[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. This is the next message in our series on the book of John entitled, Jesus is God.
[0:13] All right, take your Bibles if you would and turn to John chapter 5. John chapter 5, isn't it wonderful we serve such a wonderful and loving God who loves us, has a deep love for us.
[0:26] No way to describe the great love that he has for us. Take your Bible now, go to John chapter 5. And we're going to begin the persecution of Jesus. We're going to study when it begins and it begins in this story right here.
[0:38] And you've heard the story told many times and maybe you didn't get the full import of the story. And there's a lot of great lessons for us here. We're going to find out Jesus heals an impotent man.
[0:50] He heals a man who is helpless. That's exactly what he did when he saved us. He saved helpless people. We were lost and we had no way to get to God. And Jesus came to us just like he did this man who had been sick for 38 years.
[1:05] And this man for 38 years has been sitting on the sidelines and he has been waiting for the opportunity to get healed. And he can't do it. And there's nobody will help him. And he doesn't find Jesus.
[1:16] Jesus finds him. And you didn't find Jesus. He found you. Can you say amen right there? He loved you first. He loved you first. He gave his life first.
[1:27] And we love him because he first loved us. But the second great truth you're going to see is that Jesus heals them. Heals the man on the Sabbath day. And this is going to cause all kinds of trouble.
[1:39] He healed him on the Sabbath day. Now, you know, if Jesus had wanted to, he could have healed him on the day before. He could have healed him on Friday. And there would have been no uproar, no problem, and no persecution.
[1:52] He could have healed him on Sunday, the day after the Sabbath day, which would be the first day of the week. Sunday, the day we worship. And there would have been no problem, no issue at all. Because the real issue, what made the Pharisees and the religious leaders and the Jewish leaders mad was that he would have the nerve to heal him on the Sabbath day.
[2:11] So that makes, that's a very important thing you need to look at. So Jesus was trying to get across a point. He was doing a whole lot more than healing a guy. He was healing him on the Sabbath day.
[2:22] And the third thing that you're going to find in this passage is he's going to say to them, hey, go and sin no more unless the worst thing come upon you. And so he's going to talk to us a little bit about sin and its relationship to sickness.
[2:36] And then all that's going to bring about the persecution. So go with me if you would. And let's read in John chapter 5 and verse 6. Now, they've been following him out of curiosity.
[2:48] They're excited. He's healing people and he's giving away free food. And they're not committed to him. They're not committed to the gospel. This is up until now a pure prosperity gospel idea for them.
[3:02] They follow Jesus for what they could get. And by the way, the prosperity gospel is a lie. God's plan is not that you be rich and not that you be healthy and not that you be wise.
[3:15] God's plan is that you deserve to go to hell and Jesus loved you and paid your sin debt. Now, there may be some prosperity that comes along with that, but that is never the purpose of Jesus Christ.
[3:27] It is never give money so you can be rich, serve God so you can be rich. It's never somebody egotistical seeking more material goods. That's what's been happening up until now. But at this point, they're going to reject him.
[3:39] Go with me to John chapter 5 verse 6. When Jesus saw him lie and knew that he had been now a long time, a long time in that case, I'll underline that a long time in that case, he said unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
[3:54] The impotent man, the powerless man answered him, Sir, I have no man. When the waters travel to put me into the pool, but while I'm coming, another steppeth down before me.
[4:05] Jesus said unto him, Rise, take up thy 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.
[4:17] The first thing I want you to look at is here's a guy in a hopeless, helpless condition. This guy has no way to help himself. There's a whole bunch of people hurting.
[4:27] There's a whole bunch of people sitting around the pool. There's a whole bunch of people waiting. And there's hardly no help for anybody. Every now and then they say the water's stirred here at the pool.
[4:38] And every now and then, but this guy's been sick for 38 years. And he says, Nobody is around here to help me. It looks like when Jesus walked in the room, he never even looked at Jesus to get help from Jesus.
[4:50] He was kind of looking at the pool and thinking maybe I could get in the pool and trying to figure out what was going on so he could get some help. But he didn't get any help. I think he's probably by now a bitter, crotchety old man.
[5:01] And he sees Jesus as no way. He doesn't even want to respond to him. He kind of gets smart with Jesus. And Jesus said, Do you want to be made whole? Do you want to be healed? And his answer is, I don't have anybody to help me.
[5:13] I don't have anybody to help me. And Jesus responds by healing him and healing him immediately. By the way, the man shows no faith in Jesus Christ.
