Do You Want to Get Well?

This episode of All In with Pastor Jordan Easley has been made possible by the generous support of viewers like you. Welcome to All In with Pastor Jordan Easley. Today's message is about to begin, and we invite you to prepare your heart and mind to hear an inspiring message from God's Word. We hope and pray for God to speak to you today as you seek to live your life all in for Jesus Christ. And now from First Baptist Church in Cleveland, Tennessee, here's Pastor Jordan Easley. You know, there are a lot of questions that we're asked in life, but there are also some questions that will change your life. Like some of you today, your lives have been changed because of the question, will you marry me? If you said yes, or if you said no, guess what? It's gonna take you in two different directions. You asked the question, what do you wanna be when you grow up? I mean, think about that question as a kid. That answer to that question, it shapes your direction. You think, well, where are you headed? I mean, that's a question that people ask, and it's a question that determines your destiny. We've all faced questions that define who we are and where we're going. Some of those bring clarity. Others bring conviction. And sometimes one single question

can alter the entire course of your life. Think about that. Your life today is shaped by how you answered the questions in life yesterday. And so we're talking about powerful questions today. And we're asking, where do these questions come from? Guess what? You're gonna have people ask you questions your entire life. But the most important questions that you'll ever address, they don't come from philosophers. They won't come from politicians. They come from the son of God, Jesus himself. And that's what we're gonna be doing today. We're launching this brand new series, understanding that when Jesus asked a question, he's not searching for information. He's inviting transformation. Anybody wanna say amen to that? Come on, that was an amen moment if I've ever preached one in my life. Jesus isn't looking for information. He's inviting transformation. And if you've been transformed by the power of God in your life, somebody say amen. Amen. Amen. Come on, you're awake, you're with me. Hopefully you have your Bible as well. We're gonna be in John chapter five today.

And we're gonna walk through a familiar story where Jesus is going to ask a question. But understand something, when Jesus asks a question in scripture, it's almost like he's holding up a mirror. He's holding up a mirror before us so that we can see what's really there. He wants us to see the reflection, not what we want other people to see, but what God already sees in us. And he asks us questions not to humiliate us, but to heal us. And we see that in John chapter five. And the setting is Jesus is standing beside something called the pool of Bethesda. The pool of Bethesda. You can imagine Jesus standing along this pool and he's looking a man in the eyes, the eyes of a man who's been broken. His life has been broken for 38 years. And he's asked one of the most piercing questions in all of scripture. Jesus asked this man, do you want to get well? Now think about that question today. Do you want to get well? The reason I say you should think about that question is because Jesus didn't ask that question simply for this man. He continues to ask that question today for us. He's continuing to ask that question right now.

It's for anybody that's ever felt stuck. Have you ever felt stuck in your life? It's for anybody who's ever felt weary. Anybody ever been weary? You've been confused? You've been hurt? Have you been wounded by someone else? Do you have an ailment that maybe no one even knows about? Guess what, when Jesus asked that question, he's not just talking about your body, he's talking about your soul. So with that in mind, let's open God's word to John chapter five. And we're gonna begin walking through this story together in verse one. It says, after this, a Jewish festival took place and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. By the sheep gate in Jerusalem, there is a pool called Bethesda in Aramaic, which has five colonnades. So right there, that kind of launches us into the setting of the place. It says that there's a pool called Bethesda in Aramaic. Now, what does Bethesda mean? Well, literally, if you take that word in the original language and you translate it to English, it would translate the house of mercy, which I think is awesome. And as we continue in this story, you'll understand why it's so awesome

that Jesus meets this man at the house of mercy. It's fitting because around those waters lay people who were desperate for mercy. I mean, imagine this scene as we continue in verse three. It says, within these lay a large number of the disabled, blind, lame, and paralyzed. That's the scene the Bible gives us for this story. That word disabled, it comes from the Greek word astaneo, which literally means to be without strength. This is more than just physical weakness. This is a picture of total helplessness. Imagine a crowd of helpless people along the edge of the water, and they're just waiting. They're waiting. This is a place where they're hoping, because they believe that every once in a while, an angel will dip down over the waters. They will stir the waters up, and whoever jumps in those waters first will be healed. You say, well, that's crazy. Why would anybody believe that? Well, many people believe that's very true. In fact, in many of your Bibles, you'll see, if you're looking in a paper Bible especially, it goes from verse three to verse five, and it skips verse four. Do you see that? It omits verse four in many of our modern day manuscripts. But understand, in some of the early transcripts, verse four was included, and verse four actually said that. It said, from time to time, an angel would dip down. It would move the waters, and the first one to jump in would be healed. So this is actually in several of the early transcripts of our Bible, but because it wasn't in all of them, it's not included in the majority of our Bibles today. So that's the scene I want you to have in your mind.

