Blind. Halt. Withered... Waiting | Associate Pastor Chad Erickson

remains standing in turn with me to John chapter 5 and verse number one I just want to read oh a story of passage in your hearing our text today amen so good so good to see everyone um I tell you I I truly enjoy the time that we get to get out in the aisle and meet one another did you all enjoy that I know we take about three to five minutes and we just kind of get out in the aisle because something about Sunday mornings and I love this that every Sunday morning I meet people for the first time which is such a which is such an honor to meet people that want to come and worship here at First Apostolic and I got to meet a family that's here with the Perrys and so good to meet you and and you're a good looking little boy named Charlie I just love that name Charlie such a cool name and thank you for being with us here and I got to meet Sydney Sydney's just moved here from Ohio she's going to be living here with her parents I'm so excited Sydney that you're here uh I got to see Tyler Tyler man good to have you First Apostolic it's been a while I know you probably live in Nashville area now good to have you back in service with us Tyler and and of course I got to got to see Brady's dad and his his brother and sister and so excited just I miss so many of you but just in that three minutes I got to I got to meet so many and uh we we can't ever we can't ever stop doing that because that's what the family of God is family of God is all about meeting making friends amen people we're gonna spend eternity with amen amen give honor give honor today to our senior pastor and first lady to the Carpenters the Hammonds amen I miss brother Nolan and sister Flannery Carpenter but I know that they are being used of the Lord this morning amen well first or John chapter 5 and verse 1 I just want to get into the into the word today I just believe God is going to speak to us in such a mighty way story goes like this it 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 Bethesda having five porches and in these lay a great multitude of the impotent that means powerless folk they were there were some that were blind they they were visionless they were there were some that were halt halt simply means the act of limping or unable to walk there were those that were wither those and and withered uh in in the King James uh dictionary it says they were faded and dried foreign that I'm going to preach about today waiting for the moving of the water verse 4 this is interesting there's a lot of Bible translations where they do not have this verse there's many scholars and this is a belief and they don't believe that they believe this was added later to the to the text and to the manuscript it says for an angel went down at a certain season into the pool troubled the water and whosoever then first after the troubling of the water step in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had and a certain man was there which had an infirmity 38 years and when Jesus saw him when he saw him lying in his bed he knew that he had been now a long time in that case any sayest unto him wilt thou be made whole or in our in our 21st century English it would simply say do you desire to be well that's what Jesus was asking him do you do you want do you want to be well verse 7 the impotent man answered him sir I have no man when the water is troubled to put me into the pool but while I am coming another step of down before me Jesus saith unto him rise take up thy bed and walk and immediately the man was made whole and he took up his bed and walked and on the same day was the Sabbath I want you to keep your Bibles open to this to this passage we're going to kind of exegee and read through this and I believe the Lord Has Something In this passage for every every person in this room but my my title comes from verse number three in these lay a great multitude of impotent blind halt withered waiting I believe there's a lot of people here that spiritually you may not be able to identify with this physically but I believe spiritually there's a lot of people waiting and I want you to know that Jesus is in the house today I believe Jesus is about to come through one of these doors I I believe one of these Gates is going to open in the Healer deliverer savior Redeemer he's going to come walking into this place today and I believe somebody in this room is gonna find the hope that they can't find anywhere else oh I feel the Holy Ghost already you're gonna find hope that you can't find anywhere else he's gonna step into your situation and he's going to make all things new if you believe that we want to lift up both hands to Heaven let's pray father I love you father I'm thankful and I already feel your spirit I I already feel that you're resting upon me Lord God and you're moving through me Lord God and I just believe that out of the bellies of people in this place there's going to be rivers of Living Water that are going to flow out I believe Lord God that people who are waiting people Lord God who have become Idol in a situation they're gonna find Hope in it today in Jesus name I just believe that I believe Lord by faith you're going to give us hope that we have never seen that we've never felt before in our lives if you'll believe this with me put your hands together and just love the Lord your God with everything that's inside of you Lord I bless you Lord I Praise You Lord I Thank you for what you're about to do in this place amen you may be seated look back with me in verse number two the Bible says now there is a Jerusalem by the Sheep Market a pool which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda having five porches Bethesda simply means House of Mercy House of Mercy this was the location where where sacrificial uh animals especially the Sheep would be kept in these porches it was also a place where they would wash and cleanse these to be sacrificial offerings before they went into the temple as a sacrifice and in this area this pool if you will um it had what they said were five porches or or five covered platforms and under these five covered platforms this was the place were those who were crippled those who were halt those that were blind those that needed healing or Deliverance uh they they would find themselves in these areas and under these porches this was a great place to to stay and and be sheltered from the storm and and the Sheep gate is the gate where the pool was and through this opening of the wall called the Sheep gate matter of fact it was also uh called the Lion's gate the actual name of this gate was the Lion's gate it had two lions uh sculptures of Alliance over the gate it was called the Lion's gate and I got to thinking about this this was the gate where where Jesus come walking in in Revelations 5 and 5 says in one of the elders said unto him or