Strength for our weaknesses

Pastor Mike will be speaking on Strength for our weaknesses John 5:1-16

We are not saved by our own will, yet the human will must be exercised before God saves a soul. As many as received Him, to them He gave the right or the authority to become the children of God, to those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of who?

Of God. You’re listening to Hope Worth Having Radio Program with Pastor Mike Sanders. Thank you for being a part of this special program today. Today if you have your Bible, I want you to join us in the Gospel of John, chapter 5, verses 1 -16.

We are going to learn about our strength for our weaknesses. Sometimes it is difficult, and we find that life has many challenges, but we praise God that we have a God who works through our weaknesses.

So today as we study the Scriptures, we are going to see how God takes our weaknesses and He makes them a strength in our life. So let’s grab our Bible, let’s grab our pen, let’s grab our notes, and let’s start studying together.

When we come to John, chapter 5, verse 1 -16, I remind you that as we shared with you last week that there are seven unique miracles that John points out to us throughout the Gospel of John. And so this is the third miracle, and we are coming to this miracle and I want us to see how Jesus is our strength for each and every weakness that we have in our life.

We have to be honest. that father time and mother nature are not the kindest of parents, amen? And that it doesn’t matter who you are, you are not going to win against father time. Today I have been battling a cold all weekend.

And so in the… And by the way, don’t send me all your remedies, okay? I already… I’m good to go. Okay? I’m on the rebound. Alright? And every time I say something, everybody sends me a hundred remedies.

And I appreciate that, but I’m going to be okay, alright? But I don’t rebound from a cold like I used to. I used to. I could just plow right through it. Nothing’s going to happen. And then I got a bad back.

I’m not here to whine this morning, but I got a bad back. My back hurts because I haven’t slept well. And so a number of things at Pastor Mike’s, and I’m only 48. And I’m already on the down slide, so Father Time is not always the kindest of parent, but the Bible says in Isaiah chapter 40 verse 30, even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall.

The one truth that we have that even as we grow older and we face more physical challenges, the Bible tells us in 2 Corinthians 4, 16, therefore we do not lose hearts even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day.

There is no fountain of youth as much as we would like there to be, but there is no fountain of youth for the body, but there is a fountain of youth for the soul, and that is found in Jesus Christ. In our text today, Jesus comes to Jerusalem to celebrate a Jewish feast.

He spots a man laying by the pool of Besita. Besita means a house of mercy or a house of pity. Jesus performs an amazing miracle, and after he performs this miracle, what is so astonishing that when we read this text, Jesus is then persecuted.

As we read this miracle, remember that every miracle that Jesus performs has a message. Jesus wants us to learn something. He wants to teach us something through the miracle. So let’s pick up in verse 1 of chapter 5 and notice what the Bible says.

After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool which is called in the Hebrew tongue, Besedah, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

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. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

When Jesus saw him lie and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Will thou 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 stepeth down before me, Jesus saith 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.

The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, it is the Sabbath day, it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. He answered them he that made me whole, the same said unto me, take up thy bed and walk.

Then ask they him what man is that which said unto thee, take up thy bed and walk. And he that was healed was not who it was, for Jesus had conveyed himself away, and a multitude being in that place.

Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple and said unto him, Behold thou art made whole, sin no more lest a worst thing come unto thee. The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus which had made him whole, and therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him because he had done these things on the Sabbath day.

This miracle that we see in this passage of Scripture teaches us three things that we need to experience God’s strength in our weaknesses. And so if you’re taking notes I want you to write these down.

Number one, that we must acknowledge our weaknesses. If we are going to experience the strength of God in our life, it is so important that we first and foremost admit that we are weak. You know a lot of people don’t like to admit that they’re weak.

As a matter of fact when you and I are trying to help out someone in our family, our friends, or even our neighborhood that has an addiction, one of the hardest things that we have to deal with is getting that person to admit that they have an addiction.

But you and I understand very clearly that no person with an addiction can ever get any healing in their life unless they first admit that they got an addiction. And so it is true in our spiritual life is that unless we admit and acknowledge our weaknesses there can be no strength, there can be no help for you and I.

And you think about it when you come to Christ unless you’re willing to admit that you’re a sinner you cannot be saved. The most important step that you must take to come to Christ is first to acknowledge your sinfulness.

