John 5:1-18 "After this there was a feast of..." KJV - Online Bible Study

John 5:1-18 "After this there was a feast of..." KJV - Online Bible Study King James Version

John 5:1-18

¹ After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ² Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongueBethesda, having five porches. ³ In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk , of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. ⁴ For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had . ⁵ And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. ⁶ When Jesus saw him lie , and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? ⁷ The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled , to put me into the pool: but while I am coming , another steppeth down before me. ⁸ Jesus saith unto him, Rise , take up thy bed, and walk . ⁹ And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked : and on the same day was the sabbath. ¹⁰ The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured , It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. ¹¹ He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk . ¹² Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk ? ¹³ And he that was healed wist not who it was : for Jesus had conveyed himself away , a multitude being in that place. ¹⁴ Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. ¹⁵ The man departed , and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. ¹⁶ And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. ¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto , and I work . ¹⁸ Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

RICHARD SMALLWOOD: "CENTER OF MY JOY"

Total Praise - Richard Smallwood

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Home | Daily Word: GRATITUDE
With a heart full of gratitude, I sing a song of praise.
Music is a universal language that, even without words, can calm us or lift our spirits. A venerable hymn reminds me to count my blessings and name them one by one. When troubles loom, I put a song on my lips and count the blessings in my life. I soon remember that problems have no power to weaken my faith in God, and I am thankful for divine solutions.

When my heart is full of gratitude, I feel songs of praise and thanksgiving bubble up within me. In high spirits, I joyfully hum, drum, whistle or sing a tune to express my appreciation. Whatever form my expression takes, I make a joyful noise to the Lord and invite all who hear to join in singing praises.

Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be known in all the earth. --Isaiah 12:5

John 4:43-54 "Now after two days he departed..." KJV - Online Bible Study

John 4:43-54 "Now after two days he departed..." KJV - Online Bible StudyNow after two days he departed thence, and went into Galilee. ⁴⁴ For Jesus himself testified , that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. ⁴⁵ Then when he was come into Galilee, the Galilaeans received him, having seen all the things that he did atJerusalem at the feast: for they also went unto the feast. ⁴⁶ So Jesus came again intoCana of Galilee, where he made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. ⁴⁷ When he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went unto him, and besought him that he would come down , and heal his son: for he was at the point of death . ⁴⁸ Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe . ⁴⁹ The nobleman saith unto him, Sir, come down ere my child die . ⁵⁰ Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way ; thy son liveth . And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he went his way . ⁵¹ And as he was now going down , his servants met him, and told him, saying , Thy son liveth . ⁵² Then enquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they said unto him , Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. ⁵³ So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him , Thy son liveth : and himself believed , and his whole house. ⁵⁴ This is again the second miracle that Jesus did , when he was come out of Judaea into Galilee.

A Fourfold Salvation by A.W. Pink-Salvation from the Pleasure of Sin

A Fourfold Salvation by A.W. Pink-Salvation from the Pleasure of Sin

Salvation from the Pleasure of Sin

It is here that God begins His actual application of salvation unto His elect. God saves us from the pleasure or love of sin before He delivers us from the penalty or punishment of sin. Necessarily so, for it would be neither an act of holiness nor of righteousness were He to grant full pardon to one who was still a rebel against Him, loving that which He hates. God is a God of order throughout, and nothing ever more evidences the perfections of His works than the orderliness of them. And how does God save His people from the pleasure of sin? The answer is, By imparting to them a nature which hates evil and loves holiness. This takes place when they are born again, so that actual salvation begins with regeneration. Of course it does: where else could it commence? Fallen man can never perceive his desperate need of salvation nor come to Christ for it, till he has been renewed by the Holy Spirit.

"He hath made everything beautiful in his time" (Eccl. 3:11), and much of the beauty of God’s spiritual handiwork is lost upon us unless we duly observe their "time." Has not the Spirit Himself emphasized this in the express enumeration He has given us in "For whom he did foreknow, he did also predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called; and whom he called, them he also justified; and whom he justified, them he also glorified" (Rom. 8:29-30). Verse 29 announces the Divine foreordination; verse 30 states the manner of its actualization. It seems passing strange that with this Divinely defined method before them, so many preachers begin with our justification, instead of with that effectual call (from death unto life, our regeneration) which precedes it. Surely it is most obvious that regeneration must first take place in order to lay a foundation for our justification. Justification is by faith (Acts 13:39; Rom. 5:1; Gal. 3:8), and the sinner must be Divinely quickened before he is capable of believing savingly.

