John 5:1-4 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. [2] Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. [3] In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. [4] For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
Prayer:
I want to preach to you today on this thought... This is the time for stepping!
As we look at our text we see a pool, a multitude of sick people, and an angel that by assignment troubles the water at a certain season.
These are the ingredients in our text. So we understand that in this place there is every kind of sickness and disease known to man. And most likely they are there because they have exhaused every natural avenue of assistance.
Our text refers to this great multitude of people as impotent folk. The word impotent means a general lack of effectiveness or ability to influence or change something.
So in a broad sense this crowd of impotent folk covers the spectrum of all the weaknesses, and the lack, and the emptiness, and the pain and the frustration that is familiar to the human condition. We could just as easily say, the drug addict was there, the pornography addict was there, the fornicator and the adulterer was there.
However the condition manifested itself in the lives of the people, it all fell under the category of impotency. Meaning these people were desparate, they couldn't help themselves. They couldn't change their condition. Every option they had was gone. They had nothing left.
I have to say this right here. It's so sad that some people have to hit this level of desperation before they will turn to God. But how many can say that you are glad that even though Jesus was your last hope, he was the only hope you really needed?
This describes all of this crowd there at the pool. And they are there because they have a hope that they can get a miracle. Somewhere they heard and seen someone who had received a miracle, and a seed of faith was planted in their hearts.
They heard that at a certain season the water would start moving, and the first person who stepped into the water after the troubling, or the moving of the water, was healed of whatever sickness or disease they had.
This message spread far and near. There is a pool in Bethany by the sheepgate, and at a certain season, the water gets stirred up, and whoever steps into the pool after the moving of the water gets healed of whatever problem they have.
Not only that, there were people walking around town who were living witnesses to the miracles that were happening there. They had personal testimonies, not just of what they had seen, but of their own personal miracles.
So the multitudes came anticipating their own miracle, and they knew that the miracles happened after the moving of the water, and they knew that it happened at a certain season. But the big problem was... they didn't know the day or the hour when it would happen.
But they did know that when it happened, the first person into the water was healed. Of whatever their disease was.
So there was an understanding that it didn't matter whether their condition was stage 4 cancer or warts, the first person to step into the pool after the waters moved was healed.
By this we're made to understand that nothing, and no case, is too hard for God. For all things are possible with God, and all things are possible to them that believe.
There was also an understanding that it didn't matter how many people jumped in the pool and splashed around, nothing supernatural happened for them until the angel troubled the waters.
So the Bible says, this great multitude was gathered together around this pool, waiting for the waters to move.
Now the Bible doesn't say that God sent down an e-mail to these people explaining these circumstances and these conditions for their miracles. So they must have learned through observation, and trial and error.
So no doubt many had stepped into the water before the season or after the season of the moving of the waters, and they had been severly disappointed, because nothing happened.
But eventually they came to know, there is a season when the waters will move, and eventually, probably through trial and error, they came to understand that only the first person to step into the troubled waters were healed.
I think that speaks to priorities, I also think that it speaks to a strong level of commitment. Don't you know it took quite a level of commitment, to be the person that would be close enough to the water, to be able to be the first person that stepped in when the water moved.
I'm sure there was alot of jostling back and forth, day by day and hour by hour, and even minute by minute. Trying to get to that coveted place where they could make that step into the water when it moved.
Can you imagine the level of concentration on the water, hoping to see it move? You know when you concentrate real hard on something, your eyes start blurring, and then sometimes you can start to make yourself see what you want to see.
I just wonder how many people just stepped in because they thought the water moved, only to be disappointed? I don't know because I wasn't there, but these are the things I see and feel when I put myself in the story.
Remember, you don't know exactly when the water's going to move, so you have to be ready all the time.
You do know that when the water moves only the first person who steps in is going to be healed. So you have got to be a little agressive, and yes even selfish, and pushy.
Give your neighbor a little nudge and give them a warning... I might get a little aggressive in my praise, and I might get a little pushy, but I need a miracle.
Friend I want to tell you something, this is the place where God wants you to get aggressive. He expects you to get a little pushy. In fact he's looking for the one that is a little pushy, a little aggressive, and determined. The one like Blind Bartimaeus who decided, I'm going to get his attention.
Oh yes, I do want to see you blessed, I do want to see you get your miracle. And I will rejoice with you if you get yours before me. But I have to be honest with you, I didn't come to watch you get blessed, oh yes I will rejoice with you and for you, but call me selfish if you want to, but I came for my own blessing.
Is there anybody hearing me that came for your own blessing? Why don't you just lift your hands and tell Jesus, I want my own blessing.
And I have to say this, I will be blessed when you get your miracle, and I will rejoice with you, but I didn't come to watch someone else get a miracle, I came for my own.
I'm going to give you a revelation here... If you can be satisfied just by watching someone else get their blessing, and their breakthrough and their miracle, you will never get yours.
