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[0:00] mission grace 496 let's unite our hearts and prayer together our heavenly father we we thank you for this new day we thank you for the fact that we are gathered here not on on any day but on on your day the lord's day the day where we are able to remember and we are called to remember the resurrection of our lord jesus christ we thank you that he is the one who lived for us and who died for us and who rose from the dead defeating satan overcoming sin through the power of the the blood that was shed and lord we thank you that he lives and he reigns and one day he will return to take his bride his church to be with him forever and we thank you that in the meantime we are giving the assurance in your word that he prepares a place for all who love him and he is at work always at work as the gospel is proclaimed throughout the world and we ask lord as we have sung we ask that you would assist us as we would seek to proclaim the honors of your name as we sing lord we pray that you would inhabit the praises of your people that they would be a pleasing offering to you and that we would be encouraged and our minds would be focused upon christ and our hearts would be stirred as we sing we ask that you would guide us in prayer both prayer that we hear spoken out in the prayers of our hearts that you would guide us by the holy spirit that we would pray in accordance with your will and that we would know your nearer presence as we as we come apart from this world and as we fix our thoughts upon things that are above we ask lord that in the reading of your word it would truly impact us as the word of god not the word of man and lord that it would bring life where there is death that it would bring sight where there is blindness that it would bring freedom where there is that imprisonment in sin we thank you for the power of the blood of christ we thank you for the power of the gospel of jesus christ and we pray that we may know that power in our lives among us as a congregation and throughout this community through every church and amongst those who attend no church lord that you would be awakening that you would be drawing a people to yourself lord that you would be building your kingdom that you would be overcoming the power of darkness we thank you that the power of darkness was overcome once and for all at calvary's cross and we rejoice in that but we are aware that at present and every day until christ returns there will be a battle not with flesh and blood but with principalities and powers and so we pray that you would clothe each one of us in the gospel armor the armor of god and lord that we would be protected that we would be encouraged that we would be emboldened to be your people and to go out with the message of the good news of jesus christ lord we thank you for the blessings that we enjoy each day we thank you for the blessings that we enjoyed in particular over the last weekend as we gathered around your table and we pray that the word that was preached would be continuing to work in the hearts of all who were present we pray that where there was

[4:00] seed planted that it would find good soil in the hearts of those who are present we continue to pray for those who come to our minds who were present and we ask lord that you would work in each life our own lives first and lord that you would bring glory to your name and salvation to many people pray for your servants who were amongst us for the reverend james and the reverend john murdo and we ask that you would bless them even today as they stand in different places but united as we are in an act of worship we pray lord that you would encourage them that you would use them and that you would build your church in dundee and in stornoway lord that you would bless them in the ministries that you've called them to and lord as we thank you for all that we received last weekend we pray for those who meet around your table today in tarbert and the church of scotland and in the pre-presbyterian church and in scalping think of those also in nets who will gather around your table this morning and we pray that you would bless them as we thank you that you blessed us we pray for those sitting at the table for the first time today in particular and we ask a special blessing upon them and we pray for your protection over them in the days to come in the days to come we pray lord for the conference scheduled for the end of this week and we ask for those who will take part in that that you would guide them by your spirit and their preparations and in the speaking and the activities that will happen there that it would all be for your glory and for the encouragement of your people and we pray for every effort that is made to proclaim the honors of the name of christ that you would help us and lead us and guide us and bless us in such endeavors and we pray for the ordinary uh lord's day by lord's day and wednesday by wednesday gathering of your people lord we ask that it would not be ordinary but that you would meet with us each time we gather in in the name of christ and that you would bless us as we seek to draw near to you in worship and as we seek to call upon your name in the place of prayer work amongst us we pray work through us we pray we ask lord that you would continue with us now we pray for all your people across the world who meet in worship we pray especially for our brothers and sisters who are in persecuted countries across the world and we ask lord for your protection over them for the building up of these churches and the hardest of places and lord we thank you that you are doing that and you have always worked on reviving power often in the places where there is greatest distility so we pray for those who are suffering today those who are your church and lord we pray for a world that is in much suffering uh we see wars and rumors of wars we see nation rise against nation we see natural disaster we see suffering of all kinds in different places and we feel so helpless but we thank you that we can bring each situation that comes to our mind's eye even now to you in prayer knowing lord that you are able to help in a way that is far greater than we physically to help help us we pray to be faithful in praying and in supporting and practical ways those who suffer and hear us as we bring them to you in prayer and ask lord that you would meet each one at the point of their need we thank you lord that you have told us that as the times come to an end we can expect to see such things

