Good morning. Buenos dias. Como estan? Good. I invite you to open your Bibles, please, in John 5, John 5, 114. And while you do that, I want to give and share the greetings that our church in Pereira sends to all of you. We are reminded of your prayers, of your love for us, and we constantly remember before the Lord that it is in part because of your prayers, your support, your love, that the church is growing there. And also something else I want to say before we start reading this is that I need your help today, because today I want to preach in my third language. which is a challenge for me. My first language is Spanish. As you all know, in Colombia we speak Spanish. My second language is American English. And today I will try Texan English. So you need to focus. You need to kind of follow and say, oh, this is what he means, okay? So let's start reading John 5, 1 to 14, and it says as follows. After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the ship gate a pool in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roof colonnades. In this lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him laying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, do you want to be healed? The sick man answered him, Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is still up, and while I'm going, another steps down before me. Jesus said to him, Get up, take up your bed, and walk. And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. So the youth said to the man who had been healed, it is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed. But he answered them, the man who healed me, that man said to me, take up your bed and walk. 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 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn as there was a crowd in the place. Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, see, you are well. See no more, that nothing worse may happen to you. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your precious Word. I pray that you may speak to us today through it and also that you may help us to put in practice and teach others what we are learning today. Amen. The famous pastor and theologian A.W. Tosser said, listen, what comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. I repeat, what comes to our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. What is the first thought that comes to your mind when you think about God? To answer that question, the answer to that question tells the most important thing about God who is for you, and at the same time tells a lot about you. And I'm not referring to an answer resulting from maybe your spiritual experiences, your blessings, the blessings you have received, or perhaps an answer you learned in Sunday school or even in Fundamentals of the Faith. I am telling you and referring about that deep thought in your heart about God, what really moves you. what really compels you to love, to follow, to be committed to Christ. And while it is true that there are not enough words for us to define God, to say who He is to us, I really believe that the text which is read give us two aspects about who God is that should help us define and understand in essence, who God is for us as people, as believers, as those who have experienced the power and the abundant mercy of God. Because this understanding of the mercy and the power of God leads us to trust our lives to a God who is so powerful, but at the same time so merciful. Think for a moment about the power of God, the splendor, the immensity of the universe. Think of the perfection of the human body, the majesty of creation. Did you know that there are over 100 billion galaxies? that demonstrate the greatness and the power of that God, which is incomprehensible to us. Scientists continue to learn that there are more stars and planets than grains of sand. That's incredible. So whoever this God is, he must be extremely, extremely, extremely powerful. But you know, as powerful as God is, so he's merciful. So he's good. So he's kind. God is absolute, absolutely infinite, absolutely eternal in all his attributes. So as powerful as he is, so he is merciful and compassionate. Power and mercy are two attributes that, humanly speaking, they don't go together. How many men in the history of humanity have been so powerful, but they have ended up being tyrant, mean, harsh, because that is what power leads you to. But in Christ, these two attributes are perfectly in harmony, the majestic God, the humble God, the powerful God, the merciful God. And the miracle that we are going to consider today, this text, impacts me greatly because I really believe this is the history of my life. And I hope that this is also the history of your life. Yes, I repeat, this is the history of my life, and I hope and pray the history of your life, people in whom the power of God has been manifested in such an incredible way, and at the same time, his mercy, bringing us from darkness to light, from the dominion of sin to the freedom of Christ. the work the Lord has done in your life is an evidence of His power and His mercy. And this is also a history that bring us to the very heart of Christ, a heart of love, compassion, eternal grace to humankind. But before we consider these two attributes that we are going to study this morning, the mercy and the power of God, I want us to understand something that is very important. This is the third, some say the fourth, sign of Jesus Christ according to to John, and these signs, these miracles, were written with a very, very specific purpose, and that is stated in John chapter 20, verses 30, 31, where it says that these signs have been written that you may know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, and that by believing in him, you may have eternal life. So today, we are considering something extremely, extremely, extremely important. We are