In this sermon, the preacher focuses on the story of a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years and was waiting by the pool of Bethesda for healing. The man's heart was directed towards the Lord, but his mind was fixed on the water and waiting for someone to assist him. The preacher emphasizes the need for the mind to be renewed and the soul to be redeemed, so that our hearts and minds are aligned in faith. The sermon also raises the question of whether there will be faith on earth when the Son of Man returns.

Lord, we do want to just turn our hearts together towards you. We thank you for your great faithfulness, for speaking to us, for sharing your blessing. Lord, we confess we are unworthy people, yet you have chosen us to be your people, and we are so thankful we can be outdraken this afternoon in your very presence. We thank you, your presence is our portion, and your presence is what we long for. And may we just be conscious of you, and you alone, so we can be outdraken this time too. Do glorify your name, we ask in the name of Jesus. Amen. After the two messages by Fr. Joshua, I feel a bit uncomfortable up here. He shared on this matter of the spirit of humility, and we are all proud people, but I thank the Lord that he is dealing with us, he is teaching us how to be humble, and he is very patient with us. At least for myself, those who are standing here on this platform and so ministering to you, some of you call us teachers. I don't think we are teachers. We are all in the school of Christ. We are learning Christ together. There may be some of us a little bit more advanced in the school of Christ, and that's all. But we are all learning Christ together. So brothers and sisters, even though we are sharing here, or I'm sharing here, we are all receiving together from the Lord. So please do not fix your eyes on any person. Let's fix our eyes on the Lord Jesus, and he alone has the world of life, and we must receive directly from him. Because during these last few months, while I was meditating before the Lord, and really struggling, just got to share these two afternoons, and of course the shortcut, the tendency is to look into some books written by others serving the Lord and see what they have to say, and I read quite a bit. But in the end, the Lord said to me, you look to me. So in the end, the last few days before the conference, I just dropped all those books and just read before the Lord, and see what the Lord had to say to me. How easy it was to rely on other things than the Lord himself. And may the Lord help us. Alright, now the theme for my two sessions this afternoon, and in the afternoon, I just do not know exactly how to phrase it into a theme or a title, but I came to the conclusion is that the faithfulness of God, and the coming of his King. The faithfulness of God, and the coming of God's King. For instance, the book of Revelation ends with grace and Amen. If it's grace, then it's not work. If it's grace, then it's God has done all the work. And the last word in the book of Revelation, we simply say what? Amen to all that God has done. So my theme for the afternoon will be the faithfulness of God, and the coming of his King. So should we turn to a couple portions of scripture please? First let's turn to the Gospel of Luke 18. And we'll just pick one phrase from verse 8, the second half of that verse. Gospel of Luke 18, the second phrase of verse 8. Nevertheless, when the Son of man comes, will he really find faith on the earth? It's a question of faith, and faith posed by the Lord Jesus himself. When the Son of man comes, will he really find faith on the earth? And let's turn to 1 Peter chapter 1, and we'll read from verse 3 to verse 9. 1 Peter chapter 1, verse 3 through verse 9. Blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen, you love, though now you do not see him, yet believing you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your soul. Now in Luke 18, that phrase we read, when the Son of Man comes will he really find faith on the earth? If you look through the New Testament, the law in the course of his earthly life, he asks many questions, and this is one of the questions he asks. When the Son of Man comes, will he really find faith on the earth? Now what is this faith that the Son of Man is looking for when he comes? From the reading of Peter, the faith that the Son of Man is looking for is that genuine faith which has been tried and tested and purified by fire, being more precious than gold that perishes. It is the end of faith, not the beginning of faith. The end of faith simply means the end as intended by the Lord for his people, the salvation of our souls. Now anything pertaining to the unseen, to the spiritual, to the heavenlies, faith is foundational, because in Hebrew we are told faith is the assurance or reality of the things hoped for and the evidence of the things unseen. In Hebrew we also read that without faith it is impossible to please God. So