said unto me weep not Behold The Lion of the tribe of Judah the root of David have prevailed to open the book and to lose the Seven Seals thereof and we're going to learn about that tonight a little bit I'm sure but verse sixes and I beheld and low in the midst of the throne and on the four beasts in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as it had been slain I believe Jesus is The Lion and the lamb amen I believe this was a very fitting gate for Jesus to come walking through into Jerusalem The Lion and the lamb no coincidence that our savior the Lamb of God would come through this gate but it tells us that at this gate it talks about the pool of cleansing it it talks about the porches it talks that it was it was the name Bethesda a House of Mercy but verse 3 tells us there was great a multitude of impotent folk of blind halt withered waiting for the moving of the water and and if you can kind of imagine this my family visited New York City this week and and we saw a lot a lot of people sleeping under under blankets and a lot of people even sleeping under newspapers or under cardboard and and you'd walk and we walk through certain areas of the city uh maybe quicker than other areas because we we understood that people were there people were waiting people looking to receive people were begging uh homeless work there and I kind of imagine that was kind of the same feel of what these porches look like matter of fact I've got a picture if they want to if they want to uh put that on the boards above this kind of gave an idea of what this pool of Bethesda truly truly looked like it was just a place where those that were in need would would stay and would look for people to give and people to have mercy upon them and it would give them what are called alms and and would give them as as the homeless do even we have homeless even in Knoxville uh you go to downtown Knoxville and you're going to see people that are that are looking to receive from those who have and and many people thought this was a legend about the trouble of the water but I have a hard time believing that only because there won't be this many people hanging out at the pool if something wasn't happening at the pool so we we believe that there was an angel There Were Trouble in certain Seasons would come it would would trouble the waters and and because of that these people were there waiting everyone say waiting say it again say waiting you see it seems like in the in the 21st century we were diseased with a different kind of sickness and disability maybe even they were diseased with at that time you see some I believe here uh you might be disabled emotionally because of past abuse you might be here today you might be blind to to what your true purpose is or or you've lost vision for your life and and you're here today and you can see you got 20 20 Vision physically but but I believe spiritually you may be here blind and others are here Paralyzed by fear are paralyzed by addictions of of habits of sin some some are preoccupied with with selfishness and personal problems some people can't see beyond themselves because so much is going wrong right here they can't pray for their neighbor because they can't they can't get their mind off themselves you know that's a sure Kiana this is not my nose but I was I was thinking about this this morning as I Was preparing you know you know some people if you find yourself always praying for personal needs only you gotta stop it you got to take some inventory of your life if you pray in the morning for 15 minutes and 14 and a half minutes are are asking God to help you with things we've lost we've lost touch of what our purpose is the purpose we have is to get in the church get saved if you will I know that's a that's a that's a really elastic term because we're not really saved until we we cross through Gates of pearl but the idea is to get to a place where you can start reaching into other people's lives and you can start adding value to other people's lives but that's hard to do when you find yourself blind and lame when you find yourself where everything is on every thought that you have is self-centered God I've been there before where I got done praying I thought to myself man everything I just pray for brother or was about me I've got a lost world I've got a lost and Dying World outside of the Four Walls of my house that I've never seen what I've seen never felt what I've felt never heard what I've heard never got to witness what I've witnessed but here I am and everything is about me because sometimes spiritually we can be disabled just like these people were sitting at the pool of Bethesda so that's what I've come to preach about because I believe that but Bethesda it's not so much sometimes a House of Mercy it becomes a house of idleness waiting for the troubling of the water to begin believing that the first person in the water somehow wins a healing follow me with this you have and and please I understand I have empathy and I I have sympathy for people that have needs however I've also seen a lot of people that had needs look beyond their needs and do something with their life man I I've seen testimonies I uh I was I was watching a YouTube video of an inspirational speaker a Christian inspirational speaker uh that had gone through I believe it was during Iraq and and it had either a landmine something had blown off his arms and his legs he was nothing more than a torso in his head that's that's all he had left and he was the most positive person I've ever heard speak he came in and somehow he he wouldn't let he said I'm not gonna let anybody carry me in here he came in and somehow made his way onto the platform come upstairs onto the platform had a microphone told all about his situation all about what he had to live through all about what the enemy had told him that he was worthless and he had no future and he might as well just die how he overcame these things let me tell you something I have sympathy and empathy for all situations however sooner or later we've got to get beyond the pool Bethesda we got to get on we got to get beyond the idea of just waiting until somehow the water's troubled or we get a lucky moment we get somehow blessed or something good comes our way because a lot of people are stuck at a pool hoping the water begins to churn oh yeah you know because people have this as soon as lifestyle you've met him and a lot of times maybe I'll preach to our high school and college students for a little while but but a lot of people had this as soon as you know as soon as the water begins to churn that then I'm going to get up off my bed as soon as the water begins to sure as soon as I can get into the water then my life will begin then my ministry will begin come on you've heard people talk about this as soon as as the water begins to move then my problems are going