Impotence and Omnipotence

Impotence and Omnipotence

(No. 2269)

INTENDED FOR READING ON LORD'S-DAY AUGUST 14, 1892.

DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,

AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON, ON LORD'S-DAY EVENING,
FEBRUARY 16, 1890.

"And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty-eight
years. When Jesus sawhim lying there, and knew that he had been in that
case a long time, He said to him, Willyou be made whole? The impotent
man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to
put me into the pool; 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 whole, and took up his bed and walked."
John 5:5-9.

THIS man had been lying, with many others, round the pool, hoping that
it would be stirred by the angel, and that he might be the first put
into the water and so might be healed. There he waited long, and waited
in vain. Why did he wait? Because Jesus was not there. Where Jesus is
not, you must wait! If it is only an angel and a pool, you must wait–
and one may get a blessing–and many may get no blessing. But when
Jesus came, there was no waiting. He walked in among the crowd of sick
folk, spied out this man, bade him to take up his mattress and walk
home–and he was healed at once.

Now, I commend this man for waiting. I admire him for his patience and
his perseverance. But I beg you not to make his case your own. He
waited, for Jesus was not there. You may not wait, you must not
wait–as I have told you–for Jesus is here! There was necessity for
him to wait. As I have told you, there was an angel and a pool, and
nothing more. But where Christ is, there should be no waiting. Any soul
that looks to Christ tonight shall be saved, even though he looks from
the ends of the earth! You may look now–no, you are commanded to do
so! "Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of
salvation." "Harden not your hearts, as in the provocation." There, in
that pew, or in yonder aisles, if you turn your eyes by faith to Jesus,
the Living One on the Throne of the Highest, you shall obtain immediate
cure! Waiting is all very well at the Pool of Bethesda, but waiting at
the "Pool of Ordinances," as I have heard some say, is not according to
the Scriptures! I read nothing about waiting there! But I do read
this–"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved."

However, for the help of some who have waited till they are weary, who
have persevered in the use of the means till they are becoming
desponding and disappointed, let us look at the case of the impotent
man at Bethesda.

I. We notice about it, first, that THE SAVIOR KNEW THE CASE.

I only mention that in order to say that the Savior knows your case.
Jesus saw him lying there. There were a great many objects for the
Savior's eye to rest upon, but He fixed His gaze upon this man, long
bedridden, 38 years impotent. Even so, Jesus knows all about your case.
He sees you lying just where you are, tonight–impotent, without hope,
without light, without faith. He sees you! I need you to feel this to
be true. He singles you out amidst this throng, wherever you sit, and
His eyes are scanning you from head to foot. No, He looks within as
well as without, and reads all that is in your heart!

Concerning the man at the pool, Jesus knew that he had been in that
case a long time. He knows the years that you have been waiting. You
remember being carried to the House of God by your mother. You
recollect, as a boy, listening to sermons that seemed to startle
you–and you went home to your little bedroom and cried to God for
mercy–but you forgot your impressions. They were like the morning mist
that vanishes in the rising sun! You came to London. You grew up to be
a man, but you became careless about Divine things–you shook off all
your early impressions. Still, you went to hear the Word of God
preached and, oftentimes, you half hoped that you might get a blessing.
You heard the Word, but faith was not mixed with what you heard, so you
missed the blessing. Yet you always had a wish that it should come to
you. You never could despise godly people, or the things of Christ. You
could not get them for yourself–at least, you thought you could
not–but you always had some lingering wish that you were numbered with
the people of

God.

Now, the Lord Jesus knows all about that and the many years in which
you have been waiting as a hearer, only, and not a doer of the
Word–impressed at times, but doing violence to your better feelings
and going back to a careless life. My Lord knows all about you! I
cannot pick you out in this congregation, but remember, while I am
preaching tonight, miracles will be worked–processes which will change
the very nature of men are gong on within this house, for Christ is
being preached and His Gospel is being set forth! And this is not done,
with prayerful earnestness, in vain! God will bless it! He is going to
bless somebody tonight! Who that somebody may be, or how many hundred
somebodies there will be, I cannot guess–but He will bless His own
Word–and why should He not bless you? He sees just who you are and
where you are–and what you are.

