought I was coming to elevation where they're not

224
00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:18,080
Speaker 1: afraid to be real in your name, Amen, how many

225
00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:21,520
Speaker 1: of y'all have had certain patterns of thinking that have

226
00:14:21,600 --> 00:14:27,920
Speaker 1: been negative for a long time. I mean a long time.

227
00:14:28,240 --> 00:14:30,160
Speaker 1: I don't know how old the man was, but thirty

228
00:14:30,200 --> 00:14:34,080
Speaker 1: eight years. Trust me, I'm thirty nine is a long time.

229
00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:38,120
Speaker 1: This is the entire span of my natural life. And

230
00:14:38,160 --> 00:14:42,400
Speaker 1: for so long he's been unable to move that now

231
00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:46,520
Speaker 1: he cannot recognize the help that is standing right in

232
00:14:46,560 --> 00:14:50,480
Speaker 1: front of him. And Jesus asks a question that I

233
00:14:50,520 --> 00:14:54,920
Speaker 1: have often heard misinterpreted when he says, do you want

234
00:14:55,360 --> 00:14:58,120
Speaker 1: to get well? Tone is everything. That's why you can't

235
00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:03,360
Speaker 1: text every conversation because tone is everything. Sometimes you need

236
00:15:03,400 --> 00:15:07,520
Speaker 1: to pick up the phone and call people because completely

237
00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:09,920
Speaker 1: depending on the tone is how you see the heart

238
00:15:09,920 --> 00:15:12,840
Speaker 1: of Jesus. I always read it for a long time.

239
00:15:12,960 --> 00:15:16,760
Speaker 1: Like Jesus said, do you want to get well? I

240
00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:19,480
Speaker 1: almost see him now like he's got something in his

241
00:15:19,520 --> 00:15:23,400
Speaker 1: back pocket and he's sneaking around the pool looking for somebody.

242
00:15:23,440 --> 00:15:26,040
Speaker 1: They say God helps those who help themselves, but I

243
00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:29,720
Speaker 1: almost see Jesus looking for somebody who can't. And he's like,

244
00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:33,080
Speaker 1: I see you caught in the situation. You want to

245
00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:39,200
Speaker 1: get well? And the man has every reason to be suspicious.

246
00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:43,560
Speaker 1: Can you imagine how many people have taken advantage of

247
00:15:43,640 --> 00:15:49,480
Speaker 1: him in almost forty years of suffering. How many hustlers

248
00:15:49,520 --> 00:15:52,600
Speaker 1: have come through the pool at Bethesta trying to sell

249
00:15:52,600 --> 00:15:56,240
Speaker 1: a magic potion or some bubbling water. Hey, I got

250
00:15:56,320 --> 00:15:58,560
Speaker 1: some cream men, put it on your legs. I promise

251
00:15:58,600 --> 00:16:02,960
Speaker 1: it's blessed. Hey, man, I promise you. I'll bring you

252
00:16:03,000 --> 00:16:04,640
Speaker 1: to the pool. I'll push you in when the water

253
00:16:04,720 --> 00:16:07,160
Speaker 1: starts bubbling. Just give me half now and half after

254
00:16:07,200 --> 00:16:09,360
Speaker 1: the move. I promise you I can carry you in.

255
00:16:09,440 --> 00:16:13,360
Speaker 1: I got you. How many times did somebody make him

256
00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:19,480
Speaker 1: a promise? Because it seems cruel to Christ the expression

257
00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:22,200
Speaker 1: of the love of God would stand over a man

258
00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:26,000
Speaker 1: who couldn't move and ask him such a ridiculous question.

259
00:16:27,440 --> 00:16:33,480
Speaker 1: Do you want to lose weight? But yeah? Do you

260
00:16:33,680 --> 00:16:39,480
Speaker 1: want to be happy? Well yeah? Do you want to

261
00:16:39,520 --> 00:16:44,480
Speaker 1: be able to live at peace without anxiety? Well? Yeah,

262
00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:50,520
Speaker 1: what you're selling? I heard this spiel before I tried

263
00:16:50,560 --> 00:16:55,280
Speaker 1: that diet. How many y'all tried that diet before I

264
00:16:55,360 --> 00:17:00,960
Speaker 1: put a meditation app on my phone? Y'all, To be

265
00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:04,520
Speaker 1: honest with you, I got four meditation apps on my phone.

266
00:17:04,680 --> 00:17:08,680
Speaker 1: I tried all of them. I either fall asleep or

267
00:17:08,720 --> 00:17:11,840
Speaker 1: my leg starts doing like that. I can't do it.

268
00:17:11,840 --> 00:17:15,639
Speaker 1: Everybody tells me to meditate. The Bible says meditate, Russell

269
00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:19,879
Speaker 1: Brand says meditate. Joe Rogan says, meditate. Everybody's telling me

270
00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:22,760
Speaker 1: to meditate. I tried it. I really did try it.

271
00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:27,120
Speaker 1: They also taught me about portion control. I tried portion control.

272
00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:30,000
Speaker 1: How many all tried. Somebody told me one time, they said,

273
00:17:30,119 --> 00:17:34,040
Speaker 1: here's how you stay at an ideal waight when you're

274
00:17:34,080 --> 00:17:37,760
Speaker 1: full stop eating. My only problem I never found full.

275
00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:46,640
Speaker 1: That gauge got broken somewhere in my childhood. I never

276
00:17:46,720 --> 00:17:50,240
Speaker 1: felt full, so I kept eating. I tried that. Oh.

277
00:17:50,359 --> 00:17:53,960
Speaker 1: They say, if you don't complain, you will feel more

278
00:17:54,119 --> 00:17:58,920
Speaker 1: connected to God. I tried it, but I found out

279
00:17:58,960 --> 00:18:03,239
Speaker 1: sometimes if you don't come, nothing changes. I tried so

280
00:18:03,440 --> 00:18:06,040
Speaker 1: hard not to complain. At one time, I was gonna

281
00:18:06,040 --> 00:18:08,639
Speaker 1: go seven days without complaining, and I thought, if I

282
00:18:08,680 --> 00:18:11,080
Speaker 1: could do it, I could make a sermon out of it.