I want you to understand that there are a lot of lame, and blind, and paralyzed people along the edges of the water, and they're sitting there, and they're waiting, and they're hoping, and they're just anticipating this moment where they could too be healed. So day after day, that was the scene. You know, I say that, but I think that may be the scene for many of us here today. Maybe not that exact scene, but I think that we can relate to some degree what they were doing because we're all waiting for something big, right? There's many of us who are waiting for the next big thing. We're waiting beside this pool, or that pool, hoping that our day is finally coming. There may be some people in this room who love Jesus, but you're waiting by a pool of success right now, and you're saying, man, the day's going to come, the moment's going to come, and I'm going to hit it big, and I'm trusting in this pool to give me the success I'm looking for. Maybe it's a pool of relationships, and you're thinking, man, I'm going to wait by this pool of relationships, and one day the water's going to stir, and that pool is going to satisfy what I'm longing for in a relationship. Or maybe it's just a pool of religion, and you know that you live every single day unsatisfied. You know that there's a lacking in your spirit, and you think that religion is going to satisfy you, and if you could just be good enough, or give a little bit more, or participate a little longer, that one day it's going to happen, and you're going to get the satisfaction that you're looking for. Let me say this real quick, and then we'll move on. No pool on earth can cleanse the soul. Only Jesus can do that, amen? No pool that you're sitting by is going to satisfy you the way the Son of God came to satisfy you. Now this pool existed, and real great things happened at this pool. In fact, archeologists have confirmed the exact existence and location of the Pool of Bethesda. This isn't a story that was made up.

This isn't some theory or false teaching. This is a very real place that's been recorded and verified. In fact, I've had the privilege to bring hundreds of people to the Holy Land over the years. I've sat right on the edge of this pool and taught this very passage for decades. So after being there in Jerusalem, I mean, you can still walk down to the excavated ruins of Bethesda, and right beside the ancient sheep gate, you'll see the deep layered pools that were covered by the earth, and now they've been unearthed, but they're still surrounded by those stone arches and the old colonnades, and standing there, it's a very sobering thing. In fact, you may want to go someday. Next year, we're going back to the Holy Land. Put this on your bucket list, if it's not on your bucket list, because after we visit this pool, then we go right around this corner to St. Anne's Cathedral, known for the incredible acoustics, and we sing praise songs to God in the place where these miracles actually happened. But you can also almost imagine the crowds of broken people going alongside the edges of these pools. You can imagine the blind, and the lame, and the paralyzed. People had brought them there, and they sat there day after day. They were waiting. They were hoping, hoping the water might move so they too could be healed. You know, it's one thing to read about it. It's another thing to stand there and realize that this was the place where Jesus changed lives. See, Bethesda wasn't just a location. It was a gathering point for the broken, a place filled with human suffering, a place echoing silent prayers, and those prayed out loud. And yet, Jesus, imagine this, He walked right into that place. He walked right into the brokenness. You know, that's actually a shocking part of the story, because if you were a religious leader in the first place...