In addition to this, our Lord knew all this poor man's disappointments.
Many times, when he had striven to be the first to the water's edge and
thought that he would be able to take the happy plunge, someone else
went in before him and his hopes were dashed! Another came up out of
the water healed and then, with a very heavy sigh, he fell back upon
his bed and felt that it might be a long time before the angel stirred
the water, again, and even then he might be disappointed again! He
remembered the many times when he had lost all hope and he lay there
almost in despair. Now I think I hear someone here tonight saying, "My
brother found the Lord. My friend who came here with me, found the
Lord. I have lived to see my mother die in sure and certain hope of
Glory. I have friends who have come to Christ, but I am still living
without Him. When there are special services, I hope that I might have
been specially blessed. I have been to Prayer Meetings, I have read my
Bible in secret and I have sometimes hoped–it was but a little hope,
but still I hoped–'Maybe, one of these days, I may be healed.'" Yes,
dear Friend, and my Lord knows all about that, and He sympathizes in
all the grief you feel tonight–and He hears those unspoken wishes of
yours–and He knows your longing that you may be healed! ' II. Now,
secondly, THE SAVIOR AWAKENED THE MAN'S DESIRES. He said to him, "Will
you be made whole?" There he lay. I am not going to explain that lying
at the pool, but just apply it to you who are here in a similar
condition.

Beware of forgetting why you are here. Beware of coming to the House of
God and not knowing why you come! I have said that, years ago, you went
to places of worship in the hope of finding salvation. Well, you have
kept coming and you have not found it–do you still look for it? Have
you not fallen into the habit of sitting and listening to sermons,
prayers and so on, without feeling that you came for anything special
for yourself? You come and go, merely that you may attend a place of
worship. That is all. The Savior would not let the impotent man lie
there satisfied because he was by the pool. No, no. He said to him,
"Why are you here? Have you not some desire? Do you want to be made
whole?" My dear Hearer, I wish that you were able to say, "Yes," to
that question! Have you come here tonight that your sin may be
forgiven, that your soul may be renewed by Divine Grace, that you may
meet Christ? If so, I want to keep you to that point and not let you
come and take a sitting here, and come, and come, and come, and come,
and be just like a door on its hinges out there, which turns in and
turns out again, and is not a bit better for it! Oh, do not get into
mere religious habits! Ritualistic habits they will be to you, simple
as the ritual will be. You come and go, and you are satisfied. This
will never do! Christ awakens your desire as He asks, "Will you be made
whole?"

Also, avoid a despairing indifference. I remember two brothers and a
sister who heard me preach for a considerable time. They were in great
distress of soul, but, at the same time, they had a notion that they
could not believe in Christ, and that they must wait–I hardly know
what for–but they did wait till they grew quite old. I did not know
better people morally, or better hearers so far as interest in what
they heard was concerned–but they never seemed to get any farther. At
last they got into this state–they seemed to feel as though, if it was
to be, it would be–and if it was not to be, it would not be, and that
all they could do was just sit still and be quiet and patient.

Patient under the apprehension of being lost forever? Why, I do not
expect a man in the condemned cell to be happy and patient when he
hears them putting up his gallows! He must be concerned! He must be
uneasy. I did my best to make these friends uneasy, but I fear that my
efforts were attended with very small results. The Savior said to this
man, "Will you be made whole? You seem to be in such a state of
indifference that you do not care whether you are made whole or

not." No worse condition than that can be found–it is so hard to deal
with! God save you from sullen indifference in which you leave yourself
to drift to destruction at the will of some unknown fate!

I pray you to remember that it is yours to will, for Christ said to
this man, "Will you be made whole? You cannot make yourself whole, but
you can will and wish to be made whole." God's Holy Spirit has given to
many of you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. You will
never be saved against your will! God drags nobody to Heaven by the
ears! There must be in you a willing mind consenting to the work of His
Sovereign Grace! And if it is there, I want you to exercise it,
tonight, as Christ wished this man to exercise it–"Will you be made
whole? Have you any wish that way, any desire or longing for healing?"
I want to stir this fire and make it burn. And if there is only a spark
of desire, I would breathe upon it and pray the Holy Spirit to breathe
upon it to make it into a great flame! Paul said, "To will is present
with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not." I believe
that there are some here who have the will to be saved. God be thanked
for that!

