RISE UP AND WALK: PASTOR MENSA OTABIL – ICGC CHRIST TEMPLE SUNDAY SERVICE, AUGUST 29TH, 2021
SPECIAL SUNDAY SERVICE BY DR. MENSAH OTABIL (GENERAL OVERSEER INTERNATIONAL CENTRAL GOSPEL CHURCH (ICGC) CHRIST TEMPLE, ACCRA GHANA)
TOPIC: RISE UP AND WALK.
DATE: 29TH AUGUST, 2021
TEXT: JOHN 5:1
Amen! Let’s rise up together, as we make our DECLARATION OF FRUITFULNESS in this Year of Fruitfulness:
Are you ready? Say with me:
The Eternal God is our Refuge. He opens Rivers in desolate Heights.The Lord makes the wilderness a Pool of water.
The LORD God is my Sun and Shield; The LORD gives Grace and Glory.
Therefore, I delight myself in Him. Those who are Planted in the House of the LORD shall be Fresh and Flourishing.
Though the Earth be shaken; the Name of the Lord is my Strong Tower. By Faith I affirm that: In Christ alone is my Salvation. In Him I live, and move and have my Being.
It is written: The Righteous are like trees Planted by the waters; bearing Fruits in its Season.
So I boldly declare: As for me, my God has made me Exceedingly Fruitful.
In this Season, my Spirit bears Fruits of Righteousness, my Talents make Way for me. With my hands, I will Plant, I will Build, I will Harvest – Day by Day, Step by Step.
In Jesus’ Name – Amen!
Last week, I said I was going to focus my Teachings for next couple of weeks on RISING. And so, I will do Messages that has the word “RISE”, or “RISING”, or “ARISE”, in them.
Last week, we looked at: “Let God Arise” and I believed God has arisen in your Life – Amen!
Because when He Arises, He also Empowers us to rise!
God does not just Arise; but He Empowers us to rise.
And when God Arises – His enemies scatter before Him. They are blown away as smoke in the wind; they melt as wax in fire.
DMC NOTES: We can get to access the Full Text of this Message on this Link:
So today I am speaking on the Topic: RISE UP AND WALK.
For those of you who are very finicky with the English Language; People would say: You don’t have to say ‘Rise Up’ because Nobody rises down.
So ‘Rise’ means the Person is up!
I understand all of that! But I use ‘Rise up’ as emphasis – It’s almost like saying ‘Rise and Rise and Walk.’
… So, RISE UP AND WALK.
If you have read the Gospels, you would have come across this Phrase ‘Rise Up and Walk’.
… And Jesus Christ issued that command a few times.
And today, we would consider the Stories of three (3) People in the Scriptures who couldn’t RISE and WALK – And each one of them was told “Rise Up and Walk”.
Two (2) of those People met Jesus Christ; and the third one we would consider, met two (2) Disciples of Jesus.
Each one of them was stuck in a Position of Weakness; each one of them had difficulty in walking; but each one of them ended up walking!
I don’t know about you, but today, Someone listening to me or reading this Message on the label of DMC, you would RISE UP AND WALK – Amen.
If you have been stuck in any situation of your Life; God is lifting you up – Amen. He is not just Rising, but He is lifting you up with Him, and He is bringing you to the Place of Victory – Amen.
… Somebody say: I RECEIVE IT!
Because when God Rises, His People also rise with Him!
So, I am going to talk about three (3) People – Each one of them was given the same instruction: “RISE UP AND WALK.”
And maybe you would identify with one of those People, and that Message will be for you.
- The First (1st) Person we will look at; who received the instruction: ‘Rise Up’ and Walk’ is: THE MAN WHO HAD NO ONE TO HELP HIM.
He had no one to help him! And his Story is in John 5:5-9.
And it reads:
5 Now a certain Man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight Years.
6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”
7 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 steps down before me.”
8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”
9 And immediately the Man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.
It was a Church-Going day (like today) – And this Man rose, took up the bed he was lying down on, and walked.
Now, if you know the background of the Story – The Man is at the Pool of Bethesda, where People would go to receive Healing; Because at certain time; an Angel would come and stir the water. And this Man, according to the Scriptures, had also gone there.
I. The first thing we noticed about the Man is that – He had being afflicted for a very Long Time.
He has suffered for a very long time; he has been in this Place for a very long time.
The Passage says that he has had this affliction for thirty eight (38) Years – That is a very long time!