[5:24] He doesn't ask him, Do you believe to get healed? He doesn't put any Pentecostal style conditions on this. If you have enough faith, you can be healed. He simply heals him and he heals him immediately.
[5:36] And the man walks away carrying his bed. So I just want to talk to you real quick. I want to talk to you about this healing of the impotent man. And I want you to consider your condition in salvation. Now here's the guy's been helpless for 38 years.
[5:48] For 38 years, he's been unable to get to the pool. For 38 years, he's been able to get help. He's tried the doctors and they didn't work. He's tried all the witch doctors and all the health cures.
[6:00] And he's been to chiropractors and doctors and surgeons and psychologists and psychiatrists. He's been everywhere and he can't get any help. And he's laying at this pool hoping for a miracle.
[6:10] Hoping an angel will come down and stir the water and he can get in the water. But even if the angel does come and whenever the angel does come and whatever it is that happens, he never gets in. And Jesus shows up in the room or in Bethesda at this pool.
[6:23] And he says to God, do you want to get help? Do you want to be healed? And the guy looks at him and says, just forget it. And I've been laying here 38 years and ain't nobody going to help me. And nobody's here to help me.
[6:34] And I have no hope. And Jesus heals him. I just want to stop real quick. I want you to understand if you're not saved, if you're not, if you've not accepted Christ, you may have tried AA.
[6:45] And you may have tried every other way. And you may have tried psychologists and pills. And you may have tried every other way to seek what's wrong with you on the inside. And what's making you feel an emptiness inside.
[6:56] And what's making you feel a hole inside. And you feel like you're not a complete man. And you need something that you don't have. And you're helpless and you're hopeless. And you've tried everything and nobody can help you. There is one that can help you.
[7:07] And his name is Jesus. And by the way, he wants to help helpless people. I think it's awful interesting when he walks in the room. He goes to, when he walks into that place, he goes to God's been there 38 years.
[7:19] He could have gone to the guy that was right on the edge of the pool that got healed the next time. But he goes to God's in the worst shape. That means he could come save a guy like me. Say amen right there. You say, I messed up so bad I don't know if he could save me.
[7:30] This guy's been impotent, helpless, no power, no ability to save himself. For 38 years. And Jesus came to him. By the way, can I tell you, he wasn't looking for Jesus.
[7:43] He hadn't sent out any feelers. There had been no emails, no Facebook postings. Nothing saying, I need help. I need somebody to come talk to me about Jesus. He hadn't done anything to get in touch with Jesus. Jesus came to him.
[7:54] And I'll just tell you, the whole world was in the same condition. The Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. The Bible said, there's none righteous, no, not one. The Bible said, the wages of sin is death.
[8:05] And so all that man had to look forward to was death and hell. Man was helpless against his sin. Man had no way to get to God. And Jesus came.
[8:16] He didn't come because we asked him to come. Because the honest truth is, when Adam left the Garden of Eden, he didn't go looking for Jesus to come. He went looking for a way to cover up his own mess ups. He went looking for a way to hide his own mistakes.
[8:27] He went looking for a way to fix himself. And that's what you've been doing. But here instead, the story goes this way. The man can't fix himself. And Jesus comes to him just like he does to you. So if you're not saved today and you don't know the Lord, and you say, I'm not even sure he could save me, you don't know my story.
[8:42] You don't know where I've come from. You don't know what's behind. You don't know what my history is. Just let me tell you, Jesus does know your history. And he did die to pay your sin debt. And today, if you will simply believe him and what he did on the cross of Calvary, you can be saved.
[8:56] Amen? That's the first thing. There was an impotent man, and he got healed at the pool of Bethesda. But that's not really the main story here. The main story here is Jesus is God.
[9:09] You've got to get a hold of something. John wrote the book. He said, I'm writing these things so everybody will know that Jesus is the Son of God. He's the Messiah. He's sent from God. And that you'll understand it.
[9:20] I've got to help you know something. We're not worshiping. We're not worshiping a prophet. We're not worshiping some religious leader. We're not worshiping some man that came to talk to us.
[9:32] God came down to earth. We're not following a virgin or a saint or a prophet. God came down to earth and took on human flesh and lived among us and died on a cross and was buried and rose again.
[9:47] We serve Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus, God in human flesh. And so, that takes you to the second thing that's shown in this passage. He did it on the Sabbath day. Have you got your Bible open?
[9:59] Look at John chapter 5. John chapter 5. And maybe if you have your, maybe if you got an ink pen, you can mark this in John chapter 5 and verse 9. The last word in verse 9 is Sabbath.
