Rise Up and Walk
Throughout the entire body of Christ, there is a universal desire for revival, for God to pour out His Spirit and send the Church into a greater level of anointing, with the power of God being manifested and miracles being performed. Congregations, prayer warriors, and intercessory prayer groups are crying out to God, begging and pleading Him to bring badly needed revival to the world--as if God was waiting for another million prayers to be lifted up in order for Him to move.
The truth of the matter is that while we are waiting on God to send revival, God is waiting on us to Rise, take up your bed and walk. The reason the Church hasn't seen the great outpouring of revival and of the Spirit as often as it should is because they are relying upon God to move independent of man's faith and actions instead of taking the power the Lord has given us and starting a revival. This truth is illustrated in John 5 and it paints a painfully accurate picture of the state of today's church.
Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water. Whosoever then first stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he said unto him, Will you be made whole? 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 steps down before me. Jesus said unto him, Rise, take up your bed and walk. [John 5:2-8]
The Church, for the most part, is described in verse 3: a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt withered, waiting for the moving of the water. Let's break down the various adjectives used here:
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Impotent refers to being powerless, inept, unproductive, ineffective, and weak.
§Blind obviously refers to lack of vision or sight, but in this case it specifically refers to a failure to comprehend the truth. Religion and tradition have blinded the eyes of the church to the power they possess.
§Halt refers to being paralyzed or lame, and the verb is used to refer to a cessation of movement.
§Withered refers to being deteriorated, barren, or dried up from lack of moisture. Withered can also refer to being silenced.
The common purpose of these folks was that they were waiting on the water (God) to move. Why were they waiting for the water to move? Verse 4 tells us: For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water. Whosoever then first stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. They were relying on what had happened in a past movement to affect their present. Does this concept sound familiar at all to anyone in the church? Many of us are reflecting on past revivals and "movements" of God, and expect them to happen the very same way as before. We're praying for God to move like He did in Pensacola, Toronto, or in the Asuza Street Revival.
The impotent man the Lord approaches in verse 5 represents many within the Church today: Not only is he waiting on God (the water) to move, but he's also relying on someone else to do the work for him. He is a true illustration of all the above aspects: impotent, blind, halt, and withered. While many in the Church want revival, they are unwilling to begin doing what begins a revival. Instead, they're waiting on the "man of God" or for God to move "sovereignly" to bring revival. It wasn't until the Lord told the man, Rise, take up your bed and walk, did God's power come forth. Did you notice that Jesus didn't tell the man he was healed? Earlier, He asked the man if he would be made whole, and he responded pitifully. He was using passive faith, but when the Lord told him to get up, the man put his faith in action and he was healed.
This is what the Church must do. God wants revival, but He is waiting for us to operate in the power and authority He has given us to bring forth revival. For example, let's take Peter and John in Acts 3:6: Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. Peter took the power the Lord had given him and used it to bring healing to a man, which in turn, stirred up revival in that area leading to 5,000 men coming to the Lord [Acts 4:4]. Revival won't happen through prayers begging God to pour out His Spirit because the Lord has already poured out His Spirit at Pentecost [Acts 2:17]. It's not up to God to send revival; it's up to us to take God's power and use it to start revival. The Bible illustrates this truth in Ephesians 3:20-21: Now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, unto him be the glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.
God doesn't work in "movements". He doesn't arbitrarily decide to create a "healing movement" or focus His efforts in one decade on holiness, another on prophecy, and then another on marriages. The Bible says: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, today and forever. [Hebrews 13:8] These so-called movements have been invented by man, arising out of man's limited understanding of God's power. Each and every revival has not been the result of some "great sovereign movement of God" but the result of someone finally understanding the power God has given us and rising up in faith to begin doing what the Lord Jesus did. It's God's power and God gets the glory, but it took a person to "Rise up and walk" so that God could operate through him. And this is what the Lord is teaching us in John 5. Remember, we are laborers with God. [1 Corinthians 3:9]
Brothers and sisters, if we truly desire revival in the Church, we need to get off our knees and come out from hiding in our prayer closets, and take the power of God and use it like the Lord Jesus did. We must preach the complete word of God and the Lord promises to confirm His word with signs and wonders following. Mark 16:20 says: And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. Instead of considering what Jesus would do, let us do what Jesus did and commanded us to do in Matthew 10:7-8: And as you go, preach, saying the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils. Freely you have received, freely give. As we learned from Peter in Acts 3, once we begin operating in the power of God, we will have all the revival we (and God) want.