For thirty eight (38) Years, he has been in affliction. And I believed that for much of the thirty eight (38) Years, he has been at the Pool of Bethesda – waiting to receive his Healing.
… He came to Bethesda because it was a Place of Hope
It was a Place that God visited the water, stirred it up, and People would get healed.
And the Passage said: ‘And the Man had an infirmity.’ It doesn’t tell us exactly what kind of infirmity the Man has!
If you read a bit earlier, the People who were in Bethesda had three (3) kinds of infirmity – They were either Blind, Lame or Paralyzed.
I think we can safely strike out ‘Blind’ from this Man’s case – I don’t think he was blind.
And Probably not Lame because if he was, he would be able to move a little bit with his Lameness.
We can conclude from the Passage that the Man probably fell into the Category of Paralyzed – And the reason I reached that conclusion is that, the Greek word that is translated ‘infirmity’ in this Passage, means feebleness (weakness)!
So, the Man was in a state where he feels something has weakened him, or Paralyzed him.
Something about his condition showed that he had been there for a very long time. Because the Passage says, Jesus noticed the Man had been there for a very long time.
Maybe whilst he has been there, he had acquired a lot of Assets (clothes) and things around him to show that he had survived for a very long time.
I believed the first Year that the Man got there, he had expected to be healed. And then the next Year and the next Year and the next Year!
So, by the time Jesus met him, Hope has dried up within him – Such that when Jesus asked him whether he wanted to be healed; there was no enthusiasm in his Life.
II. The Second Thing you will noticed about this Man is that – He had no one to lift him into the Pool.
It wasn’t that opportunity didn’t Present itself; the Years he had been there, the waters have been stirred – Many times the water would have been stirred; many times there would be a move.
Many times there would be something Supernatural and he would try to get into the water. But he couldn’t get into the water because he needed somebody to lift him up. And nobody was lifting him up!
… The People who brought him to the Pool left him!
You know sometimes, there are People who help you halfway – They take you to a Place and leave you alone. You have to fend for yourself after that. And that’s what this Man was going through – He has been brought to the Pool, but he has been left!
The reality is – It is not just about being at the Pool, you have to be ready when the waters are stirred.
They did half of the job but didn’t complete it!
And so, anytime the water is stirred, he made efforts to get into the Pool. And Because you couldn’t Predict when the water would be stired; you know, it could stir anytime and you wouldn’t be ready.
And I am sure he Probably would have gone to lie very close to the Pool. But he could never get it right.
You know, there are certain times in your Life when you just can’t seem to get it right – It doesn’t click
And then the Man makes a complaint – He says that anytime he tried to get into the water, People stepped over him and move ahead!
It’s almost as if he has become a Steping Stone to People’s Breakthrough – He can’t compete with those who were around him; he was not a “Competitive Person”.
Because when you listen to his conversation with Jesus, you get a sense of Passivity – This is a very Non-Competitive Person. He doesn’t like trouble, he doesn’t like competition. He doesn’t understand that life is very Competitive.
And so, he has been in the situation for so long because People jumped over him, all the time.
It is easy to lose Hope when you have been in a situation for a very long time without Improvement.
The worse Part is when you see others bypassing you.
I don’t know whether you have ever been there – Especially People who just came – bypass you.
It can be sometimes in many areas of our lives – It could be in your Marriage; you are waiting to get married, and you never get married. And then People just come along and marry.
And especially when you are a Believer and you are Living Right. And somebody who was an Unbeliever – Bad Boy, Bad Girl, comes to Church. Alas! They are gone.
What kind of situation is this? – Everybody is jumping over you.
Or maybe you are married, and you are expecting a child – The First Year no child, Second year no child. Now people you used to know as children, get married and they have children.
You have been in that situation for so long.
And everybody is jumping over you. And you can’t get into the flow.
Moments when you think there is a stirring; something is going to happen, nothing happens!
Sometimes, it’s a situation in our office, sometimes it’s in the Ministry, sometimes it’s in the Family – I don’t know how you relate to this Story; maybe you feel like him – Stuck in one Place, never moving, never taking advantage of opportunities, People jumping over you.
But Jesus came to this Man and said: My friend, get up, take up your bed and walk out of this Place!
I feel like repeating the words of Jesus, to somebody now or those reading this Message on the Label of DMC: Rise, take up your bed, because this is your day of Visitation – Amen.
An Angel missed you, but Jesus would never miss you, an Angel couldn’t come to you; but Jesus would come to you – Amen.
Jesus believed the Man could rise up and walk – Although he had been in that situation for a long time. Jesus said to him – Rise up and walk!