283
00:18:11,640 --> 00:18:13,400
Speaker 1: I thought I could call it, you know, seven days

284
00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:16,439
Speaker 1: a week of worship or something like that. I tried

285
00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:21,320
Speaker 1: so hard not to complain for seven days. What happened

286
00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:26,080
Speaker 1: was and this is so embarrassing to admit to you.

287
00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:30,960
Speaker 1: The more I tried not to complain externally, because sometimes

288
00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:35,159
Speaker 1: you can fix the symptom. Now I'm in the text,

289
00:18:36,119 --> 00:18:39,680
Speaker 1: you can fix the symptom and stop trying to complain.

290
00:18:40,080 --> 00:18:42,000
Speaker 1: But the root of it what happened to me was

291
00:18:42,400 --> 00:18:46,160
Speaker 1: I went five good days without complaining, but on day

292
00:18:46,320 --> 00:18:51,399
Speaker 1: six the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. A day early,

293
00:18:52,000 --> 00:18:56,360
Speaker 1: everything in my path was, Oh, it was a tornado,

294
00:18:56,840 --> 00:19:01,080
Speaker 1: it was a downpour. Because when you fix it's a symptom,

295
00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:06,080
Speaker 1: but don't address the system that created the symptom, the

296
00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:21,200
Speaker 1: end is worse than the beginning. You want to get well, well, yeah,

297
00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:28,000
Speaker 1: I'm trying. When you get to heaven, you'd be surprised

298
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,560
Speaker 1: who's there and who's not. But one thing you write

299
00:19:31,640 --> 00:19:36,520
Speaker 1: might really be shocked about this dude, whoever he is

300
00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:40,160
Speaker 1: in John five, is going to have a long line

301
00:19:40,320 --> 00:19:44,840
Speaker 1: of preachers waiting to apologize to him for how we

302
00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:51,320
Speaker 1: misinterpreted his story in John chapter five. Oh, I've heard everything.

303
00:19:52,720 --> 00:19:55,679
Speaker 1: I've heard. It said that in thirty eight years the

304
00:19:55,720 --> 00:19:58,439
Speaker 1: man should have been able to crawl or roll his

305
00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:01,639
Speaker 1: way to the edge of the pool. Yeah, like that

306
00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:04,760
Speaker 1: will work, because now somebody stronger than you is just

307
00:20:04,800 --> 00:20:06,640
Speaker 1: going to pull you back at the moment you're still

308
00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:10,400
Speaker 1: powerless to fall in at the right time. And besides,

309
00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:18,200
Speaker 1: when has Jesus ever taunted someone into transformation? You really

310
00:20:18,280 --> 00:20:21,800
Speaker 1: think that's the spirit of the Savior. Some of us

311
00:20:21,840 --> 00:20:26,159
Speaker 1: do we really picture God like standing over us in

312
00:20:26,200 --> 00:20:29,200
Speaker 1: our minds, our concept of God like. You don't want

313
00:20:29,200 --> 00:20:35,479
Speaker 1: it bad enough. If you would have done it different

314
00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:38,119
Speaker 1: when they were eight, they wouldn't have been in so

315
00:20:38,200 --> 00:20:40,959
Speaker 1: much trouble when they were eighteen. See, you screwed them up.

316
00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:43,600
Speaker 1: That's what God sounds like to a lot of us.

317
00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:46,240
Speaker 1: So it's no surprise that when we hear Jesus say

318
00:20:46,440 --> 00:20:48,359
Speaker 1: do you want to get well? He says it with

319
00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:51,280
Speaker 1: a snarl. You know, do you even want to get well?

320
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,200
Speaker 1: Do you even lift? Are you even serious? I mean,

321
00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:56,400
Speaker 1: prove it if you do, if you want to get well,

322
00:20:56,440 --> 00:20:59,840
Speaker 1: say I want to get well? So why did he

323
00:21:04,400 --> 00:21:08,159
Speaker 1: Why did he ask the man do you want to

324
00:21:08,200 --> 00:21:11,359
Speaker 1: get well? Before he helped him get up and walk?

325
00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:16,680
Speaker 1: And as I prayed through that this week, I realize

326
00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:21,439
Speaker 1: that before Jesus could help him walk, he had to

327
00:21:21,480 --> 00:21:30,800
Speaker 1: help him want. I don't know who this is for,

328
00:21:31,760 --> 00:21:35,080
Speaker 1: but God is dealing with your desires in this season

329
00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:40,240
Speaker 1: of your life. You have been disappointed over and over

330
00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:45,800
Speaker 1: and over again, and every time you try, nobody notices,

331
00:21:46,480 --> 00:21:50,760
Speaker 1: and every time you try, you come up short, sickness

332
00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:55,280
Speaker 1: is cyclical. It comes around, it goes around, you're well

333
00:21:55,320 --> 00:21:57,440
Speaker 1: for a little while, and then it's the same thing

334
00:21:57,480 --> 00:22:00,679
Speaker 1: all over again. But this time it's only worse because

335
00:22:00,720 --> 00:22:03,600
Speaker 1: now not only are you back where you started, but

336
00:22:03,680 --> 00:22:05,720
Speaker 1: you have less hope that it is ever going to

337
00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,840
Speaker 1: be different, because you've cycled through it one more time

338
00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:13,320
Speaker 1: just to realize. Well, I guess I'm just a cynical person. Well,

339
00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:16,680
Speaker 1: I guess I'm just a negative person. I guess nobody

340
00:22:16,720 --> 00:22:19,960
Speaker 1: in my family was meant to go to college. I guess. See,

341
00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:23,480
Speaker 1: when you hang around the colonnades with people who are sick,

342
00:22:24,160 --> 00:22:27,679
Speaker 1: sickness becomes normal to you, and it starts to be

343
00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:31,320
Speaker 1: easier for you to just accept the condition than to

344
00:22:31,480 --> 00:22:36,480
Speaker 1: challenge it, because to challenge the condition means to risk disappointment.

