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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000003S
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00:05 Sermon #S003 - What keeps You Coming?
00:19 Pastor Snell: John 5:1. 00:24 As we really look to say some things that I'm praying you're going to encourage 00:29 and bless the body of Christ today. 00:32 John 5:1, the Bible says that "After this there was a feast of the Jews; 00:42 and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, 00:48 which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, 00:56 blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 01:02 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; 01:08 then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, 01:11 was made well of whatever disease he had. 01:15 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 01:21 And when Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he was already in that condition a long time, 01:28 He said unto him, 'Do you want to be made well?' The sick man answered Him, 01:35 'Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred; 01:41 but while I am coming, another steps down before me.' And Jesus said unto him, 01:47 'Rise, take up your bed and walk.' And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. 01:56 And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, 'It is the Sabbath; 02:04 it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.'" 02:07 Some folks just don't know when to praise. Come on and tell the truth today. 02:10 "'It's not lawful for you to carry your bed.' And he answered them, 02:15 'He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.'' 02:21 And they asked him, 'Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk'?' 02:26 And the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, 02:31 a multitude being in that place. And afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, 02:40 'See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.'" 02:47 I want to reap emphasis verse number 5. The Bible says, 02:50 "Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years." 03:01 Today, saints, I want to just ask a simple question. What keeps you coming? 03:08 What keeps you coming? Let's pray. 03:11 Father, I need Your strength to be perfected in my human weakness today. 03:22 Would You please breathe upon this service so that faith will be multiplied. 03:29 That the miraculous within in the ears of Your people then in their hearing become attainable. 03:36 Father, I'm praying that the Gospel of Jesus Christ would be good news. 03:41 Would You please hide me in the shadows of the cross? That Christ alone might be seen. 03:46 That Christ alone would be heard. At the end of our time together, may Jesus alone be praised. 03:51 May You caused the building to swell because of the denseness of Your presence. 03:56 Lord, not only the building, may our hearts swell 03:59 because You have allowed Yourself to visit with us today. We pray this in the name of Jesus. 04:05 Let God's people say together "Amen." 04:07 And Amen. You may be seated in the house of the Lord or you may be seated there online. 04:13 Again, talking to you under the subject "What Keeps You Coming?" 04:21 You know, saints, our text today, in many ways, represents a theological oddity. 04:31 There are some beliefs and behaviors at the Pool of Bethesda that don't really make sense. 04:41 It said here that Bethesda have these five porches that are set against this large pool of water 04:48 called Bethesda. My favorite author says that there are unknown causes that would create a stirring of 04:57 the water and their a superstition began to emerge. 05:03 The superstition was that an angel would come down in random seasons and touch the water 05:09 and cause it to stir. The belief was that the first one to get down in the water will ultimately be 05:16 healed. 05:18 Understand that this belief was so strong that the sick 05:22 and the lame would gather for indefinite seasons on the edge of the pool, 05:28 waiting on an unscheduled stirring of the water. 05:32 Yet the superstition was so great that desire of ages lets us know that when the water did move that 05:41 there were times that people would get trampled, underfoot and mangled. 05:46 Some would even die trying to get to a place of healing. 05:51 It's amazing because scholars suggest that perhaps there were some that got some therapeutic 05:58 benefit from the warm springs of water, but it provided no help for the masses. 06:05 But isn't it amazing? When something helps one person, we have a way of building a doctrine around it, 06:14 and creating the belief that it can help everybody. 06:18 So that the aqua therapy that would help one person wouldn't provide relief for what anyone else had. 06:25 What I want to caution us away from is making sure that we don't exalt the method of healing above the 06:33 God that performs the healing. 06:36 [Congregation: Amen] 06:38 In other words, let us never make an idol out of the instrument of healing. 06:42 We've got to praise the God that actually brings it to pass. In other words, 06:47 there are some of us that feel like garlic is the cure for the cold and cancer. 06:53 There are some that believe that herbs is the cure for everything. 06:58 Some have put complete hope in an elderberry. There are some that have complete trust in CBD oil. 07:06 There are some that put all hope in ginseng. But there is a reason, friends, 07:12 that Jesus healed in a variety of ways. You realize that some Jesus spoke the word to. 07:18 For others, Jesus touch them. Others, Jesus let them touch them. At times, 07:25 Jesus spoke the word from out of town. Sometimes, he would let you touch the hem of His garment, 07:30 and then you would be made whole. The reason that Jesus heal in a number of different ways was 07:38 because we were never to idolize a method. We were supposed to praise the God who did it. 07:44 In other words, He did it a number of ways so that they would not try to imitate a routine, 07:50 so that they would be willing to get connected to our source. 07:54 See, I need us to understand that you are not ever to confuse the instrument of your miracle with the 08:02 source of your... Am I preaching to anybody today? I need you all to know that all week long, 08:07 I've been kind of rolling nutmeg in my mouth, doing hot and cold treatments, 08:11 doing some electrical steam. But no matter what God uses to heal, 08:16 I know that at the end of the day, it's because there is a Balm in Gilead, 08:22 that there is a physician there that I'm going to get... Are you all here in the pastor today? 08:27 In other words, don't confuse the vehicle with the source. 08:31 [Congregation: Amen} 08:32 Okay. Let me say it this way. 08:34 I remember a pastor in in the middle of the pandemic when we were not moving around too much. 08:39 There was one of our dear seniors whose daughter could not consistently get there by their home. 08:45 What she would do is she would send meals through DoorDash because she couldn't come there in person. 08:52 The daughter would send Olive Garden through DoorDash. 08:55 She would send Cheesecake Factory through DoorDash. 08:58 She would send KFC through DoorDash. 09:01 She would get all of her favorite foods delivered through DoorDash . When I talked to her, 09:07 she said, "Pastor, you've got to try this new restaurant called DoorDash." 09:11 [Congregation: Laughing] 09:13 In other words, she didn't get the word that it was a delivery service, not a food actual service. 09:18 She says, "You got to try DoorDash . They make cheesecake and KFC, 09:23 and they make Olive Garden at the same place." 09:25 What she didn't realize is that DoorDash just delivered it. They didn't manufacture it. 09:31 [Congregation: Clapping] 09:33 See, how many of us know that the herb is just DoorDash . 09:36 It delivered it, but it didn't make it. That the Tylenol delivered it, 09:42 but it didn't create the healing. I need you all to know that the medicine is the vehicle, 09:48 but Jesus is the source of all of our restoration. Are you hearing me today, saints? 09:55 Beloved, as you look here in John 5, it is an interesting text 10:04 because the narrative here settles upon a man with a particular type of illness. 10:11 The Bible says, friends of mine, that he has been sick for thirty-eight years 10:17 and he is described as being crippled. I need you to get, beloved, that at Bethesda, 10:23 even though there are others that are sick, this man has a particular disadvantage, 10:32 especially if his goal is to make it inside of the pool. 10:37 In other words, the brother is not ambulatory. He cannot walk. 10:41 I need you to get like this is a crazy predicament to be in if you got to race to the water 10:49 and you ain't even got the ability to move. In other words, 10:54 a deaf man can see the water moving and quickly jump into the pool. 10:59 A blind man can hear the water moving and he still got the upper hand. That a leper can see it 11:07 and crawl his aching limbs into the pool. But he is at great disadvantage 11:13 because he's in a foot race when he don't even have the ability to wiggle his big toe. 11:20 Even by his own expression to Jesus when Jesus asks, "Do you want to be made well?" 11:27 Notice his admission is, "Jesus, 11:30 I have no man to help me get down into the pool when the water is stirred." 