Appointed Time Of God- The Miserable Patient and the Mighty Physician”
An Appointment with the Paralyzed Man at the Pool of Bethesda
John 5: 1-15
• God created time
• God lives above time
• God who lives in eternity created the time
In Gods way of understanding about the time, there are two words that we need to deal with it
• One is the word called Regular time, (Normal time)
New Testament Bible was written in Greek, part of the new testament they spoke and wrote in Aramic.
Old Testament was fully written in Hebrew.
There are multiple words used for time in Greek.
But I want to deal with two of those words
• One is called Cronos , that is Greek word. There is a watch even named as Chronos.
• Chrono is basically time., measure of time, it is the sequence of events and order
• Time is the scribe that record everything.
• Time is the registry which register everything the sequence of events
• Everything can be spread over a time
• Time is used in New Testament to explain seasons
• Time is consistent, keep moving, called Chronos
• In English it called Chronology, which means study about time
• Chronicles which mean study of time and history
The other word used in New Testament is Kairos
• Kairos is not same as Chronos. Chronos is usual passage of time
• The clock that’s hands turning, the calendar that dates turning, that is Chronos.
But Kairos is something different
• Kairos is the interjection of Gods appointed time on the regular human time, that’s called Kairos.
Let us look at it scripture to understand it
• Before you go to see a doctor, you make an appointment.
• Before you see a lawyer, you make an appointment. Before you see a government official, you make an appointment.
• Depending on the importance of the person - the greater the person, the more imperative it becomes to fix an appointment
John 5;16
• The word time there is Chronos, if you are reading that words in Hebrews that time would be Chronos.
• The Bible says that this guy was there for 38 long years. What happened to him?
It was a place called Bethesda. The sick people who were infirmed full of sickness brought there and they would be lying down there
• A certain time, certain appointed time, a Kairos as an angel would come and stir up the waters, and that time is called Kairos
Let us look at that, next scripture verse 4 says:- an Angel of the Lord at appointed seasons into the pool and stir up the waters. The first one into to the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whitherever disease they had
English Bible translators translated as seasons. The original Greek Bible says Kairos . here it says, Angel of the Lord came up in an appointed time
Now I want you to understand its important
Hundreds of people, they brought by people, left them there at the pool of Bethesda
• It was a famous pool,
• It could be early in the morning,
• late at night,
• mid day in the afternoon,
• during a snowy day,
• rainy day,
• sunny day,
• it could be ay time, whoever jumped in first will be immediately healed.
These sick folk were “waiting for the moving of the water” in the pool. This moving of the water was from heaven, not from earth, and there was no healing virtue in the water until that certain time.
• There were the blind who could not see.
• There were the lame who could not walk.
• There were the withered who were deformed and paralyzed.
• There were so many who were poor and beggarly.
This man was lying there for 38 years doing all number two and number one there
Jesus came and asked him. How long?
He said:- 38 years I am here, before I could get into water someone else would do it. I am waiting for 38 years. So he is faithful waiting for 38 years
• I want you to know something, if you are faithful in little thing, God hasn’t given up hope on you
• If you are faithful in your Chronos, in your time, God will open up Kairos moment in your life.
Yes, this man , 38 years he is lying there, he could have told, I am fed up and waiting for a miracle that take me here
He could have said that I could have lost hope just lying here 38 too long years
But he waited for the average seasons of life
• If you walk faithfully in periods of time, I want you to know that God who made Chronos will open up Kairos, an appointed time in your lives
• That day, that man was lying there, it was not an angel who came and meet him, it was the God who created the angles who came down to meet him
If you wait on the Lord, your God will open a Kairos in your lives
when God opens that, Oh boy, no man can stop it
Something strikes me here, one of the things that I just don’t understand is, the thing that baffles my mind is this:
When Jesus heals that man who was lame and paralyzed for 38 years, now we know that, the whole place was filled with sick people, why is it no one holds on to Jesus’s hands. No one shouted that Jesus heal me
Some how others missed that Kairos moment, only this man understood it. Your Kairos moment would be a life changing moment
• It may come once in a decade
• It may come once in a lifetime
• It may come once in a month
• It may come once in a week
But I you keep walking in the appointed time of God, I tell you man, even though I walk through the valley of shadow and death, I will fear no evil because your Kairos is with me. I love that
I.
Abraham teach us that.
