Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - The Counselor, Part 3: Do You Want To Get Well?

Episode Date: April 12, 2014

If you could ask God one thing, what would it be? Our questions reveal more about our faith than our curiosities. When Jesus asks the questions, He sheds light on who we really are and what we truly believe. Find out how His questions reveal our h... Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

So, what brings you here today? I mean, I guess you can see it, but I just walked in here. I mean, I feel like a million bucks. 38 years. I mean, it's been 38 years since I've even felt just normal. And what happened to make you feel this way? I was laying on my mat by the pool and, you know, hoping for my chance. Your chance.

At what? You know, I mean, I'm just sitting there. We're all sitting there. waiting and sometimes the water starts to bubble in I don't know like people say that an angel does it but the first person into the pool comes out healed were you the first one in no totally different totally better Jesus came by he walked right up to me he saw me laying there and I mean he had to know why all of us was sitting there all day but he asked do you want to be made well well did you of course I wanted to be made well I mean that's why I was

there and he said stand and take up your mat and walk. I am very thankful that all of you are with us today at all of our live churches and our network churches, those of you on the other side of computer screens at church online. I really believe that for some of you today, God is going to speak to you in such a way that you will be different after being in the presence of God. We are in the third week of a four-part message here. It's called The Counselor, and what we're doing is we're looking at different

questions that Jesus asked to counsel or lead other people to truth. Maybe you missed earlier weeks. The first week, we looked at Jesus asking his disciples in the middle of a storm, why are you so afraid? Last week we saw Jesus asked two blind guys that were asking for healing. Jesus said, do you believe I can do this? Next week on Easter weekend, we're going to deal with one of the most common spiritual challenges in Christian communities, but yet one of the least talked about subjects. We're going to talk about spiritual doubts when after the resurrection, Jesus appears to the disciples and says, why did you doubt? Today, though, we're going to talk about a very important subject as Jesus asked a question to a guy who had been sick for 38 years. Jesus asked him,

do you want to be well? And what I want you to do, if you will, is listen to this message today through the lens of any ongoing long-term problem that you might have. Because we all have kind of different types of problems. I'm not talking about short-term problems that are here and then gone in a few weeks.

I'm talking about those that are ongoing. For some of you, you might have some ongoing medical issues. Maybe you've had chronic headaches or some other sort of things. issue that just won't seem to go away. Maybe depression. Some of you perhaps, you've had an ongoing problem with overspending or maybe overeating or overcommitting. For some of you, it might be an addiction that just won't go away. You're smoking something that you shouldn't be smoking. I don't know cigarettes or pot or crayons. I don't know what your deal is, you know, but whatever it is,

you know, you're trying to quit and it's something that you just haven't been able to get over. For some of you, it might be an ongoing challenge in a relationship with someone that you love, and you just can't seem to get along with your dad, or it's in a marriage, or it could be any number of different relationships, but you just can't seem to get things to where they're working. I want you to listen to this message through the lens of whatever ongoing challenge that you've had, and we're going to believe that in a moment in the presence of Jesus, We can be changed.

So John 5 is our text. We're going to look at verses 1 through 9 and then kind of talk about them in detail. John chapter 5. I'll start in verse 1 and just read it to you. A very interesting story. John said this. He said, sometime later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now, there is in Jerusalem near the sheep gate, a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda,

which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. So here we have a pool by the sheep gate. And I don't want to be critical, but I don't know who the master planter was for this community. But for some reason, I don't want to swim in a pool by the sheep gate. That just sounds weird to me. It's kind of like rice and jello. You shouldn't put rice and jello together. You shouldn't put the sheep gate by the pool.

But anyway, this isn't a regular pool. This is a natural body of water. We're going to see what's going on here. Verse three says, here a great number of disabled people used to lie. The blind, the lame, and the paralyzed. You might say, what were they doing there? Were they all getting a sun tan or whatever? They were not.

There was a tradition that an angel would actually stir up the water. And whenever the water bubbled up, they believed that whoever got in the water first would be healed. And so you can only imagine they might wait, you know, days. or weeks, and then as soon as the water bubbles up, I mean, it's a free-for-all to see who can rush and get in the water first. So verse 5 says, one who was there had been an invalid for how long. Let's all say it aloud.

