Jesus and the Lonely Man | The Blessing of Friendship with Jesus

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It's the official companion resource for the new Amazon TV series also called The House of David. Sometimes family disappoints us, but Jesus will not disappoint you. This is the day when the lost are found. This is the day for a new beginning. Amazing grace how sweet the sound.

Again you hear how the angels are singing. This is the day, the day when life begins. According to the Mayo Clinic, adults with strong social support minimize many health problems including depression, high blood pressure, and unhealthy weight gain. So there you go, more friends, less weight.

But in reality we need connections in our lives. And today on A New Beginning, Pastor Greg Laurie points out the blessing of having a friendship with Jesus. What a friend we have in Jesus.

All our sins and griefs to bear. Join Pastor Greg in John chapter 5. Before us in John 5 is the story of a lonely man.

In fact the title of my message is Jesus and the Lonely Man. We are in a series, Jesus and You. We have looked at Jesus and the doubter, John the Baptist. We have looked at Jesus and the moral man Nicodemus. Now we come to this guy in John chapter 5.

Let's read about him. I am reading John chapter 5 verses 1 to 18. And I am reading by the way from the New Living Translation.

Read along with me. Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem on one of the Jewish holy days and inside the city near the sheep gate was the pool of Bethesda with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people, blind, lame, or paralyzed lay on the porches. One of the men laying there had been sick for 38 years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, would you like to get well? I can't, sir, the sick man said, for I have no one to put me in the pool.

When the water bubbles up, someone else always gets there ahead of me. Jesus said, stand up, pick up your mat, and walk. Instantly the man was healed. He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking. But this miracle happened on the Sabbath so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, you can't work on the Sabbath. The law doesn't allow you to carry that sleeping mat. But the man replied, the man who healed me told me, pick up your mat and walk. Who said such a thing as that?

They demanded. The man didn't know for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. But afterward Jesus found him sitting in the temple and told him, now you are well.

So stop sinning or something even worse may happen to you. Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders it was Jesus who had healed him. So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But Jesus replied, my father is always working and so am I. We will stop there.

Isn't that a great story? Here is my first point. This was a turning point in the life and ministry of Jesus. Up to this point the religious leaders have tolerated Christ. Now they are going to outright turn against him because of this statement that Jesus makes. This statement would ultimately cost him his life. What was that statement? That statement was simply that he was equal with God. Speaking of the Almighty as his father he said, my father and I. There in verse 17. Don't let anyone ever tell you that Jesus never claimed to be God for indeed he did.

And this is just one of the occasions. On another occasion he healed a man and then he said, your sins are forgiven you. And they said, only God can forgive sins.

Jesus said, exactly. He was claiming to be God. He was God walking among them and he had an agenda. He had a schedule and God is never late for his appointments. He had people to meet. He had lives to change. He had miracles to perform so he was moving along. It is interesting because we begin with the word after word and then in Matthew we read the word then often. Mark's gospel immediately, Luke's gospel uses the phrase it came to pass.

So the idea is Jesus was moving along at a pretty fast clip with a purpose. He knew exactly what he was saying when he claimed to be equal with the father. He meant what he said. He said what he meant.

Bringing him to point number two. As Christians we don't believe in coincidence we believe in providence. Right? Nor do we believe in luck. Sometimes people say, boy I am lucky. That is my lucky number.

I don't believe in luck. I believe in providence. What is providence? It means ultimately that God is in control. Even sometimes when events don't make sense God is still working and that is exactly what Jesus was doing and he had an appointment with this particular man. And so he sees this lonely individual bringing me to point number three. Jesus seemed to be drawn to lonely people.

Drawn to the people who had the greatest need. This man had effectively been abandoned and he had this loneliness inside. And no matter who you are, no matter how much money you make or how many followers you have in social media or how famous you are or how infamous you are or if you are unknown that you are still a lonely person deep down inside. Selena Gomez said quote, I am so scared of being alone and I want people to love me.

Freddie Mercury the lead singer of Queen once said quote, you can have everything in the world and still be the loneliest man and that is the most bitter type of loneliness. Bringing me to point number four. The man in our story was just hoping for a miracle. Now we read that he was waiting for the waters to be stirred.

There was a legend that an angel would sometimes appear move the waters around and if you were close to the water when this happened you would get healed. There is no indication this is a true story. It could have been true. Maybe it happened once but that is what this man was hoping for. And he had been waiting a long time.

38 years. So he is an older guy but he is hoping for a miracle in his own life. Hoping for something to happen to him. You know and it is interesting how we read that Jesus saw this man. There were a lot of people there. A lot of hurting people there but Jesus zeroed in on this one man in particular. This man that had this great need. And it is worth noting that Jesus didn't preach to everyone. He preached to certain individuals. He didn't heal everyone. He healed certain people. And now he goes to this man and makes what I would say is a provocative statement in verse 14. Now you are well after he heals them.