[10:09] He said, they did it on the same day was the Sabbath. In verse 10, right in the middle of the verse, he said, it's the Sabbath day. It's the Sabbath day. And in verse 16, he said, and therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay him because he'd done these things on the Sabbath day.
[10:28] Boy, what in the world is wrong? Why are they so upset? Because he did it on the Sabbath day. And the man's now carrying his bed on the Sabbath day. The story.
[10:39] This is a turning point. This is when Jesus who comes out of obscurity starts his ministry. People are kind of following him out of curiosity. And now they're going to get hostile and angry and intolerant and mad.
[10:54] They want him dead. They want him dead. Religion wants him dead and out of the way. Jesus knows what the Sabbath's for.
[11:04] Now the Pharisees and the religious leaders and the Jews, they've messed up. Like we do sometimes. We take Old Testament law and we try to make something out of it. It was never intended to be.
[11:15] And they'd taken this Old Testament law and they'd lift it up as a way to control people. And it's a way to get people to do certain things. And he says, hey, that's not what it's about. Did you know the Pharisees had something like 39 laws they'd written?
[11:28] 39 laws to help you know how to not violate the Sabbath day. If he doesn't want us to violate the Sabbath day, here are 39 things that you shouldn't do on the Sabbath day. The Bible never says them.
[11:39] The Jewish Bible never said them. They just made up rules. We love rules. We love rules. If we can have rules, we figure we can be good enough.
[11:49] I need a way to grade myself. I need to be able to feel good about myself. I need a way to think that I'm doing good. But you see, the real truth is that salvation is not about how good you are.
[12:00] It's really about how bad you are. Salvation is not about how good you are. It's about how bad you are. And if anything, the rules ought to help you know you stink.
[12:11] You stink. You stink. You stink. You're worthless. You're worse than worthless. But Jesus is good. And he is better than better. He's better than good.
[12:22] And he can save us. That's what it's really about. So he comes down. He comes down and he says to them. He understands the Sabbath. Would you read with me a few verses? Maybe you can mark them down in your Bible.
[12:33] Mark chapter 2 verse 27. The Bible said that he said unto them. The Sabbath was made for man. Not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is Lord also of the Sabbath.
[12:44] There are two things in that passage. And you need to mark them. Number one. God said I fixed the Sabbath for you. I wanted you all to get a day of rest. I wanted you all to get a day to set aside to worship me.
[12:55] That's why I made the Sabbath. The Sabbath was made for man. I didn't make a rule and then make man obey it. I made. I set aside a Sabbath day for you. And then in verse 28 he says something really powerful.
[13:08] You got to underline this in your Bible. Because you see. It's a bold, brash statement. Jesus believes he's God. He is God. And he says in verse 28.
[13:19] Therefore the Son of Man is Lord. Lord. L-O-R-D. Lord. Capital L-O-R-D of the Sabbath. He says I'm in charge. Now you need to understand something.
[13:31] Look here a second. Look here a second. Jesus wasn't another one of the Jewish leaders. Jesus wasn't another one of the prophets. Jesus wasn't another one of the guys like everybody else. He said I'm not under the rules you're under.
[13:42] I'm the Lord. I'm the God. I'm the one from heaven. I'm the Lord of the Sabbath. Then he wants to bring their cruelty to their face. You know they're just so upset every time Jesus does something good on a Sabbath day.
[13:56] Because they want the Sabbath day honored. And he just healed a man. And he told the man. He said guy. You've been laying here for 38 years. And you've never been able to walk. Well get up and take your bed. And go to the house.
[14:08] And the guy got up and he picked up his bed. That's a miracle. 38 years this guy's not walked. He doesn't need any nurses. He doesn't need one of those belts on him. Where they hold you from behind. While you're learning how to walk.
[14:18] After you haven't walked for a long time. He just stood up and started walking. And he walked out with his bed. And boy the Jews were angry. Not one of them said praise God. Look at that he's healed. Not one of them said man that's wonderful.
[14:30] Look how powerful this Jesus is. Not one of them. All they said was you broke our rule. You broke our rule. And Jesus says to them in other passages. Look at it. He says in Matthew chapter 12 verse 11.
[14:41] And he said unto them. What man shall there be among you. That shall have one sheep. And if it fall into a pit on the Sabbath day. Will he not lay hold on it and lift it out. Well how much better is a man than a sheep. Why don't y'all do good on the Sabbath day.
