“Jesus saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool. Jesus saith unto him, Rise and walk. Immediately the man was made whole, and walked.”—John v. 6–9.
“Peter said, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.... The faith which is by Him hath given this man this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.”—Acts iii. 6, 16.
“Peter said, Æneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise. And he arose immediately.”—Acts ix. 34.
Feebleness in prayer is the mark of disease. Impotence to walk is, in the Christian, as in the natural life, a terrible proof of some evil in the system that needs a physician. The lack of power to walk joyfully in the new and living way that leads to the Father and the throne of grace is [p92] specially grievous. Christ is the great Physician, who comes to every Bethesda where impotent folk are gathered, and speaks out his loving, searching question, Wilt thou be made whole? For all who are still clinging to their hope in the pool, or are looking for some man to put them in, who are hoping, in course of time, somehow to be helped by just continuing in the use of the ordinary means of grace, His question points to a better way. He offers them healing in a way of power they have never understood. And to all who are willing to confess, not only their own impotence, but their failure to find any man to help them, His question brings the sure and certain hope of a near deliverance. We have seen that our weakness in prayer is part of a life smitten with spiritual impotence. Let us listen to our Lord as He offers to restore our spiritual strength, to fit us for walking like healthy, strong men in all the ways of the Lord, and so be fit rightly to fill our place in the great work of intercession. As we see what the wholeness is He offers, how He gives it, and what He asks of us, we shall be prepared for giving a willing answer to His question.
[p93] What the Health that Jesus Offers.
I might mention many marks of spiritual health. Our text leads us to take one,—walking. Jesus said to the sick man, Rise and walk, and with that restored him to his place among men in full health and vigour, able to take his part in all the work of life. It is a wonderfully suggestive picture of the restoration of spiritual health. To the healthy, walking is a pleasure; to the sick, a burden, if not an impossibility. How many Christians there are to whom, like the maimed and the halt and the lame and the impotent, movement and progress in God’s way is indeed an effort and a weariness. Christ comes to say, and with the word He gives the power, Rise and walk.
Just think of this walk to which He restores and empowers us. It is a life like that of Enoch and Noah, who “walked with God.” A life like that of Abraham, to whom God said, “Walk before Me,” and who himself spake, “The Lord before whom I walk.” A life of which David sings, “They shall walk in the light of Thy countenance,” and Isaiah prophesies, “They that wait on the Lord shall [p94] renew their strength; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” Even as God the Creator fainteth not nor is weary, shall they who walk with Him, waiting on Him, never be exhausted or feeble. It is a life concerning which it could be said of the last of the Old Testament saints, Zacharias and Elisabeth, “They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.” This is the walk Jesus came to make possible and true to His people in greater power than ever before.
Hear what the New Testament speaks of it: “That like as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also should walk in newness of life.” It is the Risen One who says to us, Rise and walk: He gives the power of the resurrection life. It is a walk in Christ. “As ye have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye also in Him.” It is a walk like Christ. “He that saith he abideth in Him ought so to walk even as He walked.” It is a walk by the Spirit and after the Spirit. “Walk by the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh.” “Who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” It is a walk worthy of God and well pleasing to Him. “That [p95] ye would walk worthy of the Lord, unto all well pleasing, being fruitful in every good work.” “I beseech you, that as ye received of us, how ye should walk and please God, even as ye do walk, that ye would abound more and more.” It is a walk in heavenly love. “Walk in love, even as Christ loved you.” It is a “walk in the light, as He is in the light.” It is a walk of faith, all its power coming simply from God and Christ and the Holy Spirit, to the soul turned away from the world. “We walk by faith, and not by sight.”
How many believers there are who regard such a walk as an impossible thing—so impossible that they do not feel it a sin that they “walk otherwise”; and so they do not long for this walk in newness of life. They have become so accustomed to the life of impotence, that the life and walk in God’s strength has little attraction. But some there are with whom it is not thus. They do wonder if these words really mean what they say, and if the wonderful life each one of them speaks of is simply an unattainable ideal, or meant to be realised in flesh and blood. The more they study them, the more they feel that they are spoken as for daily life. And yet they appear too high. Oh that they would believe [p96] that God sent his Almighty Son, and His Holy Spirit, indeed to bring us and fit us for a life and walk from heaven beyond all that man could dare to think or hope for.