Do You Wish to Get Well?
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December 07, 2008 |
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 "A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, 'Do you wish to get well?' ... Jesus said to him, 'Get up, pick up your pallet and walk'" (John 5:5-9).
In the course of our lives, we come across a variety of problems. There are troubles and difficulties at businesses and workplaces, trials and afflictions at homes, and diseases that strike down people. One may also have an earnest desire in his heart but due to circumstances or conditions surrounding him, it is not fulfilled. However, if we only commit everything to the Almighty God who is in charge of one's life, death, curse, and blessing, there are no problems and difficulties that cannot be resolved.
In John 5:6, Jesus asks, "Do you wish to get well?" This question refers not only to the bodily sickness but also to all problems in one's life and signifies how everything can be resolved by the power of God. How, then, can we bring down God's answers from above?
1.We must come before Jesus with our faith placed in God's power and with an earnest desire.
In John 5 is a scene in which a man who had been ill for 38 years received God's healing.
When Jesus one day saw by a pool called Bethesda a man who had been ill for 38 years, He knew that the man had been afflicted for long and asked, "Do you wish to get well?" Even though the man desired in earnest to be healed, he confessed to Jesus that he could not do so on his own. Jesus replied, "Get up, pick up your pallet and walk." Immediately, the man stood up and began to walk. Upon meeting Jesus the Son of God, the man's earnest desire was fulfilled. By the same token, no matter what the severity of a disease, it can be healed in an instant when God intervenes.
Therefore, the resolution of any and all problems requires one to come before Jesus with his faith placed in God's power and with an earnest desire. In other words, once an individual has accepted Jesus Christ and become God's child, God is obligated to answer his prayer and, with God's Word of promise on his side, the child has the right to ask God and receive His answers.
2.We must destroy the wall of sin.
For what reasons do people who believe in God, have accepted Jesus Christ, and have become children of God, fail to receive God's answers to their requests and prayer?
In John 5:14, Jesus tells the man who had been ill for 38 years, "Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you." By this, Jesus was stressing that when an individual sins, God cannot keep watch over him, in which case disease would penetrate his body again and he would be stricken down with even a more serious disease.
In Mark 2:5, the first thing Jesus told a paralytic who had been carried to Him on a pallet was, "Son, your sins are forgiven." When He subsequently said to the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your pallet and go home," the man "got up and immediately picked up the pallet and went out in the sight of everyone." The paralytic had been stricken down because of his disease and, upon first recognizing the man's faith, Jesus resolved his problem of sins.
Keep in mind that even if we have the faith by which we believe in God's power and can come before Him, we will not receive His answers to our prayer so long as a wall of sin stands between God and us.
Then, what are "sins"?
1)Not Having Believed in God and Accepted Jesus Christ
Jesus tells us in John 16:9, "Concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me," and states that the fact that one does not believe in God and accept Jesus Christ itself is a sin.
When we preach the Gospel, we come across people who say they are without sin as they have lived according to good conscience and have no reason to believe in Jesus. Such words stem from spiritual ignorance from which he does not know what "sin" is. As there is no truth in their heart, such individuals are unable to tell apart the right from the wrong and do know true goodness, evil, and righteousness.
No matter how good a life one may have led or think to have led, once he accepts Jesus Christ and hears the Word he will soon discover that there is no goodness in him. The mere fact that he had not believed in God and accepted Jesus Christ itself is the greatest sin. Even if he had thought he was in the right, there are so many wrongs within when viewed and measured under the light.
2)Not Having Loved
The Bible tells us we "ought to love one another" (1 John 4:11) and to love our enemies (Matthew 5:44). Yet, if we despise our enemies, much less love our brothers, this is an act of disobedience against God's Word.
Even though He was without an ounce of sin, Jesus redeemed all mankind from their sins by being crucified. When we consider the Lord who subjected Himself to all sorts of affliction and loved us so to death, whom can we not love? Furthermore, not loving brothers and forgiving them are great sins against God (1 John 3:15; Matthew 18:35).
Therefore, even if a brother slanders and hates you without any reason, you must keep in mind the grace of salvation and the love of Our Lord and ought to be able to pray for that brother in love. God will then show you mercy and kindness and swiftly answer your requests and prayers.
3)Not Having Obeyed the Commandments
Jesus tells us in John 14:21, "He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."
We also read in 1 John 3:21-22, "Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight."
Therefore, when we obey God's commandments, He shows us His love and we receive whatever we ask Him. If you fail to receive God's answers to your prayers, you must realize that it is the result of the wall of sin of not having obeyed His commandments.
4)Having Prayed in Greed
1 Corinthians 10:31 urges us, "Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God," while James 4:2b-3 remind us, "You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures."
God fulfills all of which He has spoken and answers those who believe in Him and ask Him. People who love and believe in God ask Him for God's glory; that is why they receive from Him whatever they ask and magnify Him. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:33a, "Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness." In other words, when we please God by praying first for the salvation of souls and our own sanctification, instead of being concerned with things to eat and wear, He will answer us.
5)Having Prayed while Doubting
God is delighted when we pray by faith (Hebrews 11:6). He has answered the prayer of people who has displayed their faith in Him; Our Lord commended the Gentiles when they showed great faith and even rebuked His own disciples for their little faith.
We also find in James 1:6-7, "But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord."
"Faith" signifies one's trust in God.
6)Not Having Sown
Galatians 6:7 tells us, "God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap." When one sows prayer, he will receive God's answers, his inner being will be strengthened, and his spirit will be renewed as much as he has sown. A physically weak individual can sow by diligently attending all worship services; when they have sown before God with love and faithful service, he will receive the blessing of good health.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, Proverbs 8:17 tells us, "I love those who love me; And those who diligently seek me will find me." When we earnestly seek Him, God will meet us. Be sure to examine yourselves to find any walls of sin and if you do, destroy them immediately; God will then answer your requests and prayers.
May each of you receive from God all that you ask Him, prosper in all aspects, and be in good health just as your soul prospers, in the name of Our Lord Jesus Christ I pray!
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