[14:54] He said you know it's amazing. It's amazing. I heal people on the Sabbath day. And I forgive sin on the Sabbath day. Because I'm God. I can do what I want. And y'all get mad at me. But if one of your sheep happens to fall in a pit.
[15:06] It's amazing. You'll go drag your sheep out of the pit. While you want a man to keep on suffering. By the way that's what religion does to people. You see religion has a system of rules.
[15:17] And regulations. Religion has a thou shalt not. And thou shalt not. And thou shalt not. It has a thou shalt. And thou shalt. And thou shalt. And Jesus says forget all that mess. I am the law.
[15:28] I am the guy who fulfilled it all. I am God. And I'm here to save you. And I'll love you even on the Sabbath day. John chapter 7 and verse 23. He said if a man on the Sabbath day receives circumcision.
[15:41] That the law of Moses should not be broken. Are you angry at me? Because I've made a man every whit hole on the Sabbath day. He said you guys. You guys. Will circumcise the guy on Sunday.
[15:52] Is that not work? Is that not an action that you have to take? He said so you can get a sheep out. And you can do a religious thing on the Sabbath day. But I can't help a guy when he's in trouble.
[16:04] Jesus is making a point. You know he could have gone to that pool on the day before. Or the day after. But he is in the process. Of a head on confrontation with religion.
[16:18] He's in a head on confrontation with religion. There's two systems in mortal combat. Keeping the law or receiving a gift. Keeping the law or receiving a gift.
[16:31] Most of us. Most of us. You know why you doubt your salvation? Huh? Listen to me. You know why you doubt your salvation? Do you know why you think you can lose your salvation?
[16:41] Because you think it's you. Because you think it's you. And if you had anything to do with it. You'd mess it up. Because you mess everything up you ever get involved in. And so you think well if I got saved.
[16:53] Did I pray right? Did I believe right? Am I going to live right? And you really think it depends on you. But you see here's what he's trying to say to them.
[17:03] You guys have been keeping rules forever. And your rules haven't helped you yet. Your rules have made you heartless. Your rules have made you legalistic and cruel. Your rules have ruined you.
[17:14] And I'm here to tell you no rules. I'm here by grace. And I'm going to save you. So it's in a confrontation. Jesus is God in human flesh.
[17:25] And he steps in and they say rules. But let me remind you Romans 6 23. The wages of sin is death. Everybody in this room needs to know something.
[17:35] You stink. Maybe you ought to remember that when you go home. You stink. You have always stunk. And you always will stink. Except for Jesus.
[17:46] You stink. We never do right. We're not good. It's Jesus that's good. And all of a sudden here it is. I'm going to keep the Sabbath.
[17:57] I'm going to get circumcised when I'm supposed to. And I'm going to give the right amount of money. And you live your whole life thinking I got to keep all these rules. You mess up on one. And in your heart you know you messed up.
[18:08] In your heart you know you couldn't do it. By the way the impotent man said I can't get to the pool. No matter how hard I try. Somebody always gets there in front of me. And there's nobody here to help me.
[18:18] Because here's one of the main truths. Please listen to this. Here's the main truth. God only saves helpless people. You got to hear that. God only saves helpless people.
[18:29] Did you hear that? Would you repeat that with me? God only saves. See you don't like that. Because in your pride you don't want to say you're helpless. In your pride you don't want to say you're hopeless.
[18:42] In your pride you don't want to say you're sinful. In your pride you want to say hey I'm not that bad. Well if you're not that bad then you really stink. Because even your righteousness is as filthy rags to God.
[18:54] He's not pleased with that. Jesus did for the man what the law couldn't do for him and what he couldn't do for himself. All the law could do was hold him back. No one wanted to help him. He didn't have the power to help himself.
[19:06] The religious protection of the Sabbath was excessive. And far beyond what God had intended. They built what they called a fence around the law. The law became more important than the people they ministered to.
[19:17] The law made them heartless. They should have rejoiced when they saw him walking away healed. We should be a grace filled people. Now listen to me before I go to the next thing here.
[19:31] Every one of us ought to know. That the best of us and the worst of us all got saved simply because he is good. Some of you might say well you know I got saved by grace because pastor if you knew how bad I was you know God saved me because I didn't deserve it.
[19:48] And some of y'all might say well you know I kind of deserved it. No you didn't. No you didn't. No you didn't. None of us have ever deserved any of it. We all came like poor beggars or we didn't get saved.
[20:01] You got to understand that. And so when you understand. Now listen to me. I can hear you now. Wait a minute. I've not done all the wicked things that other guys done. It doesn't take but one wicked thing to be enough.