century, you would never darken the doors of this pool. Just by being in the presence of these broken people, you would be considered ritually unclean for seven days. You couldn't do your job, you couldn't encounter, you couldn't engage with the people that you were supposed to be leading. And so religious people stayed away from the broken, and yet what does Jesus do? He walked right up there in the middle of them. And I like that. I like that Jesus doesn't, He doesn't shun us, He seeks us, and He finds us. Today we're gonna walk through this text. I want to, I'm gonna point out five things that, that you need to understand from this story, things that apply to your life right now. And the first one is just that, is Jesus walks into our broken, places of brokenness. Jesus walks into your places of brokenness, and He always does. He walks into the places many times that you've given up on. You may be broken today, you may be waiting today, you may feel forgotten as you sit here listening to this message, but you know what? Jesus sees you. And maybe that's the reason that you're here today, because you needed to be reminded that Jesus sees you today. He walks into your Bethesda today, because He is drawn to broken places, and He has compassion for broken hearts. I love that passage of Scripture, you read it all throughout the New Testament, that, that He has compassion. He's moved with compassion. And I want you to get this image of Jesus today, He is moved with compassion. In the Bible it says, He was moved with compassion when He saw a leper that no one else would touch, and He reached out in His hand, and He healed that man. Jesus was moved with compassion when, when He saw a blind man by the roadside, and He opened His eyes so that He could see. He was moved with compassion when He saw a grieving mother walking beside the casket of her only son, and He raised that boy to life right in front of Mom. Jesus was moved with compassion when He saw the crowds weary and scattered like sheep without a shepherd, and He gave them hope in a way that only Jesus can give them hope. And understand, when Jesus sees you today, He feels the same way. Hear this, He is not mad at you today. Jesus isn't disappointed in you today. Jesus doesn't hate you today. He is moved with compassion towards you, and He loves you, and He wants to heal every single

part of you. Do you believe that? You say, Jordan, why is it so important that we understand this? Listen, because the way you see Jesus will determine how you respond to Jesus. The way that you see Him will determine how you respond to Him. If you see Jesus as harsh right now, guess what? You're gonna hide from Him. If you see Jesus as distant, you're gonna doubt Him and deny Him. But if you understand that Jesus is compassionate, then you might just come to Him. When you come to Jesus understanding that He's been coming after you this whole time, that's when beautiful things happen. So that's the first thing I want you to get is that Jesus walks into our place of brokenness. Next thing in the story I want to point out is this, that Jesus asked a question that confronts the heart. When you meet Jesus face-to-face, He doesn't just leave you on read, and He's not gonna go silent. He's gonna ask you questions that actually matter. We see that in this story. Verse 6 says, When Jesus saw him lying there and realizing he had already been there a long time, He said to him, Do you want to get well? Do you want to get well? See, when Jesus looked at this man, He saw more than a body, He saw his soul. He saw his soul. He knew how long this man had been there waiting. And so He said, Do you want to get well? That Greek phrase, by the way, to get well, it means to be made whole. It means to be made restored. It's actually the same root word where we get our English word hygiene. So just imagine that. So Jesus is saying, Do you want to be well? Do you want to be clean? Do you want to be made whole? Listen, you ain't made whole unless you put your deodorant on in the morning. Can I get an amen? You better brush your teeth. You better put deodorant on. You better smell good. It's hygiene. He wants you to be made complete. It's the complete package. It's not just surviving. It's truly thriving. And then that's the question of the gospel. Think about this. Jesus isn't just asking in this text, Do you want to be helped? He's not saying, Hey guy, do you want to be helped today? No, the question reads, Do you want to be changed? Those are two different questions. There's a lot of people that are like, Yeah, I want Jesus to help me. That's not what He's asking. Jesus doesn't say, You want me to help you out? No, He said, Do you want me to change

your heart? But sometimes, if we're honest, we learn to live broken, don't we? We learn to just live with it. We get used to our condition. Pain becomes familiar. Patterns in our life become After 38 years in this story, you can't tell me that this man's paralysis hadn't become part of his identity. And yet when Jesus asked the question, he asked a question that cut straight to the heart. He was asking this man, do you want me to change you? Think about how powerful that question is. Do you really want me to change your life? Are you really willing to leave this old life behind? I mean, that's the question that Jesus was asking, and it's also the question he continues to ask us even today. Let me ask you, put yourself in this story real quick. Jesus looks you square in the eye, points his finger at your face and says, sir, do you really want to get well? Are you really willing to allow me to change your life? Are you willing to leave this old life behind? I'm talking about everything. How do you answer that question and be honest about your answer? You know, for a lot of us, we'd say, yeah, it's easy to say yes in theory. Yes, I want Jesus to change my life. Yes, I want Jesus to make me whole. It's easy to say yes in theory, but let me just tell you, it's way harder to actually surrender, to actually let Jesus do what Jesus came to do. Because getting well, according to the Bible, is getting up. And in order to get up, you've got to leave some things behind. Getting up means letting go of what's been comfortable. It's letting go of what's been convenient. It's letting go of the things in secret and trusting God with tomorrow.