[8:07] lord we should not be alarmed but we should trust you and so we do trust you we pray for those who would wish to be with us this morning but who are unable to be those who are sick those who are housebound those who are struggling in various ways and with different responsibilities and we ask that you would bless them where they are we pray for harris house as was prayed so much over the weekend past and we ask lord that you would continue to work in that place and through the staff there in that ministry of compassion we thank that the gospel is heard there and we pray for your servants who will bring it there this afternoon hear our prayers take away our sin we pray we confess it before you and ask lord that you would cleanse us in the blood of christ that you would empty us of all that would focus on ourselves and that you would cause our eyes to fix upon jesus for we pray these things in his name amen but i've got something to show you this morning and i wondered if you would be able to tell me what this is what it's for the first guess actually went to far after because when i came in with this in my hand this morning he looked at me and he said i think i'd rather go to the dentist he thought i was going to pull his teeth out alistair what do you think we're trying to get nails out of things it's a good guess alistair but it's not right do you know we're trying to get nuts what for cracking nuts it looks a bit like a nutcracker but no it's not a nutcracker bec do you know what it is bec is it a can opener no it's not a can opener looks a bit like a can opener it's a plier it's a technical little boy we've got here john it's not a plier but it's a good guess do you want a closer look at it have a wee look at it and see if you can figure it out just by touching it and see what it works like show the girls as well is it a battery is it a battery no it's not a battery katie what do you think is it tweezers it's not tweezers looks quite like tweezers but no it's not tweezers alistair you got it now do you to crack things open to crack things open not really no kind of wee bit but not really oh oh any guesses no more guesses katie what do you think they're pulling little bricks out of the wall good guess but no not right bethany does it put holes and things come here we'll see see your ear are we trying to pierce gordon's ear might work it's not it's not for putting holes in your ear anyway um it's i'd never seen one of these things before so i wouldn't know what what this was for either but um if we want to know what this is for we have to ask who owns it who owns this where is she who owns it kirstie mckella oh i think it's for a donkey it's for a donkey are you calling kirstie mckella are you calling kirstie mckella a donkey

[12:12] it's not for a bike but you were close for the donkey thing what do you think this would be for if it was to do with a donkey is it for a dog i don't know we're getting cold again no it's it's not for a donkey itself but it's for something that maybe a donkey would wear oh well listen to the girls katie a good guess katie do you want no kaitlin to put the rope onto a place where you sit i think that's probably as close a guess as we're going to get kaitlin that's the right answer there's the saddle that sits on the on the horse and there's a rope that goes around that fixes the saddle on and this is for punching a hole in the leather so that it can fit tightly and it can go around the horse neatly so you can sit on the horse and not fall off that's what it's for and the lesson really is if i'd given you this for the day i don't know what on earth you'd have done with it but you wouldn't have used it right because you didn't know whose it was and what it was for if you want to know how to use something right you have to ask who does it belong to and what's it for tell me what day is it sunday yes what's another word that we use whose day is sunday it's god's day it's jesus's day it's the lord's day it's his day and why did he give it to us what's it for because if we don't know what sunday's for we'll use it for the wrong things we won't use it as god wanted us to use it what's sunday for to learn about jesus yeah to remember when jesus was born to remember when he was born and when he lived and when he died and especially when he rose from the dead good answer do we work on sunday if we have to some people have to like policemen and doctors and where there's emergencies but do we work on sunday do we do our homework on sunday no we don't do it was a dangerous question for me to ask but we shouldn't certainly do our homework on sunday sunday is the day that god has given us to be special he says keep it holy and to me what what it means to keep it holy is to keep it special keep it separate so sunday is a day where we're told in the bible to start resting stop working and start resting don't do work don't do all the usual things of the day but rest your body and your mind and spend the day with who with lots of people in church i know that with your families but who especially do we spend the lord's day with with god it's a day that he's given us so that will take time to be with him and how can we be with him how can we listen to him the bible how can we speak to him how can we worship him with our mouths and in a in a kind of special way we come here we come here