[20:13] All you got to do is be born human and you already stink. Because you take after your daddy. Your daddy was a liar and you're a liar. Your daddy was a sinner and you're a sinner.
[20:24] Man is totally wicked, perverse and away from God. It is only God that can save. Now once I get saved. It ought to totally change my opinion. Those Pharisees walked around in their long flowing robes thinking I am better than everybody else here today.
[20:40] I keep all the rules and I give lots of money and I am really somebody. And Jesus walks in and basically he's saying no you're not. You're a heartless jerk.
[20:51] Here's a guy get saved and your religion want to go around boasting. He said I'm God. I'm the Lord of the Sabbath. So number one he heals the impotent man but he heals him on the Sabbath. You know what he's doing?
[21:02] He's saying I don't like your rules. It never works. Now listen when we tell you. This is it. I move on. There's only two ways of being two ways of religion or two religious views or two ways of salvation and only one of them is true.
[21:16] One is works. One is works. One is what you do. One is what you do. And most of us have some of that in us. We tend to think I'm saved because I go to church.
[21:30] I'm saved because I tithe. I'm saved because I'm saved because. No you're not. Let me just tell you up front real quick. That Islam is a religion of works and much baptism.
[21:41] It's the same thing because it's works. It's not what you do. Islam is what I do. Religion is what I do. Catholicism is what I do.
[21:52] Baptism is what I do. But Christianity is what he did. Totally different. Totally different. One of us walks in proud because of what we did and the others walk in humble.
[22:04] It was a two men went up to the temple to pray. And one man lifts his eyes to heaven and he holds his hands up. He starts talking to heaven. Man God I thank you I'm not like that bum. I'm a really good guy.
[22:16] I tithe. I go to church. I'm a really nice guy. The other guy wouldn't even hold his head up. He bowed his head. Hid himself in the chest and said God be merciful to me. And Jesus said that's the guy that went home.
[22:28] Changed. We come to him. Believe in him. Number three. Third thing is this. Verse 14 would you? He tells the man to go and sin no more. Verse 14.
[22:39] Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple and saith unto him behold thou art made whole. Sin no more lest a worse thing come upon thee. I want you to outline in the Bible sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you.
[22:52] I'm going to give you some stuff about sickness real quick. All sickness and death is a result of sin. All sickness and death is a result of sin.
[23:03] Had Adam and Eve not sinned in the garden there would be no problem with either one today. We were made to live in the garden of Eden in paradise forever. And there was a tree of life in the middle of that thing we could have eaten of every day of our lives for all of eternity.
[23:19] But sin entered and death by sin. So death passed upon all men. Romans chapter 5 verse 12 and around there at that area. Sickness and tragedy however are not always a result of sin.
[23:32] In this story here the guy's been laying there for 38 years. And Jesus walks up to me and says sin no more lest a worse thing come upon you. I want you to understand a couple of things about sin and tragedy.
[23:45] Because there's tragedy all around the world. So from a biblical perspective what do we need to understand? John chapter 9 verses 1 through 3 the Bible says. As Jesus passed by he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
[23:57] And his disciples asked him saying. Master who did sin this man or his parents that he was born blind? And Jesus answered neither had this man sin nor his parents.
[24:07] But that the works of God should be made manifest in him. So I want you to know that one of the reasons we get sick is for God to show his power in us. As the time goes on we're going to all get sick in this room.
[24:20] We're going to develop. Some of us are going to get cancer. A very good friend of mine this week got news that she had breast cancer. Her husband called me to tell me she had breast cancer. Why did that happen?
[24:32] I don't know for sure. But many times the works of God will be made manifest in him. God wants to show his power. God wants to show the glory of God.
[24:42] God wants to be glorified through sickness. And if you love Jesus no matter what happens. He'll give you grace to magnify him. Because if he's a really God.
[24:53] He's God on the good days. And he's God on the bad days. And if he's God when you're feeling good. He'll be God when you're feeling bad. And he'll get us through it. And he'll honor himself with our lives. Can you say amen right there?
[25:04] Look at John chapter 11 in verse 4 if you would. When Jesus heard that. He said this sickness is not unto death. But for the glory of God. That the son of God might be glorified.
[25:16] Thereby. In other words. Not every time I get sick. And I happen to be sick right now. And not every time I get sick as a result of sin. Sometimes it's a way to bring glory to God.
[25:27] It's a way to keep on serving God. Even when I might have excuse not to. It's a way to prove your faith. By the way. It's easy to brag on God when you win the lottery. It's easy to brag on God when you win the ball game yesterday.