So the question is, do you really want to get up off that old nasty mat that you've been lying on for so long? And I'm talking to some people, you know the mat I'm talking about. They don't know and they don't know, but you know the mat I'm talking about and God knows the mat that we're talking about. You know, many people read this story and they think, of course this man wanted to get off of his old mat. Of course he wanted to walk. Why would anybody want to get stuck somewhere for 38 years, lying on the same nasty mat experiencing the same old gross stuff every single day? Why would anybody want to lay on the mat? And yet, how many of us today have been lying on our same old mats for far too long? We've been on that same old mat of sin and shame, or maybe it's a mat of addiction or anger. We've been there for years. With our mouth, we'll say, no, I want freedom, but we keep on clinging on to the very thing that's holding us down. Today, I may be talking to somebody that's been stuck on the mat of adultery for far too long. Someone who's stuck on that mat of pornography or substance abuse, or maybe it's bitterness or unforgiveness, or maybe it's just pride, and you're a proud person. We say we want to be free, but we refuse to get up and walk. Here's the question that Jesus is asking you today. Do you really want to get up and walk in freedom? How would you answer that? Are you really willing to leave your old life behind? Because if you do, guess what? Jesus has the power to make you whole. He has the power to complete you and make you the person that God created you to be. See, many people want relief from pain, but we don't want repentance from sin.

We want Jesus to fix what hurts, but we don't want to change who we've become. When Jesus asked the question, do you want to get well, I think it's important for us to understand he wasn't offering partial healing. He was offering total transformation. In the same way that was true of Jesus' conversation with this man 2,000 years ago, it's the same for you. He's not saying, hey, you want me to fix the little things and the broken things and the this things and the that things. He's saying, do you want me to create a brand new heart in your chest, give you a brand new soul, give you a whole new purpose, give you life you've never experienced, give you forgiveness you didn't deserve? Can I make you the man that you're supposed to be? Can I make you the father to your kids that you're supposed to be? Can I make you the husband or the wife? Can I make you the leader? Can I make you the servant? Can I make you the generous giver? Can I make you the ... Are you willing to allow God to completely transform your life? You see, when Jesus asked this question, it was all or nothing, and I believe it's still all or nothing for us today. I find it interesting that when Jesus asked the question that confronted this man's heart, you look at how he responds, and this is kind of crazy. You would think this dude would be like, yep, I've been here 38 years. I'm ready to go, Jesus. Let's go. But that's not what he did. He didn't say, yeah, let's go. But instead, he immediately started making excuses for why his life couldn't be changed. Well, Jesus, you can't fix me because of this or because of that, or this is impossible because of this or because of that.

No, he has started making excuses. Which leads me to the third thing we've got to pick up from in this story and that is excuses will always keep us stuck Excuses will always keep us stuck. Keep reading verse 7 sir. The disabled man answered I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up But while I'm coming someone goes down ahead of me This guy is talking to the Son of God He's talking to the Messiah the one who he can do anything he wants to do and yet he's looking at the water and he still Has hope in the water. He still has hope in a moment He still has moment in this this hope for some circumstance that could potentially happen in the future and Jesus is like, bro Do you want to get well? You want to get well? And he starts making excuses for why being a well person a completed person is impossible until something else happens in his life When Jesus asked the question the man's answer revealed his mindset. He was looking for a helper. He wasn't looking for a healer Let me ask you a question. You're looking for a helper. Are you looking for a healer? I mean look at how this man responded to Jesus. Jesus is offering healing in himself And I want you to see how he responds. He starts blaming other people why that's impossible. He starts blaming timing He starts blaming circumstances. He said I have no one to help me He said someone else always gets to the water before me. It's excuse after excuse after excuse And that's easy to do even in our life, isn't it? And there's a lot of times where I think Jesus is like man you ready for this next step and man All we do is have excuses or why we can't do it When we look at our own lives and we look at our own brokenness, it's real easy to make excuse our default setting We say man if I if my parents had just been better parents raising me or if my spouse was just better if they could Only change and lead me better man if I could just catch a break Financially or if I could just become a different person if I could have more skills or more we have so many excuses And that's a dangerous mindset to have And let me show you why? It's because as long as we make excuses we will stay where we are