talking about life and death. We are talking about salvation. We are talking about eternal life. This narrative wasn't written just to allow people to get the notion that they can perform miracles. It wasn't written so that people can experience or produce healings or also just to encourage Christians to be kind to the poor, to the needy, to the helpless people at the best style of Mother Teresa of Calcutta. No, I repeat, this in the ultimate instance, and I would say as first and last ultimate instance, it was written that we may know that Christ is the Son of God and in Him, and only in Him we can have eternal life. Christ wasn't just a simple miracle worker. A good man, a gracious man, helping poor people and needy people. He's the second person of the Trinity. He's God made flesh, the Savior of the world. So again, we are talking about something very important this morning. I have titled this message, What Should Be Your Response to the Mercy and Power of God? And the main purpose I have this morning for this message is that you may understand that in light of the power and mercy with which Christ has loved you, you may respond to him the way he expects you to respond. God, Christ, has shown you love, grace, mercy through His power so that you may respond in a way that He expects. And basically I want to bring your attention to three points through three observations. The first one is in verse six, the mercy of Christ, and somehow the narrative will bring us to that point, verse six. The mercy of Christ, do you want to be healed? Second, the power of Christ, that is in verse eight. Get up, take up your bed and walk. And third, Christ's exhortation to those who receive the mercy and power of Christ, sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you, verse 14. So let's start going through the text. Number one, verse one, and we're seeing or looking at the mercy of Christ. Do you want to be healed in verse six? We'll get there. So verse one says, after this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. After this, After what? These words, after this, give continuity to the busy, busy, busy agenda of Jesus Christ. In chapter two, he was in Galilee. In chapter three, he was in Jerusalem. In chapter four, he was in Samaria. In chapter five, now he goes back to Jerusalem. One incredible example of humility of Jesus Christ He left for a while his glory, his praise, angels serving him to come in all humility to precisely show in practice what it is to be humble, to what it means to be merciful, compassionate. How many of us would be willing to do what Jesus Christ did? Sacrifice, giving up everything he had to come and become a servant. Then it says that there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. John doesn't mention what feast it was. It has been speculated, you know, the name of that feast. However, it seems that for John, it wasn't that important. Perhaps what was important or what we need to think about is that at that time in Jerusalem, there must have been a lot of people because it was a feast where people would come from other parts to the feast. Some commentators think that at least a million people were there, up to four million. So there was a big, big crowd of people. And then John moves us from that scenario of the feast. In John 5, 2 says, now there is in Jerusalem by the ship gate a pool in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roof colonnades. This miracle that we are considering today, like many other miracles, have been questioned by critics. because the name of this place is called Bethesda, which literally means House of Mercy. Some have said that John made up this history, taking the name House of Mercy as a means to proclaim the mercy of Christ, of God. However, things began to change in 1862. when the French engineer, C. Mauss, representing the French government, began excavations toward what was called the Bethesda Project. So they dig and found archaeological evidence, and you can Google it and find that this pool is there with the colonnades, with two pools, and they have even been able to figure out how there was certain movement between two pools, that they have found as archaeological evidence. So we know that we are talking about something that is a fact. Everything we are studying when it comes to Christianity and scriptures is the absolute truth. So now in verse three, it says that in this lay a multitude of invalids, blind and lame and paralyzed. And John is descriptive enough for us to get the picture. Just think for a moment. I know it might be hard for us here in this context. But just think of this scenario, lay a multitude of invalid, blind, lame, and paralyzed. It doesn't say how many people, maybe a dozen, maybe 50, maybe 100 people, maybe more. Laying there, in Spanish and in other versions, the idea is there on the floor, laying on the floor, expecting for something to happen. That is a very, very sad situation. And the verse 4 says, waiting for the, verse 4 says, for the second part of verse 3 says, waiting for the moving of the waters. Verse 4, an angel of the Lord went down at a certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water. Some Bibles, as you may have noticed, don't have this verse. The ESV has it as a footnote at the end of the page. So there are Now that they have done so much research on manuscript, they have found out that there are some manuscripts that don't include this verse. So versions like ESV have put a footnote just letting know the reader that it's not in all manuscripts. I think the New American Standard Bible has it. In any case, it really doesn't change the meaning, the sense, and the truth of what we are studying. But verse 5, now, in verse 5, John starts taking us to something more specific. He says, He says one man was there who had been an invalid for 38 years. Now we start seeing John making kind