[25:40] But it's a whole different thing to brag on God on the day things aren't going your way. I heard the story of an old man who was dying. And he sent for the pastor. This pastor told the story.
[25:50] I heard him tell the story. He said that he was a young pastor. And he thought to himself man this old man is dying. He needs me to come out to his house to help him get through these last moments of his life. And so he got his Bible.
[26:01] He got his sermon outlines together. He was ready to go spend some time with the guy. And when he got there he walked in the house and went back in the room. And he said I'm here to help you. And the old man said sit down son. I don't need your help. I'm here to help you.
[26:12] He said I'm fixing to show you how a saint of God dies. And he took the next few hours to tell about Jesus. And what Jesus done in his life. And he bragged on Jesus. Until he finally went home. And that pastor said it was one of the most radical times in his life.
[26:25] In the most drastic time of this man's life. He was talking about Jesus. And sharing Jesus. I read this week the story of a man who was dying. And in his cell as he died. They heard him singing glory to God.
[26:36] As he died. So we want to bring glory to God in our lives. Sin has consequences. Sometimes without it being anything particular. Sin has consequences without being anything particular.
[26:48] Look at Luke chapter 13 verses 2 through 5. Luke 13 2 through 5. Jesus answered and said unto them. Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans. Because they suffered such things.
[26:59] I tell you nay. But except you repent you shall all likewise perish. Or those 18 upon whom the tower of Siloam fell. And slew them. Think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwell in Jerusalem.
[27:12] I tell you nay. But except you repent you shall all likewise repent. You shall all likewise perish. Now watch this. You ready? We're all going to get sick and die. Now I was a.
[27:24] I was a young man in the times of the great faith healers in the United States. I went to hear Catherine Kuhlman who here healed many people of cancer. And then died of cancer.
[27:35] And I was around all these faith healers. And somewhere along the way they led us to believe that if we trusted God we wouldn't get sick. But that's simply not the truth. We're going to get sick and we're going to die. And so get right with God.
[27:46] Amen. You're going to get sick and you're going to die. Get right with God. Sickness and tragedy however are often linked to sin. Not all sin. Not all sickness. And not all tragedies have anything to do with sin at all.
[27:59] But there are tragedies that have a lot to do with sin. And you need to know that. There's a guy named Ananias and his wife Sapphira. In Acts chapter 5. Do you remember the story? And they plotted to lie to God.
[28:11] And I don't know that he's ever done that such a strong move before. But Ananias walked in the room and he said, He said, hey, Peter, we sold our property for this much. And I'm bringing all of the money we got off the sale of our property.
[28:24] I want to give it to the church. My wife will be in with her half in a little while. But this is my part. And Peter looked at him and said, I don't know why the devil's filled your heart to lie to God. And he fell dead.
[28:36] A little while later his wife came up. In fact, as I always told the teenagers in Peru, the young men, they went out and buried Ananias. And about the time they got through burying Ananias, they went out and dug a whole plant in his body.
[28:47] By the time they got through, they come in dusty and sweaty. And they walked in the back door and Sapphira was standing in the room. And Sapphira said, Sapphira starts talking. And Peter said, just tell me this much. Did you sell the land for this much?
[28:58] Yep. Okay, you're dead too. Guys, go ahead and bury her. Buried two in the same day. Sin has consequence. Would you look this way a second? You cannot flippantly do wrong and expect that God won't deal with you.
[29:12] Somewhere along the way. Because you hear me preach grace. You think that means that sin has no consequence. But sin has consequence and it has it now. It has it now.
[29:24] You can't play with sin. God doesn't want you to play with sin because sin hurts you. Our little granddaughter Chloe comes into our room almost every day that I'm home.
[29:36] And she's home. She comes in and she gets on my bed and walks around. As soon as she got where she could walk and she'll run right up to the edge. And I get very nervous. I'm afraid she's going to take a dive right off the edge of the bed.
[29:47] And you know what? If she takes a dive off the edge of bed, that sin's going to hurt her. She's going to fall and bust her little head. I didn't throw her off the bed. I would never throw her off the bed. The fact is I'd jump up and try to keep her from getting off the bed.
[29:59] But sin has consequence and when you play with sin, you can expect consequences. Ananias and Sapphira. In 1 Corinthians chapter 11 and verse 30, do you remember?
[30:11] They took the Lord's Supper flippantly. They acted like it didn't matter and they weren't worried about pleasing God. And the Bible says there were many weak, sick and sleeping or dead. Now look at this.