[16:14] and when we go from here we keep on remembering this is the lord's day and i have to keep on um spending time with him we don't know what something's for and who it belongs to we don't use it right this is the lord's day and so let's use it in the way that he has wanted us to use it and when we do he comes near to us and he blesses our souls we're going to sing about that in just a minute and we'll pray first lord god we thank you that you have given us one day in each week for this special a day that you said keep it holy stop working and find rest in your souls with me says the lord and so we pray that today uh you would be helping us to use this day to be with you there's so much that goes on that might tempt us to to go and use it for different reasons we ask lord that today and every lord's day we would spend time with you that we would stop working and that we would rest our bodies and that we would refresh our souls as we come to you and speak to you and listen to you in prayer and through your word so help us to do that whether we're very young or whether we're a bit older we pray this in jesus name amen we're going to sing now the words are on the screen they're not in the books the hymn you know it well you sing it well first of you guys at the front bless the lord oh my soul 10 000 reasons to thank him the lord oh my soul oh my soul oh my soul oh my soul i worship your holy nameine there

[18:54] Let me be singing when the evening comes. Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul.

[19:09] Worship this holy name. Sing like never before, O my soul. I'll worship your holy name.

[19:23] You're rich in love and you're slow to anger. Your name is great and your heart is guide.

[19:35] For all your goodness I will keep on singing. Ten thousand reasons for my heart to find.

[19:47] Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul. Worship this holy name. Sing like never before, O my soul.

[20:02] I'll worship your holy name. And on the day when my strength is failing, The end grows near and the time has gone.

[20:16] Still, my soul, sing your praise unending. Ten thousand years and then forevermore.

[20:29] Bless the Lord, O my soul, O my soul. Worship this holy name.

[20:39] Sing like never before, O my soul. I'll worship your holy name. If you turn your Bible, O my soul, O my soul.

[20:51] If you turn your Bibles, please, to John chapter 5. Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheikgade a pool which in Aramaic is called Bethesda, And which is surrounded by five covered colonies.

[21:08] He and a great number of disabled people used to lie. The blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for 38 years.

[21:19] When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, Do you want to get well? Sir, the invalid replied, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water was stirred.

[21:34] While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me. Then Jesus said to him, Get up, pick up your mat and walk. At once the man was cured.

[21:45] He picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath. And so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, It is the Sabbath. The law forbids you to carry your mat.

[21:58] But he replied, The man who made me well said to me, Pick up your mat and walk. So they asked him, Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?

[22:10] The man who was healed had no idea who it was, For Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, See, you are well again.

[22:22] Stop sinning. Or something worse may happen to you. The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. So because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, The Jews persecuted him.

[22:37] Jesus said to them, My father is always at his work to this very day. And I too am working. For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him. Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, But he was even calling his own father, God his own father, Making himself equal with God.

[22:57] Amen. May God bless this reading of his holy word. To us. Father, When I read it, So there, And God. The people制つed him to do bad things and fight you into the 98th episode of the Sabbath, Is wrong with God.

[23:13] So there is no time for justice, To Him to give the truth to another, Even then, The man from the perder fear of the Sabbath, And he said to him, And that this man was a lily doing like you die today. Am I am enumerated like you? No, There is nothing to lie You are someone who told me, There is nothing.

[23:24] And there is with some green colour that was more or else it changed from going into a trauma when that comes to discipline.

[23:39] after you ask this it is not on me or on my own. It feels like to make a change or hard. white shown around the water, glaciers, and växсicli streets a, Xuan Yung, serve there in the humanities inтуbe .

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[24:55] Change. Gala banh Trump and it is my crystal will crush once again spirit among your성을 wants to attack one who conquered war Jesus Fuel夢 oh and傳染.

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[27:30] but not before the dead, or the dead, the dead, the dead. In front of us, we can't bring in our very wild world Today in front of us, we will have our staff that will always be open.

[27:50] we shall need them. We can't afford theanson. Again...

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[28:55] Brett käel him up and first try to mejores people He bet him down the law hisnea Hurly and if he can marry with my fair Capital Every 22 To to hums and konklusions were not ADAS, This hadjoice in the PTSD of Lord we disavestrated away for ourины, Or to live providence that uterated for us.

[29:44] To defeat our sins is passed. many others ů others no good great LI- Jamaicae Grenadagedедgest must have and will come glory and love and metres.