to be over as if you just get in that water it's going to solve all your problems that's like telling tell a young couple as soon as you get married everything is going to work out perfect from there and you hear all the married people laughing but but that's doing that that's as soon as that's the lifestyle that people live and as soon as I get a better job well well then I'll start I'll start tithing I'll start bringing tithe in the storehouse or as soon as I get a raise well well then then my life will be put together and I can start coming to church every service yes as soon as he tells me he's sorry or she tells me she's sorry or as soon as she makes up for what she did to me then I can move on with my life and people find themselves in the craziest situations waiting just wait in and I know some people in here are saying but brother Erickson you surely you've heard the scripture they that weighed upon the Lord and that's not what that means it's not what we think it means because Hebrew now in the creek this word weight is what we think of as wait but but in the Hebrew that's not what that word means the word wait there is where we get our word waiter or server so if if we're going to serve the Lord the greatest strength that we're ever going to have in our life is when we put both feet in and say God I'm not liking where I'm living but I'm going to serve you with everything that I have I'm not gonna expect anything in return I'm just gonna do what I know to do what I've been taught to do what your word tells me to do I'm just gonna get in this thing with both feet and try is 110 percent and I'm gonna wait upon you it doesn't it doesn't mean it doesn't mean to get in a bed and wait it means get up and do something you want to renew strength get up and do something I ain't never seen a slothful person become strong somebody who just lays up in the in the lazy bar right well you don't see that a person sits in a lazy boy eating chips all day don't become strong you get out and start serving you get out and start doing for others and get the get the focus off self and get the focus on others all of a sudden you see yourself strong walking I say to run and not get weary but too many people are waiting waiting on the trouble and it just happened it just happened in Seasons it wasn't something that would happen every day it was a certain season so these people were self-imprisoned laying on beds waiting for the water but this is where hope steps in the situation because Jesus let me tell you something the pool of Bethesda is not the hope oh no now they thought if I could just get in there I could be healed but when Jesus Christ walked into that gate and when he looked around and saw the people who were there waiting something inside of him said I've got a I gotta prove to somebody that the hope is not found in the Water The Hope is found in me it was Paul that said in first Timothy 1 and 1. he said Jesus Christ is our hope and let me tell you something hoping does not come naturally but David even said in Psalm 42 5 why are you cast down oh my soul and why are you disquieted within me hope thou in God Psalm 31 be of good courage and he shall strengthen your heart all he that hope in the Lord I got a couple more Psalm 33 let thy mercy O Lord be upon us accordingly as we hope in thee Psalm 38 for in thee O Lord do I hope thou Wilt hear O Lord my God somebody just lift up your hands if you know that Jesus Christ is our hope in this place Our Hope doesn't come from the economy Our Hope doesn't come from Washington DC Our Hope doesn't come oh just because interest rates are high or low Our Hope can only be found in Jesus oh come on somebody I'm thankful for doctors I'm thankful for the medical field I'm thankful for psychologists and counselors I'm thankful for all those fields of ministry but let me tell you something Our Only Hope can be found in Jesus Christ and our hope Jesus he he entered by the Sheep King he he had many other Gates he could have entered in matter of fact I believe they had somewhere around seven gates at the time that Jesus walked into Jerusalem that were working Gates now there were more gates but many were were under construction but there were at least seven gates at the time that Jesus walked into Jerusalem that he could have walked into but I'm so thankful he chose the Sheep gate now listen he could have walked into a gate with a higher Echelon where they hang out in in the political that the high influential people where they he could have walked in and bent anybody he wanted to be because he was God in flesh he could have walked in as royalty but he said I choose to come in with a sheep are hanging out because he loves sheep he's the great Shepherd but not only the great Shepherd he's also the great physician he's also the one looking for someone who needs help in their body their mind their soul and their spirit in Mark chapter 2 17. Jesus said they that are whole have no need for the physician but he said I've come I've come to look for somebody that's in need of healing in this place I know people they think they have it together and those that think they have it together I'm just going to let them alone but I don't know about you but I want the Lord to know Jesus I've got needs in my life I'm coming to church this morning not all put together not like I have all the answers I'm not whole I need you in my life like never before I believe if we'd walk into the church every time we come in this place and told the Lord Lord I've got to have you now my brother not my sister my it's me O Lord standing in the need of a physician but the question is do you even want to be made well look at look at John 5 and 6 when he saw him lying there and knew that he had already had he had been in the conviction for a long time the Bible says he was in the condition for 38 years for 38 and I don't know how long he had been sitting at that pool I don't know probably but years he had been sitting there but I wanted to myself surely in 38 years you could have found some way to get into the pool but the man clearly said whenever I tried to get into the pool somebody would step in front of me it would receive my healing I don't know I might be speculating just a little bit but I kind of wonder if the man Christ Jesus didn't come walking in and start asking Tyler now how long how long has Tyler been here somebody looked over and said oh Tyler's been here for about three weeks now okay you would go along with this one but they barely been there for about three years and I can kind of see Jesus thinking well yeah and that's that's a long time and has it goes from person to person until finally finally he looks at it at the man who this story is about and somebody nudged him and said I'll tell you if you're looking at who's been here the longest that guy has been here 38 years 38 years 38 years