of a zoom, zooming, from Christ coming to earth. Then he goes to Jerusalem where there are millions of people. Now to this pool where there are hundreds. And now John focuses the spotlight, the attention to one single man. And this person, for many, if not for everyone, was what? An insignificant person. Imagine. How many times we have seen people in the streets, perhaps today we know them as homeless people, who end up being what? Insignificant. We don't know who they are, we don't care, we don't think about their need. Sometimes even we don't think, it's sad to say what I'm going to say, but sometimes even we don't see them as humans, just things that are there. But for Christ, this person was important Christianity is not necessarily, if I may use this word, a religion for the masses. Christianity is not a movement for the crowds. Christianity, at the end of the day, is a personal relationship with a Savior that knows you individually, knows your pain, knows your struggles, knows your personal need of salvation. The scriptures don't tell much about his illness, but for sure he was one of these people that was incapable. He couldn't care of himself. He was just like one of those blind, lame, paralyzed people refers in verse three. So to say the least, the situation of this man was what? Tragic, hopeless, no hope. But look what happened in verse six. It says, when Jesus saw him laying there and knew that he had already been there for a long time, he said to him, do you want to be healed? I like how the NSV puts this. Do you wish to get healed, to get well? This poor man's faith, life, began to have a hope. In light of what? Jesus' visit to him. As Jesus set his eyes on him, he began having a hope that he had been waiting for, looking for, for many, many, many years. I don't know how many out of those 38 years he had been in this place, but for sure all his life trying to find healing, a hope. No one had to tell Christ How many years he had been there? Christ already knew he had been there for a long time. Because no one, no one, no one needs to tell Christ about the situation of someone else. He already knows the situation of every single person. John 2.25 says that Christ needed no one to bear witness about man for He Himself, that is Christ, knew what was in man. And this, this Christ is the same God that David talks about in Psalm 139. I'm just going to highlight a few verses. In Psalm 139, number verse one, you have searched me and known me. Verse three, you search out my path and my line, laying down and are acquainted with what? All my ways, absolutely all my ways. Verse 7 says, where should I go from your spirit, or where should I feel from your presence? That is a rhetoric question which has an answer, nowhere. Verse 8, if I ascended to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there. Verse 12 says, even the darkness is not dark to you, the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. Verse six says, such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is high, I cannot attain it. God, Christ, a God of perfect omnipotence, of perfect omniscience, able to do all he wants. I don't think any one of you have gone for 38 years of suffering. 38 years without hope. We really cannot relate to this. Here in the States, we open our refrigerators and they are what? Full of food. Most of us, if not all of us here, have medical insurance. And yet we complain, and yet many people are angry, upset at God. But this man had gone through so much suffering, and God knew his suffering. And here, He, Christ, knows all of your issues, your inabilities. Maybe it's a depression. Perhaps you have an illness. Perhaps you have financial issues. Perhaps your problem is to be single. Perhaps you have an issue with your marital, your spouse, marital relationship, or your spouse. Perhaps you have fears, or perhaps He knows what might be perhaps your worst problem and difficulty, your indifference, your apathy, your lack of concern towards the things of God. Christ in his love extends his mercy to you as he did to this man in this pool and asks you, do you want to be healed? Do you wish to get well? And that is the first point I want to highlight this morning. Do you want, do you wish to get well? Do you want to be healed? Do you want to find relief from the suffering of your soul? That again, those words lead us to the compassion of Christ. Again, in Jerusalem there were thousands, millions of people in this place, perhaps hundreds, and now He focused on this man. In this man that noticed, he was in such an incredible situation. Look, verse 7. This sick man answered him, Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is still up and while I am going another steps down before me. Just imagine for a second, maybe he didn't have a father, he didn't have a mother, didn't have a brother, an uncle, a cousin, a friend to stay there with him and help him. How sad? Almost how cruel? And then Christ asked him, do you want to be healed? And when you guys think about that, that's not too much of a logical question. That's kind of silly. Of course, he has been there for so many years, waiting for someone to throw him into the pool, and Jesus asked him, do you want to be healed? Of course! Of course that he wanted to be healed. But you know, Jesus, in Matthew 23, 37, said, O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stuns those who are sent to it, how often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were what? Not willing. Romans 10, 21 says, but of Israel he says, all day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. John 1, 11 says, he came to his own and his own. People did not receive him. In the same way, Christ in this generation, in this world today, in this city, is telling people, do you want to be healed? Do you wish to get well? And what people do, they reject Christ. Deaf ears. to the grace, to