[30:58] We are living in view and adeding is growing with hope and сног bus. According to thequeror, there has been a magical style around Ley Яв Single the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the the

[34:41] Oh, my God.

[35:11] Oh, my God.

[35:41] Oh, my God.

[36:11] Oh, my God.

[36:41] Oh, my God.

[37:11] Oh, my God.

[37:41] Oh, my God. Oh, my God. Oh, my God. And we thank you that in you we are able to find salvation.

[37:53] We are able to find security for our souls eternally. and we pray that as we listen to the words of Jesus and as we pray that through the word and by the spirit we meet with Christ we would be given each one of us the assurance of that salvation in him and we pray this in Jesus name, Amen How many of you have heard of the book Where's Wally?

[38:21] Just give me a kind of half a nod if you've heard of it Some of you have, many of you haven't it seems Where's Wally? I could have got it on the screen but you'd have looked at it for the next 25 minutes so I didn't do that but Where's Wally is something that I was really introduced to or reminded of by my nephew and niece they love this book Where's Wally?

[38:44] and it's a book where you have A4 pages and you open the page and on the page there's a massive activity and there's hundreds and hundreds of people, faces stuff buzzing all around the picture and in the middle of this picture with so much activity, so much crowds there's this one character called Wally and he's got a mop of hair and a stripy hat I think and very distinctive glasses and so the point of the book is every page you get to you're looking for Wally, you're seeing the crowd but you're desperately trying to tune in and find Wally I can never find Wally but they seem to have this special speaking device that takes them to Wally John chapter 5 is where we're at and in John chapter 5 the passage begins in Jerusalem and it's during a feast of the Jews verse 1 likely it's Passover but we're not told so we can't be sure but what is clear is that when there was a feast on the streets were crowded there was a mass of activity in Jerusalem people everywhere a great buzz around the place and we're taken in the narrative here straight to a pool which is called Bethesda which means mercy house or house of mercy and around that pool there was a great number of people who were ill suffering from various different ailments we're told excuse me that the blind and the way and the paralyzed we're all we're all there and so we can picture in our minds eye this gathering around the pool crowds of people who were around this pool but amongst that crowd there was one man and for 38 years this man had been suffering others had been part of that crowd and had come and had gone some who we presume had got better but there was one man who for 38 years had been suffering and others overlooked him but Jesus sees him

[41:09] J.C. Lyle says neglected overlooked and forgotten in the great multitude he was observed by the all-seeing eye of Christ and the first point for this one is Jesus sees in verse 6 we're told when Jesus saw him lying there we don't get this clearly in the English but in the Greek the word that's used there puts great emphasis and force on the word him when Jesus saw him lying there yes he saw the crowds he was well aware of the crowds but Jesus saw him lying there and there's something here that speaks to us about the compassion of Christ Matthew Henry I saw I read this morning and here's a quote from Matthew Henry he says when Christ came up to Jerusalem he visited not the palaces but the hospitals this was like a hospital he visited not the palaces but the hospitals which is an example an instance of his humility and condescension and tender compassion

[42:33] Jesus sees him for 38 years overlooked but Jesus sees him and that's how Jesus works he looks for he goes to he sees and he seeks sinners one by one and we can just step back a couple of chapters and we have illustrations of that how Jesus works John chapter 3 we have this conversation a personal conversation one to one with Nicodemus Nicodemus comes to Jesus that Jesus has been drawing him Jesus sees him Jesus deals with him as an individual John 4 the Samaritan woman cast aside by everyone else and yet Jesus sees her and Jesus seeks her

[43:34] Jesus had to go through Samaria because of her and then in John 5 Jesus sees the crowds but in a special way he sees him and he moves in on him he sets his sights on him and I wonder if there's anyone here this morning who has the feeling that Jesus has their sights his sights set on them in a special way I remember one night in in Caius it's out the washing line it's getting dark and they needed to take the washing and this particular night I was taking the first bits of pieces off the line and I had a sort of sensation I thought I might have heard something or seen something in the corner of my eye and I just had a sensation