He'd been an invalid for 38 years. Yeah, those of you in Florida, you've got to give me a little more love than that. I need some help today. I've been doing this all weekend. People have been kind of quiet. How long has he been there? He's been there for 38 years. So when Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he'd been in this condition for a lot of

long time, he asked him what? What did Jesus ask him? Jesus asked him, do you want to get well? Do you want to get well? That seems like an insulting question, doesn't it? It's like asking a broke guy. You want a hundred bucks. It's like asking a hungry guy. You want to go to an all-you-can-eat buffet. It's like my wife asking me, do you want to make out? This is an obvious question, okay? Do you want to be made well? Yes. want to make out. Yes, I want to be made well. And so he asked this guy, do you want to be made well? And verse 7, he says, sir, the invalid replies, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I'm trying to get in, somebody else goes down ahead of me. Then Jesus said to him, get up, pick up your mat, and walk.

At once the man was cured, he picked up his mat and walked. A moment in the presence of Jesus changed everything for this man. So today I want to talk to you about problems that persist for 38 years. This man was sick. A moment in the presence of Jesus changed everything. I see at least three significant challenges for problems that persist. And perhaps you can relate to these. I want to just go through them, so we'll all be on the same page. If you're taking notes, the first one is this. The longer a problem persists, the more discouraged you become. Right? Some of you, you've had an ongoing problem and just won't go away.

and you prayed about it for a while, but nothing happened, and you tried what you thought might help it, and nothing worked, and so you just kind of become discouraged. You tried to work on your marriage, and you prayed about it, and you were nice, and you maybe went to church together, and your marriage is still bad, and years later, you're like, I don't think anything's going to help. You know, you prayed about some physical problem you have,

and you went to some doctor, you tried another doctor, and tried another doctor, and prayed some more, and nothing got better, and you just get very discouraged, even to the point of, like, maybe this is just what God has for me. And I had a really minor issue, but compared to what a lot of people go through, it was indescribable how discouraged I became. All I did was I ruptured the tendon in my arm, and I couldn't shake hands, I couldn't lift weights, you know, certainly couldn't play tennis or anything. And I did everything. Man, I went to every doctor.

I got the traditional shots. I got experimental shots. I went to the best therapist around. I let Amy put her magic oil on there, you know, anything. You know, I even bought stuff off late night TV commercials. I make fun of anybody who does that. I'm like, you know, it's one in the morning. Like, the miracle cure, it's a wrap with gold dust that will help you get better.

I'm like, I'll buy two. You know, I'm so desperate. And I was so discouraged, and it only lasted for maybe two. 20 months, but I just thought my life will never be the same. I mean, I'm a pastor. I can't even shake hands, you know, and it was just something that small put me into depression for a season of time. I cannot even imagine what people I know and love who have real challenges that last not for 20 months, but sometimes for 20 years. It can be incredibly discouraging. The longer a problem persist, the more discouraged you become.

The second thing if you're taking notes, the longer a problem persists, the more excuses you tend to make. You start to make excuses because ultimately it's going to make you feel better if you put the blame somewhere else. And that's what this guy does. He says, you know, Jesus, I have no one to help me get into the water. I mean, when I try to go in there, I can't walk and they all run by me and I'm just left there completely helpless and hopeless.

No one can help me. Now, I don't want to be hard on this guy at all because I've never been an invalid and certainly, you know, it would be difficult. But let's be honest, okay. There might have been a way for him to get close to the water, okay? He couldn't walk, but he might have been able to crawl, right? Or scoot or do the inchworm. You know, just a little bit of, you know, well, I almost fell. bad. Okay, whatever it takes to get there. I think over a period of months, I figured I could

roll or do something. I'd get on the edge of the water. I'd get a little ball, and I'd wait for a blub-bl-bl-bl-b-b-b. And a moment I heard of, blo, blu-b, I'm rolling my egg into the water, okay? You see, I just think that somehow I would have said I can get there, but this guy gets to the place that we often get. No one will help me out. I can't do. I can't do. I can't do anything about this. Oh, my marriage is never, ever going to get any better. I see, I've been to the doctors and I've tried. I can't ever get a good job because I don't have a college degree. You know, I went to counseling once and it didn't do any good. I mean, I even tried church for two weeks straight and nothing happened. I mean, I've tried everything and I can't get

any better. The longer a problem persists, the more discouraged you become. the more excuses you make. And the third thing is, the more you tend to compensate. The longer a problem persists, the more you compensate for that problem. In fact, if I can just say it very directly, some of you right now, you are excelling at compensating for an issue in your life. Some of you, you are highly functioning alcoholics. Right?

