Being Made Whole 11/3/24

John 5: 1-9 nkjv1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. 5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked and that day was the Sabbath. 

❓What keeps you from being whole❓ ❓How has God made you whole since you have become a believer❓

⭐   Jesus didn’t ask the man if he wanted to be better…... Or if he wanted to get back to the way he was or back to his old life…  He asked him if he wanted to be made whole.

➣   Often there is a vast difference in what we want for our life and what God wants.

➣   Sometimes our live gets stuck, not because God isn’t there for us, but because we        want to take a path that God does not want us to take.

⭐        Matthew 19:16; The rich young ruler:  He felt lacking. Unfulfilled, God not working for him. He walked away believing Christ wasn’t his answer.

• Jesus was his answer!   
• ➣  But he didn’t follow Him
• Fill the gap that made the rich young ruler lacking. 
• ➣ He went away unchanged.
• He was unwilling to do what Jesus said would make him WHOLE.

💥   Wholeness does not mean:A.   Simply feeling betterB.   Necessarily getting back to the life we hadC.   Doing our own thing (Rich young ruler)  Being good people

  Heal me, so I can feel better — make me whole so I can become better. 

⭐  It’s being made whole! 1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

🚩   It’s being healed and made free from the circumstances, the bondages, the lies that have crippled us in life. v5)  5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.           

A.   You don’t have to be physically crippled to be spiritually paralyzed in life.

>     What’s got you crippled?

B.   It’s never too late to be made whole!  v5) thirty eight years.

>     What have you given up on?

C.   Learning to survive

>    What have you learned to cope with it that God wants to free you from?

D   It’s leaving the pool

What pool do you need to leave, stop hanging out at, stop being a part of?

⭐   What does it mean to be whole?  1 Thessalonians 5:23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

💥  What does this teach about being made whole?

💥  Do we want to be made whole?  BODY  -   SOUL -  SPIRIT?

I.    STOP LOOKING IN THE WRONG PLACES.V4) 4 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. 

• What seems to work for others (Being filled with the Holy Spirit)
• Jesus is the One who knows how to make us whole.
• We look everywhere before we go to Christ.

⭐    BECOME A FOLLOWER OF CHRIST AND NOT JUST A BELIEVER ⭐

II.    LISTEN TO JESUS! Vs 6) “Do you want to be made well?”

• Don’t focus on why you can’t
• Don’t blame others for what they don’t or can’t do

III.   DO WHAT HE TELLS YOU TO DO. V8)8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”

• Start doing the impossible or what you’ve never done before.
• Be bold and of good courage to obey God.
• OTHER RELIGIOUS PEOPLE TRIED TO STOP HIM.

IV.   LEAVE THE POOL. v9) 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked and that day was the Sabbath. 

• He left the pool!  Major change at his age and time.
  • Lost his spot….  his buddies.
• Follow Christ.

|"   Heal me, so I can feel better — make me whole so I can be better, 

Heal me, so I can have friends — make me whole so I can be a friend. 

Heal me, so I feel no more pain — make me whole so I can feel the pain of others. 

Heal me, so I can have no more tears — make me whole so I can share the tears of others."  ? Author