So many people growing up in a world of trying to make sure that everybody feels good and full of self -esteem have come to the conclusion that there’s nothing wrong with them and that they are in no need of any help and therefore they do not reach out to Christ.

for true salvation. But this does not end even at our salvation. We must recognize as believers that the only way that we can really receive the empowering strength of God is to be willing to every day admit that we have a weakness in our life.

For 38 long years, this man in our text sat by this pool of Bethsaida and he waited 38 years. Now that’s a long time to sit by the pool and they believed that an angel would come down and this angel would stir up the water and then as soon as the first person stepped in that they would experience the healing of God.

Jesus comes to this man and I want you to notice in verse 3 through 6 what he says. The Bible says that in these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, meaning there were all kinds of sick people and blind people who were waiting for the moving of the water.

For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water whatsoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had and a certain man was there which had an infirmity 38 years.

When Jesus saw him lie, he knew that he had been now a long time in that case and he saith unto him, will thou be made whole. Now why would Jesus ask that question? Because it would seem obvious that the man is by the pool hoping that he can get healed.

But yet Jesus Christ asked him that question because he wanted the man to come to grips with his weakness, with his condition. He wanted the man to tell him that he had been healed. responsibility for the situation that he found himself in.

Jesus wanted to draw out of this man an admission of his own helplessness. And that’s where we must come in our lives. The Bible says, for when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.

And the point is that you and I are without strength to save ourselves. We are out without strength to be able to live a godly life. But until we come to that point where we are willing to admit our helplessness before God, then we are not going to be able to experience the strength of God in our life.

There are three truths to remember to help you to come to grips with your weaknesses. The first truth I want you to remember is this. The primary source of all weakness is sin. The primary source of all weakness in my life is sin.

The Bible teaches us that if we run around saying that we have no sin, then we make God a liar. A lot of people are not humble enough to acknowledge that they are a sinful person. Even when we come to Christ, yes we’ve been redeemed, yes we’ve been forgiven, yes God has saved our soul, but did you know that you and I are still living in the flesh, and we are still wrestling with the flesh, and we’re still wrestling with temptations,

and we’re still wrestling with problems. We don’t gather this morning in this house of worship as a place saying, look we’re all perfect. We gather in here because we’re all weak and in desperate need of God’s help, amen.

And if you think that you come to church and people say, well there’s a bunch of hypocrites at church, I say to you, well where else would you like them to be? Amen. I think I’m glad that they’re here.

And number two is that the thing that we need to remember is that God can do something in their life, and at least they’re coming to admit. When you come to church you’re admitting, I need God’s help.

When you come to church you’re saying, Lord I need your strength because I can’t make it throughout the week. I like to look at our church as a hospital, a place where the weak, the broken, the hurting, the helpless come to find the healing of the Lord Jesus Christ and to find the hope that is found in Jesus Christ.

So the primary source of all my weakness is my sinfulness. Now I don’t want you to misunderstand me. The scripture teaches us, for all have sinned to come short of the glory of God. I don’t want you to think that somehow what Pastor Mike is teaching that every problem in your life, every adversity in your life, every suffering in your life, is the result of some sinful action that you have taken.

That’s not always true. Certainly we reap what we sow, the scriptures teach us. You make dumb decisions, you reap. dumb decisions. You make bad choices in your life and you reap bad choices in your life.

I know that to be true. But sometimes, like the man Job, who was a righteous man before God, and every morning got up and prayed for his kids, and he prayed that God would protect and watch over them, but in one day he lost his health, he lost his wealth, and he lost all of his children.

And what did he do? He did nothing that offended God. He did nothing, but he did nothing that would cause a reap all this great adversity in his life. But I want you to know that there is sin in this world, and that there is sin in our lives, and that because we live in this flawed world, and we live in this sinful world, that there is much to be overcome.

And that as I was teaching the other Wednesday night, that many things happen in this world because of a flawed and sinful world that we live in. I wish. people would not make bad choices but as a result people make bad choices and unfortunately sometimes people of innocence reap some of those results of those bad choices sometimes things happen because someone makes a mistake because they are flawed they’re limited they’re not perfect they are sinful that’s my point I’m trying to get to you is that there’s nobody perfect here there’s nobody that has it all together there’s no one that can stand before God and say I’ve never made a mistake I’ve never sinned against God I’ve never come short of the glory of God the truth is we’re all flawed and by nature we are paralyzed by our sinful nature that we inherited from Adam the second truth I want you to remember is that the paralyzing force of our weakness is sin the paralyzing force upon our life is sin there is a paralyzing force upon each and every person the Bible says in Romans 6 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh for just as you presented your members or your body as slaves of uncleanliness and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness so now presents your members of slaves of righteousness for holiness here’s what Paul is trying to teach us that our bodies can be used for good or they can be used for evil our bodies because they are flawed and because they are weak and because they are sinful and because they’re always looking out for self can be used for the wrong purposes and so the Apostle Paul is telling us that each and every day for us to overcome this paralyzing force in our life we have to submit our members our bodies unto God we have to be willing to say God here is my life and I want you to use my life for your glory today.

