Matt Hagee - To Whom it May Concern
I want to share with you briefly from the Word of God a message that I felt impressed to give to you this week entitled "To whom it may concern". Just a few weeks ago, I was asked to write a letter. I was asked to write a letter for a young lady, who's in our school. She's a senior. She's about to graduate. And it's not uncommon that they want a letter of endorsement from their pastor, as they begin to apply for colleges and schools. And as I often do, I addressed the letter, "To whom it may concern".
And the reason that the letter got that greeting is because it gives this individual the opportunity to use it in front of a multitude of audiences. Maybe it's to this school that she's applying to for one reason or another, or to this group that she might want to work with and intern for. I don't know anything about where she's going to take this letter. And because I don't know the individuals who are going to read it or who are going to see it, I simply make this general statement, "To whom it may concern". And then contents of the letter beneath are filled with information that I know personally. I have the ability to speak with authority about the individual that I'm describing in the letter, because I have the opportunity to witness their behavior. I can speak with confidence because I know them personally. I can endorse their character, because I've witnessed how that interact with others. I can speak of their accomplishments, because I've seen what they've achieved.
And the reason that I felt this was a message that you needed to hear today is because maybe you're watching from one of these 44 nations or one of these 30 something states, and you don't know me. I know that there's many of you watching and I don't know you. But I assure you: the individual that I'm going to speak to you about is someone that I know well. This week in prayer, I asked the Lord, what should I say? How can I bring comfort? How can I encourage? How can I bring peace when there's businessmen who are worried about their business, when there's fathers who are worried about their families, when there's mothers who are worried about their children, when there's children who are worried about their parents, when there's pastors who are worried about their congregation?
How in the world could I address them all and give them some essence of hope in a season when the world says all things are hopeless? What can I bring that would put a measure of peace in their life, a bit of comfort in this chaos? And I felt the Lord impress these words upon me, "To whom it may concern". I may not know you. I may not know what you're walking through. But I know someone who wants to walk through it with you. I don't know everyone that I'm speaking to today. You may be in a hospital bed, looking for relief, as this virus is moving in your body. You may be in a living room praying that you have the opportunity to get out into your routine life. You may be sitting down trying to figure out what you're going to do for the next three, four weeks of your business. But to whom it may concern, I know someone who can move in your situation.
And I can speak with great confidence and conviction about his character, because he's the same yesterday, today and forever. I can speak about his accomplishments and his capabilities, because he never changes. There's not one shadow or variation of turning. His accomplishments are higher than the highest and they are greater than the greats. His personality is that he is a friend that is closer than a brother, and a shepherd, a Savior, a redeemer, a conqueror, a deliverer, a provider, a protector, a healer. Those who know him well said he was a refuge and a strength in a time of trouble: that he was a fortress in battle. And I assure you: he has been exalted and given the name that is above every name. And that name is the matchless name of Jesus Christ.
So today, to whom it may concern, I want to personally endorse to you the fairest of 10,000 fair. I want to tell you about the healer of the nations. I want to tell you that he is your only hope in this life and in eternity. And his name is Jesus. He's the Son of the living God. This morning, my text comes from 2 Timothy 1:12. This is what Paul said: he said, "I know in whom I have believed, and I believe that he is able to keep what I have committed to him until that day". Did you hear those words? "I know in whom I have believed". To the now more than 48 nations that are watching, I want you to know: I know in whom I have believed. To the 35 states that have tuned in today, I know in whom I have believed. To the thousands who are joining us online, I know in whom I have believed.
When I tell you he's a healer, I've not only heard him heal, but I've seen him heal. When I tell you he's a provider, I've not only seen his provision, but I've seen it exceedingly, abundantly, above all that you could ask, think or imagine. You see the power of the message of the apostles, when they went across the world in the New Testament, was not what they had heard, but it was what they had seen. The apostles told the world what they saw Jesus do. John wrote this to the church in 1 John 4:14. He said, "We have seen him testify that the father has sent his Son and Savior into the world". Peter said in 2 Peter 1:16: he said, "We do not follow cunningly devised fables that we made known to you when we spoke of the power of our Lord". But listen to this. He says, "We were eyewitnesses of his majesty".
Peter said, we didn't make it up. We didn't tell you what we heard. We told you what we saw. That's the power that you have in your faith today, when you can speak to what you've seen God do. And so I want you to know today, to whom it may concern, Jesus Christ, my Savior, is a healer. I know he's a healer, because in Exodus 15:26, the Word of God says, "I am the Lord that heals you". I know he's a healer, because in Luke 4:18, Christ testified what the prophet Isaiah spoke of when he said, "The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach to gospel to the poor". Listen to this. "He sent me to heal the broken hearted".