345
00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:42,119
Speaker 1: And some of us have tried, got blocked, tried, got blocked, tried,

346
00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:45,399
Speaker 1: got blocked. And now people see you and they assume

347
00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:48,800
Speaker 1: that you don't care. No I care. I cared, and

348
00:22:48,880 --> 00:22:52,159
Speaker 1: I cared so much, but they didn't care back. And

349
00:22:52,240 --> 00:22:55,320
Speaker 1: I tried so hard and I still got looked over.

350
00:22:55,680 --> 00:22:59,720
Speaker 1: And don't you know, it's hard when your expectation has

351
00:22:59,800 --> 00:23:03,719
Speaker 1: been damaged by disappointment. It's a slow damage. It's a

352
00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:07,080
Speaker 1: slow tearing of the muscle fibers. It is a slow

353
00:23:07,160 --> 00:23:10,680
Speaker 1: deterioration of your hope by disappointment. It is not one

354
00:23:10,720 --> 00:23:14,680
Speaker 1: event that creates it. It's over and over. I tried,

355
00:23:14,920 --> 00:23:18,440
Speaker 1: and I tried, and I smiled, and I stayed, and

356
00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:21,879
Speaker 1: I cooked, and I parented and I disciplined and I

357
00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:24,720
Speaker 1: showed up and I didn't care. And the man has

358
00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:27,800
Speaker 1: finally gotten to a place, I believe where he is

359
00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:35,840
Speaker 1: tired of trying. Are you? It's supposed to be the Sabbath,

360
00:23:37,160 --> 00:23:41,360
Speaker 1: It's supposed to be a day of rest. Why did

361
00:23:41,400 --> 00:23:44,639
Speaker 1: Jesus stop by the pool on the day of rest

362
00:23:45,680 --> 00:23:50,040
Speaker 1: to perform a miracle? You're not supposed to work on

363
00:23:50,400 --> 00:23:56,679
Speaker 1: the Sabbath. This may offend you, but it won't be

364
00:23:56,680 --> 00:24:03,359
Speaker 1: the first time this offends you. Your metal detector has

365
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:05,520
Speaker 1: turned up to level ten anyway, and you need to

366
00:24:05,560 --> 00:24:07,520
Speaker 1: just turn it down. Y'all. Notice, we live in a

367
00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:10,840
Speaker 1: gotcha culture, outrage culture. Just nobody can say anything. You

368
00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:12,880
Speaker 1: can't say anything anymore, And the more the people try

369
00:24:12,920 --> 00:24:14,439
Speaker 1: to help us, the more we crucify him if they

370
00:24:14,480 --> 00:24:16,520
Speaker 1: say the wrong thing. Have you noticed that. This is

371
00:24:16,520 --> 00:24:19,480
Speaker 1: how they treat Jesus. He heals the man on the Sabbath,

372
00:24:20,760 --> 00:24:23,679
Speaker 1: and all that anyone can talk about is that he

373
00:24:23,720 --> 00:24:27,280
Speaker 1: did it on the wrong day. So this is what

374
00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:31,400
Speaker 1: I don't want to say. It was gonna offend you.

375
00:24:31,400 --> 00:24:33,080
Speaker 1: You thought that was what was gonna offend you. No, no,

376
00:24:33,080 --> 00:24:36,960
Speaker 1: no, no no, no no. Jesus walks up on the Sabbath

377
00:24:37,800 --> 00:24:42,200
Speaker 1: and when he tells the man in verse eight, get up,

378
00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:48,199
Speaker 1: pick up your mat, and walk, he is trying to

379
00:24:48,240 --> 00:24:52,520
Speaker 1: get the man to break sabbath. So Jesus walks up

380
00:24:52,560 --> 00:24:57,760
Speaker 1: to the pool, looks around and asks the man, what's

381
00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:01,600
Speaker 1: going on in your heart right now? Because before I

382
00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:05,240
Speaker 1: can help you walk, I have to heal your will.

383
00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:08,400
Speaker 1: So here's what Jesus does that we don't like. He

384
00:25:08,480 --> 00:25:18,679
Speaker 1: calls BS, he calls watch this, He calls BS, and

385
00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:20,919
Speaker 1: I don't know what you're thinking about right now, but

386
00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:28,000
Speaker 1: I'm talking about broken system. See. Now, there's one thing

387
00:25:28,040 --> 00:25:30,280
Speaker 1: in the verse. There's one thing in the verse that

388
00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:34,840
Speaker 1: doesn't make sense unless you understand the historical context. When

389
00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:37,800
Speaker 1: the man says, I keep trying, I keep trying to

390
00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,520
Speaker 1: get down there, but I can never be first. I'm

391
00:25:40,600 --> 00:25:43,280
Speaker 1: not fast enough. In fact, I can't move at all.

392
00:25:43,760 --> 00:25:48,159
Speaker 1: I keep trying, but every time I try, something blocks me.

393
00:25:48,359 --> 00:25:52,080
Speaker 1: And Jesus says, that's because the system is broken. If

394
00:25:52,119 --> 00:25:54,400
Speaker 1: you'll notice, give me a verse four of the scripture.

395
00:25:54,400 --> 00:26:05,040
Speaker 1: I forgot to read it. John five four Jared. It's

396
00:26:05,080 --> 00:26:12,359
Speaker 1: been a long week, you know, staff events. Jared. Where's Jared?

397
00:26:15,160 --> 00:26:20,480
Speaker 1: Can you get him? Yeah? I need him. Verse four

398
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:27,960
Speaker 1: unlocks the whole thing. We can wait. This man waited

399
00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:37,520
Speaker 1: thirty eight years. We can wait three minutes. Uh, the manuscript,

400
00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,640
Speaker 1: you don't have it. It's not in the manuscript. It's

401
00:26:40,680 --> 00:26:46,960
Speaker 1: not available. Oh. They they added that verse later. H

402
00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:51,359
Speaker 1: it's not even in the original manuscript. They added a

403
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:57,000
Speaker 1: scripture later, they added a verse to explain the situation.

404
00:26:58,920 --> 00:27:00,800
Speaker 1: It didn't make sense, so they had to add you

405
00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:03,440
Speaker 1: can go back to your job now. They had but

406
00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:05,280
Speaker 1: come here real quick, real quick, real quick, real quick.

407
00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:09,399
Speaker 1: So a lot of times when a situation in my

408
00:27:09,480 --> 00:27:15,480
Speaker 1: life doesn't make sense to me, I add averse. I

409
00:27:15,600 --> 00:27:20,040
Speaker 1: add averse. You know how we do? It's like, okay,

410
00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:24,520
Speaker 1: Rather than deal with it, I would rather explain it

411
00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:28,000
Speaker 1: in a way that excuses me from having to deal

412
00:27:28,040 --> 00:27:31,200
Speaker 1: with it. There's a reason. Verse four isn't in there

413
00:27:31,600 --> 00:27:34,720
Speaker 1: because it's not in there. There's some stuff that you're

414
00:27:34,720 --> 00:27:38,520
Speaker 1: putting in your story that doesn't belong there because God

415
00:27:38,560 --> 00:27:46,160
Speaker 1: didn't speak it, and it's not true anymore. You go back,

416
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:52,200
Speaker 1: see what the man said reflects a broken system, and

417
00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:56,320
Speaker 1: it reflects a bad story. That's another bs. The devil

418
00:27:56,359 --> 00:27:59,560
Speaker 1: has got some of us telling ourselves some really bad

419
00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:02,520
Speaker 1: story worries, and this man has been telling himself a

420
00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:06,800
Speaker 1: story thirty eight years. No one wants to help me.

421
00:28:07,119 --> 00:28:10,080
Speaker 1: Everybody's out to get me every time I try. No

422
00:28:10,160 --> 00:28:12,600
Speaker 1: one wants to help me. Everybody's out to get me

423
00:28:12,960 --> 00:28:16,320
Speaker 1: every time I try. So here comes Jesus. He doesn't

424
00:28:16,359 --> 00:28:19,879
Speaker 1: know Jesus. He's never met Jesus. Jesus is new to

425
00:28:19,960 --> 00:28:23,520
Speaker 1: the scene. Jesus hasn't even done the Captain D's miracle yet,

426
00:28:23,640 --> 00:28:27,040
Speaker 1: that's in John chapter six. He hasn't even gotten familiar

427
00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:29,880
Speaker 1: with this guy yet. He hasn't even had an opportunity

428
00:28:29,920 --> 00:28:33,240
Speaker 1: to unpack the whole historicity of his situation. So he's

429
00:28:33,240 --> 00:28:37,200
Speaker 1: standing in front of Jesus and he's rightfully skeptical because

430
00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:40,520
Speaker 1: he's in a broken system where the religious leaders are

431
00:28:40,560 --> 00:28:43,080
Speaker 1: trying to let the first ones in and keep the

432
00:28:43,160 --> 00:28:46,160
Speaker 1: rest back. And unless you keep the law this good,

433
00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:51,240
Speaker 1: you can't be healed. Of course, he's stuck. He's stuck

434
00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:55,280
Speaker 1: in a broken system. So are some of us. He's

435
00:28:55,280 --> 00:28:58,200
Speaker 1: stuck in a bad story, and so are some of us.

436
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:05,440
Speaker 1: We've inserted versus that aren't even there to explain why

437
00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:08,920
Speaker 1: we are the way we are. We think is our

438
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:13,400
Speaker 1: job to suffer. You know, suffering for Christ and for

439
00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:15,440
Speaker 1: the good of others is one thing, and sacrifice this.

440
00:29:16,400 --> 00:29:18,640
Speaker 1: But to suffer the shame that He already took away

441
00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:21,840
Speaker 1: from you is to snatch back what he nailed to

442
00:29:21,880 --> 00:29:26,440
Speaker 1: the cross. It is not your job to suffer like that.

443
00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:30,080
Speaker 1: That's a broken system. I'm telling you, men and women

444
00:29:30,080 --> 00:29:32,920
Speaker 1: of the Most High God. Religion is a broken system.

445
00:29:34,000 --> 00:29:36,320
Speaker 1: That's why Jesus went for one to show you this

446
00:29:36,360 --> 00:29:39,440
Speaker 1: is a relationship. I want to deal with you one

447
00:29:39,480 --> 00:29:42,040
Speaker 1: on one. I want to speak to you like a person,

448
00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:44,760
Speaker 1: not like you're some kind of project, not like you're

449
00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:54,320
Speaker 1: some kind of defect. I don't have anybody to help me.

450
00:29:55,480 --> 00:30:00,720
Speaker 1: Trust me, I'm trying. I really try it. If you

451
00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:03,280
Speaker 1: knew how hard I was trying, you wouldn't make fun

452
00:30:03,320 --> 00:30:05,920
Speaker 1: of me like that and ask me do I want

453
00:30:05,920 --> 00:30:10,960
Speaker 1: to get well? I don't have any help? And see

454
00:30:10,960 --> 00:30:16,800
Speaker 1: that was true five minutes ago, but the situation has changed.

455
00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:22,160
Speaker 1: What he said used to be true. It was true

456
00:30:22,200 --> 00:30:25,920
Speaker 1: for a long time. And then Grace shows up at

457
00:30:25,920 --> 00:30:32,360
Speaker 1: the pool at Bethesda. Five porches. Five is the number

458
00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:37,440
Speaker 1: of Grace always symbolism. There's levels to this text. We

459
00:30:37,520 --> 00:30:41,080
Speaker 1: could preach a series on this text. Now Grace is

460
00:30:41,120 --> 00:30:47,040
Speaker 1: here in what used to be true isn't true anymore?

461
00:30:48,440 --> 00:30:51,560
Speaker 1: Are you still stuck in something that used to be

462
00:30:51,600 --> 00:30:58,760
Speaker 1: true but it isn't true anymore? I bet he would

463
00:30:58,760 --> 00:31:03,480
Speaker 1: be tired thirty eight years of fighting off the vultures,

464
00:31:03,480 --> 00:31:07,080
Speaker 1: in thirty eight years of looking out for yourself. And

465
00:31:07,120 --> 00:31:10,360
Speaker 1: you kind of have to live that way until Grace

466
00:31:10,400 --> 00:31:14,800
Speaker 1: becomes the dominant reality in your life. And then Jesus

467
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:20,200
Speaker 1: comes into your life and everything changes. But sometimes we

468
00:31:20,320 --> 00:31:26,840
Speaker 1: keep living off of the old story, the bad story.

469
00:31:27,400 --> 00:31:36,680
Speaker 1: No one will help me and Jesus like I'm someone. Now,

470
00:31:36,680 --> 00:31:42,960
Speaker 1: the question is this, how did Jesus command the man

471
00:31:43,840 --> 00:31:49,320
Speaker 1: to get up if the man couldn't walk in the

472
00:31:49,320 --> 00:31:55,600
Speaker 1: first place. A careful reading of the text will reward

473
00:31:55,680 --> 00:32:01,520
Speaker 1: us in this moment. One interpretation is that his healing

474
00:32:02,480 --> 00:32:07,160
Speaker 1: was his reward for obedience. That's religion. It's a bad

475
00:32:07,200 --> 00:32:12,120
Speaker 1: story because the fact of the matter is, if trying

476
00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:15,000
Speaker 1: harder could have made me better, I'd be better by now.

477
00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:21,400
Speaker 1: I tried that, diet, I tried that. I wasn't going

478
00:32:21,480 --> 00:32:23,400
Speaker 1: to do this, and I wasn't going to do that,

479
00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:25,800
Speaker 1: and I wasn't going to do the other. You've tried

480
00:32:25,840 --> 00:32:29,720
Speaker 1: that already, and if it could work, it would have

481
00:32:29,760 --> 00:32:35,800
Speaker 1: worked by now. So the man said, I'm trying, and

482
00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:43,959
Speaker 1: Jesus said, trust me. Get up, take up your mat

483
00:32:44,840 --> 00:32:53,600
Speaker 1: and walk. I'm trying, Jesus said, and trust me. I'm trying.

484
00:32:55,320 --> 00:33:03,920
Speaker 1: Trust me. That's the real task is to trust. That's

485
00:33:03,960 --> 00:33:08,160
Speaker 1: always been the real work. John Chapter five is in

486
00:33:08,240 --> 00:33:12,760
Speaker 1: a text about being lazy. Come on, get up, make

487
00:33:12,880 --> 00:33:16,040
Speaker 1: up your bed, get on the treadmill, go get them tiger,

488
00:33:16,320 --> 00:33:18,560
Speaker 1: this is your day. This is not a pep talk.

489
00:33:20,400 --> 00:33:24,800
Speaker 1: This is a complete reversal of the systems of this world.

490
00:33:25,600 --> 00:33:31,320
Speaker 1: It is a contrast of works and grace. That's why

491
00:33:31,440 --> 00:33:34,600
Speaker 1: it had to happen on the Sabbath. The moment that

492
00:33:34,680 --> 00:33:37,880
Speaker 1: he picked up his mat, he was doing work, and

493
00:33:37,960 --> 00:33:40,960
Speaker 1: the moment that he was doing work. It made everybody

494
00:33:40,960 --> 00:33:44,080
Speaker 1: who was in power mad because he wasn't supposed to

495
00:33:44,080 --> 00:33:47,720
Speaker 1: do work. The whole reason that Jesus showed up for

496
00:33:47,800 --> 00:33:53,160
Speaker 1: one person was that he wanted to overturn an entire system.

497
00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:57,120
Speaker 1: There is one situation in your life right now that

498
00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:01,000
Speaker 1: God is trying to use and by a dress this situation,

499
00:34:01,240 --> 00:34:05,320
Speaker 1: I promise you it's gonna change the whole system because

500
00:34:05,400 --> 00:34:08,880
Speaker 1: up until this point, you've been trying trying. I'm trying

501
00:34:08,920 --> 00:34:11,320
Speaker 1: to love God. I'm trying to bring war. I'm trying

502
00:34:11,320 --> 00:34:13,520
Speaker 1: to read my Bible, I'm trying to eat my Broucoli.

503
00:34:13,680 --> 00:34:15,799
Speaker 1: I'm trying to be a nice person. I'm trying to

504
00:34:15,840 --> 00:34:18,399
Speaker 1: be kinder, I'm trying to do better. And God said,

505
00:34:18,440 --> 00:34:22,960
Speaker 1: I see you trying. Will you trust me? Will you

506
00:34:23,040 --> 00:34:27,239
Speaker 1: trust me enough to get up when you feel like

507
00:34:27,320 --> 00:34:30,600
Speaker 1: you can't get up, to praise me when you don't

508
00:34:30,640 --> 00:34:33,440
Speaker 1: feel like you want to praise me? Do you trust

509
00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:37,960
Speaker 1: me enough? I know you've been trying, but do you

510
00:34:38,080 --> 00:34:41,000
Speaker 1: trust me? This is a trust moment, This is a

511
00:34:41,040 --> 00:34:49,759
Speaker 1: trust decision. Sometimes my trying gets in the way of

512
00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:57,439
Speaker 1: my trusting. And this man got up because he had

513
00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:01,279
Speaker 1: been healed, and you keep thinking that you will be

514
00:35:01,360 --> 00:35:05,200
Speaker 1: healed if you can get up, but you can't, and

515
00:35:05,239 --> 00:35:09,680
Speaker 1: you're trying, and you're trying. And here's what's so funny

516
00:35:09,680 --> 00:35:13,760
Speaker 1: about the text to me. The man said, I'm trying,

517
00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:21,520
Speaker 1: and Jesus said, so am, I I'm trying to help you.