"Will you be made whole?" I think that the Savior put this question for
another reason, which I will turn into an exhortation. Forego all
prescribing as to how you are to be saved. The question is not, "Will
you be put into that pool?" but, "Will you be made whole?" Have you
come to this, that you are willing to be saved in God's way, in
Christ's way? One says, "I need to have a dream." Dear Soul, do not
want dreams–they are only dreams! Another says, "I need to see a
vision." My dear Friend, there is nothing in the plan of salvation
about seeing visions. "I need to hear a voice," says one. Well, hear my
voice, then, and may God the Holy Spirit make you hear the voice of His
Word through me! "But I need"–oh, yes, you need, you know not what you
need like many a silly child that has its fads, fancies, whims and
wishes!

Oh, that all were willing to be saved by the simple plan of believe and
live! If this is God's way, who are you that He should make a new way
for you? When I had put the way of salvation before a friend, some time
ago, she turned to me and said, "Oh, Sir, do pray for me!" "No," I
said, "I will not pray for you." "Oh, but," she said, "how can you say
that?" I replied, "I set before you Christ Crucified and I beg you to
believe in Him. If you will not believe in Him, you will be lost! And I
shall not pray God to make a different way of salvation for you. You
deserve to be lost if you will not believe in Christ." I put it to her
and, when she afterwards said, "Oh, I see it now! I do look to Christ
and trust Him," I said, "Now I will pray for you! Now we can pray
together and sing together, if necessary."

But, dear Friends, do not set up your own notion about how you ought to
be converted. Can you find any two people who were converted in the
same way? God does not make converts as men make steel pens, a gross in
a box, all alike. No, no, but in each case there is a living man
created–and every living man, every living animal, every living
plant–is somewhat different from every other of its kind, and you must
not look for uniformity in the work of regeneration. "Will you be made
whole?" Come, do you desire the pardon of sin? Do you long for a new
heart and a right spirit? If so, leave off disputing as to how you are
to get them–and do what Christ tells you to do!

"Will you be made whole?" It is as if the Savior said, "Be more than
ever in earnest, now. I know that you will to be made whole. Well, now,
will it more tonight than you have ever willed it before." Let the will
which you have be exer-cised–put it forth! You are in earnest to be
saved–be in more earnest tonight! You desire to find Christ? Well,
desire to find Christ more tonight than ever you did in your life! You
have come to an important crisis of your life. You may be at the point
of death! Who knows? How many have been suddenly struck down of late!
If you would be made whole, I would that you might be made whole
tonight! I pray that you may feel something pressing you, something
that makes you end your long delay, something that makes you feel, "I
have no more time to waste! I cannot afford to loiter. I must be saved
tonight! I must hear the distant ticking of God's great clock that
stands in the Hall of Grace and always says, 'Now! Now! Now! Now! Now!'
and never utters any other sound." Oh, may the Lord make it to be so,
by His own Free Grace!

Thus, you see, the Savior awakened the desires of the man at the pool.
First, He knew his case, and next, He awakened his desires.

III. Now, thirdly, THE SAVIOR HEARD THE MAN'S COMPLAINT. This is what
he said, "Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me
into the pool: but while I am coming, another steps down before me."

Some of these people had kind friends who took turns at watching day
and night–and the moment that the water was stirred–they took up
their patient and plunged him in! This man had lost all his
friends–thirty-eight years of illness had worn them all out–and he
said, "I have no man to put me into the pool; how can I get into the
water?" And

there are many in situation who need help. While I have been at
Mentone, I have had the joy of leading a number of friends to Christ.
When I had to leave them and come back to London, one and another of
them said to me, "What can we do without you, Sir? We shall have nobody
to lead us in the right way, now. We will have no one to instruct us,
no one to meet our objections, nobody to solve our doubts, nobody to
whom we can tell the anxieties of our hearts."

No doubt some of you would talk in the same fashion and I must admit
that the lack of a helper is serious. It is a great deprivation to have
no man to help you in these things. Sometimes, if a friend will come up
after the sermon and just say a kind word, it will do more good than
the sermon, itself! Many a poor troubled one who has been a long times
in prison, might have been released sooner if only some kind friend had
reminded the Brother of a Divine promise which, like a key, would have
opened the prison door. I agree with you that there is a great help in
having an earnest Christian friend to lift you over a difficulty; to
bear you down to the water's edge to which you cannot go by yourself,
and to put you into the pool. It is a great loss, certainly, if you
have no such friend, and I am very sorry for you if you do not.

