GET OFF THE COUCH
Luke 5:22-25
Sunday Morning, April 3, 2005
Luke 5:22-25
22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?
23 Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk?
24 But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
25 And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.
If we are to believe what the Bible says about us, we recognize certain irrefutable facts about ourselves pretty early on; like the idea that ALL HAVE SINNED and fall short of the glory of God; or like the thought that all our righteousness is like filthy rags. Pretty soon, we understand that we’re all in various stages of healing… various stages of deliverance.
We’re all coming out of something, and we find ourselves understand a lot more closely our passage today. We’re all on the couch at times. All laid up and “under something” at times. But today, we’re going to look at getting off the couch.
I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.
There comes that point when every one of us winds up in front of Jesus. Eternity isn’t the only thing that takes us there. Sickness will take us there. Sin will carry us there. Failure, doubt and fear can propel us into His presence. And when you find yourself in His presence, something’s got to go.
Either your pride will go or your person will go. Either your sickness will go or your faith will go. Either your sin will go or your standing will go. But either way, something will go. And something will change. Sicknesses get transformed into strengths. Doubts get transformed into duty. And sin gets transformed into service.
That’s what happened to the lame man in Luke chapter 5. Friends drop him through the ceiling into the presence of Jesus. Thank God that someone still cares. Others are trying to take me to hell with them, but thank God for a Christian friend… a Christian spouse… a Christian parent… a Christian child. Thank God that someone is trying to bring someone to Jesus.
They bring their friend to Jesus, and his infirmity is sent away.
I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God.
In that moment of encounter with Jesus something changed. But the change came in two parts; Jesus’ part, and the crippled man’s part; God’s part, and the man with the palsy’s part. There was the spiritual aspect of what happened… the touch of heaven. And the healing was secured. But there came that point when something was required of the one sick of the palsy.
ARISE, and TAKE UP THY COUCH…
There comes that point in any infirmity; in any sickness; in any sin; in any doubt. There comes that moment in any addiction; and fear; any disbelief. There comes that turning point where it ceases to be God’s job, and it starts being OUR JOB. He’ll send the word and heal us; but we’ve got to get up. He’ll do the spiritual part, but we’ve got to do the work. He’ll take the first step, but we’ve got to be willing to GET OFF THE COUCH.
Too many people want God to do all the work. We want God to straighten us out, and yet we don’t want to obey the command. We’re ready for God to fix us, but we want to stay on the couch; stay on the palette. “You can fix me, but don’t expect me to move.” But friend, there’s only one way to prove that you’re really fixed; there’s only one way to verify that God has done a miracle in your life; that’s by personifying the DIAMETRIC OPPOSITE OF THE VERY THING YOU’VE STRUGGLED WITH.
“What do you mean preacher?”
If a lame man is going to prove that he’s been healed, HE’S GOTTA WALK! If a blind man is going to prove his sight is restored, HE’S GOTTA OPEN HIS EYES AND SEE! If a deaf man is going to prove his hearing has been restored, HE’S GOTTA OPEN HIS EARS AND HEAR. If you’re going to prove that you’re out of your bondage, sorrow and night, you have to DEMONSTRATE IT by being FREE, JOYFUL and WALK IN THE LIGHT.
There comes that point when you have to get off the couch; when you have to get up. There’s God’s part, and there’s my part. And my part is significant. Your part is significant.
Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house.
When He touches you, you have to GET UP! He told the one sick of palsy, “ARISE… take up your couch, and go into thine house.” What does that mean? That means YOU HAVE TO GO BACK TO LIVING. After the experience of being touched by God, you have to GO BACK AND LIVE YOUR LIFE. LIVE YOUR LIFE CHANGED! BE IN YOUR HOUSE CHANGED! GO TO YOUR JOB CHANGED! EXPERIENCE YOUR LIFE CHANGED.
“Arise, take up thy couch… and go into thine house.” Get up, and get off the excuse you’ve been sitting; the addiction you’ve been stuck in; the sickness that’s bound you; the doubt that has you in its grip; the fear that paralyzes you. Get up, and get off it. And then go back to you life transformed. GO BACK TO YOUR LIFE TRANFORMED!
It’s when the world sees that you’re transformed, that they recognize, “THIS JESUS IS WHO HE SAYS HE IS!”