As long as we make excuses we will stay where we are get this in your notes. Jesus doesn't heal excuses. He heals obedience He heals obedience and until our hearts respond in obedience to whatever it is God's calling us to do we will never experience a life change. God is calling us to experience Vance Havner put it this way. He said the Lord never asked us to discuss our condition He asked us to obey his command. You've heard it a million times. God blesses obedience. He doesn't bless disobedience and that's what the scripture teaches That when we say yes to the Lord when we when we respond to his leadership in our life That's when we're going to experience God's very best verse 8 says get up Jesus told him and Pick up your mat and walk That phrase get up. It means to rise or to awaken. That's Resurrection language that's coming out of his mouth Jesus is calling this man not just to stand on his feet, but to rise to new life And that's exactly what we see happen next in the story. Look at verse 9. It says instantly the man got well picked up his mat and started to walk So get this picture in your mind Once again, this isn't this isn't a guy who encountered Jesus and and then was slowly healed or or gradually became better As he continued down the path, you know, the Bible gives us a completely different picture. It uses the word Instantly it's euthios in the Greek and when you look that word up guess what instantly literally means Instantly is what it means It's instant it's immediate it's the same it's euthio. So here's what that tells me today ready when Jesus speaks Change doesn't require time. It requires trust You say well it might take some time it might but guess what it's not a requirement Not when you look at Christ, it doesn't require time. It requires trust and we see that to be true in this story I mean, what did we just read one command one word one act of faith and then 38 years of paralysis Disappeared when in an instant? May I just ask you a question today Do you still believe that God is capable of doing that right now?

Do you still think that God has the power he had 2,000 years ago when it comes to to Transforming someone's life in an instant because I do I believe that with my whole heart. That is what Jesus does He doesn't just help us move. He helps us live Man, I've seen a lot of people get off of their mat of sin and start immediately living a completely transformed life I've seen God change a life change a marriage change a relationship change in a family. I've seen him do it in an instant Now over time it's gonna grow over time as they pursue Jesus You see that continue to change, but man, in an instant, Jesus has the power to change a life. But you know what else I've seen over the years to be very true? I've seen that once Jesus heals you, you'll be tempted to go back to the mat. Once Jesus heals you, you will be tempted to go back to the mess, going back to that old mindset that Jesus came to deliver you from in the first place. Because the devil loves to whisper, remember what the devil's job is. He came to what? To kill, to steal, to destroy, that applies to you. And the closer you get to Jesus, guess what? The bigger the bullseye is gonna get on your life. And so yeah, you pursue Jesus, you respond to Jesus, you experience healing from Jesus, you get up off that mat and choose to run to him, guess what? The devil's coming. And he comes with all of his minions and all of his followers and he comes with all the principalities of this world and they are coming after you because their job is to silence you and to keep you on the bench.

The devil loves to whisper, doesn't he? He loves to convince you, hey, you're not really changed, you're always gonna be who you've always been. But get this, when Jesus heals you, he leads you. And when Jesus leads you, he never leads you backwards, he always leads you in a brand new direction. Do you get this today? Say amen if you get this. Listen, healed people don't live on old mats. And so you look at somebody's life and you look at your own life, say Jesus healed me in this moment, I experienced him face to face and yet what happened over time? The devil got in your ear and you started to slip back to those old mats. Let me ask you a question personally, what mat did Jesus rise you from, believer? Think about the mat that you laid on for so long, think about the mat that you were stuck on when you met Christ, what mat did he deliver you from? See that mat was once a symbol of your suffering, but now it's a testimony of your savior. You don't lie down on it anymore, you carry it with you as a reminder that he brought you through. Notice, Jesus didn't say fold up your mat and stay here, what does he say? Pick up your mat and walk. That means when you've been made whole, you don't stay stuck where he found you,

you move forward into where he's calling you. Jesus instantly healed this man and this man's life was forever changed, but notice, the moment he started walking in freedom, what happened? He faced something he didn't expect, he faced religious resistance. Keep going in verse nine. Look at verse nine, he said, now the day was the Sabbath and so the Jew said to the man who had been healed, this is the Sabbath, the law prohibits you from picking up your mat. This is a crazy part of the story. Like church people, man, like come on, man. But the man's very first steps of freedom walk him what? Right into a wall of criticism. Think about that. Imagine this dude is in your town, you know him, you see him every day. After 38 years of being stuck, the very first words that he hears after this miraculous healing, the very first words are not, praise God, bro, you're healed or look at what the Lord has done or holy cow, he really did this in your life. You experienced something great. He didn't hear any of that. You know what he heard? Bro, you can't do that, today's the Sabbath, but what are you doing?