anything pertaining to the spiritual, to the unseen, to the heavenlies, faith is foundational. Faith, which the Son of Man is looking for when he comes, is this long enduring faith, triumphant faith, the faith which will ultimately bring us to God's end, the end intended by the Lord for his people, the salvation of our souls. It is when saints gloriously say it, spirit, soul and body. It is that great, so great a salvation that in Hebrew too that we read, so great a salvation, is when it is perfectly worked out, gloriously manifested in sinners like us, saved by grace. Not only gloriously saved, but also gloriously constituted, prepared as a bright adornment for the husband. That is the end of our faith, not the initial faith. From reading Luke 18, that portion, when the Son of Man comes will he find faith, we notice that the Lord placed faith in such a high regard. It is faith that he will be looking for when he comes. Therefore this matter of faith, we need to pay some attention and take some time to consider what this faith the Son of Man is really looking for when he comes. Faith the Son of Man is looking for. And when he comes, he seems to be just focused on this one thing. So when he comes, faith is more important to him than anything else. Because without faith you cannot reach him. It does not say how much we have done for him when he comes, how many souls you saved, how much money you give to the Lord's work, what he has done for him. But it says when he comes he looks for one thing and that is faith. And thank the Lord he told us beforehand. Because he wants us to be a prepared people when he comes. So when he comes, he will find that faith in his people. In the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3, we see that the Lord was really looking for himself in his churches. Because the body and the head are one. So in those seven letters, if you read carefully you will notice in each letter the Lord was looking for himself in that local church. Something in his people corporately that corresponds to his very nature. Now brothers and sisters, faith and faithfulness are the very nature of God. Now is it possible that the Lord is waiting for the church to possess that faith, that genuine faith that has been tasted, tried and purified by fire? The faith that is more precious than gold that perishes? The faith in the church, in the church of the Lord is in his people that so correspond to his very own. And then the end will be consummated and the marriage of the Lamb will take place. Faith, the son of man will be looking for. Now it is God's glory that he be believed in this unbelieving world. That is his glory. It is when he is believed, then his purposes can be accomplished. Faith is like a jewel to the Lord, because something very precious to him, he is looking for it, like a jewel. You will notice, I'm sure, New Jerusalem is built with precious stones, tri-stones, stone that has been tested and went through fire, purified. Now brothers and sisters, could these stones, and I believe when they are all put together and formed into that new habitation in the spirit for the Lord, I think all those stones speak with one voice. God's faith, God's faithfulness. It is his faith, his faithfulness that has done it. Therefore all glories belong to him, our faithful God. Faith is that precious jewel the Lord is looking for. Faith and faithfulness are the attributes of God, as we share. But unbelieving and unfaithfulness is our life, our nature, that human trait, the trait of a fallen man. So the first thing we must realize, brothers and sisters, this faith that God, the son of man is looking for, cannot be manufactured by man. We have no faith. We cannot manufacture it. And therefore the Lord Jesus, he is called the author of that faith, and also the finish of that faith. Faith originates with God. The origin of faith is God himself. So without the Lord Jesus, without him, there is no faith, because he is the author of faith. He is the beginning of faith, and he is the end of faith. He is the beginning of our salvation, and he is the end of our salvation. And we are to live by faith, and daily we are experiencing his saving grace. But this faith came when the Lord Jesus came to this world. When he came he brought faith to us. It is when he came as the son of man, as the son of God, God became man, he brought faith into this world. In incarnation, faith was introduced into this world. In incarnation, God intervened in human sinful history. Now in verse 8 of Luke 18, it does not say that when the son of God comes, will he really find faith on the earth. It does not say that when the son of God comes, will he really find faith on the earth. But it says that when the son of man comes, will he really find faith on the earth. It just shows that there is no faith down here before the Lord Jesus. No real faith. We do not know what it is to believe in God. None of us do. Especially God, a God who is invisible and yet who is