[30:22] I need you to understand something. He goes to that man and he says to him, go and sin no more. Go and sin no more. Or somewhere along the way, you could easily get the idea that not I'm saved.
[30:32] I could live any way I want to live. Yeah, you can, but there will be consequences. You need to say amen right there. You need to understand that. You don't play with sin. No, you won't lose your salvation.
[30:43] And no, you won't go to hell. And no, God won't hate you. And no, God won't even be mad at you. But you're going to hurt. There's a story told in the Old Testament. And I'll run you through some verses.
[30:55] David sees a woman on the rooftop of a house. And David says to her, hey, guys, go down there and get her. She was naked and she's taking a bath because people went up on the rooftop.
[31:06] Rooms were flat. They weren't like what yours are. And he was up on a higher roof because he's the king. His palace is tall. He's looking down. She's taking a bath. He tells the guys to go get her. And he wants to talk to her. She comes in. And he talks to her and it leads to fornication and adultery.
[31:18] And eventually leads to murdering a man. And it's a horrible sin. And you say, well, that's Old Testament. It is. But it's a very good illustration of what happens. He did not lose his salvation. In fact, as he even said, restore to me the joy of my salvation.
[31:31] He didn't lose his relationship with God. You don't lose your relationship with God. But sin has consequence. You're going to say, well, does it always? You know, I'm not in charge of that. God is. And you may sin and get away with it today.
[31:43] And you may sin and get away with it tomorrow. And a great preacher named R.G. Lee said one time, God's justice moves slow. But it moves sure.
[31:55] And David got away with it for a long time. And then listen to what the Bible says. You know, I believe he probably had some venereal diseases. Listen to what he said in one of his Psalms. Psalm chapter 32, verse 3.
[32:06] When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through the roaring all the day long. For the day and night thy hand was heavy upon me. My moisture is turned into drought.
[32:17] Psalms chapter 38 and verse 3. There is no soundness in my flesh. Verse 1, he said, rebuke me not in thy wrath. Don't chastise me in your hot displeasure. In verse 3, there's no soundness in my flesh.
[32:30] Neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. In verse 5, he said, my wounds stink. My wounds stink. In verse 7, he says, my loins are filled with a loathsome disease.
[32:44] There's no soundness in my flesh. I just want to say to you, because, you know, I'm preaching through the Bible. I want you to get these truths. Do you understand what he said? He said, hey, man, I healed you. Now go and sin no more.
[32:56] Do you understand that sin has consequence? Why are we all going to die? We're all going to die because our father Adam sinned and sin entered into the world and death by sin.
[33:07] So death passed upon all men. We've all sinned and sin has consequence. You need to know that. But as a born-again Christian and educator, pastor, that you've allowed me to become, I want to tell you something.
[33:19] You don't lose your salvation, but you will hurt from sin. You can't play with sin. A born-again Christian never, ever has a license to sin.
[33:32] Don't you play with pornography. Don't you play with fornication. Don't you play with drunkenness. Don't you play with wicked sin. Don't you violate what God wants you to do. You won't lose your salvation.
[33:42] He'll keep loving you, but you will suffer. Go and sin no more. Go and sin no more. We're a holy people. Say amen. We're a holy people.
[33:53] We're holy because the blood of Jesus cleansed us. We're holy because he made us holy. But that's my nature and I want to live that way. Sin has consequence. Every Christian should know that God does discipline sin.
[34:06] Don't take it lightly. You do not have to fear. You don't have to worry about what men say, but you do have to worry about what sin will do to you. It has consequences. Last thing, verse 16. The Jewish leadership now begins to persecute Jesus.
[34:20] They want to kill him. Verse 16. Therefore, did the Jews persecute Jesus and sought to slay him because he had done these things on the Sabbath day.
[34:31] The Jews, their leaders know that Jesus is doing more than healing an impotent man. Look at me. Listen to me. You could easily read this story and talk about how he's a good God and how he goes and heals a guy that's been sick for 38 years.
[34:46] He helps him without putting him in the pool and he does all these wonderful things. But that's really not what the real story is. The real story is Jesus is saying, I am God. I am the Lord of the Sabbath.
[34:58] I am God in human flesh. And that's what John is trying to get across. That's what John is saying. Jesus is confronting them on the Sabbath day and what it means. They misunderstood it. Every law and every special day points to one person, Jesus.
[35:12] Who he is and what he did for our salvation. It's Jesus. Now, I'm through. So just let me say this to you. I want to tell you. Listen, I want to tell you. I don't even believe.