You live in a village where there is nobody to speak to you about
spiritual matters, or you attend a ministry that does not feed you. You
have nobody to comfort you. There are not many, after all, who can
really help sinners in coming to Christ. Some who try to do so are a
great deal too wise and others are too hard-hearted. It needs a special
training in the School of Grace if anyone is to learn to sympathize
with others so as to be able to really help them. I can suppose that
one here is saying, "I have no mother to speak to. I have no Christian
friend in the family. I have no one to whom I can go for help–and that
is why I stick fast where I am."

Well, a helper is very valuable, but I want to say that a helper may
not be so valuable as you think. I have known some who have had plenty
of Christian helpers while they were seeking the Lord, but none of them
were really able to help them. If you trust the earthly helpers and
think them essential, God will not bless their efforts, and they will
be of no use to you! I am afraid that many a seeker has had to say,
even to good and earnest Christians, what Job said to his friends,
"Miserable comforters are you all!" After all, how can a man help you
much in your soul's affairs? No man can give you faith, or give you
pardon. No man can give you spiritual life, or even spiritual light!
Though you have no man to help you, remember that you can make too much
of men and you can trust too much in Christian helpers. I beg you
remember that.

I am afraid that there are some professors who have been helped a
little too much. They heard a sermon and were really impressed by it,
and somebody was foolish enough to say to them, "That is conversion."
It was never conversion at all! The friend further said, "Now, come
forward and make a profession." So they came forward and made a
profession of what they never had. A friend said, "Now, come to such a
meeting and come and join the Church. Come on!" And they were led, and
led, and led, never having any real internal life, or spiritual energy
given them from on high. They are just like children in baby walkers
who are unable to walk alone. God save you from a religion that depends
upon other people! There are some who have a kind of lean-to religion,
resting on somebody else, and when the support is taken away, what
becomes of the lean-to? The good old lady who helped you for so many
years dies–where is your religion then? The minister used to keep you
going–you were like a whipping-top–and he like the whip that kept you
spinning. When he is gone, where are you? I entreat you, do not have a
religion of that kind! Though a helper is very useful, remember that
under certain conditions, even a Christian helper may be a hindrance.

Now, my dear Hearer, this is the point I have come to–you have to deal
with Jesus tonight and, dealing with Jesus, you need "no man." You have
not to deal with pools and angels! You have to deal with the Lord
Jesus, Himself. Suppose that there is no man to help you–do you need a
man when Jesus is here? The man was needed to put you into the pool,
but he is not needed to introduce you to Christ! You may speak to
Christ, yourself! You may confess your sins, yourself. You need no
priest–you need a Mediator between your soul and God–but you do not
need a mediator between your soul and Jesus! You may come to Him where
you are and as you are. Come to Him now! Tell Him your case! Plead with
Him for mercy. He does not need my help. He does not need the help of
the Archbishop of Canterbury! He does not need the help of anybody–He
alone can meet your case! Just put your case into His hands and then,
if you have no man to be your helper, you need not lie down and fret
about it, for He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto
God by

Him!

Now this is all very plain talk, but we need plain talk nowadays. I
feel as if I have not preached on Sunday unless I have tried to bring
men to Christ. There are many high and sublime doctrines that I would
like to speak of, and many

deep and rapturous experiences that I would like to describe–yet I
feel that I must often leave these things and keep to the much more
commonplace, but much more useful matter of persuading men, in Christ's
stead–that they look away from man, away from ordinances, away from
self and deal with Jesus, Himself, distinctly and directly, for there
is no need of man and, certainly, there is no need of delay!

IV. This is my closing point. THE SAVIOR MET THE MAN'S CASE ENTIRELY.

This impotent man has no man to help him. Christ can help him without
any man. This man cannot move except with great pain. He has to crawl
to the water's edge, but he has no need to crawl there–he need not
move an inch! The power to heal that man was in Christ who stood
there–commissioned of God to save sinners and to help the helpless!
Please remember that the power that saves–all of it–is not in the
saved man, but in the Christ who saves! I take leave to contradict
those who say that salvation is an evolution! All that ever can be
evolved out of the sinful heart of man is sin–and nothing else!
Salvation is the free gift of God, by Jesus Christ, and the work of it
is supernatural. It is done by the Lord, Himself, and He has power to
do it, however weak, no, however dead in sin, the sinner may be! As a
living child of God, I can say tonight, that–

"On a life I did not live,

On a death I did not die,

I stake my whole eternity!"

You who would be saved must do the same–you must look right out of
self to Him whom God has exalted to be a Prince and a Savior to the
sons of men! The Christ met that man's case, for He was able to do
anything for him that he required. He meets your case, too, my dear
Hearer, for He can do anything for you that is needed. Between here and
Heaven's gate there shall never be anything required which He cannot
give, or any help needed which He is not prepared to render–for He has
all power in Heaven and in earth!

Next, the Lord can do more for you than you ask of Him. This poor man
never asked anything of Christ, except by his looks, and by his lying
there at the pool. If you feel, tonight, as if you cannot pray. If you
have needs that you cannot describe. If there is something needed and
you do not know what it is, Christ can give it to you! You shall know
what it is that you need when you get it, but, perhaps now, in His
mercy, He does not let you know all your needs. But here is the
point–He "is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or
think." May He do it in you tonight! Take comfort from the cure of the
impotent man! Cherish hope and say, "Why should He not heal me?"

Now, the way in which Christ worked was very amazing. He worked by a
command. It is not a way that you and I would have selected–nor a way
of which some nominal Christians approve. He said to this man, "Rise."
He could not rise. "Take up your bed." He could not take up his bed! He
had been 38 years unable to get off his bed! "Take up your bed, and
walk." Walk? He could not walk! I have heard some objectors say, "That
preacher says to people, 'Believe.' They cannot believe. He bids them,
'Repent.' They cannot repent." Ah, well, our Lord is our example and He
said to this man who could not rise, and could not take up his bed, and
could not walk, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." This was His way of
exercising His Divine Power! And that is the way in which Christ saves
men today!

He gives us faith enough to say, "You dry bones, hear the Word of the
Lord!" They cannot hear. "Thus says the Lord, You dry bones live!" They
cannot live–but they do hear, and they do live–and while we are
acting by faith, delivering a command which looks, upon the surface of
it, to be absurd and unreasonable, the work of Christ is done by that
command! Did He not say of old, in the darkness, "Let there be light"?
To what spoke the Lord that Word of power? To darkness and to
nothingness! "And there was light." Now He speaks to the sinner and He
says, "Believe and live." And the sinner believes and lives!

God wants those of His messengers who have faith to give His command,
to let the sinner know that he has not the strength to obey, that he is
morally lost and ruined, and yet to say, in the name of the eternal
God, "Thus says the Lord, Rise, take up your bed, and walk." Believe,
repent, be converted and be baptized, everyone of you in the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ! This is the way in which Christ's power goes
forth to the sons of men! He said to the man with the withered hand,
"Stretch forth your hand," and he did so! And He says to the dead,
"Come forth," and they come forth! His commandings are attended with
enablings–and where His commands are faithfully preached, His power
goes with them–and men are saved!

I close with observation. In obedience, power was given. The man did
not stop and wrangle with Christ and say, "Rise? What do You mean? You
look like a friend, but do You come here to make sport of me? Rise?
Thirty-eight years have I been lying here, and You say, 'Rise'? Do You
think that there has ever been a minute in those 38 years in which I
would not have gladly risen if I could have done so? And yet You say,
'Rise,' and You say 'Take up your bed. Shoulder the rug on which you
lie.' How can I do it? It is 38 years since I could lift a pound weight
and You bid me shoulder this mat on which I lie! Do You make me a theme
of jest? And walk? You say, 'Walk.' Walk? Hear me, you sick ones around
me, He tells me to walk! I can scarcely lift a finger, yet He bids me
walk!" Thus he might have argued the matter out and it would have been
a very logical piece of argument–and the Savior would have stood
convicted of having spoken empty words.

Instead of speaking thus, no sooner did Christ say to him, "Rise," than
he willed, by God's Grace, to rise! And as he willed to rise, he moved
to rise and rise, he did, to his own astonishment! He rose and,
stooping down, rolled up his mattress, all the while filled with
wonder, every part of his body singing as he rolled it up and put it on
his shoulder with speed! To his surprise he found that the joints of
his feet and legs could move! And he walked right away with his
mattress on his shoulder–and the miracle was complete. Stop, man,
stop! Come here! Now, had you the strength to do this of yourself? "No,
not I. I lay here 38 years. I had no strength till that word, 'Rise,'
came to me." "But did you do it?" "Oh, yes, you can see that I did it!
I rose. I folded up the mattress and I walked away!"

