0346. A Despairing Response

A Despairing Response

"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" (Joh_5:7).

There are three things before us in the answer of the impotent man.

1. He confessed his own utter helplessness, when he said "I have no man to help me." What he meant was, "Sir, I want to get down into the waters, but I cannot and no one will help me."

And the sinner is always helpless in his sins. He cannot save himself, he cannot even help to save himself. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin; can the leopard change his spots?"

A poor sinner may whitewash himself, but he cannot wash himself white. Salvation is not an evolution of the old nature, it is the implantation of a new nature. Salvation is not the mere fanning of the spark that is already in man; it is being born again.

2. He confessed that he was looking to a wrong source for help; He said: "Sir, I have no man." His hope was in the reputed healing power of the waters; and he looked to the help of some man. How long had he been disappointed! And, what must be the disappointment of those who lean upon the arm of flesh and say unto men, "Ye are our gods"? Remember Naaman looked to the wrong source for help; he came to the king of Israel, instead of coming at once to the Prophet of God.

3. He confessed his real desire for help, and his own utter helplessness. He seemed to say: "I truly want to be healed, but I cannot get down to the waters." He showed where his "will" was.

It was when Jacob ceased his struggling with the angel, who had wrestled with him, and when he, helpless as he was, with his thigh having been touched, began to cling, that he got victory and prevailed. It was when this impotent man, came to the end of himself, when he confessed his dire need, that he secured the aid of the Lord.

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR