Wwyd ( What Would You Do?)

09-14-2008

“WWYD”

“WHAT WOULD YOU DO?”

ONE NIGHT A DRUNKARD SAT AT A TABLE IN A BAR, DRINKING WITH HIS BUDDIES. SOON HIS WIFE CAME IN AND SET A COVERED DISH IN FRONT OF HIM, SAYING, “JACK, YOU SEEM TOO BUSY TO COME HOME FOR SUPPER, SO I BROUGHT YOUR SUPPER TO YOU.” AS SHE LEFT THE BAR THE MAN’S BUDDIES ROARED WITH LAUGHTER. JACK THEN INVITED THEM TO HAVE SUPPER WITH HIM. HE REMOVED THE COVER AND FOUND THE DISH TO BE EMPTY, BUT IN IT WAS A NOTE WHICH SAID, “JACK, I HOPE YOU ENJOY YOUR SUPPER. THIS IS WHAT THE KIDS AND I HAVE AT HOME.”

YOU SEE SATANS DISHES ARE ALWAYS EMPTY. BUT CHRIST FILLS THE CHRISTIANS DISH WITH THINGS FOR TIME AND ETERNITY. TODAY WE ARE GOING TO LOOK AT AN ACCOUNT OF JESUS AND A MAN THAT HE BLESSED. TURN WITH ME TO JOHN 5:1-9 (READ IT)

LET’S PRAY

I’VE ENTITLED OUR TIME TOGETHER TODAY: WWYD or WHAT WOLD YOU DO?

Sir Isaac Newton’s “First Law of Motion” states “Everything continues in a state of rest unless it is compelled to change by forces impressed upon it!” I think we all recognize within ourselves the need for change. Yet we also recognized that the change we need is often hard to achieve.

THIS MORNING I WANT US TO LOOK AT 4 THINGS FROM THIS ACCOUNT.

1. THE CONDITION OF THE MAN

HERE WE FIND A MAN THAT WAS HELPLESS AND HOPELESS. HELPLESS IN THE FACT THAT SOMEONE HAD TO BE BRINGING HIM THERE EVERY MORNING AND TAKING HIM HOME EVERY NIGHT. HE WOULD LAY THERE ALL DAY LONG IN A HELPLESS CONDITION. NOW ISN’T THAT THE PICTURE OF A LOST SINNER! HELPLESS, NOT ABLE TO DO ANYTHING TO SAVE HIMSELF. ISN’T THAT THE CONDITION OF US ALL? WITHOUT CHRIST WE CAN DO NOTHING. BUT WITH CHRIST PAUL WRITES (PHIL 4:13) WE CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHICH STRENGTHENS ME. YOU SEE ALL OUR TALENT, ALL OUR WISDOM, ALL OUR PERSONALITY IS NOTHING UNLESS CHRIST IS IN IT AND AT THE CENTER OF IT.

THIS MAN WAS HOPELESS. I AM SURE HE WAS FRUSTRATED MANY TIMES AS HE TRIED ON HIS OWN TO GET TO THE WATER WHEN IT STIRED. I AM SURE HE CAME TO THE POOL WITH GREAT HOPES OF GETTING WELL. BUT SUDDENLY THE DAYS TURNED TO WEEKS, WEEKS TO MONTHS AND MONTHS TO YEARS. NOTHING SAPS YOUR HOPE OR DESIRE TO LIVE MORE THAN HOPELESSNESS. THE MAN WITHOUT CHRIST HAS NO HOPE. THERE IS NO FUTURE FOR HIM, OTHER THAN A COLD GRAVE AND A HOT HELL. THANK GOD THE CHRISTIAN HAS HOPE. HOPE THAT CHRIST WILL CARE FOR HIM/HER, HOPE THAT GOD WILL BRING COMFORT IN THE MIDST OF SORROW AND PAIN. HOPE THAT GOD WILL COME AGAIN FOR HIS CHILDREN. AMEN!!!!

SO WE HAVE LOOKED AT THE MAN BRIEFLY. NOW UPON THE SCENE COMES JESUS. It is worthy of note that He, as the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world, would enter the city through the Sheep Gate, the entrance to the city through which the sheep for temple sacrifices were brought.

AND WHEN HE COMES INTO THE CITY THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE ALL AROUND. THE TEXT SAYS HE COMES TO THE POOL OF BETHESDA, A GATHERING PLACE FOR MANY WHO WERE SICK AND FOUND TO BE WITH AILMENT, SO MANY PEOPLE THAT THIS POOL HAS FIVE DECKS. can you imagine how many people there were LYING around waiting to get into the pool when it was stired?

our text talks about one of those folks, listen to what vs 5 says: A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.

Vs 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, "Do you wish to get well?

2. WE MUST DECIDE IF WE WANT TO BE CHANGED?

WE SEE HERE THAT JESUS SAW THE MAN AND KNEW HE HAD BEEN THERE A LONG TIME. YOU SEE HE KNOWS ALL ABOUT YOU AND ME AS WELL. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT WE READ, “THOU GOD SEEST ME.” HE SEES US IN THE BRIGHTNESS OF THE DAY AND THE DARKNESS OF THE NIGHT. HE SEES US WHEN WE SIN AS WE ARE REMINDED THAT OUR SINS SHALL FIND US OUT (NUM. 32:23) BUT HERE IS THE COMFORTING THOUGHT: WHEN WE ARE IN TROUBLE OR SORROW HE SEES US ALSO. YOU MAY THINK THAT YOU DON’T COUNT WITH GOD THAT YOU ARE SIMPLY ONE SMALL PERSON AMONG MILLIONS ON EARTH BUT YOU ARE SOMEONE IN HIS SIGHT. HE IS AWARE OF YOU MORE SO THAN IF A SPARROW FALLS TO THE EARTH.

NOW VS 6 SEEMS TO ASK A FOOLISH QUESTION BUT REMEMBER GOD DOES NOT ASK QUESTIONS FOR NO REASON AT ALL. HE ASKS THE MAN DO YOU WANT TO BE MADE WELL? He was asking a very serious question because it is entirely possible that he does not “really” want to be changed.