"But you were under some kind of compulsion that made you move your
legs and your hands, were you not?" "Oh, no! I did it freely,
cheerfully, gladly! Compel me to do it? My dear Sir, I clap my hands
for joy to think that I could do it! I do not want to go back to that
old mat and lie there again–not I!" "What did you do?" "Well, I
scarcely know what I did. I believed Him and I did what He told me, and
a strange mysterious power came over me–that is the whole story." "Now
explain it. Tell these people all about it." "Oh, no," says the man, "I
know that it is so, but I cannot explain it. But one thing I know,
whereas I was a cripple, now I can walk! Whereas I was impotent, now I
can carry my bed! Whereas I was lying there, now I can stand upright."

I cannot explain salvation to you, tonight, or how it takes place. But
I remember when I sat in the pew as despairing a sinner as ever lived.
I heard the preacher say, "Look unto Christ, and live." He seemed to
say to me, "Look! Look! Look! Look!" and I looked–and I lived! That
moment the burden of my sin was gone! I was crippled with unbelief no
longer! I went home a sinner saved by Grace, to live to praise the
Lord, and–

"Ever since by faith I saw the stream His flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming lo ve has been my theme, And shall be tiil I die."

I am convinced that I am going to have ever so many, tonight, who will
obey the Gospel command, "Believe and live. Believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ and you shall be saved." Oh, do it! Do it now! And unto God be
glory, and to yourself be peace and happiness forever! Amen and Amen!

EXPOSITION BY C. H. SPURGEON JOHN 5:1-23.

Verse 1. After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to
Jerusalem. For He had respect to the Law. As long as the Law lasted,
Christ observed it. Oh, that we were as careful to obey the rules of
the Gospel as our Lord was to observe the ritual of the Law! Moreover,
He went to Jerusalem because He had an opportunity of addressing great
numbers of people there. While I have been resting at Mentone, I have
been very glad to be of service to a few friends who were either
seeking the Savior, or needing some guidance in their spiritual life.
But I cannot tell you how happy I am to be once more in the Tabernacle,
preaching to the great congregation! Fisherman like to cast their nets
where there are plenty of fish–and fishers of men delight to be where
there are many men who may be enclosed in the Gospel net! "After this
there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem."

2. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is
called in the Hebrew tongue, Bethesda, having five porches. This pool
of Bethesda was rightly called "the house of mercy." But it might have
just as truly been named, "the house of misery," for its "five porches"
were the abode of many who were in misery and who needed mercy.

3. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk. Invalid persons,
diseased and scarcely able to move.

3. Of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. What
a sight for the Great Physician to look upon! The whole world must have
been, to Him, like one huge hospital full of "impotent folk, blind,
halt, withered." Wherever He went, He was surrounded by the sick, sad
and suffering–those who were afflicted physically, mentally and
spiritually. But there was a special reason for the gathering together
of so many sufferers at the pool of Bethesda.

4. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and
troubled the water: whoever then, first, after the troubling of the
water, stepped in, was made whole of whatever disease he had. It was
the last remnant of miracle. Such things were common enough in Judea in
her better days, but now the times of the Prophets had ceased and the
day of miracles was almost over. But here, at Bethesda, were a few
relics and remnants of the good old days! Only one was cured–he that
stepped into the pool, first, after the angel had troubled the water.
It was but a scanty power that was left to the troubled water, but it
was quite enough, if only one in a thousand was healed, to bring a
crowd of people to wait around the pool! If only one person in a year
were saved, I should not wonder if you thronged the place to hear the
Gospel that saved him! But your privilege is much greater! Here, all
who come, if they will hear and believe, shall find healing! It is not
only the first, but even unto the last who shall step into the pool,
that shall be healed!

5. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight
years. That was a great portion of the man's life. If he was a
full-grown man when he was attacked with the infirmity, he had now
become old and gray. What a long time to be afflicted–38 years! Have
we not with us at this time some who have been afflicted with the
soul-sickness of sin more than 38 years?