Now you are well. Stop sinning or something even worse may happen to you. This would indicate that this man's particular condition may have been a result of some kind of sin. Now when I say that I am not implying nor does the Bible teach that if you are sick or you have a disability it is because you committed a sin. The reality is all sickness aging and all the other challenges we face in life are the result of sin in general. You know when our first parents sinned Adam and Eve a sin spread to all of the world. As I have said before if Adam and Eve had not sinned we would never die. If Adam and Eve had never sinned we wouldn't get sick. If Adam and Eve had never sinned I would have a full head of hair. So in a broad sense all sickness and all things that happen to us of that nature are a result of sin in general.

But it would appear that maybe there was something in particular with this man. You know Paul wrote to the members of the church in Corinth and said some of you have become sick and even died because of their sin. The Psalmist wrote before I was afflicted I went astray but now I have kept your word. So sometimes God may allow sickness in your life to get your attention. Maybe you are walking away from the Lord or you are disobeying the Lord or not paying attention to what he is saying.

He might let something happen to get your attention again. Pastor Greg Laurie will have the second half of his message in just a moment. Well we are in John chapter 5 today as Pastor Greg presents his message, Jesus and the Lonely Man. Let's continue. Let's continue.

I give him the glory for all of it. But I guarantee I am going to ask for it. The Bible says you have not because you ask not. And then Jesus said ask and it shall be given seek and ye shall find knock and the door shall be open.

And there is an ascending intensity in the verbs that Christ used implying that we should step up our game. So first we are asking then we are seeking then we are knocking so keep asking the Lord. Maybe it was the utter helplessness of this man that drew Jesus to him. Maybe he prayed a little prayer. God please send an angel for me to get me healed. And little did he know that God was going to do something better than that. He was going to send his only begotten son to personally touch the sky.

Did you know that God is able to do exceedingly above and beyond that which you could ask or think. Don't limit God with your prayers. Lord I have this financial need. I ask you to meet it. I need this amount of money. I will say Lord I have this financial need. I ask you to meet it. Please take care of it.

Do you want to do even more? I welcome that too. Whatever God wants to do. We think God wants to withhold his blessing. We think that God is stingy.

The very opposite is taught in Scripture. This guy wanted an angel to stir the water. God wanted to send his only son to transform this man and stir up his life in fact. And maybe you identify with this guy. Maybe you feel like you are all alone.

Maybe your parents or maybe you have been divorced or maybe you are single and you are saying am I ever going to find someone. But you know deep down inside I think we have a loneliness for God. And the Bible speaks of a friend that sticks closer than a brother. And that friend is Jesus Christ. And Jesus walks in when others walk out. Sometimes friends disappoint us. Sometimes family disappoints us.

But Jesus will not disappoint you. And this man was in such great need. He was helpless and hopeless. We read that crowds of sick people, verse 3, where they are blind, lame, and paralyzed. This word paralyzed can be translated without strength. Or another translation puts it helpless and powerless. That is how we all are before we come to Christ.

We are just weak. The Bible says in Romans 5 those who are without strength those are the ones that Christ died for. Sometimes people will say to Christians you know you Christians you turned to Christ because you needed a crutch. Christianity is a crutch. My response is no it is not a crutch.

It is a whole hospital. I need more than a crutch. I am not embarrassed to say that. I need God's help by the way you do too. This man understood his great need for God. You know sometimes it said well God helps those who help themselves. The good book says.

Well I don't know what good book you are reading. But the Bible doesn't say that. Effectively the Bible says God helps those who can't help themselves. Or even God helps the helpless.

So Jesus saw this man and now asks him a poignant question. Would you like to get well? What kind of thing is that to ask a man who has been sick for 38 years and is in this sad situation.

Would you like to get well? But it is a valid question because not everyone wants to get well. You know some people like the lifestyle they have chosen. Not every alcoholic wants to stop drinking. Not every drug addict wants to stop using drugs. Not every person living on the street wants to get off the street. You see you can't help someone if they don't want your help. And if they are not going to make some effort on their part whatever you do to rehabilitate them or help them get on their feet again may end with failure.

There has to be a willingness on their part as well. Do you want to be healed? Do you want to change your life? Some people are comfortable in sin. You know how sometimes when you are in bed maybe you get out of bed and then you go back to your bed and you try to find that little warm spot you were in? You know what I am talking about?

Is it just me? Oh I found it. A little warm spot.

That is how some people are in sin. This is our little warm spot. They are comfortable. They have grown used to the darkness. The story is told from history of a prison that had a dungeon. It was called the Bastille.

And they decided to destroy it because it had outlived its usefulness. And there is this one prisoner who has been confined there for years, decades. And they said you are free. You can leave the prison.