Does not the last statement made throw light upon and explain what we have said is so "passing strange"? Preachers today are so thoroughly imbued with free-willism that they have departed almost wholly from that sound evangelism which marked our forefathers. The radical difference between Arminianism and Calvinism is that the system of the former revolves about the creature, whereas the system of the latter has the Creator for its centre of orbit. The Arminian allots to man the first place, the Calvinist gives God that position of honor. Thus the Arminian begins his discussion of salvation with justification, for the sinner must believe before he can be forgiven; further back he will not go, for he is unwilling that man should be made nothing of But the instructed Calvinist begins with election, descends to regeneration, and then shows that being born again (by the sovereign act of God, in which the creature has no part) the sinner is made capable of savingly believing the Gospel.

Saved from the pleasure and love of sin. What multitudes of people would strongly resent being told that they delighted in evil! They would indignantly ask if we supposed them to be moral perverts. No indeed: a person may be thoroughly chaste and yet delight in evil. It may be that some of our own readers repudiate the charge that they have ever taken pleasure in sin, and would claim, on the contrary, that from earliest recollection they have detested wickedness in all its forms. Nor would we dare to call into question their sincerity; instead we point out that it only affords another exemplification of the solemn fact that "the heart is deceitful above all things" (Jer. 17:9). But this is a matter that is not open to argument: the plain teaching of God’s Word decides the point once and for all, and beyond its verdict there is no appeal. What, then, say the Scriptures?

So far from God’s Word denying that there is any delight to be found therein, it expressly speaks of "the pleasures of sin," it immediately warns that those pleasures are but "for a season" (Heb. 11:25), for the aftermath is painful and not pleasant; yea, unless God intervenes in His sovereign grace, they entail eternal torment. So too the Word refers to those who are "lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God" (2 Tim. 3:4). It is indeed striking to observe how often this discordant note is struck in Scripture. It mentions those who "love vanity" (Ps. 4:2); "him that loveth violence" (Ps. 11:5); "thou lovest evil more than good" (Ps. 52:3); "he loved lies" (Prov. 1:22); "they which delight in their abominations" (Isa. 66:3); "their abominations were according as they loved" (Hos. 9:10); who hated the good and loved the evil" (Micah 3:2); "if any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John 2:15). To love sin is far worse than to commit it, for a man may be suddenly tripped up or commit it through frailty.

The fact is, my reader, that we are not only born into this world with an evil nature, but with hearts that are thoroughly in love with sin. Sin is our native element. We are wedded to our lusts, and of ourselves are no more able to alter the bent of our corrupt nature than the Ethiopian can change his skin or the leopard his spots. But what is impossible with man, is possible with God, and when He takes us in hand this is where He begins—by saving us from the pleasure or love of sin. This is the great miracle of grace, for the Almighty stoops down and picks up a loathsome leper from the dunghill and makes him a new creature m Christ, so that the things he once hated he now loves. God commences by saving us from ourselves. He does not save us from the penalty until He has delivered us from the love of sin.

And how is this miracle of grace accomplished, or rather, exactly what does it consist of? Negatively, not by eradicating the evil nature, nor even by refining it. Positively, by communicating a new nature, a holy nature, which loathes that which is evil, and delights in all that is truly good. To be more specific. First, God save His people from the pleasure or love of sin by puffing His holy awe in their hearts, for "the fear of the Lord is to hate evil" (Prov. 8:13), and again, "the fear of the Lord is to depart from evil" (Prov. 6:16). Second. God saves His people from the pleasure of sin by communicating to them a new and vital principle: ‘the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit" (Rom 5:5), and where the love of God rules the heart, the love of sin is dethroned. Third, God saves His people from the love of sin by the Holy Spirit’s drawing their affections unto things above, thereby taking them off the things which formerly enthralled them.