11:36 By his own admission, he knows he can't get to the pool. By his own admission, 11:46 getting to the pool is an impossibility for him. He has already, by his own words, 11:52 expressed that "I'm not really here to get inside of the water." 11:58 So then my question becomes, church, if you aren't there to get well, 12:06 why in the world do you keep coming? I'm trying to figure this thing out. 12:12 If you're not there to get well, 12:15 why would you keep going for thirty-eight years to go home the same way that you came? 12:22 Why would you keep coming to a place where you have no expectations of getting well? 12:29 Why would you keep participating in a process that leaves you as bad as the same way you came in? 12:36 I guess the question still remains for some who may not be physically sick, 12:42 but maybe you're spiritually sick or emotionally sick or you got some inner brokenness. 12:47 The question still remains. What keeps you coming? 12:52 [Congregation: Amen] 12:54 I want to just give a couple of reasons and I'm going to quickly try to take my seat today. 12:58 You see the first reason this brother keeps coming is because his sickness has made him significant. 13:08 I need you all to get, friends of mine, that Bethesda, even though it is near the Temple Gate, 13:13 I need you all to understand that, essentially, this is a sickness colony. 13:18 In other words, when people come to Bethesda, Rafael, 13:22 I need you to get that one of the purposes is actually fellowship. 13:27 In other words, they got a place where they're not a nuisance to everyone 13:32 because of their actual condition. 13:35 There is a sense of community and belonging where they can share their stories 13:41 and get some compassion. In other words, at Bethesda, you don't just go there to get well. 13:47 You go there to be welcomed. 13:51 See, this man has been coming for thirty-eight years. Now, I need you all to stay with me, church, 13:56 and understand who this brother is in Bethesda. 14:01 I need you to get that he is the elder statesman of the group. 14:06 This brother is the church historian for the Bethesda Seventh-day Adventist Church. 14:14 In other words, he has seen everybody come to Bethesda from 90s to the oaughts to the tens, 14:22 all the way into the 20s. He knows what everybody had. He knows when they left. 14:28 He knows when they went back. He understand that he's got his scripted sad story, 14:34 that is so well crafted that it touches every emotional button in the soul that is designed to get you 14:42 to give or have pity on his situation. Understand that when this brother came, 14:49 he was a part of a sickness cohort. He was a part of a sickness class, 14:54 but everybody in his class has either died or graduated or went back home, 15:01 but this brother is like one of those Oakwood folks who come and stay 15:06 but they never graduate. Oh, you all mighty quiet today. 15:09 In other words, he's just glad to have association, but he don't really need a degree. 15:14 This is one of those brothers where the degree or graduation is sympathy and not healing. 15:21 [Congregation: Amen] 15:23 See. Let me just pause and say this friends of mine. 15:25 You got to be careful not to get to a place where you crave human sympathy more than you crave Divine 15:32 Healing. 15:33 [Congregation: Clapping] 15:34 Pastor Snell: Oh, help me, Holy Spirit. See, sometimes, friends of mine, 15:38 you can crave the sympathy so much that you don't know longer want to get well. 15:43 Am I telling the truth that sometimes you can get so addicted to your counselor that you don't feel 15:50 the need to stop going to counseling? 15:53 That you can get so addicted to the support group that you forget that Jesus is your support. 15:59 That you can fall in love with your walker and the attention it brings that you forget that God 16:04 is what strength inside of your legs. 16:07 Sometimes, we'll get to a place where we crave the sympathy more and more than we crave the healing. 16:14 God is trying to get us to a place where we want to get well more than we want to be pitied. 16:22 Are you all hearing me today? 16:23 In fact, put this on the screen. There are a Ministry of Healing at p253. 16:28 In fact, Ellen White gives us some great council here. Listen to what she says. 16:33 She says, when someone asked how you are feeling, watch this, 16:37 do not think of something mournful to tell. Are you all hearing this? 16:44 When they ask you how you are doing, don't think of something more for tale in order to gain sympathy. 16:50 Do not talk of your lack of faith and the sorrows 16:53 and sufferings that tempt your delights to hear such words. 16:56 When talking on gloomily subjects, you're glorifying him. 17:00 We are not to dwell upon the great power of Satan to overcome us. 17:04 Often, we give ourselves into his hands by talking of his power. 17:11 Let us talk instead of the great power of God to bind up all of our interests with His own tale of 17:18 His matchless power, and speak of His glory. Am I preaching to any living saints today? 17:26 In other words, saints, I'm calling the church out of the sympathy search. 17:30 I'm saying it's time for us to talk a little more faith. It's time to walk a little bit more faith. 17:37 It's time for us to talk more of the goodness of God, then we talk about the power of the enemy. 17:45 Do I have at least seven folk that's tired of walking around saying how strong the devil is 17:51 and how he got his foot all over your neck? 17:54 Is there anybody that believes that greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world? 18:03 This week, I hadn't felt my best. When somebody asked me how I was doing, 18:08 I had to let him know I'm still blessed. I have to let him know God is still on the throne, 18:13 that God is still making a way. Even though I'm not getting better, 18:18 I need you to know that God is sustaining me in it. Is there anybody that can say I'm not healed yet, 18:25 but he's keeping me? I'm not completely cured, but he sustaining me. 18:30 See, I'm one of those folks that believes that sometimes, you can't wait to praise Him. 18:36 [Congregation: Amen] 18:38 You got to praise Him in advance because sometimes, your praise becomes your prophecy. 18:44 Are you all not hearing me today? In other words, whatever you praise for, 18:49 you actually prophesied for. If you're thinking, guess what? You were invited into being. 18:56 Are you all hearing me today, saints? 18:57 [Congregation: Yes] 19:04 See I need you all to get, beloved, that his sickness is what has made him significant. 19:09 Now, the reason this is critical, friends, 19:11 and I want to talk to our family structure for just a moment. 19:14 It shows us why we've got to rally around our infirm. 19:21 You see the brother has got somebody to bring him to the pool. 19:30 He just ain't got nobody to help him get into the pool. 19:35 He's got somebody that's willing to bring him to the place, 19:40 but they won't sit with him while he's at the place. 19:44 Maybe there is a legitimate need of a child or grandchild that's got to work in order to keep things 19:51 going, but maybe there is just somebody that's got to live their own life. 19:56 They bring him to the pool to coalesce so that they can go about doing what they have to do. 20:02 See, the reason, beloved, this is so critical is 20:06 because when somebody's significance is drawn from their sickness, 20:11 we disabled the incentive to get well. 20:17 You see, when you get to a place, when the only thing that gets you the attention of your community is 20:23 your illness and when your pain is the only thing that makes you visible, 20:30 you lose the incentive to get well because most people would rather be visible than physically viable. 20:39 Are you all hearing what I'm saying? See, beloved, I need us to understand. 20:43 This is why you have a number of what they call fictitious disorders, 20:47 where individuals will literally fake certain symptoms or their body will literally begin to feign 20:53 certain symptoms, simply because there is a desire to be connected with community 20:59 and not be treated as a nuisance. From the outside, we think that they're faking. 21:05 But how many of us know that mental wellness is connected to physical wellness? 21:11 When you're not good on the inside, guess what? It's going to show up on the out. 21:16 Are you all hearing me today, saints? 21:17 See, I just want to do two things. First of all, 21:20 I just want to say praise God for everyone that function as a caregiver in the body of Christ. 21:29 Can you say, "Amen"? Listen? I just want to give some props for everybody that's care for your mama 21:35 or your grandmama or granddaddy. I want to praise God for anybody that's deferred a dream, 21:42 or put a vision on hold, or uprooted your life to care for somebody that was at the end of theirs. 21:48 This is the blessing. I pray for every caretaker in the community, 21:53 that your latter day shall be greater than the early day. 21:57 Are you all hearing what I'm saying, church? 