518
00:35:23,440 --> 00:35:27,359
Speaker 1: I knew you couldn't reach that water. I knew you

519
00:35:27,400 --> 00:35:30,560
Speaker 1: grew up in a really, really hard environment and there

520
00:35:30,640 --> 00:35:33,400
Speaker 1: was some abuse. And I know you're trying to be

521
00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:35,960
Speaker 1: a better man than your dad was, or I know

522
00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:37,719
Speaker 1: that you're trying to be a better mom than your

523
00:35:37,719 --> 00:35:39,960
Speaker 1: mom was, or I know you're trying to figure things

524
00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:43,000
Speaker 1: out when the complexities are greater than anything you've ever seen.

525
00:35:43,239 --> 00:35:48,359
Speaker 1: I see you trying, and I'm trying. Since you can't

526
00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:56,120
Speaker 1: get to the water. I brought water to you. And

527
00:35:56,200 --> 00:36:01,000
Speaker 1: what it does when you get up and you do

528
00:36:01,080 --> 00:36:05,800
Speaker 1: what you didn't think you could do, It shocks the system.

529
00:36:06,040 --> 00:36:08,200
Speaker 1: God said, some of you who have been lying in

530
00:36:08,239 --> 00:36:11,520
Speaker 1: your condition for thirty eight years. I brought you to

531
00:36:11,640 --> 00:36:14,359
Speaker 1: church today, not so you could just sing a few

532
00:36:14,440 --> 00:36:17,400
Speaker 1: songs or hear a few words, but I want to

533
00:36:17,480 --> 00:36:21,320
Speaker 1: shock the system. I want to stir up the waters.

534
00:36:21,880 --> 00:36:28,520
Speaker 1: I want to heal. Watch this your will. You've lost

535
00:36:28,520 --> 00:36:33,319
Speaker 1: your will. You've lost your will to be sweet, You've

536
00:36:33,360 --> 00:36:36,640
Speaker 1: lost your will to be forgiving, You've lost your will

537
00:36:36,840 --> 00:36:39,360
Speaker 1: to be whole. You don't even want that anymore because

538
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:41,840
Speaker 1: you tried to want it. And it hurts to have hope,

539
00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:45,759
Speaker 1: especially when you're disappointed, especially when something gets in your way,

540
00:36:46,080 --> 00:36:48,799
Speaker 1: especially when you keep pumping up against your own brokenness,

541
00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:53,719
Speaker 1: especially when it's rigged against you. And I want to

542
00:36:54,320 --> 00:36:57,840
Speaker 1: help you walk first. I need to help you want

543
00:37:00,120 --> 00:37:03,759
Speaker 1: to want the right things again, for the right reasons,

544
00:37:05,000 --> 00:37:13,040
Speaker 1: to heal your desires by the pool of Bodesda, here

545
00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:17,640
Speaker 1: comes walking living water. That's what he told the Samaritan

546
00:37:18,200 --> 00:37:22,400
Speaker 1: in John four. He said, within you will be rivers

547
00:37:22,400 --> 00:37:26,560
Speaker 1: of living water. So I know you can't get to

548
00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:32,959
Speaker 1: the water. Let the water come to you. You will

549
00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:37,440
Speaker 1: not receive certain things in your life from trying, but

550
00:37:37,520 --> 00:37:48,760
Speaker 1: only by trusting. Then we were at a pool seven

551
00:37:48,960 --> 00:37:51,880
Speaker 1: or eight years ago, and Elijah wanted to swim, and

552
00:37:51,920 --> 00:37:54,680
Speaker 1: we went down there as a hotel pool, and it

553
00:37:54,719 --> 00:37:58,799
Speaker 1: had that pool smell, but we went in anyway. We

554
00:37:58,960 --> 00:38:01,879
Speaker 1: just he was, I guess at that point seven years old,

555
00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:03,920
Speaker 1: so I had to get some energy out, so we

556
00:38:03,960 --> 00:38:05,840
Speaker 1: got into the pool. As soon as we got in,

557
00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:09,879
Speaker 1: the doors busted open. The hotel manager said, hey, sir,

558
00:38:10,880 --> 00:38:14,239
Speaker 1: I advise you to get out of that pool. I said, why,

559
00:38:14,520 --> 00:38:16,880
Speaker 1: it's like the middle of the day. I'm like, stupid

560
00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:18,960
Speaker 1: hotel rules. You know, I'm not one to really like

561
00:38:19,040 --> 00:38:21,480
Speaker 1: stupid rules. I'm like, it's the middle of the day,

562
00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:24,439
Speaker 1: there's nobody here. I am a registered guest, and about

563
00:38:24,480 --> 00:38:27,360
Speaker 1: the time I'm in the middle of my imaginary speech.

564
00:38:27,400 --> 00:38:30,040
Speaker 1: I'm usually nice externally. It's just what happens on the

565
00:38:30,040 --> 00:38:33,680
Speaker 1: inside that makes me go to hell. But I said,

566
00:38:34,440 --> 00:38:36,799
Speaker 1: I said, about the time I was about to say

567
00:38:36,800 --> 00:38:38,880
Speaker 1: what I was about to say, he said, we just

568
00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:47,040
Speaker 1: shocked it. I said, well, next time, we'll give you

569
00:38:47,120 --> 00:38:49,920
Speaker 1: notice before you come. I don't want to shock your pool.