If on the one hand the unbeliever hotly denies that lit is in love with sin, many a believer is often hard put 10 persuade himself that he has been saved from the love thereof With an understanding that has in part been enlightened by the Holy Spirit, he is the better able to discern things in their true colors. With a heart that has been made honest by grace, he refuses to call sweet bitter. With a conscience that has been sensitized by the new birth, he the more quickly feels the workings of sin and the hankering of his affections for that which is forbidden. Moreover, the flesh remains in him, unchanged, and as the raven constantly craves carrion, so this corrupt principle in which our mothers conceived us, lusts after and delights in that which is the opposite of holiness. It is these things which occasion and give rise to the disturbing questions that clamour for answer within the genuine believer.

The sincere Christian is often made to seriously doubt if he has been delivered from the love of sin. Such questions as these plainly agitate his mind: Why do I so readily yield to temptation? Why do some of the vanities and pleasures of the world still possess so much attraction for me? Why do I chafe so much against any restraints being placed upon my lusts? Why do I find the work of mortification so difficult and distasteful? Could such things as these be if I were a new creature in Christ? Could such horrible experiences as these happen if God had saved me from taking pleasure in sin? Well do we know that we are here giving expression to the very doubts which exercise the minds of many of our readers, and those who are strangers thereto are to be pitied. But what shall we say in reply? How is this distressing problem to be resolved?

How may one be assured that he has been saved from the love of sin? Let us point out first that the presence of that within us which still lusts after and takes delight in some evil things, is not incompatible with our having been saved from the love of sin, paradoxical as that may sound. It is part of the mystery of the Gospel that those who be saved are yet sinners in themselves. The point we are here dealing with is similar to and parallel with faith. The Divine principle of faith in the heart does not cast out unbelief. Faith and doubts exist side by side within a quickened soul, which is evident from those words, "Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief" (Mark 9:24). In like manner the Christian may exclaim and pray, "Lord, I long after holiness, help Thou my lustings after sin." And why is this? Because of the existence of two separate natures, the one at complete variance with the other within the Christian.

How, then, is the presence of faith to be ascertained? Not by the ceasing of unbelief, but by discovering its own fruit and works. Fruit may grow amid thorns as flowers among weeds, and yet it is fruit nonetheless. Faith exists amid many doubts and fears. Notwithstanding opposing forces within as well as from without us, faith still reaches out after God. Notwithstanding innumerable discouragements and defeats, faith continues to fight. Notwithstanding many refusals from God, it yet clings to Him and says, Except Thou bless me I will not let Thee go. Faith may be fearfully weak and fitful, often eclipsed by the clouds of unbelief, nevertheless the Devil himself cannot persuade its possessor to repudiate God’s Word, despite His Son, or abandon all hope. The presence of faith, then, may be ascertained in that it causes its possessor to come before God as an empty-handed beggar beseeching Him for mercy and blessing.

Now just as the presence of faith may be known amid all the workings of unbelief, so our salvation from the love of sin may be ascertained notwithstanding all the lustings of the flesh after that which is evil. But in what way? How is this initial aspect of salvation to be identified? We have already anticipated this question in an earlier paragraph, wherein we stated that God saved us from delighting in sin by imparting a nature that hates evil and loves holiness, which takes place at the new birth. Consequently, the real question to be settled is, How may the Christian positively determine whether that new and holy nature has been imparted to him? The answer is, By observing its activities, particularly the opposition it makes (under the energizings of the Holy Spirit) unto indwelling sin. Not only does the flesh (that principle of sin) lust against the spirit, but the spirit (the principle of holiness) lusts and wars against the flesh.

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Home | Daily Word: PROTECTED
God's love is my shield and my protection.
Life on earth is sustained by the light and warmth of the sun; however, the sun's ultraviolet rays are intense enough to cause damage to the skin. To protect my skin from exposure to these rays, I may apply sunscreen or wear protective clothing. While I have awe and appreciation for the sun's life-giving energy, I also recognize that there are dangers.

Many of life's experiences come with various rewards and challenges. In threatening circumstances, I use my inner wisdom to make wise choices to protect myself and others. Divine light shines within me as my unfailing and ever-present guide. God's love is my shield and my protection.

I am going to send an angel in front of you, to guard you on the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared.--Exodus 23:20