RISE UP ABOVE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES
John 5:1-16
SHOW UP
FOR THE CELEBRATION
V:1 After
this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
A. When we come to the church, we ought
to come for the celebration.
1. When you show up to worship, Jesus
shows up with you.
2. When Jesus shows up there is a love
feast.
B. The city of Jerusalem is set on a
hill
1. When we come to Christ we come
looking up
2. We are lowly, but He is high and
lifted up
COME TO
JESUS EXPECTING HIS GRACE
V:2 Now
there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew
tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
3 In these
lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for
the moving of the water.
A. The church is a hospital for sick
folk.
1. We all have our illnesses. Some
physical and some spiritual.
2. The pool Bethesda mean house of grace
3. The Lords Temple is a place of grace
4. Jesus is a pool of living water, stirred
up by our needs.
B. We come to Jesus seeking His grace.
1. Man can make building with rooms for
all.
2. Jesus has room in His heart with grace
for all who seek Him.
C. We must learn to wait on the Lord for
His grace.
1. No specific time is given for Jesus
to show up.
2. We must anticipate His coming.
3. We must expect that He comes with
power to heal and restore.
D. God uses man to provide the waiting
rooms
1. God provides the refreshment
2. God provides the waiting time
3. God provides the restoration
4. God provides the grace.
STIR UP
THE WATERS OF LOVE
V:4 For an
angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water:
whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole
of whatsoever disease he had.
5 And a
certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
A. Angels are God’s messengers.
1. They come with His power and
authority
2. It is the grace of God to dispatch His
angels to the service of
His people.
3. Angels are around us all the time
without our knowledge.
4. They bring a message from God. Joseph and Mary
5. They encamp around us. Psalms 34:7
6. They protect us from danger. Psalms 91:11
7. They agents of God’s healing.
8. They encourage us. Matthew 28:5-6
B. They come for a season
1. They are intentionally directed for
the encouragement of man.
2. They came to stir up the water, to be
the cure for the sick.
3. They came on a regular basis at the
time of the festival.
4. The sick came expecting the water to
be stirred in the pool.
5. The sick came expecting that one who
got in the pool first
After the stirring would
be healed.
6. The sick came expecting that the one
would be them.
7. When we come to the Lord we ought to
come expecting our
Needs will be met.
THE LORD
WANTS YOU TO KNOW HIM
V:6 When
Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he
saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
A. It is the compassion of the Lord to
be concerned about our wellbeing.
1. He knows the length of our
infirmities.
2. He knows how broken we are.
3. He knows our desires to be well.
4. Yet He ask, so we will know He cares.
B. Jesus knows He is only one that can
make us whole.
1. Yet He ask to draw us into a
relationship with Him.
2. When Jesus looks, He sees the whole
of our existence.
3. When Jesus looks, He sees the
questions we ought to ask.
4. When Jesus looks, He draws us to the
conclusion of what
We want from Him.
DON’T MAKE
EXCUSES WHEN YOU BEEN BLESSED
V: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, another steppeth down before me.
A. In the lame man’s answer is the
reason for his continued lameness.
1. He had friends who brought him to the
pool.
2. His friends didn’t stay with him to wait
the stirring of the pool.
3. Perhaps, he discounts his friends by
not asking them to stay
With him.
B. The reason he did not get to the pool
first is his fault.
1. He claimed he could and did move
toward the pool.
2. For 38 years, he never positioned
himself at the edge of the pool.
3. He was not ignorant, nor completely
helpless.
4. He was neglectful of his health, by
not positioning himself
To roll in the pool when
the waters were stirred.
C. Sometimes we ask God for help when He has
already provided
The mean for us to help ourselves.
1. Sometimes we are stuck where we are
because we are not
Willing to try something
different.
2. We shortchange ourselves when don’t
use all the resources
God has placed before us.
What were the resources the
lame man had?
a. He had friends to bring him to the
pool.
b. He had a voice to reason with Jesus
c. He had strength to move himself along
the ground.
d. He was determined to be at the pool
for 38 years.
DO WHAT
JESUS TELLS YOU TO DO
V:8 Jesus
saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
9 And
immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the
same day was the sabbath.
A. It is the love of God that He does
not judge us on our failure to act.
1. It is the grace of God to overlook
our faults and see our potential.
2. It is the grace of God to think more
of us than we think of ourselves.
B. Jesus gave the man a command, “Rise
and Walk”
1. In that command was the power over
his affliction.
2. In that command was the authority
over his affliction.
3. We have to rise above our
circumstances and walk away
From them.
4. While the man did not know Jesus he
acted on His command.
5. The proof of the glory of Jesus was
the man walking with his bed.
6. Don’t question God’s commands, act
immediately.
PROCLAIM
THE WORD OF GOD TO THOSE WHO QUESTION YOUR ACTIONS
V:10 The
Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful
for thee to carry thy bed.
11 He
answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed,
and walk.
A. Every day for Jesus is a holy day
1. Every day for Jesus is a day to
glorify the Father with His works.
2. Every day for Jesus is a day to show
the foolishness of man’s
Interpretation of the
law.
B. Jesus worked on the Sabbath to draw
attention to His glory.
1. The previously lame man was a walking
testimony to Jesus
Power and authority.
2. Jesus did not take time to reveal to
the lame man who He was.
a. Maybe Jesus wanted His accusers to
ask who He was and seek Him out.
b. It caused the previously lame man to
ponder who healed him.
c. It may have caused him to meditate on
the favor of God to heal him.
QUESTIONS
FORCE YOU TO CONSIDER THE POWER OF GOD
V:12 Then
asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and
walk?
13 And he
that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a
multitude being in that place.
A. The questioning of the Jews may have
caused the man to consider his lack
Of gratitude.
1. He failed to worship the one who
healed him.
2. He failed to take the time to develop
a friendship with
One who healed him
3. He failed to consider the miracle
that took place in him
To walk after 38 years of laying on
his cot.
He was changed by Jesus, but didn’t
consider the magnitude of the
change
The lower part of the body became active.
Ankles strengthen
Muscles strengthen
Blood flow increased
to the feet
Brain waves communicated with the feet
Body coordination changed
to accommodate walking
B. The man failed to consider why Jesus singled
him out to be healed
Above all the others who lay sick.
1. He failed to see the favor of God on Him
above others.
2. The questions by the Jews forced to
man to look at his blessings
And seek knowledge of Jesus.
THE STUDY
OF THE WORD BRINGS CONVICTIONS
V:14
Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art
made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
15 The man
departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.
A. The second encounter with Jesus
reminded the man of his spiritual brokenness.
1. Jesus reminded the man that he was a
sinner.
2. Jesus reminded the man that His 38
years of lameness was because
Of his sins.
3. Jesus reminded the man that there was
a punishment greater than
Being lame.
B. Knowing Jesus, the man became a
walking testimony of the
The grace of Jesus.
1. He boldly proclaimed Jesus as his
healer.
2. We find no confession of sins and no
prayer of forgiveness.
3. Jesus planted the seeds that led to
salvation.
RISE UP
ABOVE YOUR CIRCUMSTANCES
SHOW UP FOR THE CELEBRATION
COME TO JESUS EXPECTING HIS GRACE
STIR UP LOVE
STUDY TO KNOW THE LORD
DON’T MAKE EXCUSES
FOLLOW GOD’S COMMANDS
PROCLAIM THE WORD
Rev. M.
Mitchell