real. Because we are all blind. We are all dead to God, spiritually dead. We are children of wrath. And the scripture says there is no one secret to God, not even one. No one. But thank God he sent his beloved son, the Lord Jesus. And he came to be a man. And he took up man's place. And he lived a life of faith in God and for God. And in his life on this earth, he displayed before us the faith that God is looking for in man. He lived a life of total dependence upon God his Father for everything. Total faith and confidence in his God. His Father's will was his will. And their hearts correspond with each other. Two hearts that share one heartbeat. There is no one. And no wonder the Lord Jesus was the man after God's own heart. But thank God he did not come just to demonstrate his faith before God, just for us to look and see and behold. He came with a purpose to imparting that faith into us. That's why he came as a son of man. To give us faith. That through him we may come to God. And the Lord Jesus is the only way for us to come back to the Father. And the way is the way of faith. And it's grace. Now the next thing we notice is that since the Lord Jesus is the author and finisher of faith. And when he was here, he was a man of faith. So he alone knew what is faith. He alone knows what is faith. So the Lord Jesus as a son of man, he is the only qualified person to discern where faith is found. So we'll look at a couple accounts in the Bible. In the Gospels when that faith was found. Now those two encounters our brother Joshua used the other day. And he used it to show the spirit of humility. So I'm using it to show the faith. The faith that the Lord is looking for. Our first notice is in Luke 7. The story of the centurion. The story of the centurion and who's servant was sick unto death. We'll just read verse 9. When Jesus heard these things he marveled at him. And he turned around and said to the crowd that followed him, I said to you I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel. When the Lord heard these things he marveled. Faith is something he marveled. It's not how much we do for him. It's how much trust we put on him he marveled. We often came to please him for him to marvel. We had to do a lot of things for him. But it says here he marveled because he found faith. And he said to this centurion, I have not found such great faith, not even in Israel. Now the other account of the faith the Lord found is in Matthew 15. Let's just moment to turn to Matthew 15. The Canaanite woman. We'll read verse 22. And behold a woman of the region cried out to him saying have mercy on me oh Lord. She recognized him as Lord son of David. My daughter is severely demon possessed. And the Lord tried to discourage him. The Lord said it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs. And she said true Lord. Yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table. And then the Lord answered and said to her, oh woman, great is your faith. Let it be to you as you desire. Now in these two occasions the Lord used the word great. Now as we heard last time from Fr. Langins, the Lord does not use words carelessly. So when the Lord said their faith was great, it was great faith. The Lord's estimation of the faith of the centurion and the woman of Canaan said their faith was great. It was great faith. That's not human estimation. That's the Lord's estimation. Now great. The Bible says God is great. The Lord is great and he is ready to be praised. And yet the Lord Jesus said faith is great. Faith is great because the object of faith is God. And God himself is what? Is great. So faith makes God what? Great. So without faith we cannot preach it. So when a son of man comes he is looking for that faith. So the centurion and for this Canaanite woman the Lord said their faith was great. Because their faith, the object of their faith is God himself. And God alone is great. Now from what we just shared, faith is the ground upon which God does his work. Because the servant of the centurion was healed when the Lord spoke the word. And the demon possessed daughter was also healed when the Lord spoke the word. Because there was faith and the work was done. So faith is the ground upon which the Lord does all his work. And everything the Lord does is on the principle of faith. Without faith he can do nothing. It's not that he has no power, but he will not do it. We will just look at Genesis a little bit. You know the story of creation. Creation is an act of faith. Because God has faith in himself. That's all. So when God said let there be and there was, it's an act of faith. Because God has faith in himself. So how do we define faith? What is faith? Faith is simply God. Because God, only God has faith. And only God alone is faithful. So we just turn to one more portion of scripture, Mark. Mark 12. Mark 11. And faith to the Lord is something very very important. Verse 23. Verse 23. It's a chapter on faith. You know the fig tree that was cursed. You