the compassion, to the love of our Savior. We have heard the voice of Christ inviting us to come to salvation, to experience His compassion, His grace, His eternal love. God throughout scriptures presents himself as a God of mercy, compassion, love. In fact, in Exodus 34, just to mention one instance, verses five to seven, where it says, that is when, in Exodus 32, the people of God seen with a calf that they made out of gold. Chapter 33, God speaks to Moses and said, you know what? I'm done with these people. Moses said, please no. Then in chapter 34, God says, okay, I will go before you. I will present myself and you will know who I am and I will let you know why I'm going to go with you. And in verse 6 it says, God has not paid us, punished us according to what our sins deserve. That's mercy. Grace is giving an undeserved favor. Mercy is not giving us the punishment we deserve. Mercy has the connotation of forgiveness, benevolence, kindness, And all of us who are here, my prayer is that we may have, are here because we have experienced what? His mercy. 1 Peter 2.10 says, once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you have not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. The only reason why we are His people is because He has shown, He has given us what? Extended mercy to us. He has been gracious. Now, notice that in verse 8 of this portion we are studying, that mercy that Christ showed this man became what? It was manifested in power to restore the condition of this man who for 30 years, 38 years had been sick. Verse eight says, Jesus said to him, get up, take up your bed and walk. Verse nine says, and at once the man was healed and he took up his bed and walked. So we see that this man was able to experience this healing, this restoration of his hope, his life, only because Christ had mercy on him. And if it were not because of his mercy, because of his kindness, his compassion, no one of us would have ever, ever experienced a power, a transforming power in our lives. So Christ, out of love, out of mercy, said, get up, take your bed, and walk. So that is the power of Christ, which is the result only, exclusively, of His kindness and His love. If it were not because of His mercy and love, We would have been already what? Consumed, destroyed. His love and mercy is not something that we deserve. It is not something that you earn. It is not something that you work for. It's unilateral. It's a desire of Christ's heart to exercise that compassion. And I think, and that is in part why I'm sharing this message today here, because I think it is something that we have forgotten, to remember His mercy, to remember His compassion. Romans 5, 6 to 11 say the following, Romans 5, 6 to 11, for while we were still weak, there, the following word in Greek is asthenes, is a word pertinent to suffering, a debilitating illness, sick, related to experiencing some physical incapacity or limitation, weakness, so while While we were still weak, that means while we were unable to, while we couldn't do anything, at the right time, Christ died for the ungodly. Verse 8 says, but God shows his love for us in that while we were, what? Sinners. The wages of sin is what? Death. We all were dead in our sins and our transgressions. Verse 10 says, while we were enemies. And in the context of Romans, it's not that we were just God's enemies, but God was our enemy because the wrath of God, the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness. So in many ways, we were also God's enemies, can you imagine? That's a lot, that's a lot. So we were weak, we were disabled, we were dead in our sins, and we were enemies of God. This paralyzed man, had no way to pay Christ for what he did. So we don't have how to pay, how to thank him, how to express our gratitude for showing how he has given us life in Christ. And that is the new birth. All of us who have experienced a new birth through His grace, repenting from our sins, have experienced a miracle of greater proportions than this man. Ephesians 2, 1 to 4, you are very familiar with this text. And you were there in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience, among whom We all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of what? Wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, what? Being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, he gave us life. Do you remember, do you think of God's mercy as often as you should? You have been born again. you have literally been brought from death to life. So now let's go back to verse nine, let's continue. And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. That was just in an instant, immediately, in the blink of an eye. How incredible that power of God The God who by His Word created the entire universe, the sun, the moon, all the animals, now spoke the Word and He was healed. He walked. And we need to remember that Christ has also told us in the scriptures that when we repent, when we believe in Him, we can have what? Eternal life. Eternal life. And we need to trust in Him. We need to continue persevering in Christ because we have a promise that is what? True. So now let's take a look of, continue with verse nine. Now that day was the Sabbath. And in verse 10 to 14 it says, 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. But he answered them, the man who healed me, that man said to me, take up your bed and walk. They asked him, who is the man who said to you, take up your bed and walk? So here we see the Jewish, the Jews trying to invalidate, trying to put a hassle, problems, issues against what? God's mercy, God's compassion, and making of that what? A legalistic issue, an issue of rules, of laws, of commandments, of man-made commandments. Notice that the Jews are not asking so much for the healing as such, but why he was taking his bed and walking. I want to highlight here verse 13. It