When the angels, while the angels in heaven were rejoicing, the religious people in the earth were rebuking. Isn't that something? Isn't that sad? Isn't that sad? And yet we see that pattern over and over again. It's like when God moves in power, religious people often move in judgment. You see people that cannot celebrate what God's doing in another church. You see when somebody's saying like, oh, that ain't real, that ain't. You hear about hundreds of people getting baptized and the first thing we do is step into skepticism, almost be some kind of a bait and switch. It's the religious people. They love to criticize and they love to judge when the power of God is moving. But that's what we've seen since day one, it's religion. You know, we love that word religion. I hear that word all the time. Someone asked me two days ago, I was telling them kind of my story and what I do and what I believe and they're like, oh yeah, what religion are you? I was like, why do we have to start at religion? But we hear that. That is a word that's a buzzword in our country. I hear it all the time. What America needs today is more religion.

Okay, well, I get that you say that, but let me tell you something about Jesus that you may not know. Jesus didn't come to start a new religion. He came to set us free from religion. See, being religious and being a follower of Jesus are two completely different things. And we see this to be true in this story, which is the fourth thing I want you to get in your notes, by the way, and that's religion. Religion focuses on rules, Jesus focuses on restoration. People say all the time, what's the difference between religion and Christianity? Well, the difference is a relationship with Jesus Christ. See religion says, clean yourself up and become a better person. Jesus says, come to me and I'll clean you up, I'll make you white as snow. Religion is man's attempt to get to God, but then you see redemption and restoration. That's God's plan to get to us. So guess what? We have been redeemed. How? Not by religion. We've been redeemed by the blood of the lamb, amen? That is the difference between being religious and being in a relationship. Christianity isn't about rules, it's about a relationship. Jesus didn't come to give us a checklist to live by, Jesus came to give us a connection to God. That's the whole point of all this. So I want you to notice something in this story. When Jesus showed up and he began changing lives and healing people and doing things that only God could do, it was the religious crowd that missed it.

Those who knew their Bible best missed out on Jesus the most. Is that not the saddest thing you've ever heard? But that was true. These people experienced the power of God firsthand. They saw a dude in their neighborhood who had been crippled for 38 years healed in an instant by the son of God. They saw with their own eyes the supernatural transformation of this man that they knew. And yet they couldn't celebrate the miracle because they cared more about their traditions than they cared about the transformation that was standing right in front of them. Is this not the saddest part of the story? They were so focused on what the man was carrying that they missed out on the fact that the dude was walking. Listen, Jesus didn't come to break God's law, he came to break the chains of legalism that were keeping people bound. Because the gospel is not about regulations, it's about redemption. And that's what Jesus came to do. A.W. Tozer put it this way, he said, religion can reform a person's habits, but only Jesus can transform a person's heart. That's what he did here. He transformed this man's life. But the story isn't over because Jesus wasn't okay with just seeing this man being able to walk. He wanted to see this man being willing to worship. And we see that in the next part of the story. Here's the fifth point I want to make. Jesus isn't just after your healing, he's after your heart. He's after your heart. Verse 14 says, after this, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, see, you are well. Do not sin anymore so that something worse doesn't happen to you.

Boy, that's a statement. He said, you are well. He said, your life has been changed. You're well. Don't do it again. Don't ever sin. Don't live in sin or something else bad will happen to you. Don't miss what he's saying here. After this man was healed, I want you to notice that Jesus didn't find him on the lake fishing. The dude didn't go on vacation. He wasn't spending all of his time doing all the things that he missed out on for 38 years. I want you to notice where he was at in the very beginning of that text. Jesus found him where? In the temple. That's fascinating to me. He found him in the place of worship. So understand, for 38 years, this man couldn't even go to worship if he wanted to. He wasn't even allowed. Because in that culture, a crippled man, a man with his problems was considered to be ceremonially unclean. He was unfit to enter the temple with other worshipers. But now, in the very first point of his healed life, he's healed, he's made whole, and he's standing in the very place that he had been barred from all of his life. So here's the thing I want to point out to you. I want you to look at this man as a brand new healed person and understand when Jesus changed his life, this guy didn't run from God. He ran to God. Great evidence that that was an authentic decision. Sometimes we're like, how do we know if it's a real decision? How do we know if so-and-so was actually saved or not?