know the story behind it. But in verse 22, the Lord answered and said to them, have faith in God. The Lord said have faith in God. Now I understand the original is simply say have the faith of God. That's in the original. Have the faith of God. So the Lord is really saying to us, only God has faith. Only God alone is faithful. Only God is full of faith and he is full of faithfulness to himself. Trust him. You can do no wrong by trusting him. Now the Bible begins and ends, or the whole Bible is a gigantic record, a big record of the great faithfulness of God. We know that, brothers and sisters. The whole Bible is a huge record of the great faithfulness of God. When the Lord said, I am the Alpha, the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, he is simply saying to us, from A to Z, I am faithful. From the beginning to the end, I am the faithful one. From the first to the last, I am the faithful one. That's what he is saying to us. In Revelation 1.5, the Lord Jesus was called, he is called the faithful. Now, dear brothers and sisters, bear with me. Let's just look at a few more scriptures about the faithfulness of God, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. We are called believers individually and together we are called a household of faith. Brothers and sisters, we are in a way, in many ways, we are still unbelieving people. We believe what we want to believe. We are very selective in what we believe. And if we do that, the Lord can never be Lord of all in our lives, individually as well as hopefully as his people. Now, shall we turn to Old Testament first, what the Lord said to himself. Let's first look to the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 7. Our time is going pretty fast, so we will just read a few short verses. Verse 9. Therefore know that the Lord your God, he is God, what kind of a God? The what? The faithful God. That's what he is. Who keeps covenant and mercy to the thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments. Our God is a faithful God. Let's turn to the book of Numbers, chapter 23. A very familiar portion. We will just read verse 19 and 20. Numbers 23, verse 19 and 20. God is not man that he should lie, nor a son of man that he should repent. Has he said and will he not do it? Has he spoken and will he not make it good? Behold, I have received a command to bless. He has blessed and I cannot what? Reverse it. And let's turn to New Testament. The text of Titus, chapter 1, verse 2. Titus 1, verse 2. In hope of eternal life, which God who cannot lie promised from the time it began. He cannot lie. There are two things our God cannot do. He cannot lie and he cannot deny himself because he is faithful. Just to save time, let's go to Romans 4. The God of Abraham. Many of our local fellow shepherds condition over time very much like Abraham and Sarah when they were of old age. Not very much alive. No kicking power. Lying dead. Unreproductive. Dead body and dead womb. Many of our church condition is just a reflection of the Abraham and Sarah's old age life. But brothers and sisters, Abraham's body may be dead and Sarah's womb may be dead, but our God is still alive and he is still well. As church, we need to believe that, brothers and sisters. We need to believe that. So should we look at Romans 4, verse 16. Therefore, it is faith that it might be according to grace so that the promise might be sure to all to see. Not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of faith. Of the faith of Abraham who is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made you a father of many nations. Now in English, the tense is very important. The Lord says, I have already what? Made you. Now I am going to make you. In the presence of him whom he believed, even God who gives life to the dead and call those things which cannot exist as though they did. Now that is our God. And Abraham's eyes were not fixed on himself or on his wife Sarah. He fixed his eyes on his God. And later we read verse 21. And being fully convinced that he who had promised he also able to what? Perform it. Now I believe church as corporate we need to take hold of some of these words of the Lord and really believe it. Because as church often time we face impossible situations corporately. And without God's word and faith in him we will never get through. So Abraham believed he who promised also will perform it. And the one who promised is the same one who fulfilled it. And then of course Philippians 1.6 you don't need to turn to. Very familiar. He who began this good work in you will surely complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. That good work is what we have been sharing this week. The preparation of the church as a bride for the bridegroom. That is the good work the Lord is doing. Preparing us to be. And the day of the Lord Jesus Christ is when he comes as our bridegroom. And this hope inspired by the Holy Spirit and broke that in faith he said it will surely what? Complete