Nobody is going to help you; nobody is there for you. But God is there for you. You don’t have what it takes, but God has what it takes. And today He says to you: ‘You are Rising Up’ – Amen!
Because when God rises, those who are His Children, also rise up with Him and walk.
… That’s the first man!
- The Second (2nd) Person who was told to Rise up and Walk: THE MAN WHO HAD PEOPLE TO HELP HIM.
The First one had no one to help him; Second guy (we are going to look at), he had Helpers.
This Man’s situation is very opposite to that of the Man at the Pool of Bethesda – The Man in Bethesda had no one to help him. The one we are about to read about had friends, or People to help him.
The Story goes on from Mark 2, from Verse 1. But I will read Mark 2:3-4, 9-12:
3 Then they came to Him, bringing a Paralytic who was carried by four men.
4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the Paralytic was lying.
9 Which is easier, to say to the Paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’?
10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has Power on Earth to forgive sins”— He said to the Paralytic,
11 “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”
12 Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the Presence of them all, so that all were amazed and Glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”
What really amazed me as I was Studying the Passage is the number of times the word “they” is used – In Verses 3 and 4, the word ‘they’ is used five (5) times.
.. They – it’s not ‘him’ it’s ‘they.’
So, we get the impression from the Scriptures that this Story is not even focused on the Paralyzed Man, but on his Helpers!
The Story is not about the Man who is Paralysed; but focuses on People who don’t give up on others – And so the Bible talks about ‘THEY’.
Now when Jesus saw what had happened, the Bible says ‘Jesus saw their Faith – Not the Man’s Faith. And He says to the Man: ‘Your sins are forgiven.’
The People argued; the People were very unhappy that Jesus said ‘your sins are forgiven.’
And Jesus in His Characteristics manner was quite very humorous – He had a deep sense of humour.
Many times when I read the Gospels, I can almost imagine a wicked smile on the face of Jesus, when He is talking.
He says: ‘Your sins are forgiven’ the People were complaining. He says, between saying: ‘Your sins are forgiven’ and saying: ‘Rise up and be Healed’ – Which one is harder?
… And you can almost imagine how His brain is working.
And He says: Well, I can just show you that I can even do what you think is harder – So He says to the Man ‘Rise Up’ and Walk!’
Mark 2:9-11; Which is easier, to say to the Paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and Walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has Power on Earth to forgive sins”— He said to the Paralytic, “I say to you, arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” (Laughing)!
Jesus said: you are in My House, leave here! You have come to where I am. He was ‘sacking’ the Man! Because in the ‘sacking’ of the Man, was his HEALING.
I feel like saying to Somebody: Go to your house! Because you are going to leave this House of God (even while reading on the Label of DMC) and you are going to go to your house with a Testimony – Amen.
I say: You will leave this House of God and you are going to go to your house with a Story of Healing, a Story of Deliverance – Amen.
… Somebody say: I AM GOING TO MY HOUSE WITH A TESTIMONY.
Oh, I love Jesus: ‘Take up your bed and go to your house.’
Immediately he arose, took up the bed, and went out in the Presence of them all, so that all were amazed and Glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!” (Mark 2:12)
What sort of Man is this? He can sack People to go home with Healing.
I. The first (1st) thing you will noticed about this Man is that HE COULDN’T ACT FOR HIMSELF.
… He was totally incapable of doing anything by himself.
Because the Passage says that he was Paralyzed. And if you Study that word that is used – ‘Paralyzed’ in other English Translations, it would say: ‘He had a Palsy.’
Palsy is when People have a Muscle Paralysis.
So, it’s not like his legs can’t walk or his arms can’t move – His body was suffering from a kind of Palsy (Maybe Cerebral Palsy).
And those of you who know; when you have a Palsy, your body shakes a lot. And as it gets to a Point, not only is the body always shaking; it shakes uncontrollably.
And then it gets to a Point where you can’t talk and you can’t react! You may hear People talking, but you can’t talk. You see, but you can’t gesture anything – That was what the Man had. He is different from the first guy!
The first guy, Jesus engaged him in conversation; this guy, you can’t engage him in a conversation – because he cannot do anything! He is totally Paralyzed – Paralyzed totally!
That’s why the Story is about ‘they’ – Everything that is happening is not happening because of him, it’s happening because People believed in Him.
… So that’s what we see: he couldn’t help himself at all.