Let me ask you, when it happened, did they get up off their mat or did they go back to their mat? Number two, did they run from God or did they run to God? Notice this man got up off his mat, went in a new direction. He went straight to the house of the Lord. He went straight to the presence of God. He's not on his mat anymore. Now he's worshiping the Lord. He's running to the Lord. And that's what happens when grace gets a hold of your heart. Worship becomes your response. When Jesus found him, the Bible says, he was in a place of worship. That word found, by the way, is fascinating. That word literally means to search out or to find by seeking. So when Jesus found him, it didn't just happen by coincidence. It wasn't an accident. Accident he didn't bump into him. Oh, bro. We met a second ago. You know, there wasn't a scene The Bible says Jesus found him. He was seeking after him. He was pursuing him Jesus went looking for this man again, and I just think that is the most beautiful picture of grace that I could ever talk about Because he does the same for us Here's the here's the best part you read Jesus doesn't just pass by you one time He keeps coming back to you over and over again He keeps circling back to you He continues pursuing you until he captures your heart. And here's the thing when God catches up to you You know, it's the first thing he says do not sin anymore That was the story right do not sin anymore That phrase means stop continuing in a lifestyle of sin. It's not a command of perfection. It's a call to live in freedom He's saying you have now been set free by Jesus You are free to live your life in Christ and do not go back to the thing that got you stuck in the first place That's the message

See physical healing is powerful, but spiritual healing is eternal You can walk with strong legs the rest of your life, but also live with a broken heart a heart that's sick That's why the greatest miracle in this passage Isn't that this man got up off a mat and started walking the greatest miracles that Jesus came looking for him again He pursued this man he met him in his point of need and he changed his life Verse 15 says the man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well Therefore the Jews began persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath Even when opposition arose Jesus stayed focused He didn't come to be to fit into their traditions he came to fulfill their truth And the question he asked is a question that still echoes today Jesus asked that man and Jesus is asking you Do you want to get well? Do you want that that phrase speaks of the will not just a wish? Do you want? Do you want to get well In other words Jesus wasn't asking do you wish you were well, there's a lot of people that wish they're well Do you wish you were better? Do you wish that you were better than you are? Where yesterday do you wish yeah, I wish that's always talking about. It's not a wish. It's a matter of the will He's saying in your will in your heart. Are you willing to be changed? Because willingness is the door that opens wholeness Unless you're willing to change you will never be whole and may complete by Jesus You've got to remember what we said in the beginning. This pool was called what? Bethesda the word literally means the house of mercy Jesus met this man at the house of mercy and Changed everything But here's what I want you to see in closing right now This room this moment Can become your Bethesda? Because the same Jesus who stood at that pool thousands of years ago

Is present with us in this place And may I just tell you straight up. He knows everything about you. He knows all about your past He knows all about your pain He knows about the illnesses and the ailments. He knows about the issues and the problems And he has the power to make you whole But you need to know this today. You cannot step into healing Until you are willing to respond to the healer Willingness is the key to wholeness. So the question you've got to address is this Do I really want that change that Jesus offers Do I really want to expect experience that transformation that only comes through him? Am I willing to get off the mat I've been laying on for far too long and to live the life that God's calling me to live How do you answer that question today? Would you bow your heads and close your eyes Listen, if you're in this room with nobody looking around you say Jordan I've never been saved and I know it if my heart stopped beating right now I am I am certain that I would bust hell wide open Because I've never done that. I've never surrendered all to Jesus. I've never gotten off them I've tried to worship Jesus and know about Jesus while laying on my mat I've never gotten off the mat and trusted Jesus for a new life I've tried to live both lives at the same time, but I recognize that surrendering to Christ dying to self Being forgiven of my sins and trusting Jesus as my Savior and my Lord. I know that is the requirement for salvation I've never done that in my life Listen, if you've been trying to see Jesus or seek Jesus while laying on the mat, but you've never truly been saved, I believe that's why you're here today. So would you give me the opportunity to pray for you?

