3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [4] [a] 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”
CHILD OF GOD, WE THANK GOD FOR THE BREAK OF ANOTHER DAY. LET HIS NAME BE GLORIFIED AGAIN TODAY. WE PRAY THAT EVERYDAY OF OUR LIVES KEEPS GETTING BETTER, SPIRITUALLY, PHYSICALLY AND OTHER WISE.
CHILD OF GOD, THE STORY IN OUR TEXT IS A WELL-KNOWN STORY. ITS BEEN PREACHED IN SEVERAL DIFFERENT WAYS BUT THE MORE YOU CONSUME THE WORD OF GOD THE MORE REVELATIONS HE GIVES YOU. I RECEIVED A NEW REVELATION I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU.
THE BIBLE SAYS THERE WAS A GREAT MULTITUDE, NOT JUST A MULTITUDE OF IMPOTENT FOLKS. IMPOTENT MEANS THERE WERE BLIND, DEAF, PARALYTIC, MAD PEOPLE, POSSESSED PEOPLE, PEOPLE WITH CANCER, HYPERTENSION, ETC. THE PEOPLE WERE THERE WITH ALL KINDS OF STAGNANCY, REJECTION, FRUSTRATION, ETC. THE PEOPLE WERE IMPOTENT, THAT IS UNABLE TO DO CERTAIN THINGS. IT MEANS EVEN BARREN WOMEN WERE THERE, PEOPLE WITH SEXUAL WEAKNESSES, GROWTHS, ETC. PEOPLE WHO WERE BEWITCHED, BLOCKED, THOSE WHO WERE CURSED, PEOPLE WHO HAD COVENANTS WITH DEMONS, COVENANTS WITH FAILURE, COVENANTS WITH ADDICTIONS AND PARTICULAR BEHAVIOR. THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN REJECTED BY THEIR FAMILIES BECAUSE OF THEIR CONDITION, BECAUSE THEY COULD NO LONGER FIT IN THEIR FAMILIES, THEY COULD NOT FIT IN THEIR NEIGHBORHOOD, THEY COULD NOT FIT IN THEIR COUNTRY. ALL THIS MULTITUDE WERE FOUND THERE.
THE BIBLE SAYS AN ANGEL WILL COME DOWN IN ONE SEASON. ONE ANGEL CAME AND WHEN HE CAME THE PERSON WHO ENTERED FIRST WAS HEALED. WHEN JESUS SAW THIS MAN HE KNEW THAT THE MAN HAD BEEN THERE THIRTY EIGHT YEARS. IT MEANS THOSE WHO JUMPED IN FIRST WERE ALERT IN SOME WAY. PEOPLE HAD TO BE SMART BECAUSE THEY DIDN’T KNOW THE TIME THE ANGEL WOULD COME. JUST LIKE TODAY WE WARN PEOPLE OF THE COMING OF THE LORD FOR NO ONE KNOWS THE DAY OR THE TIME. SO DON’T SAY I STILL HAVE TIME TO REPENT.
CHILD OF GOD, THIS MAN HAD BEEN AT THE POOL FOR THIRTY EIGHT YEARS. HE HAD BEEN SEEING THE DIFFERENT SEASONS OF VISITATION AND MISSED THEM ALL. HE ATTRIBUTED THIS TO THE FACT THAT HE HAD NOBODY. IN ALL THESE YEARS, THE MAN MIGHT HAVE COME WITH HIS POTS AND BUCKETS TO BE CARRYING OUT HIS DIFFERENT ACTIVITIES. THE MAN WAS THERE FOR LONG AND JESUS SAW IT.
CHILD OF GOD, FOR MANY PEOPLE, THEIR SOULS ARE SOMEWHERE AND IN THOSE PLACES THERE IS NO BODY WHO HAS BEEN ABLE TO MAKE A PRAYER FOR YOUR DELIVERANCE. THE MAN WAS AT THE POOL BUT COULDN’T GET IN THOUGH HE MADE EFFORTS. MAY BE YOU TOO HAVE BEEN MAKING EFFORTS TO CHANGE YOUR STORY BUT BEFORE YOU REACH THE PLACE OF ENCOUNTER, SOMEONE ELSE GETS THERE BEFORE YOU. MAY BE SPIRITUALLY YOU HAVE BEEN BLOCKED SOMEWHERE AND ALL THE PRAYERS YOU MAKE REMAIN ONLY AT THE SURFACE, THEY DON’T GET WHERE THE CHAINS AND THE LOCKS THAT HAVE HELD YOU ARE. THEY CANNOT REACH THAT PARTICULAR PLACE WHERE YOUR NAME OR PICTURE HAS BEEN BLOCKED. THEY HAVEN’T BEEN ABLE TO REACH THAT PARTICULAR SHRINE WHERE YOUR SOUL IS BEING MANIPULATED UPON AND THEN YOU DRINK OUT YOUR LIFE, YOU SMOKE, YOU FEEL REJECTED AND NO ADVICE IS ABLE TO CHANGE YOU AND FINALLY YOU GET INTO A DEPRESSIVE STATE. MAYBE YOU HAVE BEEN MAKING EFFORTS AND BEFORE YOU EVEN STARTED MAKING YOUR OWN EFFORTS OTHER WERE HELPING YOU AND AT ONE POINT IN TIME NOBODY WAS THERE TO HELP YOU. NOBODY WAS THERE TO STAND BY YOU. EVEN THE PEOPLE WHO STOOD BY YOU IN THE BEGINNING GAVE UP ON YOU BECAUSE THE SITUATION OVERSTAYED. MAYBE YOU TOO HAVE GIVEN UP AND SURRENDERED TO THE CONDITION BECAUSE ALTHOUGH PRAYERS HAVE BEEN MADE THINGS SEEM NOT TO CHANGE.