At some point you're going to have to be like that woman with the issue of blood and decide, it doesn't matter how many people are around him, I've got to touch him for myself.
It doesn't matter how many people I've got to get passed or get through, I'm not here as an observer, I'm here as an active participant, and I'm going to press through till I get through.
Tell somebody... I'm going to press through till I get through.
Shout it out... I'm stepping in.
Now there is a point here that we have to make... When the water moved there was healing. But the healing didn't happen for everyone. It only happened for one person, and it didn't matter whether their problem was large or small, or a desparate condition, or a mild condition, that was not the deciding factor.
The deciding factor was who stepped in.
So here we go. First of all it didn't matter how many people stepped in the water, if it wasn't moving nothing happened.
Secondly when the water did move, if you didn't step in you missed your miracle.
So there are two ingredients here. There is the supernatural and the natural. There is God's part and our part.
We know that it was the power of God that moved the water, but it was up to the person who wanted their miracle to step in.
So my friend just like it was that day, there is a moving of the spirit. And there is what I'll call high tide. It's when that presence and that anointing that is dormant just kind of lying there undisturbed, wakes up and starts moving.
You can say it's not about feelings, and I understand what you you're saying... and I'll agree with you, this is a faith walk. But I'm going to tell you something... This Holy Ghost that lives in me, is the same spirit that gave sight to the blind, and gave the cripple back his walk, and gave the dumb man back his talk, and raised Jesus from the dead. And he's the one one that reached way down from heaven and saved my soul.
And when he came in I felt it. And I've felt him every day since, but every once in awhile, I feel him moving in a special way, and it reaches high tide, and when he moves that's when you've got to step in. Or you'll miss it.
Proximity to the pool didn't gaurantee a miracle for them. And proximity to his presence doesn't guaruntee a miracle for you, you have to step in.
I have to say this... Stepping in is no small thing. It is a decision on your part.
You do know that no one takes a step accidentally? if they did we would have people randomly walking everywhere, going nowhere, no purpose or destination, the feet just decided to step.
So we understand that it's not an involuntary action like breathing, or blinking your eyes. It's a voluntary action.
There are some ingredients to taking that step.
So first is the mind. The mind is more than the brain. The mind is the intellect, the will and the emotions.
So the mind makes the decision, I want to take a step. The will comes into agreement, nerve cells called motor neurons transmit the message from the brain and spinal cord to the skeletal muscles causing them to contract ... Then comes the the step.
I said all of that to say this, there is a move of God that is soveriegn it's divine. It's when his presence comes near to you, and stirs your spirit. That's when you have to step.
By an intentional, purposeful, decision and act of your will, and actual movement on your part, you have got to step in.
You can sit back in your pew, and spectate and miss what God has for you, or you can step in.
And I can tell you this, steppers are rewarded. While you're sitting up there looking cute in presence, somebody who is hungry and thirsty, and somebody who is desperate, and somebody who needs a miracle, is going to blow right by you. And they might bump you on the way. But that's what desparate people do.
I've found out over the years that desperate people get pushy. Desperate people can break the speed limit. Desperate people aren't worried about their hair or their make up. Desperate people don't have any pride.
Our problem is too many times, we're too casual about the move of God, but those people in our text didn't have any promise that the water would ever move again. Every time the water moved it was a miracle and somebody grabbed it, sombody stepped into it.
Let me say this... Whether we know it or not, we don't have the guaruntee that Spirit of God is going to move whenever we want him too. God doesn't owe us anything. We owe him everything, and every time his presence moves in our midst, we should glorify him and honor him, and show him that we are not casual about it, and step in.
Say neighbor, maybe you don't need nothing from God but I do.
Say hey neighbor, you might want to pull your feet in a little bit, cause I'm stepping in.
You can sit on the porch with all the rest, but there's no healing on the porch. There's no power on the porch, there's no breakthrough on the pew, I mean the porch. Come on, there's no miracle on the porch. What you need is in the pool, but you have to step in.
Tell your neighbor... One step is all it takes.
I want to prophesy to somebody today, and it probably won't be for everybody, but somebody is going to catch it by faith.
Are you ready? If you're ready tell your neighbor this is for me.
I prophesy that you're one step away from a turn around.
One step away from a healing.
One step away from the Baptism of the Holy Ghost and fire.
One step away from your prodigals coming home.
One step away from joy unspeakable and full of glory.
One step away from an anointing that you've been asking for.
One step away from a breakthrough in your finances.
One step away from new doors opening.
One step away from unbelievable favor coming your way.
One step away from restoration in your family.
One step away from a fresh fire.
This not the time sitting, this the time for stepping.
Tell you're neighbor this is your time.
Certainly the Holy Spirit is moving throughout the earth and you can be healed anywhere anytime, but there are moves of the Spirit and when he moves you have to step, or you will miss what he's bringing.
This is the time for stepping.
