Jesus Fixes Lives
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Date: 28 July, 2021
Text: John 5:1-15
Title: Fixing Broken Lives
Introduction:
ill. We enjoyed Holiday Bible Club this past week. It brings back memories from my youth of our Bible Clubs. We would show reel to reel films when I was a kid - Mr. Fix It.
exp. Mr. Fix-it ran a repair shop where children would bring in their broken things - he'd fix them while telling them a Bible story.
ill. My Grandpa had a repair shop of sorts. Grandpa Roth was an upholsterer. (fixed furniture) He had contracts with department stores and would get all their repair work.
- I remember riding with my grandpa in his old Ford Van - carpetted walls, roof and floor - I guess to protect wood furniture
- when grandpa would visit our home - he wouldn't be there long until he'd have a piece of furniture turned over fixing it.
- Grandpa ran his business from his basement work shop. (I got some of his tools last year.) Grandpa enjoyed what he did. He loved making things whole again.
ill. Jesus grew up in a home that had a fix it shop as well.
Matthew 13:55 Is not this the carpenter's son?
exp. His step dad - Joseph - was a carpenter. We would rightly imagine that he watched Joseph cutting wood, filing wood, assembling furniture. (Smells of wood, stains, etc.....)
- No doubt from a young age, Jesus would help him in the shop....getting him tools, holding....
AS CARPENTERS THEY WERE ALWAYS MAKING BROKEN THINGS WHOLE AGAIN.
exp. Jesus became a man and went from fixing and mending furniture to fixing and mending lives.
ONLY JESUS, CAN TAKE A BROKEN LIFE AND MAKE IT WHOLE AGAIN.
Text: John 5:1-15,
"Wilt thou be made whole"
"And immediately the man was made whole"
"Behold, thou art made whole"
"He that made me whole,"
"Jesus, which had made him whole."
Your life needs to be made whole by Jesus. Have you been made whole?
prayer:
I. To be made whole, you must know that you are broken.
1 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.
3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
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.
exp. It was common knowledge that the spring waters which fed this pool held medicinal properties. (Whether supernaturally (as was common thought) or naturally - those who were infirmed hoped to find healing when the water bubbled or stirred.)
question: Unsurpringly - we find people with physical infirmities gathered at this healing pool.
exp. The man in our story is a paralytic of some sort. His ability to walk was broken.
note: Physical conditions such as these are easy to identify. (eyes are broken, ears, tongues, limbs) exp. THEY WERE THERE BECAUSE THEY WANTED TO BE MADE WHOLE.
question: Have you ever understood your spiritual need to be made whole?
Jesus likens man's spiritual need to man's physical need.
John 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
40 And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
41 Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth.
note: Their sin remained because they didn't think they needed to be repaired.
ill. Grandpa Roth had an eye for fixing broken things. He may say to you - that needs to be repaired. You could disagree and regret it later when it broke. Or you could accept what he said and let him fix it.
exp. BUT IF YOU DIDN'T ACCEPT IT WAS BROKEN, YOU WOULD NOT GET IT FIXED.
note: A man could say today, "I'm fine without Jesus." They are not and they will not be made whole without KNOWING they are broken. D
app. Have you ever come to the understanding that you are broken? That's the first step to being made whole.
II. To be made whole, you must have desire.
ill. Desire is important to meeting needs,
"You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make them drink."
exp. As a cowboy, you know your horse needs a good drink because there is not another water hole for a long way - but your desire doesn't matter - the horse has to desire it themselves.
ill. Parents can sometimes look at a late blooming child
- content to crawl, babble instead of using words, not interested in reading....
- you want them to excel, but if they don't desire to do it themselves it isn't going to happen.
app. Often what is difficult for us as believers is WE KNOW THE NEED, BUT THOSE WE LONG TO SEE SAVED HAVE NO DESIRE TO BE MADE WHOLE. Until they have desire, they will not be made whole.
A. Desire it - time is passing.
5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
exp. I'm 45. I don't know how old this man is, but I would imagine that he is older than me. If this was me, I would not have been able to use my legs since I was 7. It was time to BE MADE WHOLE.
ill. When I do evangelism - If I'm speaking to someone who believes in evolution, I may say, "You know this plant came from a seed and didn't just happen. It's parent came from a seed....etc" If it can't happen today that this plant comes into being WITHOUT A SEED, it is no more able to do so tomorrow."
app. Why would a sinner think they were more likely to receive Jesus tomorrow than today? If it isn't going to happen today - THERE IS EVERY CHANCE THAT IT WON'T HAPPEN TOMORROW. 2 Cor. 6: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation
B. Desire it - Jesus cares about you.
6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case,
exp. Jesus didn't walk by this man and ignore him. Jesus looked at his broken condition and knew his medical record.
ill. I like sympathy when I am ill. I like to tell how I feel, why I feel, how long I've felt and expecially when it seems hopeless - I want someone to give me hope and care about my need.
app. I don't know your condition today, but Jesus does and Jesus cares. He wants to give you hope today. He knows how long this has troubled you and how to make it right. He can make you whole!