Man, if that describes your condition right now, would you just lift your hand up so I see it and then put it back down? I see your hand, I see your hand. You can put it down as soon as I point at you. I just wanna know your, I wanna see your face. I wanna pray for you specifically. Anybody up here? Just look up at me, wave your hands at me. Praise God, sir. Praise the Lord. Anybody in this section over here? Look up, if I'm talking to you, look up. I just wanna pray for you. Because guess what? This is your Bethesda. God's given you this moment to respond. And the devil will do everything he can to keep you in your seat. He'll do everything he can to let you leave this place unchanged. But how you respond to the healer next is gonna determine a lot forever. So I'm talking to a lot of people in this room who just raised their hand and they need to be saved. But there's also some Christians in this room. And man, as you hear this message, you know what you're thinking? You're thinking, man, why am I a follower of Jesus and still returning to my mat of bondage?

And you know that you've made a decision for Christ. You've given your life to Christ, but for whatever reason, you keep going back to the same old mat that the devil drags you to. And you know you have no business being on that mat. The Holy Spirit inside of you convicts your heart and lets you know that that is not where you belong. And yet for some reason, you're losing the battle. When Jesus is extending a hand right now saying, would you trust me to be the Lord in this situation? Would you trust my power to free you from this problem, this addiction, this sin in your life? And for too long, we've just let Jesus walk on by and we've done it our own way. Hey, I don't wanna embarrass anybody in here, but I do wanna pray for you. If you're saying pastor, you're talking to me, man. I have a mat that needs to be forgotten. I need to walk away in a brand new way of life. And I need Jesus to give me power today to break the chains of bondage. If that's you, would you raise your hand up real quick, put it right back down? All across this room. Thank you for your honesty. Thank you for your willingness to say that. Father today, I pray in the name of Jesus that every person that needs to give their life to Christ today will not give the devil one more minute

of their eternal life. That should begin right now. Lord, give them the boldness to choose Jesus. Give them the courage to get off of their mat and follow Christ. I pray that the next moment of their journey would be getting off the mat of sin and trusting Jesus Christ as their savior. And for those of us, God, who we are saved, but we find ourself on a mat we have no business being on. God, I pray that your power would work in us. I pray that your word would speak to us. I pray that you would redirect our priorities and our passions, our patterns, and that you would put us in the place that you've called us to be. Let us be the children of God that you've created us to be. So bind the devil in this place. Keep him far from the people of God and give us a new courage and boldness to pursue Jesus like we've never done in our life. Help us to be found faithful and obedient. And Lord, let us experience the blessings that come from obedience. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. In the slums of Nairobi, Kenya, a cup of water can be the difference between life and death. Well, this month I got to walk

where the need for water is greatest. While we were there, we were preaching and we were worshiping, and we were praying with thousands of believers at the Pefekembo Church. We held children in an orphanage that we support who have almost nothing. We sat with widows who walked miles a day just to find water that isn't clean. But on this trip, we also celebrated something a little bit different. A brand new water well in the Kibera slum commissioned with our partners that together we church, First Baptist Cleveland and Swahiba Networks. And together we joined forces to bring this clean water to families who have literally never had clean water in their lives. You know, in John four, Jesus said, whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. That's the water that saves souls. But he also calls us as believers to give a cup of water in his name. And that's the water that saves lives. To every all-in partner who gave so that this well could exist, let me just say thank you. Today, people are drinking fresh water, clean water, because you said yes.

But there's more wells to dig, more villages that are waiting, more lives to save. And so my question to you is, will you continue to go all-in with us? If so, follow the prompts on the screen right now to partner with all-in today. Hey, we never want to end our broadcast without giving you the opportunity. opportunity to know Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior if you'd like to make the decision to trust Jesus and want to know More about what it looks like to follow Jesus get in touch with me right now Follow the instructions at the bottom of the screen so that we can pray for you and also put information in your hands right away Today we celebrate your decision and look forward to being a part of your personal journey of going all-in with Jesus Christ In this episode of all-in with pastor Jordan Easley has been made possible by the generous support of viewers like you We hope today's message encourages you as you strive to live your life fully committed to Jesus Christ