I. Sometimes People get to stages like this through sickness.
II. Sometimes others get to a Place where they can’t help themselves at all through some addictions – Maybe it’s alcohol addicted, or drug addiction, or some form of other addictions.
III. Sometimes it is Spiritual control by a Cult or by Demonic Possessions; where a Person just can’t help themselves.
IV. Other times it can be Mental illness, depression, biporal, or seizure – The Person just can’t help himself.
If you are expecting them to initiate it, they can’t initiate it. If you want them to think about it, they can’t think about it. If you want them to use Will Power, they can’t use Will Power; because they are totally incapable of acting.
And that is what this Man was – He couldn’t help himself but, he had People who carried him Spiritually and carried him Physically.
The People who carried him might have been Family Members, they might have been Friends but they didn’t give up on him.
They believed in him, even though he couldn’t believe in himself – He couldn’t even know if Jesus was in a place.
The Man at the Pool of Bethesda, he could tell when Jesus talked to him; this Man couldn’t tell – He didn’t know where he was, he didn’t even know what City he was in, he didn’t know about Jesus.
But there were People who believed and stood for him because you know sometimes in Life, there are People who need you not to give up on them.
Their Mind may be gone, don’t give up on them! They may be soaked in alcohol, don’t give up on them! They may be taken Captive by drugs and they can’t help themselves. They say ‘I will never take it again’; then they go and shoot the drugs back; don’t give up on them.
It may be your friend, it may be your son, it may be your daughter, it may be your father, it may be your mother, it may be your Uncle, it may be your aunt, it may be your grandfather, your grandmother, it may be your grandson, your granddaughter;
I don’t know who it is, who may be in this State – Who can’t help themselves. And everybody says: ‘They are a wasted case, there is no hope for them.’ But you must be one of the four (4) who says, I will Stand by you. I’m going to carry him, I’m going to Pray for him, I’m going to look for Help for him because they can’t help themselves.
… So this Man had People who believed in him.
For all you know – You are the only one whom your brother needs! You are the only one your sister needs. You are the only one your father and mother needs. And if you stop and you give up on him, he will die in that State.
… But there must be Somebody who says: I will not give up!
They went to where Jesus was – The crowd was there, the door was full of People.
And Remember, these rooms, they weren’t like the big Auditoriums we have now – In those days, these were small Places. When it’s jammed, it’s jammed!
They got to the roof – It is not their house. They tear the roof down, they lowered their friend right in front of Jesus.
They have taken all the risk and their friend is just there, he can’t respond.
The Bible says: Jesus saw their Faith; not the Paralyzed Man’s Faith – He saw their Faith.
Is it Possible to have Faith for Somebody? – Yes!
Is it Possible to Pray for Somebody who doesn’t even believe in Prayer? – Yes!
Is it Possible to believe for Somebody who has lost Hope? – Yes!
Can you have Hope for the Hopeless? – Yes!
Because Jesus saw their Faith and responded to their Faith! – He responded to the Faith of those who cared for this Man.
… Jesus saw their Faith.
For some of you – God is looking up to you for your family; don’t give up on that sister, don’t give up on her because your Faith is what God is looking up to.
Don’t give up on that Alcoholic who has no control – Don’t give up on them. Somebody who’s with a Mental challenged, don’t give up on the Fellow. Your Relatives who are sick in the Hospital, don’t give up on the.
The Doctors may have given up, but you must never give up on them.
They say there’s no Hope, but you must keep Hope alive.
“It cannot be done” – God can do all things – Because even the Person may say: ‘Let me go’. But you have to be determined – GOD WILL TOUCH YOU.
And that’s what these friends did.
Jesus saw their Faith; and interestingly, Jesus says to the Man who cannot respond, who is inactive – “Your sins are forgiven you.”
That’s one of the few times, Probably the only time Jesus forgave a Person’s sin before their Healing.
Why? – Because vividly, his sin was what had brought him there.
So, it is the Person’s bad deeds that had made him who he is – He is a kind of Person we would say – God has Paid him his wages. He deserves it, because he was bad.
Jesus said I know what you did is bad, I know what had brought you to this Place – You are wreckless, you don’t spend money wisely, you have made all the mistakes – Your sins are forgiven you!
People said: You can’t forgive sins like that!
Jesus said: Oh you think so? Which is harder – If I say your sins are forgiven you, you don’t see whether it’s gone or not. But if I say ‘Rise Up’ and Walk’ you would see whether he would rise or not.