6. When Jesus saw him lie. The Great Physician fixed His eyes on him,
for his was an extraordinary case. Probably he was known and talked of
as the man who had been paralyzed 38 years. Note that it does not say,
"When the man saw Jesus," but, "when Jesus saw him." He did not know
Jesus. Possibly he had not even heard of His healing power and
compassionate love. He was not seeking Jesus–Jesus was seeking him! It
was so with many of us and, therefore, we sing–

"Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God. He,
to rescue me from danger, Interposed His precious blood." When Jesus
saw the impotent man–

6. And knew that he had been now a long time in that case, and a long
time in that place, too–

6. He said unto him, Will you be made whole? That must have seemed a
strange question! What was he there for, if not to be made whole? But I
will show you, by-and-by, that there was wisdom in the question of
Jesus. It was no idle curiosity that moved Him to enquire of the man
whether he was willing to be made whole.

7. The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is
troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming. Shuffling
along, as best I may, to the water's edge–

7. Another steps down before me. Then, of course, the curative miracle
is worked, and the curative power of the water is gone until another
season when the angel troubles it again.

8, 9. Jesus said to him, Rise, take up your bed, and walk. And
immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed and walked: and
on the same day was the Sabbath. This is our Sabbath. Oh, that we might
have the same miracle worked here, tonight, upon many spiritually
impotent folk!

10. 11. The Jews, therefore, said unto him that was cured. It is the
Sabbath Day: it is not lawful for you to carry your bed. He answered
them. And he did answer them, too! It was a crushing answer–

11. He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up your bed, and
walk. That was his warrant. None but God could have made him whole. God
can set aside any of His Laws, if He pleases! At any rate, whatever He
commands must be right.

12. Then they asked him, What Man is that which said unto you, Take up
your bed, and walk? They asked, "What Man" had given this command. Why,
if it had been a mere man who had said it, the impotent man could not
either have taken up his bed or have walked!

13. And he that was healed knew not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed
Himself away, a multitude being in that place. He never sought
notoriety, but avoided popular demonstrations in His favor. The man who
had been healed had exercised faith in Jesus, but he knew very little
about Him. A certain something in the air and manner of Christ had won
his

faith, but he did not know His name, or who He was. How small may be
your knowledge, and yet you may be saved by true faith!

14. Afterward Jesus found him in the Temple, and said unto him, Behold,
you are made whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto you.
Probably, this man's illness had been caused by sin. Christ bids him,
therefore, keep clear of sin lest a worse calamity should come upon
him.

15. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made
him whole. Full ofjoy, full of delight, he must tell out the name of
Him who had cured him, as grateful patients like to sound the praises
of their physician when he has been the means of healing them!

16. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him,
because He had done these things on the Sabbath Day. This was a mere
pretense, an idle excuse for their enmity. They not only hated Christ,
but they must besmear Him with their calumnies, and make Him out to be
an evil-doer although He was Goodness, itself.

17. But Jesus answered them, My Father works hitherto, and I work. The
whole work of Nature is continued on Sabbath Days as well as other
days. Stars shine through the Sabbath night and the sun rises and sets
on the Lord's-Day as on all the days of the week! God's work continues.
"My Father works," says Christ, "and I work." "My work is My Father's
work, and that goes on whatever the day may be."

18. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill Him, because He had not
only broken the Sabbath, but said also that God was His Father, making
Himself equal with God. They did not understand Him to preach
Unitarianism–they understood Him to proclaim His own true and proper
Godhead–and He never contradicted them–for He was and is God!

19. Answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you,
The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do: for
what things soever He does, these also does the Son, likewise. Christ's
work runs parallel with that of the Father. The Father and the Son
always work in perfect harmony with one Another.

20-22. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He,
Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you
may marvel. For as the Father raises up the dead, and quickens them;
even so the Son quickens whom He will. For the Father judges no man,
but has committed all judgment unto the Son. The Son, as well as the
Father, is the Quickener of the dead! The Son is also the Judge of all
men!

23. That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father.
He that honors not the Son, honors not the Father which has sent Him.
As the universal Judge, the Lord Jesus is to be honored by all men,
"even as they honor the Father." Whatever others may do, or not do, we
will honor the Father, we will honor the Son and we will honor the Holy
Spirit–Three in One and One in Three–the one God of Israel, forever
and ever.