you are sure it puts a stress on your marriage sure it's a challenge for your children but professionally you're highly functioning people don't know and if they don't know if they do know they don't really care because you figured out how to manage around it and you're highly functioning even though you have a significant addiction some of you in your marriage You've just learned to exist in a very dead marriage. You don't like it, but you accept it, just kind of the way it is. You tried everything you know to do, and yet you have no common vision. There is no intimacy.

There's no spiritual movement. You're not trying to invest or impart anything significant into your children. It's more of a business relationship, kind of a partnership. We're just going to stay together for the sake of the kids. This is all we have. We don't really like it, but we know how to manage it. We're just going to stay in this. Some of you, you've learned to compensate for a pornography problem. You tell yourself, it doesn't really matter that much, and you've learned to erase the traps,

you've learned to stay away from getting caught, and you think it's not that big of a deal, but you're just compensating. Some of you, you've learned to compensate for your overspending. People look at you and think, hey, man, you've got it going on. They have no idea you've been live in paycheck to paycheck for so long, you don't even know how you're going to get out of trouble. And you're the master at maxing out this credit card and that credit card. You're robbing Peter, two pay, Paul, and you've learned to compensate it for. Here's the problem.

Listen to me. You cannot change until you recognize the problem. You will never, ever change when you're tolerating an issue. You cannot change what you are willing to tolerate. Write that down. This is good stuff. You cannot change what you are willing to tolerate. The bottom line is, Jesus asked this guy, do you want to be well?

Why would he ask him that? Well, perhaps it's because Jesus knew. You can't just help someone who needs help. You can only help someone who wants help. Do you want to be made well? And he asked this very specific question. Do you want to be made well? In fact, sometimes people ask, what is the greatest hindrance to faith?

What is the greatest obstacle to real faith? Some people would say, well, obviously doubt is the biggest obstacle to faith. Some people would say fear is the greatest obstacle to faith. Some people would say worry is the greatest obstacle. obstacle to faith. All good answers. I would argue, though, that sometimes you know what the biggest obstacle to faith is? The familiar is the biggest obstacle to faith. For so many people, the familiar is the biggest obstacle to faith. You see, you don't understand. For 38 years, I've been unable to walk. You don't understand. I've tried everything possible. And

And so I've got my resume of excuses and I don't like it, but I've learned to manage around it and you just start to accept what is rather than believing what could be. You see, you don't understand. I'm just an average student. I mean, I knew that in the second grade and I know it today. You have no idea. I mean, our family, we've just struggled financially for years. My parents did.

I did. My kids probably will. That's just the way it is. I mean, you don't understand. I mean, we're just all kind of overweight. you know, it's just, I mean, this is kind of a genetic deal that just kind of impacts us through our life. You don't understand. I mean, I've tried to overcome this addiction, but I just cannot seem to do it. Here's the bottom line, is until your desire becomes bigger than your disability, you will not start to find healing.

Your desire must be bigger than the disability. Do you want to be made well? do you want to? Because honestly, some of you, you are compensating for, making excuses, and yes, you're discouraged, but you're simply used to living where you are. And I believe the Spirit of God today would ask you, do you really want to be well? Do you really want to be out of debt? Because for some of you, shopping is the drug of your choice. You may say you want it, but your actions do not say it. Do you really want to be on a day? Do you really want to overcome the addiction that has held you hostage for years? Because some people are more comfortable in the known. Even though the known is uncomfortable, they're more comfortable in the uncomfortable than the

unknown uncomfortable. I know what it's like to be in this prison, and I may not like it, but at least I know what is like. Do you really want to find healing in a relationship? Do you really want to be made well? Because you can't help someone who just needs help. You can only help someone who wants help. You cannot change what you're willing to tolerate until your desire becomes bigger than your disability. you will not start to find healing. So Jesus asked the question, do you want to be well? I'm going to tell you a very personal story to me that I tell with full permission from my dad. I asked him this week, I said, Dad, what do you think about me telling this story?