• Abraham was one hundred years old. Many of us can’t relate with that. Because many of us don’t even touch that mark
• Hundred years old, his wife was 90+, but still she was beautiful, she was such beautiful that because king of that town wanted to date with that 90 year old lady
• Even though in king’s palace had all figures of ladies, but he had a infatuation with the 90 year old Dadima. Man, that’s what happens when you walk with God
Your lake me will fade
Loco calamint may go off
Lo-real paint will go off
• You know that rightly all these cosmetic martials are put in a small called vanity bag. Because that’s where they belongs too
• Sarah was s pretty but couldn’t have a child. 90 years old, for the Chronos of time you can’t have a child at that age. Because the women had already passed the age of child bearing
The gynecologist in Egypt has given certificate that you can’t have a child no more, that the time they lived in
• But Abraham and Sarah kept walking in faith.
• They did not go with the power of chronos.
• They did not go by the clock on the wall
• They did not go with reports of the doctors
• But they went with the power of Gods Promise
• They went by God who spoke to them
And they said:- God we don’t believe in the power of unusual time.
• But we believe in the power of your appointed time.
• And we believe Lord, when your Kairos come, when your appointed time comes, then the natural time cannot resist the appointed time.
Amen halleluiah
Natural time cannot stop the purpose of Gods appointed time
• Gods appointed time to search when she was 90 years old. Usually for women it comes somewhere around the age of twenties and thirties.
• But for this lady called Sarah, it came in her nineteens. Abraham changed his name into ebram. which means the father of nations and he changed his wife name to Sarah which means the princes or mother of nations
• 90th Birthday grandma and grandpa old Abraham and Sarah cutting Sarah birthday cake and what are they saying , mother of nations come and cut the cake.
• They are not saying, oh we don’t have a child. They are cutting a cake saying next year we will cut the cake again with our baby beside us. Why? Because thy didn’t believe on the power of natural time. But they believed in the power of Gods appointed time
• They walked in that faith.
I want you to know something today my brethren ,
• When Gods appointed time come, When Gods Kairos come, Chronos must move away and Kairos began to function.
• When Gods appointed time comes in your life, the bean on you from generation will move away in twinkling of an eye,
• When the power of God hits your life everything will change in your life
• when Kairos comes no Chronos cant hold it back
• when Kairos comes no government can hold it
• when Kairos comes no weakness can hold it back
• when God decides your time, no one can stop it,
hold it on brother, no weapon formed against shall not prosper
you may be facing a giant goliath, in your Kairos time you are going to hit that goliath, because God is at your side
time may be against you, but if God be for us, who can be against us, halleluiah
some of you living in your bad times, I want to tell you something, you got a God over your life
Time has no power when God involved in your life
Bethesda – meaning house of Mercy
Everyone lying around the pool of lacked Power to see, hear, walk and heal
• He was powerless
• He was helpless
• He was hopeless
• When you walk by the will of God, no Amavasya that can touch you.
• There is no Poornima that can touch you
• There is no sarppadosha and shapadhosha that can work against you because no one can curse you what God had already blessed
Lets pause for praise offering, Somebody give a great clap offering praises to God
You don’t live under sin
You don’t live in closed circles, you live under God Almighty, because he that dwelleth in you is greater than he is in the world’
There may be enemies surrounds you,
there may be invisible forces comes against you, but time and chances will not happen to you, but the will of god will happen to you
Your life looks normal everything goes in usual way, but you are not normal, you are an ambassador of Christ, 1cori 5:18 you are a man of God, women of God walking on earth, sealed by the blood of Jesus, covered y the Holy Spirit, and your times is in his hands.
You are living in Chronos but you are marching into Kairos of God almighty,
Time only prove entropy
You park your Maruti car for 15 years, and your Maruti will never become Mercedes, you see it got rested and gone, because time is proven entropy , everything gets weaker
Our God is a God over time
Four Things To Remember When You Wait On The Lord
1. Remember There Is A Natural Delay Between Planting And Harvesting.
Example: God called Abraham out of the Ur of Chaldeans and promised him a son. He obeyed God and left and even after 25 years of waiting he did not receive promise of child. God changed his name to Abram which means exalted father or father of a multitude. There is a time period between the promise and its fulfillment. We are called to wait on the Lord in the meantime.
2. Remember There Is An Unseen Battle Going On.
A delay is not a denial. When answer to prayer is delayed, it does not mean that they are not going to be answered. There is going to be some kind of spiritual warfare going on behind it, you got to keep on praying and seeking the will of God.