Verse 26 says… “…they were all amazed, and they glorified God, and were filled with fear, saying, ‘We have seen strange things to day.’”
“We’ve seen something strange today! This cat has been a lifetime couch potato. He’s been in his problems so long, it’s how we’ve come to identified him. We won’t even recognize him now. He’s not supposed to be standing up. He’s not supposed to be walking. He’s supposed to be invalid. He’s supposed to be laid up. If we see Him without his couch, how will we even know who he is?!”
Did you know people will come to know you by your couch? They’ll start identifying you by your infirmities. They’ll begin to recognize you by the pattern of the “sofas” in your life. They’ll see your couch before they see you. But Jesus takes away couches! He takes away all the extra things that they were looking at. He leaves you with nothing but your miracle, and leaves the world saying, “We’ve have really seen something strange today!”
And then you go home changed… you go home different than when you walked in the door; when you’re carrying your couch… not your couch carrying you; when you’ve got control of the problem… not the problem controlling you; when you’ve got a handle on fear… not fear having a handle on you; when you’ve mastered doubt… not doubt mastering you; when you’ve subdued sin… not sin subduing you; when you go home like that, people say, “Man, have we seen something strange today!”
And it happens in TWO PARTS: Jesus orders the healing; and you make a choice to obey His voice, and get off the couch. You have to get off the couch. If you lay there… you’ll stay there. You have to get off the couch. Miracles are only as good as the obedience that pursues them. You have to get off the couch.
The couch isn’t a physical position. The physical part of the man’s problem was HIS BODY. The couch was MENTAL; it’s what held him down. His body couldn’t help but line up with the word of God. Just a word from Jesus and that body will do what it was meant to do.
You know, just a word from Jesus can undo 40 years of smoking. But can you get off your couch?! Just a word from Jesus can liberate a man from a lifetime of sin, But can he get off the couch?! The couch is that emotional attachment we carry to our infirmities. The couch is the mental bond we have to our captors.
Its why, when we read about the Israelis, free from their Egyptian captors… we find that they would have rather eaten leeks and onions in captivity, than they would manna in freedom. It’s why after the Emancipation Proclamation went forth, many slaves didn’t go anywhere; they had been abused so long, they didn’t know what it was like to not be abused. It’s why so many women in abusive relationships will actually defend their abuser. When questioned by authorities, even though he broke her nose and busted her lip and stripped her of her life, they defend their abuser.
They cling to a couch, because the couch is a comfortable spot. It’s the place where we wrap our minds around the infirmity, and for fear that things might get worse, we hold on for dear life. The couch is the one place of comfort we find sometimes. But GOD SAYS, “If you’re REALLY GOING TO BE HEALED, you have to get up off that couch.” You can’t be carried by that couch any more. You have to carry it. It can’t hold you any more. You have to hold it. You can’t ride the couch any more. You’ve got to get up on restored legs, and walk home changed. And until then, you’re never really healed.
It’s not a large thing for God to get the slave out of Egypt. It’s a MASSIVE THING for God to get Egypt out of the slave. It’s a LIFE-LONG PROCESS, and a lot of times, it results in the death of the physical body. It’s not hard for God to forgive the sinner. But to get the LOVE FOR SIN out of the sinner… that can take a lifetime. It’s a LIFE-LONG PROCESS, and 100% of the time, it results in the death of the man of flesh.
Until you’re CARRYING YOUR COUCH… not your COUCH CARRYING YOU; until you’re WALKING… and NOT RIDING; until you’ve decided to become a partner with God in the process of coming out of your infirmity; UNTIL YOU GET OFF THE COUCH. When you’re not being carried; when you’re carrying. When you’re not being held; but you’re holding. When you’re not riding; you’re walking. When you’re in it for more than the TOUCH; you’re in it for the PROCESS; for the LONG HAUL.
But one this is for sure… if you’re going to walk in your healing, you have to get off the couch. If you’re going to walk in your deliverance, you have to get off the couch. If you’re going to be healed, you have to get off the couch. There comes a point where God’s part stops, and your part starts. You have to get off the couch. You have to get off the couch. Staying down won’t get you anywhere. You have to get off the couch.