He said, well, if you think it's going to help somebody, then I want you to tell it. And so with his full blessings, I tell you this, that my dad was an hour. alcoholic. And at the age of 51, something snapped in him. And he woke up one day and in his own way decided, I want to be well. I no longer want to be in bondage to a substance. I want to be different. And so my dad went to Alcoholics Anonymous. And if you just looked on, you would say, you know, he followed the 12 steps and he admitted his powerlessness and he made amends and he called on a higher power, whatever that was for him, and he worked hard and he overcame. If you ask my dad, he would tell you this.

He would say, unquestionably beyond a shadow of a doubt. He called on his higher power, who is unmistakably the risen Lord Jesus Christ, and by the power of Christ, my dad overcame that which held him hostage. Now, I asked him, I said, Dad, how old were you when you started drinking? I'd never asked that, never even thought about asking it. And he said, well, I was 13, 13 years old. 13 years old to the age of 51. He was in bondage to alcohol.

I thought, I wonder how many years that is. And since I didn't pay attention in second grade math, I took out my phone and got my little calculator, and I typed, some of you do the same thing. 51 minus 13. I press equals and guess what the number was? 38 years. My dad was in bondage to alcohol.

38 years. And I got so emotional at that moment on the phone to my dad that it was like a gift from God to me that the story I'm preaching on is my same. You may say coincidence. You go go coincidences. You go call it whatever you want. I say with everything in me that there is a message in that that I came to tell somebody. And that message is, I don't care how long you've been down with the power of Christ you are not out.

I do not care how long you've been in bondage to something. When the presence and power of Christ is there, you are not out. I came to tell somebody that which you gave up on a long time of go is still possible in the presence of our good God. I don't care if it's been three months, 30 years, 60 years, a moment in the presence of Christ can transform everything. And here's what's so amazing about my dad, 22 years, now sober, 22 years, and we celebrate every year, and he celebrates every day as a gift from God. Now, this guy who could not overcome a substance in a bottle at the age of 73 devotes his time to helping people in need. He just got an award from the city for his work in prisons going in to help people in the prisons. He serves on two non-profit boards, one in helping people overcome addictions.

The other one is a halfway house in which he's involved in. And then he and his wife ministered to 80 or so people every single week in a celebrate recovery class. That which was his greatest misery is now my dad's greatest ministry. That's going to speak to somebody because there is something that's holding you down or holding you back and you've been miserable with it for you. And when God heals you, there's going to be no one as a better evangelist saying, God healed my headaches. God healed my cancer.

God helped me overcome my fears. And the longer that has persisted, the more glory. you're going to give God because you're going to realize you couldn't do it on your own. You needed a power greater than that which you had, and the risen Christ came on the scene. And here's what this guy says. The guy says, hey, I got no one to help me. I've got no one to help me out. And Jesus looks at this guy and says this, get up, pick up your mat, and we, and

walk, get up, pick up your mat, and walk, get up, pick up your mat and walk. Notice this. Jesus heals the guy supernaturally. Notice three things. Number one, the sick guy didn't even ask to be healed. Number two, he did nothing to earn it or deserve it. And number three, the heal. The healer. did not happen in the way he thought it would. This is going to speak to somebody. Jesus did for him what he didn't even ask Jesus to do. This is one of the million reasons why your greatest priority in life is to press into the presence of God and to get to know his son, Jesus.

That's why when you wake up in the morning, your first word is, God, today I exist to give you glory. God, I want to live my life in such a way that it, it makes a difference for you. My life is not my own. I surrender it to you. As you get to know Jesus, as you press into Jesus, as you get close to Jesus, listen to me, he will do things for you you didn't even ask him to do.

He'll bring healing in your life in areas where you didn't even know that you needed healing. He'll change your thought processes in ways that you didn't even know you were dysfunctional. He'll bring forgiveness and healing into your hearts in areas where you didn't even know you were sick. When you get close to Jesus, he will do things for you. You didn't even ask him to do. Notice the guy didn't deserve it. He didn't earn it. Jesus did not heal this man because this man was good. Jesus healed the man because Jesus was good. And that's his grace. We can't earn it. We're not good enough for it. We can't give our way to get it. We can't work our way to get it. He gives us blessings untold because of his goodness and because of his grace and for his glory. He did this.

The third thing you'll notice is the healing didn't come in the way the man thought it would. If I can just get into the water, I'll be healed. The healing didn't come to the water. Some of you, you've been searching for the healing in this particular way and this category. You're searching for it in the water. I came to tell you it may not come through the water. It may come through the living water, Jesus, who does something in a way you did not even expect. I don't know who I'm talking to. Some of you, you're in financial trouble, and you keep buying lottery tickets. Thus saith your pastor, it ain't coming through lottery tickets, okay?

It's not coming that way. You expect it through one way, and God may bring you a blessing, a healing, a transformation in some way that you never, ever even expected it before. That's the power of our good God. Jesus says to him, get up, pick up your mat and walk. In other words, if you're taking notes, Jesus essentially said, I don't want to hear your excuses. I want to see your faith. Don't you tell me what you can't do and what you're not able to do

and what other people will not do for you. I just want to see you stand up and you walk. I will do for you what you cannot do, but I want you to do what only you can do. I'm going to touch you. I'm going to heal you, but I want to see your faith to do what for 38 years you've not been able to do. I want you to have the courage and the faith to step away from the familiar, because

the familiar is often the greatest hindrance to faith. And you're going to have to have faith to stand up when you think your legs are not capable of supporting you. And this is going to talk to somebody because someone's going to take a step of faith to overcome a problem that you gave up on years ago. I don't know what it'll look like for you. You may drop your cigarettes in the garbage can as you walk out the door. You may confess to your life group a challenge where you need help. You may check yourself into rehab or call a counselor.

It will take a significant step of faith because you're all very bright people. If some small tweak would have helped you overcome this problem, you're smart people. You would have done that years ago. God is going to touch you and you're going to take a step of faith. And for some of you, you will experience healing instantly. Others of you, you may be on the beginning process of a journey that leads toward healing. You thought it was going to come through the water. You had no idea you were going to walk into church and the presence of God was going to meet you

and you are going to be touched by the power of the Holy Spirit. And it would spark something in you that only God could do. And other people are going to be looking and go, why are you so excited? Why do you have such hope? Why do you have such freedom? He said, I can't explain it. But God was with me and spoke to me. You see, I experienced Christ on that day.

I felt his love on that day. And even though I walked in without hope and just thought, this is the way it's always going to be, today I have hope because I've been with Christ. Do you want to be well? Do you want to be well? Do you want to overcome the addiction that has held you hostage? Do you want to be free of worry and anxiety and fear that keeps you up at night? Do you want to be free of an angry spirit that hurts every relationship you're ever even around?

Do you want to overcome the inability to trust people so that you can be? begin to trust and have intimacy once again. Do you believe that God is able to do anything and heal you of any physical sickness? Do you want to be made well? Because God isn't just going to help someone who needs help. He helps those who want help. Do you want to be well? Week number one, I told you that I've battled with being a workaholic, and it's

It's a significant battle. I've been to two significant seasons of counseling to try to overcome it. And I've made lots of progress, and I'll have a couple of good years, and then I can slip back into the bad patterns. And when I tell you about this, it's not this like, oh, there's our pastor. We love him. He loves God. He works so hard.

I'm not, you cannot hear that. What I'm saying is this is a sickness. It's dangerous. It's a dysfunction based on insecurities and all sorts of other garbage. and it can hurt my marriage, my parenting, my relationship with God. Ultimately, it could keep me from being able to do what I do. And last year, I had a bad year, meaning I worked way, way, way, way, way, way, way too much. So this year, I have more safeguards in place than you can imagine.

People in my life that have the ability to overrule my decisions to protect me from me because I'm dangerous to myself. I have more time scheduled off than I've ever had before because, quite frankly, I need to recover. I am guarding my days off one day a week with a passion because, listen to me, I want to be well. I want to be well. And this has been a problem that's followed me for a long time, but I'm spending more time with Christ. And he's doing in me what only he can do. but there are certain things that only I can do.