I'll tell you what 30 if you've been somewhere for six months in your mind you can you can you can create a lifestyle out of that six months right habits have already formed if you've been somewhere for two years four years obviously it starts to become your identity but what about when you're summer for 38 you that's all he had ever could remember that's probably all he had ever known I don't know he might have been 38 years old maybe from birth maybe from birth he was disabled I don't know but what I do understand is that when Jesus knew that he had been there a long time he walked up to him he bent down and he said do you want to be made whole and I don't believe this was a uh this was not an oxygen uh this this was not a question uh that he was being cruel about some people I've heard this priest before where some people made it sound like that that Jesus was almost like taunt him like hey buddy you want to be made whole hey you want to be made whole it wasn't like that at all yeah I've heard that priest I've been I've heard of it and maybe some people have maybe your view of of Jesus might be that kind of view maybe a few maybe a few of you know some people famous some people grew up with abusive parents abusive father and they just never felt the love of a father and they just don't don't realize and and I get it I can understand that if you've never felt that love then then you don't realize that Jesus wasn't there looking down on him or or trying to taunt him into a miracle Jesus was simply wanting to know do you truly want to be made whole do you truly want to be healed because because being healed there's a process that has to be taken in order to be healed we're about to read about this process and being healed means you're going to have to give up some things we were in in New York we were in SoHo District of New York which is a a cool shopping shopping district and uh uh I was I was standing there brother Holden and and our wives were were in the store shopping and we were like on the sidewalk that's kind of as the custom is and um this this man come walking up well it was really odd and uh if you if you know me I'm not an orange and so I get uncomfortable in weird situations when people talk to me that I'm not ready to talk to okay so I'm standing about the road there's about I don't know from from me to the front Pew there where the store the storefronts were and the man is leaning up against the storefronts and he starts talking to me people now we got people walking between us it's very uncomfortable and I was trying to show it because I knew where this was going I knew he was coming to ask for a minute I knew where this was going he's like how you doing I'm like doing great how are you kind of looked away I saw brother Holden kind of coming my way up the street he asked me like two or three other questions and I'm just I just wasn't comfortable with it you know what I'm saying it was just like there's people wrong between us I thought this is just a weird conversation and so then he walks over to me which which was fine it made me feel a little bit better because now we're at least not talking through a bunch of people walking by us and he said man he said I just felt in my spirit that we connected I've never heard that before that's that's a good one that is a good one and um he starts telling me and honestly I can't remember a lot what he said but he had a story here's a good story and uh at the time of the holder walks up and now brother Holden is an orange he's all about this um and so I like very I was like like tag you know I think he felt your spirit not mine and and Brotherhood he goes he goes oh man and we're standing right next one on the sidewalk you know little food stands with the little like you know the the Chicken on Stick day old chicken on sticks sitting up there you know and uh and brother Holden brother the whole is like Hey listen let's walk over here I'll get you a meal and the guy looked at him and said I've already I've already eaten he's I've already eaten you know I just want to know if you'd help me and me and brother Chris looked at each other and were like you missed it we just tried to help you right because here's the deal in order to give up that lifestyle there's some things that to change because I'm going to tell you if brother Chris he owns a business if he would have said hey man I'll employ you 'll be at the job Monday morning 8 A.M that same guy would have said the same thing to him just because people are at the pool of Bethesda doesn't really mean they automatically want to be healed because in order to give up your spot at the pool see you see in the time of Jesus there was a lot of pilgrimages to Jerusalem for instance kind of the day of Pentecost everybody came into Jerusalem there's a lot of Feasts there's a lot of things happening and it was a part a part of being a pilgrim coming to Jewish people coming back to Jerusalem was you had to give alms to the poor there's a part there's a part of your belief system it wasn't like it was like just in New York or or downtown Knoxville where you feel compassion and say you know what I got an extra dollar here's some money it wasn't like that it was it was your responsibility as a Jew to help the poor and they knew this and so Jesus asking this man do you want to be whole or do you want to be well he it wasn't like a trick question he did he didn't say are you sick and tired of being halt because that's an easy answer oh absolutely if I could walk again that would be amazing there was somebody asked him he said do you want to be whole which simply means you're going to have to change some things in your life things that you've been doing ways that you've been living you're going to have to get out of that lifestyle if you're really going to be made whole and Jesus wanted to know are you here because you're into something free are you looking for a handout are you spiritually connecting with people or do you really want to be whole listen to many people have addictions in their life and you understand if I give up this addiction my lifestyle is going to have to change I can't do the same things I've been doing I can't go to the same places I've been going I'm gonna have to change everything about me in order to receive this healing and Jesus is walking up and down the aisle today and he's asking people he's tapping people on the shore saying hey do you want to be made high do you want to be manhole and I'm sorry to say there might be people here that are not willing to make a lifestyle change and become whole you say oh come on listen I've told you before and this is constantly on my mind but we're on this lifestyle change most people call it a diet like me listen everything everything that you're used to doing listen I want to lose weight but I've asked I gotta ask myself the question am