[35:24] Are you ready? This is going to really shock you. You ready? I don't even believe in morality. Morality takes people to hell. How's that for a shocker?
[35:36] Morality takes people to hell. Some of you are really into how moral you are. But let me explain something to you. Your morality stinks in the nostrils of God.
[35:49] Those Pharisees that day were the most moral men you could have imagined. But it's never your goodness that gets you to God.
[36:01] It is always your helplessness and your hopelessness and your nothingness that gets you to God. Because it's not you that gets to God.
[36:12] It's God that gets to you. I read the story. In the last couple of weeks. I have a guy who had fallen into a river or a pool or something. And he was about to drown.
[36:23] And there was this trained lifeguard there. And the guy was struggling and fighting. And somebody turned to the lifeguard and said, Are you going to go in and get him? He said, Yeah, give him just a little longer until he gets really tired.
[36:34] And he can't do anything. And then I'll go get him. Do you understand what the truth is? As long as you think you can save you, you can't get saved. You need to look at me and listen to me.
[36:46] Does that make you mad? As long as you think you can save you, as long as you think you can be good enough, you can't get saved. You say, Well, I'm a member of the church.
[36:56] I don't care. And neither does God. And I've been baptized. So what? There's only one thing that gets us saved. It's the grace of God. It's the grace of God.
[37:08] And we accept his goodness and his riches and his kindness. And we believe on him that Jesus paid the debt. We are so quick to believe.
[37:19] Man, we're like the Pharisees in every story. I do this and I do this and I do this and I do this. And Jesus walked right by the Pharisees and went to a guy that said, I can't do this and I can't do this and I can't do this.
[37:35] I'm nothing. Would you come to him believing today? Would you come to him helpless? Would you come and just say, Man, there's nothing good in me. And I don't know why you'd ever save me because I am junk.
[37:47] I am nothing. I stink. I could never, ever. God, I wish I could be good enough, but I can't be good enough. I look around this room and they've all got it together. But I'm the only one that doesn't have it together.
[37:58] Good. That means he's talking to you. Good. That means he's showing you that you can be saved because he saves those of us who don't have it together. You understand that?
[38:11] He healed the man of 38 years of being impotent. He healed a man who couldn't heal himself. He healed him on the Sabbath. But he didn't heal him because of him.
[38:24] He healed him because how good God is. And today you can be saved. Believe God. Trust Jesus. We'll all get to heaven.
[38:35] This is all we'll ever be able to say. I didn't deserve this. Boy, he's good. I didn't do anything to get here except believe Jesus. He's good.
[38:46] Have you trusted him? Father in heaven, I love you. I thank you for the chance to serve you. And I pray, God, you do a work in hearts and lives right now. I pray you cause people to surrender their lives.
[38:58] I pray you touch people to be saved. God, there are people here that aren't saved. They're religious, but they've never trusted you. God, let today be the day they say, I surrender all.
[39:09] I give up. I come to you just like I am. I trust you to save me. God, save people. God, help Christians to realize all praise and all glory always goes to the Father.
[39:23] Please do a work in our midst. With your heads bowed and your eyes closed, it's helpless people that come to know Jesus. Would you admit that you're helpless? I'm talking to you. You're not a follower of Jesus yet.
[39:35] You've not truly surrendered to him. Maybe you're even a church member. Maybe you've even been baptized, but you've never really recognized your helplessness, your hopelessness.
[39:48] And today you can be saved. Would there be anybody that say, I want to trust Jesus? Would there be anybody that say, I want to put my faith in trust in him? Would you just hold your hand up?
[39:58] Let me help you. Would you acknowledge you need Jesus and trust him today? Would there be anybody like that? Would there be any Christians here today that the Holy Spirit spoke to your heart?
[40:08] Maybe about the way you so emphasize rules and judge yourself and judge others. And today, y'all, I know we're a grace-filled people. Maybe you're hung on the Sabbath day.
[40:20] I don't mean the Sabbath day in particular. I just mean any rule you pick. It makes you heartless and cruel and judgmental. Maybe I'll surrender that to you. Do be anybody. Do what God had you do.
[40:31] Father, deal with our hearts. Magnify yourself. And I'll give you all praise and all glory. With every head bowed and every eye closed. No one looking around. You get through praying. You stand and sing with Jonathan.
[40:43] I'll make things right with God right now. You have been listening to Austin Garden, Pastor of Vision Baptist Church. For contact information, location, service times, or more audio and video recordings, log on to www.visionbaptist.com.