Christ Heals the Paralytic
John 5:1-9
Introduction
Exposition of the passage…
I. Rise
· The man could not rise without first experiencing healing
· We cannot rise without first experiencing the ultimate healing – salvation
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II. Take
· The man took that which belonged to him.
· We must take that which now belongs to us – the message of Jesus Christ
· Ps 119:11 “Thy word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against Thee.”
· 2 Tim 2:15 “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” KJV
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III. Walk
· The man could not share about his healing unless he walked.
· We cannot share about Christ without first experiencing (walking) with His power in our lives.
· Matt 28:19 “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:”
· Gal 5:25 “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” NAS
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Conclusion
The story is told of a missionary to China who was in language school. The very first day of class the teacher entered the room and, without saying a word, walked down every row of students. Finally, still without saying a word, she walked around the room again. Then she came back and addressed the class.
“Did you notice anything special about me?” she asked. Nobody could think of anything in particular. One student finally raised her hand. “I noticed that you had on a very lovely perfume,” she said. The class chuckled. But the teacher said, “That was exactly my point. You see, it will be a long time before any of you will be able to speak Chinese well enough to share the gospel with anyone in China. But even before you are able to do that, you can minister the sweet fragrance of Christ to these people by the quality of your lives. It is your lifestyle, lived out among the Chinese people, that will minister Christ to them long before you are able to say one word to them about personal faith in Jesus.”
It is like that with us as well. Though we may not be eloquent speakers, unbelievers we encounter will be ministered to by the Christ-likeness of our daily lives, if indeed we are Christ-like.