it. It's faith. And let's just turn to Hebrews. This particular verse really shocked me when I first read it. And of course I knew this verse for many years but never got hold of me the way it did when I read it recently. Hebrews 2. Hebrews 2 verse 11. For both he who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all one. For which reason he is not ashamed to call them brethren. So when I was reading this verse recently and I was meditating upon it I told my brother and sister in South Jersey sometimes I'm sure they feel pretty ashamed of me. If you don't know me you think you're ok. I'm ok. But when you know me you may feel ashamed of me. But the Lord said I'm not ashamed to call them brethren. Now that is a statement of faith. You may not what you ought to be now but the day will come when I begin my work in you I will finish it. It's a statement of faith. I'm not ashamed to call them brethren even though they are not what they ought to be yet. But the day will come they will be like me because they are my brethren. I am their firstborn. They are my brethren. I'm sure in local assemblies some of the saints are afraid to call them brethren because of the way they behave or their conduct. Very worldly. I said how can I call them brethren? How can I call him brethren? I mean look at the way he lives. It takes faith to call him brethren. And maybe the Lord is waiting for you to call him brethren and then the Lord will do the restoring work in that life. So when I read that verse I was really very touched. My brothers in South Jersey still call me brethren and thank God for that. It's a call of faith. And then corporately of course we are very familiar with Matthew 16 and 18. The Lord said I will build my church and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. Now brothers and sisters if the Lord said he will build it what do you think? What do you think? He will do it or not do it? Amen he will do it. How can he not do it? How can he fail to do it? So whenever I hear some negative things about the church I grieve. To me it's not honoring the Lord. As though the Lord is totally helpless. Not able to carry out what he promised to do. We need faith in spite of what we see. We need faith to see beyond what we see. Because church is not earthly. Church is heavenly. Church is spiritual not physical. It takes faith to see the real church. Verse 5 and 6. He who sat on the throne. Now that is some statement there. He who sat on the throne. There is power, there is authority there. He who sat on the throne said behold I made all things new. As the one who sat on the throne who said. He said I made all things new. And he said John write it down. Write it and put these words down. Record it as a testimony to my faithfulness. Record it. He said these words are what? True and what? True and faithful. God is true to his own word. He is faithful to his own work. And he said to me it is done. I am the Alpha. I am the Omega. I am the beginning. So when the Lord said I am the Alpha. I am the Omega. He is saying from the beginning to the end. I am the what? Faithful one. What I have began I will surely work. Now finally let us turn to the Gospel of John to learn some lessons together. The healing of the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda. Let us read a few verses together. We will begin with verse 1. After this there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool which is called in Hebrew Bethesda having five porches. In this lay a great multitude of blind lame paralyzed waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water. Then whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity of 38 years. When the Lord saw him lying there he knew that he already had been in that condition a long time. And he said to him, Do you want to be made well? The sick man answered him, Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool. When the water is stirred up, but while I am coming another step down before me. And Jesus said to him, Rise, pick up your bed and walk. And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, walked and that day was the Sabbath. Now this story here about this impotent man, he has been in this condition for 38 years. Now some commentary think this is a picture of the history of Israelites in the wilderness because they are circled in the wilderness for about 40 years. Now if that is true, then it is true of the history of the church. Because the history of Israel and the history of the church are parallel, so I think we can learn some lessons from this man. The first question to ask is, was there faith in this man? Was there faith in this man? Because the Son of Man is looking for faith. When he was on earth, as well as when he comes again, he will be looking for faith. Now was there faith in this man? Is there any indication of faith in this man? I believe so. I believe so. His faith may be weak, feeble, but faith is there. And I think the Lord noticed that. So when