I want to give you my life and ask you to use me to accomplish your good work on this earth. God uses us in different ways and God works in powerful ways in our life, but not everybody gets up every day desiring to be used of God and as a result of that because they’re getting up whether they do it intentionally or unintentionally they get up and they live their life for self and they then use their body for things that are dishonoring to God,

things that are not bringing glory to God. And so every day because I know that I’m a sinful person and because I know I live in this flesh and I recognize this I must be willing to surrender my life because if I don’t there’s a paralyzing force upon me.

The third truth I want you to learn that the persistent course of our weakness is sin. The persistent course of our weakness is sin. Why do I keep doing the same thing? Why do I keep going back to the same sin?

Why do I keep falling in to the same trap? Yes, I know your heart is good and I know that you love the Lord Jesus Christ and I know that there has been moments and times that you have cried out to God and that you have asked Him to deliver you from the mess that you find yourself in.

And yet the pull of sin, the force of sin keeps bringing you back into this persistent course of where you continually to make bad choices. The scripture says in Romans 7 15 for I do not understand my own actions for I do not what I want but I do the very thing I hate.

You know it’s hard for Christians to realize that but as a believer that there are times that we do things that we know are wrong and it is because we have this sinful nature within us. You say but pastor I have been saved by the blood of Jesus Christ.

Praise God you have been saved by the blood of Christ but I want you to know that your salvation has delivered you from the penalty of sin. That is that God is not judging you because you are a sinner and He’s already done that judgment on the cross of on our Savior who bore the penalty of our sins.

The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. So my sins have been paid for and I’ve been delivered from that penalty and that if I leave this world I know that heaven is my home. Why?

because Christ died for my sins because Christ took the penalty but I want you to understand that the power of sin is still present and the present of sin is still upon my life even as I am living a Christian.

One might say, well why doesn’t God just take us home when we get saved? Why doesn’t he just get us out of this crazy messed up world when we get saved? I’ll tell you why, because he needs you and he needs me to be a light.

He needs all of us, the church, to be a light to the world. We’ve still got a lot of people to reach for Christ, amen? And you know as we’re trying to reach people for Christ, guess what? You’re gonna stumble and fumble along the way.

You’re gonna make some mistakes. There’s gonna be some good days in your life and there’s gonna be some bad days. There’s gonna be days in your life where you take one step forward and then two back and you’re gonna be frustrated with yourself.

Here’s what I’m trying to say to you, that for you to receive the strength of God in your life, admit your condition, take responsibility for your situation. and come to the grips and the understanding that you are in a lifelong battle.

You are in a persistent course of weakness because of your sinful nature. And that there are gonna be times in your life that you are not gonna be all that you should be. And that you are gonna fail God miserably.

Now does that excuse our behavior? Absolutely not. We are accountable, we are responsible for all that we say and all that we do before God. But why do I tell you this? So you don’t quit. So you don’t become weary.

So you don’t become overwhelmed. I want you to understand the situation that you’re dealing with. I want you to know what you’re wrestling with. I want you to understand that you are still battling the flesh every day of your life.

And here’s what happens to some of you is that you have a bad week, maybe a bad month. Maybe some of you have been having a bad year, I don’t know. But you have been having a miserable, bad year, whatever it is, and you know what you say?

I’m gonna stay out of church. I’m gonna stay away from God’s people. That’s not what you need to do. You need to run to the church. You need to run to Christ. You need to come and know that he does not reject you.

You are his child. He does not look upon you as someone that he hates or wants nothing to do with, but rather he loves you. And it’s with loving kindness. He’s made a covenant with you through Christ and he will not give up on you.

And he continues to draw you to himself. And so I don’t want you to come in here upset. I don’t want you to come in here thinking you’re not worthy in the sense that you can’t even come to church anymore.