[44:39] I was being watched but it's Caius you know where Caius was there were no crowds around the house and so I thought no surely not but I just had the feeling and then I turned around again and just as close as Gordon this was me tonight a few feet away from me there was a big burly looking stag and it looked at me and I stamped my foot see it would go and it looked at me and it stamped its foot so I ran away and left the washing on the right but the point is I had the sense I was being watched and sometimes spiritually we have that sense rightly so that Jesus is watching us he's drawing near to us he's making an approach to us because every time we read the Bible the verses seem to jump off the page and connect with us where we are at and as we listen to different preachers as we have done over the last few days it doesn't matter who's preaching it's as if

[45:51] God is seeking us and he's drawing near and he's speaking to us and wherever we go the Lord's people just seem to be placed around us and they're all signs that Jesus is seeing you yes he's seeing the crowds but he draws near to individuals and he calls individuals to trust him and to follow him John 1 we can see that disciples individuals follow me think about Mark chapter 8 remember what Jesus said to Peter in Mark chapter 8 verse 27 it says Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi and on the way he asked his disciples who do people say that I am in other words he's saying what are the crowds saying about me tell me about the crowds what's the word on the street and he told them

[46:52] John the Baptist others say Elijah others one of the prophets and then he asked them but who do you say that I am and Peter answered him you're the Christ I wonder if there's someone here today whom the Lord is seeing and he's drawing near to and he is dealing with and who is hearing that very question being addressed to them who do you say that I am can you answer this Peter and say you are the Christ and my faith is in you Jesus sees him Jesus sees us one by one by one by one he sees us and I think just before we move on to the second point let's not just take the challenge from this the fact that Jesus sees us but let's take the comfort from this as well that Jesus sees us and he sees everything that's going on in this world he doesn't slumber nor sleep we were just singing that in Psalm 121 he watches over us he's always watching over us some of us have the sat-nav on the car when you go to

[48:22] Glasgow or Edinburgh or a city and you want to get to a destination you plug it in on the computer and the car speaks to you and it takes you to that place because everywhere in these cities is on the radar of sat-nav that if you want to get to some of these houses stockers your sat-nav is worse than useless because everywhere in these parts seems to be out of range or it was the last time I checked anyway you know we can never be out of range as far as the Lord's sight and oversight is concerned he sees us so when we watch the news and when we become troubled by how precarious things look in the world at the moment and when we're tempted to become so anxious that we lose sleep at night over these things remember the Lord sees it all we're seeing part of the picture of this world the Lord sees it all he sees it and when we might become anxious about matters of the church remember

[49:37] Jesus is the head of the church and he is absolute transparency and visibility over every detail of every situation he sees it all and when we worry about the nuts and bolts of our own lives our work situations our health situations our family dynamics remember Jesus sees it all and everything that troubles us we can take to him in prayer we could have sung today what a friend we have in Jesus all our sins and griefs to bear what a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer and we do so knowing that he is interested 1 Peter 5 7 reminds us that as we are praying we are praying to the one who cares for us and he has counsel to give to us so Jesus sees that's the first point and we can move on quickly the second point is that Jesus searches he sees he sees him and then he searches and the searching question comes in verse 6 of the passage he comes to him the one that he sees and when

[50:52] Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time he asked him this searching question do you want to get well and the question that Jesus asks it exposes two things it exposes first of all the man's sickness and it exposes secondly Christ's salvation see in asking the question of the man do you want to get well do you want to be healed the man is reminded he's not well he's sick and the fact is what plagued him in the physical sense is our condition spiritually every one of us we are born into sickness we are born not in a state of neutrality we are born not in a state of spiritual health we are born sick we are born with that soul sickness that sin brings ever since the fall and if that sickness is not dealt with by

[52:00] Christ it leads us to eternal death and hell that's our situation that's our sickness that's the thing that Jesus exposes as we come to his word he tells us we need him we are sick but he came to a world that was sick and he came saying this in Mark 2 17 those who are well have no need of a physician but those who are sick I came not to call the righteous but sinners and as Jesus draws near to us and searches us he shows us what the devil likes to blind us to he shows us our sin the devil likes to tell us forget about your sin forget about your sickness you're fine you're certainly more fine than him down the road and hard across the street you're okay but Jesus in love searches our hearts and he shows us we're not well we're not okay we need treatment we need to consult with the great physician we need to consult with Christ himself because he's the only one who can save us so in