I willing to go through what I've got to go through to lose the weight there's a process to fix the problem right for everything in life there's a process you want to get off drugs there's a process for that I wish we could just make a line here and anybody that's addicted to things that you can just walk up here and walk into a troubled pool and all of a sudden walk out it's not that easy but I thought you said Hope was here oh hope is here but the hope is wanting to know do you really want to be made home are you willing to give up oh are you willing to give up the things that got you to where you are listen there is nothing harder then spending the week in Manhattan and not eating the food of Manhattan and God forgive me I tripped up a couple times I fell off the wagon a couple times but for the most part man you walk in those those Italian restaurants and they got them rolls with the butter just glistening saying hit me you walk by you you walk by Bakery after Bakery Carlos Bakery there I'm pretty sure I saw Carlos waiting waving his hand at me it might have been his brother cannolis and all these come on but with everything you do there's a question are you willing to go through the process to receive I'm going to come back to the Habit Jesus said he said he said do you do you do you even do you want to be whole be before before I can change you something's got to change up here because here's the deal and this is why I believe what I believe about what Jesus was asking because Jesus had enough power in his pinky that he could have just went and everybody at that pool could have been healed but apparently everybody at the pool didn't want to be healed because he knows all thoughts are you know he knows our intentions but he walked up to that guy who was in a lifestyle for 38 years of being lame who has been he's been in a bed had bed sores he couldn't even get himself out of the bed and he said I I think I found one that there might be enough hope where he's in this more than just for some alms and for some handouts he's even in this for more than just a healing I believe there's hope in this man so when he walked up to him and he said would you be made whole let me tell you let me tell you something let me read let me read what he said because this is interesting right here because when he responded to Jesus it wasn't just a yes it wasn't just a yes he responded in a way he said oh he said many times he said I have tried all I have tried to get up I've tried to make my way do you do you see the word tried he said I tried uh go to the next verse here maybe sevenish if it's a man answer to him sir I have no man when the water is troubled to put me into the pool but when I am he said when I am making an effort to get there and that's what Jesus he said oh that's what I'm looking for I'm looking for you to take the first step because if you'll take the first step that lets me to know that you're in this to win you're in this to be victorious you're not in the study listen I'm not in this to be downcast I'm not in this so people will feel sorry for me I'm not doing this for an excuse how many people would have to give up some excuses in your life if you were made whole well I had this way because this is how my mama made me my mama was an alcoholic therefore I'm an alcoholic that's just who I am and people if you were made whole in this room today you couldn't blame your mama no more you have to live up to your new lifestyle you can blame a daddy it was on drugs you can't blame somebody that abused you you couldn't blame somebody misuse you you wouldn't be but some people get an identity of what their situation is you become a divorcee you become lost you become left over you become a husband and it's all because you're living right here and you have no vision you're blind of what God wants to do in your life but then there's others in this room that say but as for me as from my house we refuse to hang out here at the pool we refuse to make our life about what used to be my presence and my pastor is not my identity for I've got a future I've got newness in life I've been born again and if I've been born again I no longer have to stay here in my situation do you want to be healed well are you kidding me do I want to be healed of course I want to be healed I'm sick and tired of making excuses I'm sick and tired of everybody looking down at me I'm sick and tired and not being able to do what Titus made me to do of course I want to be made whole so Jesus said unto him in verse 8 he said take up my bed and walk and immediately the man was made whole he took up his bed and walked and on the same day was the Sabbath oh now this doesn't mean much to us it mean much to us but in order for him to take up his bed right here oh number one the Manhattan walked for 38 years what kind of healing what kind of healing does it take for a man who can't even walk to now say I'm about to take this this thing is heavy Bound for 38 years I could even hardly roll over I I couldn't even get out of this thing in order to get in the water but now the Bible says immediately now I don't know I kind of wonder I know immediately he was made whole but did he realize it immediately or did he have enough faith to when Jesus said rise up and walk and take up your bed did he have enough Faith to think for 38 years I've been laying here but if this man has come and told me I'm Healed I receive the healing a lot of people a lot of people I believe that God touches your life and you don't receive the healing maybe not you maybe people watching online don't receive the healing don't Jesus says raise up or maybe Jesus says stretch forth thy withered hand and they're like you know it's just more comfortable here where nobody can see it but I believe I believe he had faith in advance I believe when he stepped out of that bed when he picked up that bed something inside of him now I know he was made whole immediately the Bible says it but I believe in his mind I believe that's when his lifestyle that's when his mentality shifted from being an infinite from being someone who couldn't walk someone who couldn't get out of bed to being someone who said I can raise this bed over my head and I don't care what anybody thinks about it because what this right here is this is our testimony this is what kills the world you used to see me laying in this thing but I'm not laying in this thing no more I lift it up over my head as a testimony for what God has done in my life I used to be on drugs I used to smoke two packs a day I used to be on the bar stool on Friday night but look at me now now Look What the Lord Has Done Look What the Lord Has Done he healed my body he touched my mind he saved me just in time oh he said I Jesus if you want a healing right here you're gonna have to do something the number one is uncomfortable and you have to do something