None of us are worthy. The ground is level at the foot of the cross, praise God. And nobody’s better than any other person at the church. But the point I wanna make to you is that if the one place you ought to be is in God’s house, receiving his grace in your life, and you ought to continue to seek God in your life so he can do a power.

powerful work in your life. And when you come to church, you admit, I need God. When you come to church, you admit your weakness. That’s why Jesus asked this question. Jesus didn’t ask this question because he was ignorant of the man’s condition.

Jesus didn’t ask this question because he was not even aware of what this man was thinking, but Jesus already knew. And he asked the question because he wanted the man to come to the grips with his own helplessness.

So when God asked us questions, he’d never ask a question so that we can somehow inform him. God already knows everything. Think about it. When God said to Adam, where are you? Do you think God in heaven didn’t know where Adam was?

You see, he didn’t ask Adam, where are you? God didn’t know where Adam was, but he wanted Adam to know where he was. And God wasn’t so much interested in where Adam was physically, and he wasn’t so much interested in Adam knowing where he was physically, as much as he wanted Adam to know where he was spiritually.

And there are many questions that come in to you and I from God, that the Holy Spirit of God is asking us questions why. They are causing us to come to grips that we need Christ. Christ is our strength.

Christ is our strength for our weaknesses. And the worst thing you can do is to turn away from Jesus Christ. The second thing I want you to learn, if Jesus is our strength, how is it that we can experience this strength?

Well, we need to, number one, acknowledge our weaknesses, but number two, activate our will. We need to activate our will again. Verse six, when Jesus saw him lie and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, will thou be made whole?

For he not only had to acknowledge his weakness, but he had to activate his will. Jesus wanted to know if the man was really willing to change. Have you ever tried to help somebody and come to find out they were okay with being in a mess?

Have you ever tried to reach out to somebody and they were glad to stay in their current circumstance or situation? My friends, I have many times, and it’s the hardest thing to come to grips with in that what you desire for that person and the transformation that you desire and the change that you desire for their life and that you’re doing everything you can to bring about that change.

but they are not willing to change. What I’m trying to say to you is, are you willing to change? Have you come to the point where you acknowledge that you are spiritually in a mess and you are willing to come to God and say, Lord help me to change.

Now when we think about our salvation, we must remember this, and I know this is going to be hard for you to digest, but I’m gonna say it anyways and I want to back it up with Scripture so you don’t think Pastor Mike is a heretic, okay?

And I’m gonna bring it all into context, so stay with me. We are not saved by our own will, yet the human will must be exercised before God saves the soul. And before you’re upset about that, 1 John chapter 1 verse 12 through 13, as many as received him.

To them, He gave the right or the authority to become the children of God. To those who believe in His name, who were born, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of who? Of God.

How about that? And I know you got a lot of questions. Take me to lunch this week. We’ll work it out. The Scripture says this in Philippians 2 .13. I want you to understand this because I’m trying to help you activate your will.

Philippians 2 .13, for it is God who works in you both to will and to do His good pleasure. That’s an important truth that you need to know. Theologian Augustine said, thou didst seek us when we sought thee not.

Didst seek us indeed that we might seek thee. You see, we’re under the impression that somehow that if it wasn’t for us, we would never be saved. But the truth is, it’s God who pursues us. It’s God who reaches out to us.

It’s God who puts His hand upon us and begins to convict our soul and begins to bring us to the understanding of the need for salvation in our life. Jesus said this in John 6 .44. No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me, draw him.

And I will raise him up at the last day. I want you to get that. No man comes to God. No man comes to Jesus except the Father which has sent me, draw him. You come to God because you are drawn by God.

And I will raise him up at the last day. No one likes to admit that they’re weak, but you know when we admit our weakness, that’s the beginning of God working in us. When we’re humble enough, honest enough to say, Jesus, I am weak and I am in desperate need of you, that’s when God is going to work powerfully in your life.

And so we’re delighted that you could be a part of our program today and we want you to take full advantage of the hope worth having ministry. So don’t forget to check out our website on hopeworthhaving .com.

We have many things that are going on, many ministries, many options for you. We wanna continue to enrich your faith and I hope you’ll check out the website, look at the different features and see what God is doing and how these resources can be available for you so that you can continue to grow close in your fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is Pastor Mike Sanders reminding you that in Christ there is hope worth having. Thanks for watching!