3. God Requires Us To Wait To Keep Us In Step With His Timing.
Illustration: David was anointed king of Israel at the young age of 16. Do you know that shortly after this the worst time of his life began to happen. For the next 14 years he ran from the sword of Saul. These 14 years David was wandering and questioning but God brought him after 14 years to the throne. Today David is known all over, Jerusalem is called the city of David.
God had a plan for David but he executed it in God’s time. God has a plan for your life today.
4. God Always Keeps His Promises.
That is what you need to remember when you are waiting for your promise. You can count on God. God will never fail us.
• God gave Abraham a son when he was 100 years of age.
• He delivered the Hebrews out of bondage after 400 years in Egypt.
• And God made David king after 14 years of wandering.
• After 70 years of exile God brought back the exiles to Jerusalem.
Waiting on God’s Timing is Hard, Yet God’s Timing is Always Perfect
#1: Waiting on God’s plans requires patience and faith.
In the waiting, we discover that God’s in charge and we’re nothing on our own.
#2: Waiting is hard, but the wait has a purpose
God is never accidental. Everything he does has a purpose.
Don’t take short cuts. What is the meaning of taking a short cut?
• Before they had Isaac, Abraham and Sarah decided to take a short cut.
• The short cut brought about somebody called Ishmael.
• It was the wife of Abraham that pushed Abraham into it.
• We know what Ishmael has done to the whole world now.
• Two generations later, the family of Abraham had another person who was like Ishmael. His name was Dan.
• When Rachael pushed Jacob to Leah, Leah gave birth to Dan.
In the book of Revelation when God began to list the 12 children of Israel, He removed this Dan and replaced him with Joseph’s son called Manasseh.
That is what happens when a short cut is taken.
God has His own programme for every life; that is why you must not use other people’s lives as a yardstick to measure yours.
God’s programme for us may look alike but they are different. Your personal programme for your life may lead you to failure and destruction if it is not in line with God’s programme for you.
God’s programme and time may look unattractive but they are the best.
Many of us need to correct our ideas about God.
• The God who rained manna from heaven for the children of Israel was the same God who rained fire and brimstone on Sodom and Gomorrah.
• The God who called Moses was the same God who prevented him from entering the Promised Land.
• The Lord God that made Saul a king was the same God that dethroned him.
• The Lord God that healed Namaan was the same God that transferred his leprosy to Gehazi.
• The God that blessed David and made him to become king in Israel was the same God who put curses on him.
• The God that gave Samson power was the same God who allowed his eyes to be removed and to be punished.
• The God that made Zechariah to serve in the temple was the same God who allowed him to be rendered dumb.
With God there is no middle camp.
• God is a God of joy, love, peace, miracles and power but you must also remember that He is a God of righteousness and judgment.
• Patience is one of the greatest virtues that God gave to man.
• Impatience has destroyed so many things, lives, homes, families and nations.
Three important principles must be clear to us before we start praying.
1. There is time for everything. Doing things at the wrong time would lead to disaster.
2. God Himself has appointed a time for your miracle. Has God assured you through prophecies, dreams and visions about a thing? Then wait for the appointed time. Don’t go and try the enemy’s camp.
3. Patience is a great virtue.
In His word, our Lord promised us healing.
But this healing would not come instantly on everybody. Some will recover instantly while others will recover gradually.
But when you are not patient, you may miss it.
You need patience to run the Christian race.
The Bible says that we should run with patience the race ahead of us.
Patience too, is a sign of Christian maturity. An impatient believer is a baby Christian.
Patience receives answers to prayers.
The Bible does not want us to be impatient because when God decides that it is your time, every thing will cooperate with you. People who are against you will start working for you. Even those who do not like you will become your friends.
Please, be aggressive in your prayers. God bless you as you do so, in Jesus’ name.
• You keep honoring God, doing the right thing and you're going to come in to some of your set times, times that God will show out in your life, times that you will see explosive blessings.
• You were struggling in your finances, you didn't see how you could get ahead and suddenly you're promoted, suddenly your business takes off, suddenly you get that scholarship.
• The medical report says that you'll never get well, but suddenly your health turns around, suddenly you break that addiction, suddenly your child gets back on course. What happened? You came in to your set time.
If you could see what God has on your calendar …
• you wouldn't worry about the clients you lost,
• you wouldn't lose sleep over that family member,
• you wouldn't get discouraged over that legal situation.
Get your hopes up. It's not too late. You didn't miss your chance.