that's not very popular because if we had time to read about it we would read all we would read about the people in the city didn't care that he was carrying his bed because he was healed they were offended that he would carry his bed on the Sabbath day because the religious rulers had taken relationship out and they're putting ceremony in it wasn't about a relationship it wasn't about to walk with God it was about do's and don'ts it was about rules and regulations and laws matter of fact they that man he understood that if I pick up this bed right now there's a good chance I'm going to get a flogging in the synagogue in church they're going to take me between the before the religious leaders brother Marshall and they're gonna flog me because I'm working on the Sabbath Sabbath listen the Sabbath was meant to be a day of rest a day when you wouldn't go into your normal jobs a day when you would go worship God because he's such an awesome God because he's such a wonderful Savior and Creator and then you know what go home and take a nap serious I grew up my set this down I grew up lay man getting tired I grew up and every single Sunday we took a nap how many y'all did that every Sunday yeah some people are ashamed and you should be ashamed because it's biblical this is a Sabbath we're not going into work I ain't going outside of mola lawn work work this is this we're resting revitalizing or we're letting our mind yo read your Bible it's a day of rest it's a day when when we give we give our praise to God we give our worship to God we we relax however they change that into some horrible rules and regulations that if you go if you go to to Jerusalem to the holy land today on their Saddles what they consider Sabbath from sun up to sun down if you walk if you walk into a building if you walk into a high-rise building God help your soul if it has more than four or five floors because he elevated you are not allowed to push the button on the elevator it won't worry it's turned off you walk into that elevator the door's already open you walk in the door's shut it goes to the next level doors open give a certain amount of time get on and off the doors closed goes up the next level opens I'm talking they are religious about this no work they've taken us so far and this this lame man he knew that and when Jesus said arise take up my bed and walk he understood I might be getting a scourging when I go into the synagogue with this matter of fact you read the you read the script you read the story those people said why are you carrying your bed he said some man told me to pick it up they said who he's I don't know who it was but some man told me to pick it up and I'm still carrying it because I've been healed Jesus later on comes back to him all right read the story it's awesome Jesus like disappears King James says that says that he just he gone came in the Sheep door walked out the invisible door I don't know but he just like disappeared but the Bible says but he came and found that man because the man still he was easy to spot he was the only guy doing this right here Jesus despise the guy finds a guy that says just just so you know I'm Jesus right easy just make sure we don't want to we don't want you to think there's one no magic trick this one no spell that you're healed and let me take a step further I believe another reason why Jesus told him y'all like my duct tape let me tell you something they were good back then um Jesus uh Jesus told him to take him his bed because hey here's a problem if people aren't careful they can get delivered from things and they could come up with a plan B to return back if everything doesn't work out like they thought I should so here we have we have this guy right here he got he got his bed you know I'm second place in line for the next trouble under the water Jesus says get up and walk he walks away and he saves a spot because that was coming people would save their place with their mat or with their bed because they understood whoever's closest to the water gets healed and I just believe that Jesus was saying hey if you're serious about wanting to be healed you're going to have to take your bed out of line now there's probably 50 other people that are in line you've been here 38 years you you might be you might be first in line Jesus is saying you're going to have to give up your place at the pool if you really want to receive a healing in your body you're gonna have to give up your place there's a reason why there's a reason why that the Wilderness and the promised land were beyond the Red Sea and I realize I realized that the Red Sea was parted children of Israel went through it God allowed the children of Israel to turn around and see their Egyptian captors drown in the in in the sea I get that and then thank God for that I'm sure it was a victorious moment it was a moment that got them through through the months through the years but I also believe that the Red Sea when it came back together was a symbol letting them know you can't get back over to Egypt matter of fact if you go back to Egypt you're going to have to take a long way all right I gave you I opened up a gate if you will I allowed you through to get to the promised land but if you ever make up in your mind that leaks and onions taste good and that what you had in the flesh pots around the Egyptian fires if you ever decide that you want to return to that stuff that vomit if you will if you ever decide that's what I want to go back to God said it's going to it it ain't gonna be easy I'm putting something in between I'm taking your plan B away there's not going to be three days from now when you decide that you don't feel well that you're just going to go back and lay back in your bed we're taking our bed with us and we're going to say everybody this was me before but this is also me now I used to lie in this bed but now I can hold it over my head and say if it wasn't for the Lord where would I be if it wasn't for the Lord where would I be if it wasn't for the Lord where let me tell you something you can't have a plan B when it comes to walking with the Lord if he delivers you from trunks today you can't go back home and hide those drunks somewhere up over your toilet in some cabinet you gotta flush those things down the toilet if he delivers you from drinking the last thing you want to do is put those expensive bottles of wine somewhere in a back cabinet for later you can't come up with a plan B you can't go hiding dirty magazines somewhere in your attic and think well if I ever get to a low Point again I can always go upstairs and get oh no you gotta say I'm taking my bed and I'm leaving the pool and I will have no plan B come on somebody giving praise if you know a miracle is in the house give it praise if you know healing is in the house if you know hope has walked into this place you may be seated