[53:25] Jesus search he exposes the man's sickness he reminds the man who's been there for 38 years of the fact that he's sick and then he begins to introduce the fact that he can save him and heal him do you want to get well do you want to be healed that's the question that searched him and to us it might seem like an unnecessary question it might seem almost like an insensitive question surely he wanted to get well for 38 years he's lying in this state he's suffering in this way why would he want to be in that condition for five more minutes why does Jesus need to ask the question but he does ask the question and the interesting thing is the man doesn't respond by saying yes make me well the man doesn't respond at all so what's going on here well it may well be that the man had actually become comfortable and settled in a state of sickness one commentator

[54:49] Bruce Miller says cure has its implications particularly where there is a need where the need is so long standing that a whole way of life has been built up around it see this man all he knew for four decades was what he was experiencing in a sick state that was a settled state that's all he knew he may have been comfortable he may actually have made a decent living in the position that he was sitting in and to be cured it would bring a whole new way of life and a whole new set of challenges the commentator says Jesus' question needs to be faced by all who would be delivered all who would be healed are we ready for the implications including possibly repenting of sin and expressing a new loyalty to Christ

[55:51] I wonder if there is the sad state here today of someone who has become comfortable with the sickness of sin we live in a world that under the rule of the prince of this world is blinded to and comfortable in a state of sin and yet we open our papers and we read the accounts of this world and we look around us and we see people who in a pursuit of fun are broken and are ruined and are entrapped by addictions and the carnage that multiple relationships can leave behind that's the world we live in this is often what we're taught to chase chase money chase power chase relationships chase the sexual freedom that you are entitled to and yet what carnage we see around us in a world that is so broken and yet comfortable in a state of sin just as this man was paralysed by his condition sin paralyses us paralyses our minds and our vision is blinded that's the world that we're part of and yet into that world

[57:30] Jesus came John 10 10 as the only one who is able to offer to us full and abundant and wholesome and everlasting life and he asks the world and he may be asking individuals in this congregation this morning do you want to get well I know your state I see your heart I see him but do you want to get well Jesus sees Jesus searches third point is Jesus saves I think the timing of the man's salvation is important here because the first thing the man does really in response to Jesus question he doesn't respond by saying yes please I want to be healed but he responds in verse seven by saying I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred while I am trying to get in someone else goes down ahead of me and almost before he stops speaking as this conversation seems almost to be continuing as the man gives his answer to Jesus question

[58:42] Jesus breaks in and as this man is expressing his helplessness and his hopelessness Jesus breaks in with a powerful world and he saves him Jesus says to the man in verse eight get up pick up your mat and walk and at once the man was cured he picked up his mat and he walked and there's no question about this fact that Jesus was the one who saves him it's the word the strong word of Christ that changes everything Jesus saves him but note this the man has to actually respond in his will within his own personal will the man has to make some kind of response J.C.

[59:35] Ryle as he talks about the Greek in the passage he observes that the Greek gives a fuller force to the words his translation of Jesus question is hast thou a will to get well do you have a will in yourself to get well and the fact is that is where the battle is fought for our souls it's in the will it isn't in the emotions as we often think it's in the will in marriage when we stand there and we ask the question as the ceremony is ongoing the question that's asked is will you take this woman to be your wife and in the offer of gospel healing the question that's asked of us is will you take Jesus to be your saviour do you have a will that will receive him and a healing that he will bring to your sin sick soul and even if we're those who are

[60:40] Christians but who wander as we do there's a battle that goes on day by day in the world and the question that is posed to us as Christians who may be wayward is will you respond today by repenting and turning back to Christ for that healing and that restoration that he is so ready to give the man responds in his will he obeys Christ in his will and in that moment he's enabled through the power of Christ to do what he could not for 38 years do and that was stand up and take his mat and walk Jesus saved him that's the point Jesus sees him Jesus searches him Jesus saves him I want you just to notice before we move on from this point the pool I think the pool is a great teaching guide here that shows us that it isn't the measure of our faith that saves us it's not faith that saves us because our faith can be misplaced it's

[61:57] Christ that saves us note that Jesus when he's dealing with a man and he hears the man saying I can't get into the pool so I can't receive healing Jesus doesn't say let me help you into the pool Jesus doesn't need the pool it's not the water that had the healing it's Jesus the man who was sick had great persevering faith in the pool and for 38 years he is believing this pool is going to save him when he stands before Christ his faith has to be redirected from the pool to Jesus what we see is that even faith like a mustard seed because he doesn't even know who Jesus is really even the beginnings of faith like a mustard seed if it leans upon

