The Church of Eleven22 - S01 E22 - Your Mat

Episode Date: April 29, 2020

Hey church, it is time for Devo. If you've got your Bible, let's go to John chapter 5. John chapter 5. We'll pick it up in verse 1. And after this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now, one of the reasons the Bible will say that he goes up to Jerusalem is this talking about elevation. Jerusalem is built on top of Mount Moriah, which is the highest of the mountains. They're really like hills, but they call them mountains. And so kind of no matter where you are, northeast, south, or west, you are going up to get to Jerusalem. Now, there in Jerusalem by the sheep gate is a pool in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades, and in these lay a multitude of invalids,

blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for 38 years. And when Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there for a long time, he said to them, do you want to be healed? All right. So the reason that they would hang out by this particular pool,

you can go there today. If you ever go to Jerusalem with me, we'll take you there. The colonnades are still there. It's kind of a cool place. And there was this kind of legend that an angel would come in and stir the water up

and whoever got into the water first would be healed. And so, I don't know if it's true or not, but there was a bunch of people there. and so all the sick would kind of hang out waiting for their turn and their shot to jump in. The Bible says that this one man, this nameless man, has been there for 38 years. Jesus comes walking by, knows everything, knows he's sick, knows how long he's been there. He looks at him and he asks him this question, do you want to be healed? Now, I would never want to be like a smart aleck with Jesus, but I would say, what kind of question is that?

I mean, look at me, I'm sick. You think I've been laying here for 38 years? because I like the company, because it smells good, because I just want to sit by the pool? No, of course I want to be healed. But let me ask you this question. Do you want to be healed? Because I think sometimes,

sometimes people are okay just kind of sitting in their funk. Like, how would you like to be healed of your addictions? And how would you like to be healed of your anxiety and healed of your depression? How would you like to be healed? You see, sometimes people, don't actually want to be healed because then it takes away their excuse for bad behavior. And sometimes people don't want to be healed because, I don't know, you've identified so much

with that thing that's held you down. That thing has become your identity. And if that thing, your sickness is taken away, then who are you? And there are some people, and it's almost like they would rather be sick and miserable than to be healed and whole. so let me ask you do you want to be healed and if the answer is yes then i would say do something about it look here's how this man answers the sick man answered him sir i have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up and while i'm going another steps down before me he doesn't even say yes he just gives excuses do you want to be healed he's talking to the messiah the christ the one who has all power and authority and in one word can heal him

and instead of saying yes to the request of Jesus, he begins to give excuses. Look, man, there are people that make a difference and there are people that make excuses. They're never the same people. And so let me ask you, in your life, maybe there is something that you know that God wants to advance you in or heal you of or free you from.

What are the excuses that you've been making? Well, I've tried. I went to meetings before it didn't work. Or, I don't know. I mean, you know, I made this promise that I would never do this again and here I am again. Or I'm afraid to say it out loud because what if I failed? Just excuse after excuse after excuse. What are the excuses that you are making right now in your life for not walking in the healing that God may have for you?

Now, the question is, how does God heal? Let me tell you this. God doesn't necessarily always promise cures, but he promises by his stripes, we are healed. And God, by his divine sovereignty, has given us this thing that we call common grace. So sometimes God heals through prayers, and so you should pray about that like crazy, and maybe God will supernaturally heal you. Have you asked him? And sometimes God heals through people. This means that God has given us things like health care workers and counselors and doctors. And I know that you may can't physically go see them right now, but you can video chat with them and watch God use these people in his body to do their work because he is the great physician. And sometimes God heals through pills.

Prayers, people, pills. We give glory to God no matter how he decides to heal. but we will never be healed and we will never be whole as long as we're just sitting in our own filth making excuses as to why we're there. And so Jesus walks up and says, do you want to be healed? And he goes through his excuses. And then verse 8, and Jesus said to him, get up and take your bed and walk. Get up and take your bed and walk. And at once the man was healed and he took up his bed and he walked. Now think about that. No hesitation. Jesus looks at the man,

take your, the bed is not like a bed bed, it's like a bed roll, it's like a mat, like a yoga mat. He's been laying on this thing for 38 years. One of the questions that I would have is this, Jesus, why in the world did you want this man to take up his nasty mat? He's been laying on that thing. Can you imagine how nasty that thing must have been? Why wouldn't you just throw that away and start all the way over?

Do you know each and every one of us, though we should mourn the sin of our past, none of us should ever be ashamed of our past, because Jesus isn't ashamed of us. And oftentimes, man, the greater the test that we have been through and the greater the temptations that we have succumbed in our past, the greater the testimony today. I think the reason that Jesus asked this man to pick up his mat

and roll it up under his arm and walk around with it is so that everybody that saw him would see, they would see that nasty mat. And then they would know the nastier the mat, the greater the miracle in this man's life. So the man gets up immediately, he takes up his bed, and he walks. Now, that day was the Sabbath. And so the Jews said to the man who had been healed,

it is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed. Now, this is classic legalism right here. This man just got healed by Jesus, and the thing that the religious people are concerned about is that he may have been breaking one of the rules. and that wasn't even an actual rule. You see, what the Pharisees would do is they would make up rules about the rules

so that we didn't break the commandments. The commandment is to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. And so they decided what remember and honor was. And so they said, you can't carry your mat around. And this man is carrying us a mount. Listen, Church of 1122, may we never, ever, ever be the kind of church that misses seeing miracles

because we see the dirty mat that people are carrying around. And let that sink in. May we never be, like, why is she wearing that? Or I can't, is that guy here? May we never, ever, ever be the kind of church people that miss the miracle

of what God is doing in a human being's life because we get hung up on some either superficial rule or some other superficial dress code or anything like that. And every single one of us, including me, we all have a bent towards that. We all have a propensity to get hung up with some of these kind of details that don't match our preferences, and we miss out on the miraculous move of the Almighty in somebody's life.