I'm almost finished crucial part of being healed is committing yourself to staying well near I've seen people man have heart attacks and have changed their lifestyle oh I I gotta change my whole lifestyle I got heart issues but man over over five six seven years they go right back to where they were before they had the heart attack there's something if you're going to receive a healing in your body you've got to commit to the process of the healing if you want to receive Deliverance you got to commit to the process of of Deliverance oh tell you a story I I'm preaching about about waiting oh I should say I'm preaching against waiting I'm preaching against waiting for that moment or waiting for better circumstances are waiting for your healing or waiting for deliverances oh I just believe that Jesus wants to see somebody take a step before they receive a doctor's report see somebody crawl out of the bed before they know they're delivered I went to Bible School with the Bible school with with brother Jason Galleon he is now the he's now the vice president of Indiana Bible College we're roommates and uh oftentimes we would we would go home with each other and one weekend my friend Jason he said uh he said man I want you he lived in Central Illinois he said I want you to come home with me he says I want you to meet a girl and in Bible school what that usually means is they have a girl in the youth group that wants to meet that's what that usually means okay so I was like okay okay I'll go on with you so uh went home with Jason and he said he said it's Saturday we're going to go to her house I thought that was kind of weird you know never met somebody before we're gonna go to her house I said all right all right uh Jason knocks on the door and uh this girl's mother answers the door and um turns out she's a senior in high school mother answers the door and uh Jason said hey we're here to visit thresha and I still remember her name because I never heard the name before and and once you hear a story the story just stuck in my mind but so uh mother said open the door and say come on in come on in so we walked back I followed Jason into a back room and of course by then I'm starting to figure out something something's wrong because he really didn't fill me in anything Uh something's different about this situation you know so we're walking back to the back of the house walk in in their lies a girl who who was very pretty and she is she's in the bed and there's all kinds of hoses and tubes and lines connected to her it's of course right then I'm like oh wow and I'm right I want to kick Jace I'm thinking man you kind of should have warned me about this you know this is not what I was expecting and um but again I could tell she's a very beautiful young lady and uh Jason said thresha this is my friend Chad from Bible school he said I want you to tell tell him your story and uh so I'm standing there of course I'm I'm you know introduce myself I'm kind of speechless and so she goes into town about she said she said I was in church she said I was living for God she said but I started hanging out with some girls from school from high school she said that they were just just so worldly she said she said I kept the faith she said I kept my testimony she said she said she said I promise you she said I was invited to parties I said no she said I was invited on trips I said no she said I was invited to do all kinds of things cheerlead I had cheerleaders as good friends and they would invite me to football parties and all she said I I told them no I told him I'm Apostolic I refused to do it she said that but she said it was prom prom weekend she said and she said I just thought she said I felt like I was going to miss out if I didn't go to my prom and if I didn't if I didn't have a date she said so sure enough she said I had a Dayton she said I'm riding with my date and we have two or three others in the car she says we're traveling and she said I'm going to be honest with you she said I wasn't drinking she said but they were drinking she said I I didn't know what to do I was uncomfortable I'd never been in this situation before I never I'd never even seen somebody drunk before she said I didn't know anything about what this even looked like she said but I knew she said I knew I was in trouble because she said the car was all over the road and he was going way too fast and she says as we come around the curb coming back and he was supposed to be taking me home from this great prom date that turned out so horrible she says as he's taken me home she said we Veer off the road and she said we run into a tree probably going 60 65 miles an hour she said I I believe at least one or two people in the car died she said it was the most it was the most horrible thing she said and now here here I am I was supposed to die they gave me hours to live she said but but thanks be to God she said I'm alive and not only in my life she says if you'll look at me she says I'm a paraplegic she says I can't move any part of my body except for above my neck I can't move I can't move any part of my body she said I'm here she said I she said I had given up I've given up on life she said I'm just gonna be honest with you she said I had it all she said I was living for God she said he made me beautiful she said I had such a beautiful future I believe she was even talking about going into missions work she she had everything and that one night that one decision she made here she is now paraplegia here she is she can't move her body all she can do is talk and move her facial muscles that's the only thing she can do yet I also began to notice because she had a computer now we're talking back in like 90. 96 or 97 and she had this computer and of course it was huge it was you know we're not in the iPhone days yet so it was this huge computer that was kind of sitting up next to her and there was like these weird things that that I began to notice that she would pull that with her mouth and different things would take place where the lights would turn on or or she had different and this was like way before its time but but she had this they had found her this computer and got this computer where she could at least and what else she could do is she could make phone calls on her own by using this machine and so she began to tell us so now Jason we go through of course there's tears in our eyes and after she goes through this story and she goes into detail on on how she felt and how she was depressed and how she she if she could she said if I could commit suicide I would but I can she I mean it was it was horrible she just told us the story she said she said but then I got to thinking you know I I know pastors coming to visit me I know brother calling have been coming to visit her she had youth group members that had been coming to visit her and brother Ammons