[62:57] Christ as he speaks his strong word salvation healing is effective Jesus saves the fourth point we're almost done is to know Jesus Sabbath and we see that from verse 9 onwards the second half of verse 9 there's the healing which we've just thought about and the day on which this took place was a Sabbath so the Jews said to the man who had been healed it is the Sabbath the law forbids you to carry your mat but he replied the man who made me well said to me pick up your mat and walk and they asked him who is the man who said to you take up your bed and walk and the man who had been healed did not know who it was for Jesus had withdrawn as there was a crown in the place I want you just to notice the tragic irony of this passage the very act the healing the very act that should have provoked worship within the

[64:11] Jews who were experts in looking for the Messiah the very act that should have instilled worship in them that worship of the Lord of the Sabbath instead it provoked in them rage and trouble as they pointed the finger and as they shouted Sabbath breaker Sabbath breaker but actually it wasn't anything that Jesus had done in terms of scripture that had broken the Sabbath he had offended them in some of the codes their laws the details the nuts and bolts of the man made laws they built around the commandments but Jesus hadn't broken the Sabbath but just note the tragedy of the scene here's a man that day by day for 38 years these Jews would have walked past in a sorry state and all and all of sudden this cripple is healed and they see him and they don't even say you're healed what happened to you what a wonderful thing has happened to you how did this happen there's not the trace of joyful enthusiasm in how they greet the man all the zeal they can muster is channeled into the rage they feel against the

[65:34] Sabbath break and I think here we are given a very striking picture of what the Lord's day looks like if you take the Lord out of it and fix your mind around the nuts and bolts of religion this is an illustration of what religion looks like if it's all about man made rules and it's unattractive it's cruel it's callous it has no compassion it has no care for the lost and for the need it's dead and it's dead and in so as we look at this ugly scene and these furious Jews what should this do to us well it should drive us on this Lord's day to come to Jesus not just for the hour but for the day in a special way to come to

[66:36] Jesus to remain in Jesus to be thankful for and to make proper use of his day what's the Lord's day for well the children told us for meeting with Jesus it's for finding Sabbath rest it's for finding healing it's for finding restoration in Christ the Lord's day is such a gracious gift that has been given to us so in a culture that wants us to lose it or abuse it not by narrow religion but by aggressive secularization now let's be careful to use the Lord's day to honour it to honour the Lord by keeping his day holy and asking that he will refresh our souls Jesus sees Jesus searches Jesus saves we see a picture of Jesus Sabbath and the outrage of what happens when

[67:36] Christ is taken out of that and finally we see here that Jesus sanctifies I haven't got time to go into this so I'll just give you the two two headings when Jesus saves that's not the end of the story that's the beginning of the story he begins to sanctify us and here's two marks of sanctification that we hear as we finish Jesus goes to the man he sees him he's in the temple he's in the place of worship and Jesus has a word in his ear and he says to him see you're well stop sinning sin no more so that nothing worse may happen to you and one of the marks of sanctification is that desire that Christ places in our hearts to stop sinning we can't stop sinning I know that Romans 7 is something that we're offering because we know that we can't stop sinning but we have the desire to stop sinning when

[68:44] Christ comes in we sing with the hymn writer I hate the sin that made thee mourn and drove thee from my breast and that's the sanctifying desire that Christ instills in us a desire to repent day by day a desire to stop sinning and a desire finally to start witnessing because that's what we hear the man saying Jesus says to him stop sinning don't continue on that pattern of life repent follow me don't receive my healing and then just crack on as you were before change your way and then the man starts witnessing verse 15 the man went away and he told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him his testimony is three words one Jesus healed him and he shared him and that's the testimony of every believer

[69:48]  Jesus healed me Jesus saw me he searched me he showed me my sin he showed me salvation Jesus saved me Jesus healed me and the man told him will you tell him is your testimony Lord we pray that by the Holy Spirit you would take the words of this passage and the meditations of our heart and that you would change us that you would heal us that you would save us that you would sanctify us and that you would send us out with that testimony if it was truly ours Jesus made me well and we pray these things in his name Amen mission praise 494 Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God the Father and the fellowship of God the Holy Spirit be with us all both now and forever more Amen