the Lord entered into that area, that man, something in him attracted the Lord. And the Lord somehow went into that place only drawn by that man and no one else. Now what is that thing that drawn the Lord into him? I believe there is something there, faith. Maybe weak, maybe feeble, and the Lord is looking for that. Now after 30 years in that condition and not giving it up, that speaks of faith. In that condition and not giving it up, that is faith. Now for some of us, we have some physical discomfort. Like myself, I had backache for some years. And I tried all kinds of doctors, all kinds of cures, and I tried for over 10, 15 years, and then finally I give up. I just give up. I give the doctors up. Because they couldn't do anything. There are things that doctors cannot do. Doctors cannot do. We just give it up. But this man, 38 years in that condition, he hang on. Now brothers and sisters, our local assembly is a place where our faith is being tested and challenged. And the enduring faith is the faith that hangs there, by a thread hangs there. And when he hang there with that faith and hope, healing is on the way. In due time healing come and came and he was healed. The sad thing about many assemblies is that when something went wrong, the brothers and sisters, they part. Once they part, faith is gone. Brothers and sisters, can the Lord hold us together if we all place ourselves in him? He holds the whole creation of the universe by the power of his word. And he wants to hold us together in his very life. Can his life do it? There was faith. The faith may be as small as a mustard seed. That's all the Lord requires. Now brothers and sisters, we can, we often say I have no faith. When we say we have no faith, we really say that we don't have, how shall I put it, we have faith but somehow we are not able to really fully, energetically, really throw ourselves at the mercy of the Lord. When we say I have no faith, actually there is still some reservation. When you can only say you have no faith and then rejoice in your having no faith, then you found your faith in the Lord Jesus. Because you have no faith, we have no faith. We are faithless people. So Timothy said, 2 Timothy, even though we are faithless, he remains what? Faithful. So the Lord is not afraid that you say I have no faith. But in the midst of your having no faith, you still what? Hang on to him. Now the second thing we notice about this man, his heart was right but his mind, the eyes of his eyes were fixed on something else. Faith has to do with the heart. But sometimes we get our minds and our hearts mixed up. That's our problem. Often time our hearts are toward the Lord and our minds are wandering around. We get the two mixed up. Therefore, the mind needs to be renewed and our soul needs to be redeemed. Mind and soul are to be made one in new creation. So this man, his heart was toward the Lord but his mind was fixing on something else. So his mind was fixing on the water, waiting for the water to be moved. He was waiting for man to come and give his assistance. That is another problem of many of our local fellowships. When we have problems, we look to man for help. We always look for a quick solution. So and so has experienced this. Let's go to him. Maybe he can assist us. I remember several years ago, three young brothers from San Francisco drove all the way to the East Coast. Because they read somewhere in one of the books by Baudini, it says that most of the local assembly came into being because of the workers' labor. The workers were there laboring among the saints and therefore a church came into being. So they said, we have no workers here. We are just a few believers here. So how can we be a testimony locally? There is no worker to come and assist us. So they drove all the way to the East Coast asking for help to see if there would be workers sent to San Francisco to assist them. And the interesting thing is those three young men drove all the way to the East Coast. Wherever they met, people poured cold water on them. And I think finally they came to us and then went to Washington, D.C. I think Baudini was there. And they said, you go back, young man. Go back and meet before the Lord and pray. If the Lord sees to it that you need workers, he will send workers to you. So Baudin sisters, often times we look to a man for help and not take disappointment. We experience that. If you look to the Lord, if he sees there is a need of help, he will send his help to you. His help, not the help you will be looking for. So this man was looking for help. But the Lord entered into the picture and spoke to him, redirected his heart and his mind toward the Lord himself. Then the Lord spoke, rise up, pick up your bed. Now the Lord is very gracious. He took initiative. Isn't that wonderful? He took initiative. Sometimes we are faithless, he renounces life. But often times we have no desire for him. Somehow he creates a desire in us. Therefore he is the author. Everything