21:59 Okay. Let me say it this way. In other words, if your parents didn't outsource your youth, 22:04 don't you outsource their senior years. If they didn't outsource your senior year in high school, 22:12 don't you outsource their senior years of life? If they took the time to care for you as a baby, 22:18 take the time to care for them as a senior. I need you all to know, beloved, 22:23 that when you teach your kids how to care for your parents, 22:28 you're giving a blueprint for how you ought to be cared for when you get old. 22:34 Are you hearing me today, saints? 22:39 The first reason he keeps coming is because his sickness is what makes him significant. 22:44 The second reason he keeps coming, friends of mine... The second reason he keeps coming back is 22:49 because he ain't got no better choice. In other words, 22:59 they don't ask for insurance at the pool of Bethesda. There ain't no co-pays at the pool of Bethesda. 23:13 There is no medical billing at the pool of Bethesda. The reason for going to Bethesda is 23:20 because superstition is always free. See, I need us to understand this about the pool of Bethesda. 23:29 We look at it as just a uniting of physical condition, 23:34 but the truth is there is a class element to the pool of Bethesda. 23:38 Because, really, what binds them also is their financial condition. 23:42 Are you all hearing me today, saints? 23:44 In other words, I need you all to understand that like the woman with the issue of blood, 23:49 like the only reason she winds up coming to Jesus is that she has spent all of her livelihood on 23:55 physicians and could not be healed by any of them. Now, these folk, just like in our time, 24:01 even though it was the ancient world, medicine had reached its zenith or capacity for that time. 24:08 But in every age, medicine has limitations. It cannot address what everybody is dealing with. 24:15 Now, when you run out of money, you run out of resources, and you ain't got no more choices, 24:21 where you wind up is at the pool of the Bethesda. 24:26 See, friends of mine, I need us to understand this 24:29 because sometimes I get a little agitated with our upper-middle-class assessment 24:35 of why people do the things they do. Because see, 24:39 some of us get a little judgmental about people's lifestyle and health choices, 24:45 but how many of us know you didn't make good choices? You had good choices. 24:54 Before you spend too much time judging somebody's choices, you might need to evaluate the options 25:00 they had. See, how many of us know that when all your options are bad, guess what? 25:06 Your choices are going to be bad. In other words, friends of mine, 25:10 your choices are going to reflect the fact that you live in a food desert, 25:15 where there are no opportunities to get roughage, fruit and vegetables. 25:21 In other words, there are times where if I don't have access to mental health care, 25:25 then I'm just going to use coping mechanisms. I'm going to get a forty, a pack of Marlboro 25:31 and just something that I need to get to sleep each and every night. As a kid going to the store, 25:39 if you don't know no better, all you're going to get is the little ghetto candy from the store. 25:44 You will get now and later, jawbreakers. You're going to get chiclets sticks. Come on. 25:48 You all have been to the food stall before. You go get honey buns and soda. 25:54 You're going to get a bunch of junk. Why? Because when you ain't got good choices, 26:00 what you do is you make bad choices. 26:02 See, the reason we don't make good choices in some communities is because we don't have them. 26:08 My belief, friends of mine, is that if there were a Pool of Bethesda in Detroit, in Chicago, 26:16 in Atlanta, or in Huntsville, because it's not just based on illness, but also medical resources, 26:25 many of the inhabitants will look just like us. 26:30 See, I need you to understand that there are some at the pool because they lack wealth, 26:35 but then there are others at the pool because their health snatch their wealth. 26:43 See, this is why, friends of mine, the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, 26:46 we've got to start preaching the message of health the way God intended. 26:59 Pastor Snell: Praise God everyone, that word was a blessing to me and I pray that it was a blessing 27:06 to you. I want to encourage you to make sure that you come and join us the same time, 27:09 same place next week. 27:12 As I give you part 2 of the message entitled " What Keeps You Coming?" If you want more infomation 27:18 about Breath of Life, what we're doing, what we're about? Just go visit us at our website 27:23 breathoflife.tv. God Bless! 27:27 (Breath of Life Theme Music) 27:50 [End] |
Revised 2022-02-11