Chapter 5
Scripture Reading: John 5:6, 25, 39-40
The Lord has been speaking to us. There are still three messages left. These three messages can make a great difference in our lives. John 4:40-42 says, “ they asked Him to remain with them, and He remained there two days. And many more believed because of His word. And they said to the woman, It is no longer because of your speaking that we believe, for we ourselves have heard and know that this One is truly the Savior of the world.” I hope that we may go the Lord with these messages and ask Him to speak to us personally. We shouldn’t be impressed with just any word, but with the word of the Lord. This is the desire of the Lord’s heart.
We have come to chapter 5 where it says, “After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem” (John 5:1). I want to apply this chapter in an intimate and special way for us. We are in a feast and in this feast there are many people. But chapter 5 not only shows us that there was a feast, it shows us that Jesus was there by a pool called Bethesda. Around the pool were five porches. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered (vv. 2-3). I believe that this picture can be applied to many saints here today. Some here may have this inner feeling, “I am in a feast but I cannot take part in it.” Why? It is because I am a sick, blind, lame, and withered person. I want to enjoy the feast, but I can’t. It seems that this feast it is for others, not for me.
This multitude of people who were there were waiting for something. They were “waiting for the moving of the water, For an angel went down from time to time in the pool and stirred up the water; the first then to step in after the stirring up of the water was made well of whatever disease he was being held by” (vv. 3-4). Some here may be feeling, “This is a feast, but I cannot take part in it because of the condition I am in.” Maybe you are waiting, hoping that the water will move at the conference and that you will be able to get into it and be healed. You have been at conference after conference and your feeling is that others have entered into the water but you have not. To you it seems that others got into the water ahead of you and got healed. But you are still waiting for the healing. Some of you may even be thinking, “If I don’t enter in the water this time, maybe in the next conference I will.”
There was a pool with five porches full of sick people. Some had general illnesses which were hard to say what was wrong, they just felt sick and sometimes even had a fever. Others were blind or lame. There is a good illustration of what it means to be lame in First Kings chapter 18. Verse 21 says, “Then Elijah came near to all people and said, How long will you go hopping between two opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow Him; but if Baal is, follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.” “Go hopping” means having two opinions. Hopping is a characteristic of a lame person. I don’t know if you are going through this or not: You receive a strong word and this word regulates your living for a while. But later on you receive a different word, you take it in and forget about the first word you received. This is the meaning of hopping. This is also a characteristic of a lame person. “Then Elijah said, How long will you go hopping between two opinions? If Jehovah is God, follow Him; but if Baal is, follow him.” You have to make a decision. You cannot stay like this. Elijah was a prophet who knew what he was doing; he did tremendous signs.
Verses 39-40 say, “And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces and said, Jehovah – He is God! Jehovah – He is God! And Elijah said to them, Seize the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape! And they seized them, and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon and slaughtered them there.”
Let’s make everything clear. Put an end to everything that makes us hop. Like the Israelites of old, declare, “Jehovah – He is God! He is God! He is God!” Do you want to set the direction of your life or do you still want to be a lame person? “In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, waiting for the moving of the water” in a passive way (John 5:3). All these people were waiting for the moving of the water, just waiting. Some entered before and some who entered were healed. Maybe you have been feeling that some enter and get healed when the water moves but you cannot, saying, “Why am I still here, conference after conference, meeting after meeting ”
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