And this man came out of his dark cell into the blinding sunlight and put his hand over his eyes and said please take me back to my prison cell. That is how some people are. They don't want to leave their prison cell of sin or addiction or whatever it is. Do you want to change? Do you want to get well? Do you really want your marriage healed? Do you really want to be free from dependency and drugs or alcohol? Do you really want to be free from your sexual sin? Do you really want to be made well?

Do you really want to change? There is God's part and there is your part. He says I can't sir.

I have no one to help me get to the pool. Jesus is like forget the pool. You don't understand what is happening here buddy.

And I love what Jesus says. First of all he asks the impossible. Secondly he removes all possibility for a relapse. Thirdly he expects continued success. First he asks the impossible.

Pick up your sleeping mat and walk. And in this guy's defense he goes for it. I can't. He says alright. And all of a sudden strength is restored to his feet and his legs and he stands up. What an amazing thing.

So he did the impossible. But then Jesus removes any possibility for a relapse. Take it with you. You are not coming back here again.

We are done with the pool. We are done with this whole life. It is a new life.

Put your old life behind you. Here is a problem that some people have when they say they are going to become Christians is they don't make a break with the old life. And they don't make a break with the old friends. I can tell you when I became a Christian I had some pretty low life friends. I had friends in low places.

And I had to completely break off my relationship with them because they would have drug me down so fast. In fact they even tried to immediately after they heard I had become a Christian. And I had to make new friends.

And every Christian needs to do this. Your friends matter. You show me your friends and I will show you your future. Look for godly friends. And if you are a single person look for a godly man or a godly woman. The Bible says flee youthful desires and follow righteous faith and peace along with those that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

Psalm 1 says the happy man doesn't walk in the counsel of the ungodly or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of the scornful. So Jesus the saint of the sky pick that thing up and walk you out of here. This is over with. And I love that radical change that he made. Pastor Greg Laurie with insight from the account of Jesus and the lame man. And we're not done with the story.

More to come here on A New Beginning. But Jesus not only offers healing physically, he offers healing spiritually. He offers forgiveness of our sin and offers the gift of eternal life.

Pastor Greg if you would explain how easy it is to accept what Jesus offers. Well look Jesus did all the heavy lifting. He carried the cross for you. He died on that cross that he carried. This isn't about what you do.

It's about what he's done. But here's what the Bible says. Whoever will call upon the name of the Lord will be saved. So let's just say that you're caught in a riptide out in the ocean and you need help and there's a lifeguard at the stand and they see you. You've got to call out to them and let them know you need saving.

And the same is true when it comes to eternal life. Jesus is ready to save you. Will you call out to him?

You say well okay how do I do that? You do it through prayer. And prayer is just talking to God. So listen I'd like to lead you in a simple prayer. And if you pray this prayer after me I believe God will hear it and answer it and Christ will come to live inside of you. Thousands of people have prayed a prayer like this over the years that we've been doing this radio broadcast and have seen their life change. There's no power or magic in a prayer. It's all about your commitment to Christ. But this is a way to call on the name of the Lord in this prayer. So if you want Jesus to come into your life and forgive you of your sin.

If you want to know that you'll go to heaven when you die. If you want to fill that big hole in your heart just pray this prayer after me. You could pray it out loud if you like.

Pray it in the quietness of your heart. But pray these words if you would. Lord Jesus I know that I'm a sinner. But I know that you're the Savior who died on the cross for my sin. I am sorry for my sin and I turn from it now.

And I choose to follow you from this moment forward. Be my Savior and my Lord. Be my God and my friend. Thanks for hearing this prayer and answering this prayer. In Jesus name I pray.

Amen. Listen if you just prayed that prayer I want you to know that God has heard you and has answered it. The Bible says these things we write to you that believe on the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. That you may know it's yours now. God has given it to you because it's the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Congratulations and welcome to the family of God.

Yeah that's right. And listen would you let us help you get started living this new life? Let us send you Pastor Greg's New Believer's Bible. It's in an easy to understand translation with so many helps specifically for those who are new to the faith and will send it free of charge. So get in touch for your copy of the New Believer's Bible. Call us at 1-800-821-3300. We can take your call anytime.

That's 1-800-821-3300. Or write A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or go online to harvest.org and click Know God. And then thank you for partnering with us to help these daily studies continue.

Your investments have eternal benefits. Why not make this a part of your personal ministry to partner in an effort that's making a real difference with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Thank you for your prayers and for prayerfully considering how God might lead you to help tangibly. Online you'll find us at harvest.org and there you'll see the way we'd like to thank you for your donation right now. That's harvest.org. Or write us at A New Beginning, Box 4000, Riverside, California 92514. Or call us at 1-800-821-3300. Or call us at 1-800-821-3300. Well next time Pastor Greg continues our study of Jesus' pivotal dialogue with the lame man by the pool of Bethesda. Join us here on A New Beginning with pastor and Bible teacher Greg Lord.