has to begin with him. As Baudini said, if anything is going to end up with the Lord, it must begin with the Lord in the moment. So the Lord took initiative. And he came to this man. And he said, rise up, pick up your bed. Now I was just thinking, Baudin sisters, thirty years, half of one's life, and you say it's too late, too late. Baudin says, never too late with the Lord. Wherever assembly you are from, you may be in struggle for years, getting nowhere, you say it's no use, no use. Baudin says, never too late. The Lord knows this. The Lord knew what he is going to do. And the Lord will say his word. The Lord only asked two sentences. One is a question, and one is a command. Now the interesting thing is that when the Lord said, rise up, pick up your bed and walk, he asked this man to do the impossible. There is another difficulty with the Lord's assembly. We always wait until we can do it, and then we do it. We have a brother in our fellowship. While he is waiting for his life to be totally crucified, he said, I'll serve. And we told him, brother, that will never come. He wouldn't listen. He is still waiting for his life to be totally crucified, and he will serve. If you are serving, when you are with Brother Zou, you learn there is no crucifixion. Then you know what is promised. And he asked him to do the impossible. Faith is always belief in the impossible. If it is possible for you and I to do it, Brother Zou, there is no need for faith. Why trust God? Why? And the Lord said, you rise. He cannot rise. The Lord said, you take up your bed. He has no strength to do it. The Lord said, walk. He can never take one step for 38 years. But he listened to God's word, and looked into the Lord Jesus' face, and faith and energy came right into him. He rose up, he took up his bed, and he walked by his power. This man's faith was in the faith of God himself. What God has said, he will also perform. That's all. So we often heard, it is not our faith to move mountains. It is God who will move the mountains. Someone was saying that the reason why the Lord said, you take up your bed and walk, is to make sure that he knows when the Lord said, you are whole, you are whole. You may complete, you are complete. When you are healed, you are healed. He wants to give him, there is no room for further doubt of his complete healing. So he said, take up your bed. So he said, he will not go down to bed, in case he had a relapse, he can lie down again. No relapse. More spiritual relapse. As a carrier, as a testament, before he was waiting for people to carry him into the pool, now he has the strength to carry others. Not to be carried anymore. The Nephilim sisters and the fellows, they are waiting to be carried. That's our problem. The Lord said, rise up and walk. Don't wait to be carried. My strength is sufficient for you. Now lastly, the Nephilim sisters, in this chapter 5 of John, let's turn to verse 17. The word from the mouth of the Lord Jesus himself. And it is in connection with this man. Infirmed man, 38 years, is in this connection. The Lord answered and said, my father has been working until now, and I have been working. Now that verse just came to me very recently, and become very very powerful, very very precious to me. The Father has been working until now, and I have been working. The Lord never ceased to work. That's why the Lord somehow did all his works on Sabbath. Because sin ruins, and God has to work to recover his rest. Amen. So the Lord said, my father will. Now brothers and sisters, what can we learn from this verse? It is simply God is saying, I have not given up on you. I am still working on you. My Father is working, I am working, and the Holy Spirit is working. We will work in you until you are ready. We will work in you until you are fully prepared. The only condition, brothers and sisters, is that we allow him to work. The Lord is working all over the world. He is working. But brothers and sisters, are we those who are willing to let him do the work until we can enter together into his Sabbath. And that rest will not come until the bridegroom. We need faith. We need to believe in our faithful God. What he has set out to do, he will surely do it. God can never be disappointed. He can never be disappointed. What he has set out to get, he will get it. May we have faith in him. He is faithful. He is faithful to himself to trust him. And he himself will complete that work in us. Therefore all glory will go to him. That is why in the end of Revelation, we end with grace. It is the work of grace. And we can only say Amen to it. Lord do it. Father we confess our words are so feeble, so weak. We just pray that the Holy Spirit will continue to speak in our hearts. We just pray Lord that you will give us a willing heart for you. Give us faith Lord to really believe you. Not to question you. Not to doubt you. But to trust you. Until you finish that work which delights your own heart. And to you we give praise. The precious Lord Jesus.