And so they say to him, it's not lawful for you to take up your bed. But he answered him, well the man the man who healed me that man said to me take up your bed and walk which is kind of funny they're like I don't the guy that was in unbelief and he was like I don't care what you say if you make my lead's work I'm gonna do whatever you say and so they asked him who is the man who said to you take up your bed and walk now the man who had been healed did not know who it was for Jesus had withdrawn as there was a crowd in the place and afterward Jesus found him

in the temple and said to him, see, you are well. Sin no more that nothing worse may happen to you. And the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. So Jesus tracks him down. Listen, they asked the guy, who was it that healed you? And you know what he says? I don't know. Do you know why?

Because he didn't know at that point. He didn't make stuff up. He didn't give some kind of theological answer. He didn't quote Deuteronomy or anything. He just basically shared his story. with them. And don't miss this. Verse 14, and after Jesus found him in the temple, the first thing this man did when he was able to walk is he ran to worship. He ran to the place where he could thank God. And here's what you need to know. Because of the, because of the

Levitical law in the Old Testament, a cripple man would have never been allowed inside of the temple. I mean, you think you missed church? For 38 years, this man, was never allowed to go inside the place where God dwelt. And now, for the first time ever, he gets to go into the temple. And Jesus goes and finds him inside the temple. And Jesus tells him who he is. And he says, see, you are well. Sin no more that nothing worse may happen to you.

I think there's probably more to this conversation. I think what he's saying here, he's talking about, hey, listen, you walk in the direction that you want to walk in. you think being an invalid for 38 years is bad, if you walk away from me, reject me as Lord and Savior, then you will have hell to pay for, and that will be much, much worse.

But we find out that that is not what the guy does, that the guy must have turned to Jesus because the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. The moment he could put together his own testimony, here's what he did. He went out and he went and found those guys, hey fellas, you remember you were asking me about the mat

and who told me to carry it? it was Jesus that told me to carry it. He goes on to say, and this is why the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, My father is working until now, and I am working.

They didn't like that too much because Jesus was equating God as his father and that Jesus and the father were one. So let me ask you this. If you are a believer, there was some point in your life where Jesus looked at you, you and said, take up your mat and walk.

Pick up your sin, pick up your struggles, pick up your test, pick up your habits, all of those things, and you follow after me. Now much like this man, when is the last time you told somebody who healed you? So, all the Devo watchers, I have a challenge for you. By the way, there's been about 10,000 Devo watchers throughout the week. And so I have a challenge for you. Since we've got to stay at home and we can't go face to face and all of that, I would love for you on your social media, like on Facebook or, you know, I don't know how you can get your testimony into like a Twitter account, but maybe you could

write something long on Instagram too. But I would love for you to just write out for the whole world to read your testimony on Facebook this week, just like this man. And it's as simple as this. this was my life before I met Jesus. I was an invalid for 38 years, making excuses, hoping that somebody would do for me what I could never do for myself. Here's how I met Jesus. I was minding my own business.

He walked up to me one day, and he asked me this question, do you want to be healed? And then he told me, take up your mat and walk. And now, this is what my life has been like since then. This brother went to the temple, and he became an evangelist telling people,

telling the Jews, that it was Jesus that healed him. Now, the good news is that everybody's testimony brings glory to God. Anybody that surrendered their life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ brings glory to God. Some of you, like me, were really good at being bad, and your pre-Jesus life was pretty dark, and you don't have to submerse yourself in all the gory details, but you should be honest about that map.

And then some of us, like me, were, when I met Jesus for the very first time, it was as, I don't know, it was a distinct moment in time, and I can remember the very second where I put my faith in Jesus Christ. And then there was a significant life change, not that everything went up and to the right for me, and probably you either. There's a lot of ups and downs and ups and downs, but I've been a Christian now for 30 years or so, and I'm telling you, I am still.

walking with Jesus. But let me tell you, don't compare your story to anybody else's, because God has one story for you. That's your story for His glory. And there are many of you, and your story is you grew up church and you grew up in church and you can't ever even remember not believing in him. And then at some point in your life, you surrendered your life to him. But honestly, you can't remember that moment. But it's not some memory of a past prayer that you prayed that saves you, It's your current posture with Jesus right now. And so whether you've got the testimony, like the miraculous testimony of healing like this guy, maybe you were literally healed.

Or in an instant, you were radically saved. Or maybe by God's grace, your parents raised you in the church. And over time, at some point, there was a moment where you put your faith in Jesus, whether you remember it or not. And you were continuously walking faithfully with him this week as an association. assignment, I dare you to put that on your social media and give glory to God through your testimony of how Jesus saved you, just like you saved this man in John chapter 5. Let me pray for you. Your Father in heaven, Lord, may we never, ever, ever be the kind of church that gets focused on

the mat and misses the miracle in people's lives. God, I thank you that this is a movement for all people, and that means all kind of people with all kind of different backgrounds and hangups and addictions and stories. But God, it's not just a movement for us to gather together. It's a movement for all people to discover and deepen that relationship with you. God, may we never be ashamed of the gospel. May we always be ready and present to share our story, to not overcomplicate it, but just simply share, this is what Jesus has done for me. He could do it. He could do it. the same for you. Lord, I pray that as men and women and students, as they write out their testimony, put it out there for the world to see on social media. God, I pray that there will be people that

will be drawn to you, that you will ransom their hearts, that men and women will come to know you, to know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, because you use these faithful men and women to share the story of you saving them. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.