So, to Prove to you that when I say: ‘Your sins are forgiven’; the sins were truly forgiven. I say to the Man; to the hearing of you and to the sight of you: Man who has never spoken, never moved, never acted. Jesus spoke to him: “Rise up, take up your bed and get out of my house!
And the Man rose up, took up his bed and walked.
… It is so interesting how Jesus could speak to a Hopelessly dead situations.
Jesus didn’t speak to the friends, the friends have been showing Faith – He spoke to the Man. Just like Jesus spoke to Lazarus when he was dead, He didn’t speak to Mary and Martha. He said ‘Lazarus, come forth!’
- The Third (3rd) Person: THE MAN WHO NEEDED A LITTLE HELP.
… The First one had no Help; the Second had a lot of People Helping; the Third Man, he needed just a little Help.
The Story is in Acts 3:6-9 – The man who was at the Beautiful Gate.
6 Then Peter said, “Silver and Gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you: In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.”
7 And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received Strength.
8 So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the Temple with them—walking, leaping, and Praising God.
9 And all the People saw him walking and Praising God.
The Verse 2 has stated that the Man was born Lame from his Mother’s womb and has been begging at the Temple daily.
Remember, Jesus has been going in and out of this Temple and the Man has been there!
So, there were times he was there and Jesus was there, but he didn’t get Healed. Now the Disciples of Jesus are coming.
You know this is the kind of Place where you can say with sarcasm: “Your Boss Himself Passed by here and I didn’t get Healed; who are these little boys?”
It is like People who say: “I have spoken with the Senior Pastor himself, who are you – a Young Pastor?”
… So few things about this Man;
He sat daily begging for a Living.
Of all the three (3) Characters we have looked out today, this is the only one who was doing something, where he was!
He had a Daily Schedule – He begged for a Living.
He had the ability to do something; but a condition has limited how much he could do.
The Man at the Pool was not doing much; the Paralyzed Man we just spoke about was not doing anything – This man was doing something!
In those days, People with disabilities did not have the opportunities we have today, so they begged for a Living.
Today, a Person with disability can do a lot.
But what I want you to Note is that – When Peter said to the man: “RISE UP AND WALK”, he didn’t rise up and walk.
… He is the only one who was told ‘Rise up and Walk’ and didn’t walk.
The man at the Pool of Bethesda – ‘Rise up and Walk’ – He walked!
The Paralyzed Man who had the Palsy, who had done nothing – ‘Rise up and Walk’, and he walked!
This one that could do something – ‘Rise up and Walk’ he is sitting down!
You know Strange things happen in this world – People you think would do better; you give them the opportunity – Nothing.
So, this is the one you thought would be the most instant response to the Word but Nothing! – ‘Rise up and Walk’ he is still sitting down.
And the Bible says: Peter lifted him up by the right hand before he could rise up and walk.
.. So Peter helped him to rise up and walk.
This Man needed just a “Little Help” – He believes it, but he just needed someone to give him a little Push, a little Help, a little Encouragement. And then, the rest happens!
First one, no one to help him. The Second one had a lot of People helping him. The Third one needed a Little Help.
*I don’t know which category you fall into!:
I. Maybe you are like him – You just need a Little Help.
II. Or you need a lot of Help because you can’t do much for yourself.
III. Or you have no one to Help you.
But whether you have no one to Help you, or you have Helpers all around you or you need a Little Help; The instruction is the same: “RISE UP AND WALK”.
And I want to speak those same words over your Life today – Whereever you are now or reading this Message on the Label of DMC – In every situation of your life: Whether you need a Little Help, or you need a lot of Help or you have no one to Help you; I speak to you ‘Rise up and Walk!’
The same God Who rises up on your behalf, will lift you up and you will walk into Victory, you will walk into Abundance, you will step into your Destiny – Amen.
You will leave this house and go to your house with a Testimony; with a Story of Recovery; with a Story of Deliverance, with a Story of Favour, with a Story of Increase – Amen.
I don’t know if you have sinned; but God would forgive you of your sins and He will cause you to Rise Up and you will walk again!
YOU WILL WALK AGAIN – Amen!!!
Even if you have never walked before from your Mother’s womb; this is your Season of Walking – Amen.
Rise Up and Walk! And in the Process, you will take up your bed; the things that used to carry you, you would carry it – Amen.
You would overcome it; you would rule over it, and you are going to walk into your Destination.
In Jesus’ Name – Amen!
Somebody say: I RECEIVE IT!
Say one more time: I RECEIVE IT!
Thank you so much for staying all through to read.
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