every single person said we're praying for you thresha you're gonna be healed for us you're going to be healed you're gonna be healed you're gonna be healed we believe we're having we're having prayer services you're going to be healed our youth groups gotten together you're going to be healed you're going to be healed and she said I finally decided I can't stay in this place any longer she said I might be stuck in this bed physically but I refuse to stay here she said I've got to do something for the Lord I'm sick of waiting for a healing I've got to do something and so they got to this computer and she began to make phone calls to all of her public school friends one after the other and began to share her testimony with them and started saying listen there's there's a youth there's a youth meeting this Friday night at seven o'clock at first step of stock you got to get to the youth you just I promise you got to check it out and these friends of her would make promises to her that they would go to this youth service in every youth service they were seeing five ten young people from the school getting the gift of the Holy Ghost receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and being baptized and over like a month or two months period there were some 20 or 30 of her classmates that were now filled with them Holy Ghost they were now baptized in Jesus name and they were now attending this church and she said I got sick and tired of waiting and I had to do something she said before I got a healing I'm gonna show the Lord I'm willing to take a first step now I don't know where Theresa is today she might be healed or she may still be in her bed but what I do know is she got sick of waiting and she did something with her life she was blind she had no vision but one day she woke up and said I can win the loss laying right here in this bed I don't have no building my arms and my legs but I can win a loss laying right here in this bed I want you to stand your feet because I believe there's people in this place today and you're saying to yourself well I'm not a paraplegic I've never been wounded I've never been injured but I am in a place today where I feel like I'm trapped in a bed there's people right now maybe listening online you've got cancer in your body and you're thinking to yourself whenever God heals me in this cancer I'm going to do something for God and I just believe that God is saying do you really want to be made whole I believe there's people in here listen you have these little these little secret sins is what people call them it's just what I call it's a cycle of sin where where nobody else knows about it but you find yourself doing it on Thursday and Friday and coming to church on Sunday and repent of it find yourself doing it again on Thursday and Friday coming back to church on Sunday and repent of it and I just believe that God is whispering in your ear right now and saying aren't you sick and tired of waiting for the trouble in the water when I can help you right here right now aren't you sick and tired of other people receiving your miracle and getting in front of you when you can right now receive it right here because I am your hope but you gotta say God I'm willing I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get rid of that cycle of sin I'm willing to do whatever it takes to fix my marriage I'm willing to do whatever it takes Lord if you have it for me if you've promised it to me I want to receive it but I'll say this Jesus is a perfect gentleman yo listen to me he's a perfect gentleman he will not force anything upon you that you don't want just because you showed up to church today don't you think for a moment that he's gonna force you to receive his Spirit if you don't want the Holy Ghost he is not going to force you to do anything I promise you you will not speak in another tongue have no fear if you don't want it he's a gentleman he's not going to force it on you if he wants to heal you today and you don't want to be healed he's a gentleman he's going to step back and he's going to go to the Pew in front of you but if you're here today and you say oh it's me oh God it's me oh Lord I give up I Surrender Lord I don't want to be like this anymore I don't want to lay here anymore I don't want to have memories like I've had I I had excuse is like I've had but God I want you to heal me God I want you to deliver me I want to be saved Sanctified and filled with the Holy Ghost come on right now this altar's already feeling I wish you would join these great people in this halter and say I'm in need of the great physician I'm in need of a Shepherd who loves his sheep I'm in need of a Shepherd who's looking for the hurting the halt oh I wish you would come into this altar to say Jesus I want to be made come on thresha come on thresha I know you're in this house today I know you might have given up on life huh you might have given up on your future but I'm here to tell you there's so much you can do for God there's so much you can do for his kingdom it's not over it's not over it's just begun oh I just believe in this place today there's gonna be hard so they're gonna be mended there's gonna be marriages that are gonna be mended do you want it will you receive it will you give up your waiting game hey yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes come on there's people in this altar come all saints of God you know some of them have knees you might personally know their needs won't you reach out and lay a hand on them why don't you pray for your brother your sister why don't you let him know I'm here for you I'm here to help you know the man in the story he had no body he had no friends to help him but you have a friend in this place I'll be your friend I'll be your friend I'll be your friend oh we're in this together you're my brother you're my sister so take me by the hand you kicking side by side together if there's love we're gonna stand let there be a stand in this house here is here it is trust in you I reach my head my head to the heavens foreign freedom is here I feel Heelys in the house I look to you my heart say so stay any longer come on lift up here your perfect love is casting now fear s come on Somebody's gotta believe this right here it's his will that you're healed sickness foreign any longer your perfect love is you are the God of all powers come on lift up your hands to Heaven's right here I feel I feel a spirit of joy in this house I I feel like some things have been let go I believe some things have been delivered out of lives and I just believe healing is taking place come on I lift my hands to the heavens I lift my eyes so where my help comes from I look to you come on lift up your hands again reach your hands up reach your hands real high to my hands to the heavens I lift my eyes just one more time one more time before Pastor comes