No Man - Part II
Dec 2023
(Excerpt from the book Miracles Of The Lord Jesus Christ) |
God’s method and His only method is the cross of Christ. That is where Satan, all fallen angels, and all demon spirits were totally and completely defeated (Col. 2:10-15).
That’s the reason that Satan hates the cross with a passion. He doesn’t really care what man does or how religious he becomes so long as he doesn’t look to Christ and the cross.
Regrettably, the modern church, and that goes for all stripes, is looking elsewhere except to the cross. God help us!
The following diagram might be of help as it regards living a victorious Christian life:
• Jesus Christ is the source. Jesus Christ is the source of all things we receive from God. This means that everything we receive from God must go through the Lord Jesus Christ (John 1:1-3; 14:6; Col. 2:10).
• The cross of Christ is the means. Jesus Christ is the source while the cross is the means by which every good thing is given to us. Were it not for the cross, God could not even look at man, much less have fellowship with him. It is the cross of Christ that has made and does make everything possible (Rom. 6:1-14; Col. 2:10-15).
• The object of our faith must be the cross of Christ. With Jesus as the source and the cross as the means, the cross of Christ must ever be the object of our faith. This is critically important. If we place faith in anything other than the cross of Christ, then we violate God’s prescribed order of victory (I Cor. 1:17-18, 21, 23, 2:2; Gal. 6:14; Col. 2:10-15).
• The Holy Spirit works within the parameters of the finished work of Christ. With our Lord as the source and the cross as the means, and the cross of Christ as the object of our faith, then the Holy Spirit, who works exclusively within the parameters, so to speak, of the finished work of Christ, will begin to work mightily on our behalf, making us what we ought to be, which He alone can do (Rom. 8:1-11; Eph. 2:13-18; Acts 1:4).
The cross of Christ is God’s way, and His only way, because no other way is needed.
When it comes to salvation, man cannot provide anything that contributes toward this work of grace. It is altogether faith in Christ and what He did for us at the cross. It’s called justification by faith.
Likewise, the believer who has sinned can contribute nothing toward his forgiveness; he can only accept what the Lord has already furnished through the cross. Whether he is unredeemed or redeemed, this is man’s greatest problem: he keeps trying to submit that which he thinks will guarantee salvation or grace, which God can never accept.
God can accept Jesus Christ and what He did for us at the cross, and that alone. We accept that, and we are saved. If we reject it, then we are eternally lost. Regrettably and sadly, the modern church is filling the land with ways other than Christ and the cross.
THE IMPOTENT MAN
“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” (John 5:7).
The phrase, “The impotent man answered him,” represents this man having no idea who Jesus was or who asked him this all-important question.
Christ’s appearance little spoke of who He actually was. He had no regal bearing in the sense of ostentatious display, as was the custom of those important, or at least those who thought they were important. Jesus had no runners going before Him telling the people who He was. Jesus was a peasant; consequently, His dress and the dress of His disciples who surrounded Him was according to such station.
If Jesus had been accompanied by a display of pomp and ceremony, man would have been easily impressed and accepted Him far more readily, albeit for all the wrong reasons. If this had been the case, it would have only exacerbated man’s real problem of pride rather than meeting his true need.
Consequently, the manner in which Jesus came, “No beauty that we should desire him” (Isa. 53:2), was how He had to come so that man could be redeemed.
Catering to man’s pride, which ostentatious display would have done, was the very opposite of what man needed.
The world is greatly impressed by pomp, ceremony, riches, fame, and popularity. All else is regulated to a secondary position if any position at all. This is because of man’s pride, which speaks to the manner of his fall in the garden of Eden and his desire to play God or to be God. All too often the church falls into this same trap of being impressed by gaudy display, which is regrettable.
When Jesus spoke to this man, had he looked up, instead of seeing one of regal display that impresses the world, he would have seen one who was totally different from what world had ever known. Yes, the regal display was there, but in a manner impossible for the world to duplicate. Christ’s manner was registered in humility and love, which the world did not recognize or understand. Neither did the backslidden church of that day understand.
In John 5:7, the phrase, “Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool,” tells of the resignation in the man’s answer, especially considering the many years of his impotence, in which he despairs of ever finding help. Much of the world is in this same condition—no more hope remains. In other words, “having no hope, and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). This is the awfulness of a life without God—no hope.
The phrase, “I have no man,” proclaims his dependence on man, which has brought nothing but disappointment because dependence on man can bring nothing but disappointment.
Sadder still is when much of the church, even those who claim to know and understand the power of God, no longer look to Him but to man.
The world of humanistic psychology is a perfect case in point. Most in the church are not taught to look to the Lord, but rather to this broken reed. It is the same as Israel looking to Egypt in her waning days instead of asking the Lord for help. Despite the prophesying of Jeremiah, they ignored Jehovah, who was only yards away in the temple. Even at the expense of great treasure, they resorted to Egypt, which could give them no help whatsoever. How the mighty have fallen!
If we look to man, we will get the help that man provides, which is nothing. But if we look to God, we will get the help that He provides, which is magnificent indeed, as this man speaking with Jesus will soon learn.
When he addressed Jesus as “Sir,” he did so because he had no idea that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God. Because of the love and humility that resided in Christ, these offenses never bothered Him. Instead, He pressed in closer that He might heal this man.
The phrase, “but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me,” proclaims the fact that in the past thirty-eight years, the angel had visited this place several times with, it seems, some being healed. But due to his impotence, this man was not so fortunate.
Again, this man’s condition was a type of Israel attempting to find life in the law. But in both cases, strength was required on the part of the person who sought what was promised, which guaranteed failure because man has no spiritual strength within himself. The greatest danger of all in the church is for believers to take that which points to Christ and attempt to make it an end within itself. The church points to Christ, but the church can save no one.
Likewise, the Lord’s Supper and water baptism point to Christ—the one who saves—but these ordinances, of themselves, contain no salvation, yet many have mistaken them for salvation.
In the law, all pointed to Jesus, but Israel vainly attempted to make salvation out of the law.
I bear down on this point, even at the risk of repetition, simply because this problem is acute. As Israel fell into this trap, so does the modern church. All who look to the church or to its sacred ordinances for salvation will find themselves exactly as this impotent man beside the pool of Bethesda— imprisoned in helplessness.
Excerpt from Brother Swaggart’s book, Miracles Of The Lord Jesus Christ.
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