CHILD OF GOD, WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN THINKING ABOUT THAT HAS CAUSED YOU TO SURRENDER AND THINK THAT THE LORD HAS FORGOTTEN YOU. CHILD OF GOD, DON’T GIVE UP. PLEASE DON’T GIVE UP. THIS MAN ALREADY GAVE UP. PROBABLY HE SAID TO HIMSELF I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO BE HEALED, I WOULD HAVE LOVED TO HAVE A CHANGE OR A TESTIMONY BUT I DON’T HAVE ANYONE TO HELP ME OUT.
THE BIBLE DOESN’T SAY THAT AFTER JESUS ANSWERED THIS MAN LIKE THAT JESUS PUSHED HIM INTO THE WATER. THE BIBLE DOESN’T SAY JESUS PUT SOMEONE THERE TO PUSH HIM INTO THE WATER AT THE NEXT STIRRING OF THE ANGEL. THE BIBLE DIDN’T SAY THAT JESUS JOINED HIM IN HIS PITY PARTY. JESUS DIDN’T JOIN HIM TO CRITICIZE AND ACCUSE HIS FAMILY. JESUS DIDN’T DRAMATIZE THE SITUATION. HE DIDN’T GO LOOKING FOR THE CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM. THE BIBLE SAYS JESUS SAID ONE THING” RISE, TAKE UP YOUR BED AND WALK” AND THAT IS WHAT HAPPENED. HALLELUJAH
SO WHEREVER YOUR SOUL IS BLOCKED, NO MATTER HOW LONG YOU’VE BEEN IN THAT PLACE, WHETHER A FINANCIAL MESS, EMOTIONAL DESTRUCTION, A PHYSICAL DISABILITY OR WHATEVER, WHETHER IT WAS PRONOUNCED BY THE PIT OF HELL, WHETHER IT CAME BECAUSE OF YOUR OWN ACTIONS, WHEREVER THAT SPIRIT FINDS ITS RESISTANCE TO PRAYERS, NO MATTER HOW LONG THAT SPIRIT HAS HELD YOU UNDER BONDAGE, NO MATTER THE ISSUE, RIGHT NOW IN THE NAME OF JESUS I COMMAND YOU TO RISE UP FROM THAT PLACE AND GO NOW IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST. AMEN
IF THAT PLACE HAD PARALYZED YOU, IF IT HAD BROUGHT YOU ASHES, IF IT HAD BROUGHT YOU GARMENTS OF MOURNING, FRUSTRATION, DISGRACE, REJECTION, HATRED AND ALL KIND OF THINGS, IN THE NAME OF JESUS RISE UP FROM THERE SPIRIT SOUL AND BODY, TAKE UP YOUR BED AND GO. RISE UP AND TAKE WHATEVER MADE YOU COMFORTABLE IN THAT PLACE AND GET OUT IF THERE. YOU DON’T BELONG THERE. TODAY IS YOUR DAY OF DELIVERANCE. RISE UP AND GO IN THE NAME OF JESUS. GO AND GIVE YOUR TESTIMONY. NEVER YOU COME BACK TO THAT PLACE. NO MATTER THE MULTITUDE THAT IS THERE YOU HAVE BEEN SINGLED OUT AND THEREFORE IN THE NAME OF JESUS THIS IS YOUR DAY OF VISITATION. THE LORD HAS REMEMBERED YOU. HE CAME PURPOSELY FOR YOU. HE DIDN’T COME FOR THE MULTITUDE. HE CAME FOR YOU AND IT IS TO YOU I AM TALKING.
IN THE NAME OF JESUS, YOU ARE PERMANENTLY FREE. IN THE NAME OF JESUS YOU ARE HEALED. IN THE NAME OF JESUS YOU ARE DELIVERED. THE CHAINS ARE BROKEN. THE LOCK IS NEUTRALIZED. THE ROPE IS BURNT. THE EVIL WALLS ARE BROKEN. THE EVIL HOUSE IS BURNT. THE COFFIN THAT WAS PREPARED FOR YOU SCATTERS BY EARTHQUAKE IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST. AMEN
YOUR GARMENT HAS CHANGED. YOUR NAME HAS BEEN WIPED OUT. YOU HAVE A NEW STORY AND IN THE NAME OF JESUS YOU WILL GO OUT AND TELL THE WORLD THAT JESUS HAS SET YOU FREE AND YOUR FREEDOM IS ESTABLISHED PERMANENTLY BECAUSE WHOEVER THE SON OF GOD SETS FREE IS FREE INDEED.
THAT IS YOUR STORY CHILD OF GOD IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST.
AMEN