C. Desire it, Jesus is asking you now.
6 ....he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
exp. What if the man ignored these words from God? Would Jesus ever pass by him again? Can you see him looking up with hope into the eyes of Jesus?
ill. Aidan - P&P (Prayer and Paracetemol) if you walk out of there that is it.
Mark Hikin - addict - same thing - now or never.
hymn: God's Final Call - John Peterson
Someday you’ll hear God’s final call to you
To take his offer of salvation true-
This could be it my friend if you but knew-
God’s final call, God’s final call
How can you live another day in sin,
Thinking some day with Christ you will begin?
O will you hear above the world’s loud din-
God’s final call, God’s final call
If you reject God’s final call of grace,
You’ll have no chance your footsteps to retrace
All hope will then be gone and doom you’ll face.
O hear his call! God’s final call
quest. Jesus asked him - WILT THOU BE MADE WHOLE?
C. Desire it, Men will never make you whole.
text: 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.
exp. Yes he wanted it! Nobody was helping him but Jesus was passing by.
Psa 60:11 Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.
12 Through God we shall do valiantly: for he it is that shall tread down our enemies.
exp. There are a lot of disappointed people in our world - disappointed because men aren't ABLE TO GIVE THEM THE HELP THAT THEY NEED. They desire to be made whole. If only they would turn to Jesus as he asks, "Wilt thou be made whole?"
app. If that is you today, stop trusting in men and turn in dependence upon God. Jesus is the great completer - He will make you whole if you turn to Him with desire.
III. To be made whole, you must obey God's Word.
ill. If I deal with an evolutionist I say to them....
1) first - does God exist? (yes, He must)
2) second - how does he communicate (Natural revelation, specific revelation)
3) What does God's Word say? (False religion adds to or subtracts....)
A. Just obey the simple commands of God.
8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
exp. It sounds simple and it was. But, he was powerless to oby it.
note: But, the God who gave the command gave the power to obey it.
ill. "God's Simple Plan of Salvation" - Ford Porter Tract - great title.
The Gospel is incredibly simple.
1) You are a sinner. Romans 3:23
2) Your sin will be punished. Romans 6:23
3) God made a way of salvation. John 3:16
4.) Believe on Jesus Christ and be saved. Romans 10:9
ill. Naaman - leperosy - servant girl - Elisha doesn't even come out - "go dip in the Jordan river 7 times"
2 Kings 5:13 And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
14 Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.
app. This is a simple message tonight. It's a simple Gospel. Why don't you just obey God and be saved?
B. Just keep OBEYING Jesus.
9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.
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.
exp. As soon as this man obeyed Jesus and was healed, Satan through a false religion questioned him saying that He was breaking God's law. (Notice - they didn't care about this man. All they cared about was that Jesus was leading people away from their false teaching.)
THE MAN KNEW THAT THE MAN WHO CHANGE HIM COULD COMMAND HIM.
11 He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.
question: What would you think if as soon as this man was healed, he threw down his bed and disobeyed Jesus? (Ingrate, disrespectful, unthankful, unholy rebelious man....)
app. Has God saved you? Are you living in obedience to Him? Does He command you? You obeyed his command to get saved! Praise God. NOW YIELD YOUR LIFE TO SERVE HIM.
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
C. Just obey and stay away from sin.
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.
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.
exp. Jesus knew how long he had been in this case and that it was somehow a result of sin.
ill. Not all physical infirmity is sin - blind man -
John 9:2 And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
3 Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
note: But, in this story - Jesus told him not to reject God's mercy or his life would be even worse.
ill. I've only ever gotten one ticket in my life. I didn't get any mercy, although I would have liked mercy. 140 dollar ticket. I'd rather he'd have given me a warning.
exp. Many times you do get a warning, and with it the reminder - if you do this again - look out - there will be severe consequences.
note: Only a fool doesn't heed that kind of a warning.
app. How seriously do you take this admonition of Jesus? SIN NO MORE...(don't continue in sin.)
Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
1Jn 2:1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
app. If you want a whole life - OBEY JESUS AND STAY AWAY FROM SIN!
D. Just obey and testify of Jesus.
15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.
16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
17 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
exp. As soon as he testified - JESUS MADE ME WHOLE - he found out that Jesus is hated!
Matthew 10:25 It is enough for the disciple that he be as his master, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household?
2 Timothy 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
Acts 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
1 John 3:13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
app. If you are standing with Jesus as you ought - obeying Him and testifying of what He has done in your life - you will find yourself entering into His persecution.
conclusion:
Grandpa Roth was like Mr. Fix-it - if it was broken, he would make it whole.
Jesus doesn't fix things that are broken - HE FIXES BROKEN LIVES.
Your life needs to be made whole by Jesus. Have you been made whole?
1) Do you know you are broken?
2) Do you desire to be made whole?
3) Will you obey His Word and believe on Jesus?
- repenting of your sin.
- Trusting in Jesus alone for salvation.
- testifying of what He has done.
4) Believer - is there sin that you need to get out of your life. "Go and sin no more."
If your life is broken - Jesus ALONE can make you whole.