says, now the man who had been healed did not know who he was, for Jesus had withdrawn as there was a crowd in the place. And here we see a discussion and a conversation which allows most commentators to believe that this man really didn't come to saving faith at this point. There is a difference in when you read, for example, in chapter 4, the Samaritan woman, she believed, she went and proclaimed. Also in chapter 4, the son of the official that was healed, right away he also believed. In chapter nine, when the blind man was healed, he also very clearly the text says that he believed. But this man, it seems that just like the parents of this blind man in chapter nine were trying to be kind to the Jewish authorities so that they wouldn't be expelled out of the synagogue. So here, he's just trying to say, oh, I don't know, this man, hmm? And somehow, in verse 14, Jesus comes, finds him in the temple, and notice what Jesus said to him. See, you are well, see no more, that nothing worse may happen to you. But now, think also for a moment. could happen to this man worse than his situation. Think, I already mentioned, maybe he didn't have a father, a mother, no money to buy food, maybe no social security, no hope in this world. What worse could happen to him? I don't know how many of you have been in that position. I have times in my life in which I have said, wow, nothing worse can happen to me right now. And we feel and we think that we are going through this difficult time of our lives and that poor me, poor me, poor me. But you know, what worse could have happened to him? From the context, going to, for example, John 5, 28, it says, John 5, 28 says, do not marvel at this. For an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out. Those who have done good to resurrection of life and those who have done evil to what? To the resurrection of judgment. The worst thing that could have happened to this man was what? Going to hell. That is the worst thing. Worse than being invalid, worse than not having money for food, worse than not having a roof, Worse than not having friends, just name it. What is worse is having a life without a personal relationship with Christ. That is why Jesus said to him, see, you are well. Sin no more. Why? Because the Christian life It's not just our experience, experiencing benefits, favors from God, even having knowledge of Him, but it's about no sinning, about repenting, about a walk and a call to godliness, to approach a God who is holy. Romans 2, 4, 5 say, or do you presume on the riches of His kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteousness judgment will be revealed. We cannot take lightly the mercy of God in our lives. And you remember that at the beginning of this sermon, this message, I said that in some ways and in every way in my case, this is the history of my life. And I said, it should be the history of your life. Because we don't see ourselves as we should really see ourselves. We should see ourselves just as this man from the Bethesda pool. I think today we all should see our old man as this, as someone who was condemned in the jail, in the prison of his inability without any hope in the world. But Christ has given us a call, has called us to life. So somehow we should also take up our bed and walk, experience His power, but not just stay there, but live in a life that honors Him. 1 Peter 2, 9 and 12, and with this I'm finishing, I already read verse 10 of 1 Peter 2. Verse 10 says, once you were not a people, but now you are God's people. Once you have not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. I already read that one, maybe 20 minutes ago, but now I want you to think of this before that. Verse nine says, but you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. He who has shown you power, mercy, to proclaim his goodness, to remember and tell others how merciful, how gracious God has been to you. And that is who you should be. You should be, and this characterizes you. You are a holy nation. You are a different person. You are not like the rest of the crowd, like those who are laying in that pool here in the world. Verse 11 says, Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your souls. Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. So that mercy of verse 10 that we have experienced, has, let me start like this. This life of excellence, of character, of godliness that we see in verse nine is the result of that mercy in verse 10, is that right? And then in verses 11 and 12, because of that mercy as well, we are called to live a holy, godly life. Sin no more, sin no more, sin no more. Not because it's a law, not because it's a rule, but because we have understood God's love and God's grace. Psalm 34, eight says, oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Taste that he's good. And I'm talking to you, the young people in this church. Please, young kids, Let's love Christ. There, outside, is a world in darkness, without hope. But in Christ, we find hope, eternal hope that will free us. from the jail, the prison, the chains that are holding up this world to enjoy Christ, to proclaim His excellences, to have eternal life, which can only be obtained through Christ, through His grace, mercy, compassion, power, expressed on the cross. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, I want to thank you for your mercy and power. In some ways, I have to also ask you for forgiveness because we don't think of these things as often as we should. How easy it is to see us as good people. We deserve all what you have done for us, and even when you don't do something for us, you are not giving us what we think we deserve. But Lord, we know that we deserve condemnation, and we don't want to be like the world. We want to come to repentance. We want to come to the right response to that love. That is repentance. In Jesus Christ's name, amen.