570
00:38:50,080 --> 00:38:56,440
Speaker 1: He said, no, he said, sometimes the water, you know,

571
00:38:56,719 --> 00:39:00,600
Speaker 1: once a week or something, has to have a treatment.

572
00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:06,719
Speaker 1: We call it shocking the pool because when the chlorine

573
00:39:06,760 --> 00:39:10,360
Speaker 1: combines with the I really don't want to tell you

574
00:39:10,400 --> 00:39:15,040
Speaker 1: all this that's in this pool. This is an hotel

575
00:39:15,120 --> 00:39:26,360
Speaker 1: pools or bacteria, sweat other fluids, pool fluids, hotel pool fluids.

576
00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:34,240
Speaker 1: So once a week we got to shock it. Once

577
00:39:34,280 --> 00:39:39,560
Speaker 1: a week. I come to church because sometimes my heart

578
00:39:41,120 --> 00:39:48,920
Speaker 1: gets mixed up with some substances, some contaminants, some disappointments.

579
00:39:50,080 --> 00:39:53,480
Speaker 1: Sometimes this world pollutes me. So when I come to church,

580
00:39:53,680 --> 00:39:59,680
Speaker 1: please understand, I'm coming to treat my disappointments because I

581
00:39:59,719 --> 00:40:03,480
Speaker 1: need living water and I don't want to die by

582
00:40:03,520 --> 00:40:06,520
Speaker 1: the pool. So I came to church. And I don't

583
00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:08,160
Speaker 1: know if you came to church for this reason. I

584
00:40:08,160 --> 00:40:10,919
Speaker 1: don't really know why you came. But tell somebody, shock

585
00:40:11,000 --> 00:40:14,520
Speaker 1: the waters. Jesus said, I came down to the pool

586
00:40:14,560 --> 00:40:18,320
Speaker 1: in Pithesta, not just to look around and go home

587
00:40:18,760 --> 00:40:22,160
Speaker 1: and pray a nice prayer. But I came to this pool,

588
00:40:22,200 --> 00:40:25,799
Speaker 1: this house of mercy, to shock the waters. And it

589
00:40:26,040 --> 00:40:29,520
Speaker 1: just might be that God brought you here this week

590
00:40:30,000 --> 00:40:33,759
Speaker 1: because you've been in a state of disappointment. But God said,

591
00:40:33,800 --> 00:40:37,160
Speaker 1: I'm about to shock the waters. I'm about to stir

592
00:40:37,280 --> 00:40:40,000
Speaker 1: it up. You don't have to wait for an angel,

593
00:40:40,520 --> 00:40:42,560
Speaker 1: you don't have to wait for somebody to get out

594
00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:44,840
Speaker 1: of your way. You don't have to wait for a

595
00:40:44,920 --> 00:40:50,000
Speaker 1: situational improvement. And we beheld his glory, the fullness of

596
00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:54,279
Speaker 1: the Father, full of grace and truth. Living water is

597
00:40:54,360 --> 00:41:05,400
Speaker 1: in the house. Trust me, I'm trying to bless you.

598
00:41:05,560 --> 00:41:09,160
Speaker 1: I hear the voice of the Lord. Trust me. I'm

599
00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:14,160
Speaker 1: trying to help you raise those kids. Trust me, I'm trying.

600
00:41:14,200 --> 00:41:17,440
Speaker 1: You say, well, well, God doesn't try to do anything.

601
00:41:17,480 --> 00:41:19,720
Speaker 1: He either does or he doesn't. Then why did Jesus

602
00:41:19,719 --> 00:41:21,640
Speaker 1: go to Nazareth? And it says he couldn't do many

603
00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:30,600
Speaker 1: miracles there? He tried to, but they tripped. I believe

604
00:41:30,640 --> 00:41:33,560
Speaker 1: there are many for whom this message is just another

605
00:41:33,600 --> 00:41:39,240
Speaker 1: Bible message. I believe there are some and maybe even few,

606
00:41:40,200 --> 00:41:43,839
Speaker 1: that this is a definitive word for your life. You

607
00:41:43,880 --> 00:41:47,200
Speaker 1: have been like that man. You have been paralyzed in

608
00:41:47,239 --> 00:41:50,520
Speaker 1: an area of your life for a long time, and

609
00:41:50,600 --> 00:41:54,880
Speaker 1: you've been trying. But you've been bitter for eight years

610
00:41:55,760 --> 00:41:59,160
Speaker 1: over what the business partner did, and you keep trying.

611
00:42:00,680 --> 00:42:06,160
Speaker 1: This is not about trying. This is about trust. You've

612
00:42:06,200 --> 00:42:08,440
Speaker 1: been going back and forth and back and forth and

613
00:42:08,480 --> 00:42:13,040
Speaker 1: back and forth for so long, and today God is saying,

614
00:42:14,400 --> 00:42:21,960
Speaker 1: let the water come to you. Father. We declare this

615
00:42:22,960 --> 00:42:28,920
Speaker 1: our sabbath, where we rest from our labor and enter

616
00:42:29,040 --> 00:42:34,360
Speaker 1: into your grace, with everyone standing and no one moving

617
00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:39,520
Speaker 1: at every location. If this has been a season for

618
00:42:39,600 --> 00:42:45,040
Speaker 1: you of frustration, a season of you going to the

619
00:42:45,080 --> 00:42:48,360
Speaker 1: pool over and over, and you've been blocked so many

620
00:42:48,400 --> 00:42:53,640
Speaker 1: times now that quite honestly, you don't need just God

621
00:42:53,680 --> 00:42:56,840
Speaker 1: to heal your legs, or to heal your bank account,

622
00:42:58,440 --> 00:43:03,040
Speaker 1: or to just heal that one compulsive area in your life.