David was 17 years old when the prophet Samuel came to his house to choose one of his father sons as the next king of Israel.
• David had seven older brothers, they were bigger, taller, had more experience.
• David's father, Jesse, didn't bother to bring David in from the shepherd's fields.
• He thought "David is not king material, he's too small, too young, not as talented as his brothers".
Samuel looked at the other brothers and said "It's none of these, do you have another son"?
Jesse had David come in. When Samuel saw him, he said, "That's the next king of Israel".
People judge by the outside:
• by your appearance,
• your nationality,
• your education,
• but God looks at the heart.
Don't be discouraged if people write you off,
promotion doesn't come from people, it comes from God.
God sees:
• you have a heart after him,
• he sees your sincerity,
• he sees your integrity,
• he sees your spirit of excellence.
What's on the inside is more powerful than what's on the outside.
David was anointed to be the next king, but he didn't go to the palace, he went back to the shepherd's fields where he was before and took care of his father's sheep.
He was anointed before he was appointed.
He knew big things were in him, he knew he was going to leave his Mark, but month after month he was stuck in the lonely shepherd's fields, doing what seemed like a menial job:
• feeding sheep,
• cleaning up their waste,
• shoveling manure.
He could have thought, "God, you said I would be the king. You had Samuel anoint me, why am I still stuck out here?
I have so much more in me". But David understood this principle, that his time was coming, that what God promised was already on the schedule, that the date had already been set.
Nobody was watching him, he didn't have a supervisor, he wasn't clocking in. He could have slacked off done just enough to get by, but David went the extra mile to watch over those sheep.
He fought off wild animals, kept him from harm, made sure they had food and water. And because he proved to God he would be faithful taking care of sheep, God trusted him to take care of his people. If you're not faithful in the wilderness, how can God trust you to be faithful in the Promised Land?
Like David most of the time you will be anointed before your appointed.
You'll have the promise, the dream, the calling, but you won't go straight to the throne, you'll go back to the shepherd's fields.
You have to be your best right where you are.
People don't determine your destiny.
• And someone may have put you at a disadvantage, you keep doing the right thing and your time is coming, promotion will come calling your name,
• opportunity will come looking for you,
• the right people will come tracking you down.
God knows how to vindicate you, he knows how to cause you to stand out.
Sometimes God does things gradually, little by little, but there are moments where God will thrust you 20 years ahead. He'll not only make up for lost time, but he'll accelerate things.
David went overnight from working in the shepherd's fields, the lowest position, to working with the king the highest position.
His ways are not our ways, There will be times that doors closed that don't make sense, people that should be for us are not around, we're doing the right thing but the wrong thing keeps happening.
None of this is a surprise to God.
He's already lined up the brakes you need,
• the open doors,
• the right people,
• the healing, t
• he baby,
• it's already on your schedule.
If you won't cast away your confidence, God will richly reward you.
You may have gone through some disappointments, things didn't turn out the way you've hope - you don't know what God is up to.
The reason he closed those other doors is because he has something better.
Don't be discouraged by what didn't work out, stay in faith, your time is coming.
• The right opportunity is on the way.
• It's going to be better than you thought.
• That person that walked out of your life, it wasn't fair, it was painful, but it didn't stop your destiny.
• God has beauty for those ashes.
You haven't seen your best days.
Keep moving forward when you don't understand, keep being your best when it's not fair.
When you come in to your set time, God will make things happen that you couldn't make happen.
• He can do what medicine cannot do.
• He's not limited by what limits us.
• We're natural, he's supernatural.
You may be in darkness, but instead of complaining about the darkness, being depressed by the darkness, try different approach,
• "Father, thank you that your light is about to come bursting in.
• Thank you that my set time per favor,
• set time for healing,
• set time for deliverance is on the way".
Don't cast away your confidence, God is bigger than what you're facing.
You may not see how it can work out, logically there's no way, the good news is you don't have to figure it out - all you have to do is believe.
Like this man at man at the pool you'll see these times where God will show out in your life.
• You are close to your breakthrough,
• you are close to things turning around,
• you are close to that child getting back on course.
You are on the verge of seeing God do something amazing.
you are in the final stretch.
Now don't cast away your confidence,
• this is not the time to get discouraged,
• this is not the time to talk defeat,
• this is a time to stir up your faith,
Turn up your praise,
• Talk like it's in round.
• Father, thank you that my time is coming.
• Thank you that you're the way-maker, the promise keeper, the miracle worker".