And it takes faith to leave the familiar. And I know he wants to help me, and I want to receive his help, because I cannot change what I'm willing to tolerate. And I am unwilling to live in this sickness. I want to be well. And I know with all my hearts that God has brought some people here today who want to be well.

and in the presence of Christ, I came to tell you, he can heal you. Father, I pray that your power and your love and your spirit and your presence would minister faith, hope, and healing to your church today. All of our different churches as you pray, many of you right now would say, God is speaking directly to me. I have an ongoing problem, and I want to take it before God and believe by faith that he can help make me well. That's your prayer.

Lift up your hands high right now. All of our churches, lift them up high right now. All of the churches, you all in Tennessee, Fort Worth, you guys in Albany, Texas, lift them up and say, yes, all over Oklahoma. I bring this before God. Thank you, God, for your presence in this place. Thank you for your healing power through Jesus. God, I know that a little arm problem for 20 months almost put me in a state of depression,

and I cannot even imagine how ongoing relationships and significant physical problems and addictions that last for years and years and years how we contend to lose hope. God, I pray today that in your presence, faith would be built. God, I pray that by your power, you would do miracles, just like you did in my dad's life.

After 38 years, you set him free. God, I pray for that same miraculous power to set people free and bring healing today. Now, God, I know that you're going to work, and God, I also know that you don't want to hear our excuses, you want to see our faith. And so I pray, God, that we would take steps of faith,

appropriate steps of faith as you lead us, and God, you would see our faith be pleased by it. And God, we pray that in your presence, that the healing would begin, and even for some, God, the healing has already taken place. We'll give you all the glory for all that you do because we believe you're a good God,

who will even do things we don't ask for, and do them not because we're good, but because you're good. And we thank you, God, you may do them in a way that we do not expect, and we'll give you all the glory, because you are the only one worthy of praise. As you keep praying today at all of our different churches, some of you right now, you are very sick. The reality is, all of us without Christ,

we have a sin sickness. our sin keeps us from God. And in a moment of honesty, a lot of you, you're going to recognize, you know what? Man, I've done some bad things. I've done some things I regret. And the weight of sin presses down on you. Sometimes you wonder, could I ever be right with God after all that I've done? And this is the good news of God, is that he still loves you.

Do you realize there's nothing you can do to me? make him love you more, nothing you can do to make him love you less, because he loves you, period. Not because of who you are, but because of who he is. He is love. That's who he is. Love is not what he does, it's who he is. Therefore, he loves you because of who he is. And because he's so good in his love, he did something for all of us that we could never earn or deserve. He became one of us in the person of his son, Jesus, who was without sin so he could become sin for us. in our place so that anyone who calls on his name would be saved, forgiven, and transformed. Do you want his forgiveness?

Do you want his grace? Do you want to be spiritually well? Do you want to belong to him? Do you want the promise of eternity and the hope of a life on earth to bring him glory? Do you want to be well? Do you want Jesus and his life? And all of our churches, there are those of you, you know you're here for this moment. It's time to say yes to him.

Do you want to be well and surrender your life to Christ? If that's your prayer, lift your hands high right now. All over the place, leave them up. I want to just meet you eye to eye. All three, four, five of you right here in this section together. God bless you guys. Both of you right over here, way back there, both of you, both of you, over here on this far side.

God bless you. Let me meet you. Nobody else looking around. I want to see you, sir, right back here, way back here toward the back. Both of you in this section, sir, right back over here. Sir, ma'am, sir, all of you here. You right back over here.

you right back over here, both of you together. Praise God for you. And back over here, way back to the back. My goodness gracious, way back here as well. I want to be made well. Right over here. Sweetheart here, right over here to this side, I surrender my life to Christ.

Right here in the middle section, right up here against this side, over here up close. Say, yes, I surrender completely to him. Would you all pray aloud with those around you pray? Heavenly Father, I surrender my life completely to you. Jesus, be my Savior, the Lord of my life. My life is not my own.

I give it to you. Fill me with your spirit so I could serve you for the rest of my life. Thank you for new life. I give you mine. In Jesus' name, I pray. You better worship loud and worship big because we're in the middle of something only our good God can do. Give him praise, give him honor, give him glory. Thank you for who he is.