623
00:43:03,160 --> 00:43:04,920
Speaker 1: But you need Jesus to do what he did for

624
00:43:04,960 --> 00:43:07,319
Speaker 1: that unnamed man in John chapter five and heal your

625
00:43:07,400 --> 00:43:14,720
Speaker 1: will and help you to want him again. The place

626
00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:19,360
Speaker 1: to start is not pretending the man was healed partially

627
00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:24,560
Speaker 1: because he was honest. I keep trying every time I

628
00:43:24,640 --> 00:43:32,239
Speaker 1: try something someone, but there's a greater someone. There is

629
00:43:32,320 --> 00:43:38,080
Speaker 1: a greater power than anything that you are struggling with

630
00:43:38,120 --> 00:43:43,239
Speaker 1: that's pulling against you. This takes faith to trust him,

631
00:43:44,600 --> 00:43:46,520
Speaker 1: to really believe that he made you like he wants

632
00:43:46,520 --> 00:43:50,480
Speaker 1: to make you as short as he wanted to make you.

633
00:43:50,480 --> 00:43:52,400
Speaker 1: You grew up in as small or as big of

634
00:43:52,400 --> 00:43:54,040
Speaker 1: a town as he wanted you to grow up in.

635
00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:57,920
Speaker 1: It takes trust, and all your life God has been

636
00:43:57,960 --> 00:44:02,560
Speaker 1: trying to position you. All your life. God has been

637
00:44:02,560 --> 00:44:06,080
Speaker 1: bringing things into alignment so that you can serve His purpose.

638
00:44:07,719 --> 00:44:12,040
Speaker 1: And now he saying, trust me if this has been

639
00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:15,720
Speaker 1: your word today, and there is an area of paralysis

640
00:44:15,760 --> 00:44:18,479
Speaker 1: in your life. I want you with your head bowed,

641
00:44:18,480 --> 00:44:20,279
Speaker 1: your eyes closed, and not looking around. You know, this

642
00:44:20,400 --> 00:44:22,600
Speaker 1: man could have spent the rest of his life thirty

643
00:44:22,600 --> 00:44:27,439
Speaker 1: eight more years talking about somebody else, somebody else, everybody else,

644
00:44:27,480 --> 00:44:30,760
Speaker 1: somebody else. And sometimes that's what keeps us from getting

645
00:44:30,760 --> 00:44:33,719
Speaker 1: what we need from God. Is somebody else? What will

646
00:44:33,760 --> 00:44:36,279
Speaker 1: somebody else think? But when you come to the point

647
00:44:36,280 --> 00:44:38,759
Speaker 1: where you've been trying long enough and you really just

648
00:44:38,840 --> 00:44:41,640
Speaker 1: want to surrender to the mystery and give God everything

649
00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:43,799
Speaker 1: that you are and everything that you're not, you don't

650
00:44:43,800 --> 00:44:46,640
Speaker 1: mind lifting up your hands. So if this is your word,

651
00:44:46,719 --> 00:44:48,799
Speaker 1: just lift up your hands for living water in this

652
00:44:48,880 --> 00:44:54,200
Speaker 1: moment and shock the waters. Shock the waters. Worship shocks

653
00:44:54,200 --> 00:44:59,080
Speaker 1: the waters. Worship stirs up the complacent heart. Worship realigns

654
00:44:59,120 --> 00:45:03,239
Speaker 1: your affections and reconfigures your desires so that what you

655
00:45:03,360 --> 00:45:06,920
Speaker 1: want is what God wants for you. Shock the waters today.

656
00:45:07,200 --> 00:45:11,360
Speaker 1: You've gotten stagnant, you've gotten complacent, You started blaming everybody

657
00:45:11,360 --> 00:45:14,520
Speaker 1: and everything. And this is not a time to try harder.

658
00:45:15,239 --> 00:45:21,960
Speaker 1: It's a time to trust more to you and to

659
00:45:22,000 --> 00:45:27,280
Speaker 1: say yes, I'll get up if you help me. I'm trying.

660
00:45:29,040 --> 00:45:36,200
Speaker 1: Trust me. I'm trying. I'm trying to trust God, but

661
00:45:36,239 --> 00:45:39,560
Speaker 1: I can't see him. I'm trying to trust God, but

662
00:45:39,640 --> 00:45:45,200
Speaker 1: sometimes he feels far away. Why won't he speak to me?

663
00:45:45,239 --> 00:45:48,640
Speaker 1: Why won't he helped me? He says, I'm trying. I'm

664
00:45:48,680 --> 00:45:50,919
Speaker 1: trying to show you my presence. I'm trying to put

665
00:45:50,920 --> 00:45:56,279
Speaker 1: people around you. I'm trying to help you. I'm here.

666
00:45:58,600 --> 00:46:01,759
Speaker 1: You just are used to it. You're used to doing

667
00:46:01,800 --> 00:46:05,480
Speaker 1: it alone, so you keep doing it alone. You keep

668
00:46:05,480 --> 00:46:11,120
Speaker 1: telling yourself this story. You keep living in this system.

669
00:46:11,280 --> 00:46:17,480
Speaker 1: But trust me. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks

670
00:46:17,480 --> 00:46:20,040
Speaker 1: to those of you who give generously to this ministry.

671
00:46:20,400 --> 00:46:23,319
Speaker 1: Is because of you that this ministry is possible. You

672
00:46:23,360 --> 00:46:25,759
Speaker 1: can click the link in the description to give now,

673
00:46:26,320 --> 00:46:30,200
Speaker 1: or visit Elevationchurch dot org slash podcast for more information

674
00:46:30,719 --> 00:46:33,880
Speaker 1: and if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe. You

675
00:46:33,920 --> 00:46:35,960
Speaker 1: can share it with your friends. You can click the

676
00:46:35,960 --> 00:46:38,279
Speaker 1: share button, take a screenshot and share it on your

677
00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:41,279
Speaker 1: social stories and tag us at Elevation Church. Thanks again

678
00:46:41,280 --> 00:46:47,440
Speaker 1: for listening. God bless you