0347. A Marvelous Command

A Marvelous Command

"Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk" (Joh_5:8).

1. "Rise!" We have here a call to faith. How wonderful it all was. Christ did not first heal the man and then tell him to rise. That would have been easy indeed for the man, and no test whatever of his faith.

You have been thirty-eight years sick, but "RISE, and take up thy bed." You are utterly helpless, but, "rise and walk." You cannot rise and you cannot walk, but that is just what God wants you to do.

To the man with the withered hand, Christ said: "Stand forth," and then, "Stretch forth." And the man whose hand was withered, and the man who could not stretch forth his hand, stretched it forth, and it was whole as the other.

To the man who was four days dead, and whose body was "stinking" with decay, Christ said: "Come forth." And, the man who was dead, and could not hear; and the man who was dead and could not come forth, heard, and he "came forth, bound hand and foot with grave clothes." And Christ said: "Loose him, and let him go."

The sinner is helpless as was the impotent man; he is strengthless, as was the man with the withered hand; he is dead in sins, as Lazarus was dead in body, but Christ says unto the sinner: "Arise!" "Stretch forth!" "Come forth!" "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, but he that cometh to God, MUST BELIEVE that He is, and that He is the rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."

When the trolley touches the wire the power comes down; and when faith touches God the work is done. "He that believeth hath everlasting life."

2. "TAKE UP THY BED." This came next, and it was a call to the place of victory. There is no such thing as a dead faith. "If a man say I have faith, and have not works; can faith save him?" The fact is that the man who says he has faith and has not works, in reality has no faith. "Without works, faith is dead, being alone."

Who would have believed the impotent man was made strong, if he had still lain upon his bed. No, arise and take up thy bed.

Illustration: Christ healed the man sick of the palsy. The man had been borne of four, and had been let down before the Master, through the roof. Christ had said: "Thy sins be forgiven thee." The scribes and the Pharisees had mocked saying: "Who can forgive sins, but God only?" Immediately Christ spoke these memorable words: "That ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, (He saith to the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way unto thy house."

Faith is a living, active thing. The lame, the halt, the blind, all believed; they acted upon their faith and they were healed.

We read in Hebrews 11 : "By faith Abel," and "by faith Enoch," and, "By faith Noah," and, "By faith Abraham," etc. But all of these heroes of the faith, believed and did something. They possessed a living faith, which was invariably followed by living deeds.

This is the same doctrine that the Holy Spirit taught by Paul. In Eph_2:8 we read: "For by grace are ye saved, through faith * * unto good works." Again we read of the "obedience of faith." Faith is a living thing.

3. "Walk." Here we have the new life. First, "Arise;" secondly, "take up thy bed;" thirdly, "walk." The word "walk" suggests the daily routine. We need to own and honor our Lord day by day. We must "walk as children of the light;" we must "walk, not as the Gentiles walk, in the vanity of their minds," we must "walk in love," and "walk circumspectly," and "walk worthy of the vocation, wherewith we are called."

Autor: R.E. NEIGHBOUR