Have you a broken heart today? Are you filled with fear today? God sent his Son to you today to heal that broken heart. "He sent me to preach deliverance to the captives. He sent me to send recovery of sight to the blind". Not only was the Spirit of God on Jesus that he might be a healer, but he transferred that power in Luke 10 when he sent out his disciples. And here's what he said, "Heal the sick". He said, "Heal the sick and say to them, 'the Kingdom of God is near you'". Then church, after the resurrection, after he had conquered death, hell and the grave, in Mark 16, he said, "These signs shall follow them that believe. In my name, they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover".
Listen to me, father, if you have a sick child in your house, you don't need the pastor to come and pray. You don't need the elder to come and pray. You don't need your neighbor to come and pray. Because you have the spirit of the living God inside of you, you can lay hands on your child, and they shall recover. You can lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. I know that he is a healer. So to whom it may concern today, if you're sick in your body, call upon the name of Jesus, because I've seen him destroy cancer. I've seen him conquer heart disease. I've seen him break generational curses.
Very quickly, in my own family, before I was born, my grandmother, miss Vada Hagee, she was diagnosed with colon cancer. The doctors gathered the members of our family and told the members of my family that my grandmother was going to die a gruesome death. That was their best prognosis. She simply put her faith in God. And she took his word, and every day, she read Psalm 91. Every day, she professed that no plague would come near her dwelling. Every day, she claimed that when you were hiding in the shadow of the Most High that you would dwell in the presence of the Almighty. What the doctor said would be a life-altering surgery was nothing more than a minor procedure. And what they said could not be conquered, they cut out in just a matter of minutes. And she lived from the age of her early 60's with that diagnosis until she was 98 and almost 99. Why? Because God is a healer.
I've seen him heal my mother and my aunt of breast cancer. I've seen him heal my sister of leiomyosarcoma. I've seen him heal my father of heart disease and Myasthenia Gravis. I'm not telling you what I've heard today. I'm telling you what I know. God is a healer. God is a healer. So to whom it may concern, in the area of sickness, if you need healing, I highly recommend Jesus Christ, because I know in whom I have believed. And if it's cancer, he can cure that. And if it's COVID-19, he can conquer that. And if it's heart disease, he can overcome that. If it has a name, he can destroy it, because he has been given the name that is above every name. And today, he is right where he was when he was seated at the right hand of God the Father. And he's waiting for you to call upon him: that he might set you free. "For whom the Son sets free is free indeed".
In the area of provision, I know in whom I have believed. And to whom it may concern today, "My God shall supply all of my needs according to his riches in glory". During this time of crisis, we've been reaching the community by delivering food, by reaching out and finding out what we can do that they need. And over and over and over, we get to hear people say, "God knew". "God knew". "God knew". I want you to know today: he knows what your needs are. He knows what your needs are, because his name is Jehovah Jireh. That literally translates, God can see. These are the words that Abram spoke to Isaac whenever he was walking with him towards mount Moriah. Isaac knew that they were going to sacrifice, but Isaac knew that there was no lamb. And so he asked his father, "Where is the lamb that we might sacrifice"? And Abraham answered, "God will provide for himself the lamb".
He was literally telling his son, son, God can see what you cannot. He can see what we need even before we know it. Today, I want every businessman to know God can see the answer for your provision even though, today, you don't know it. I want every pastor to know God can see the answer for your church even before you know it. I want every father to know God can see the answer for your family even when you don't know it, because my God shall supply all of my needs according to his riches in glory. What he wants us to do is to call upon him and let him show us great and mighty things that we know not. Why? Because he is a provider. Hebrews 13, "He's the same yesterday, today and forever". That means that before you got where you are today, God was already working on the details of your arrival.
And right now, while you sit in this moment, he's already reached into your future and he's laying hold of everything that you need before you get there. David said it this way, "He prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies. And my cup runs over". This is something that I'm certain of in this crisis that the world is facing. There are powers and principalities that resist the Kingdom of God. There are individuals on the earth today who hate the Word of God. They hate the truth that the church puts out. And they would hope that in the midst of this COVID crisis that the body of Christ would retreat: and that the church would be silenced: and that we would be broken.
Well let me tell you something. To whom it may concern, I know in whom I have believed, and I believe that he is able. I believe that he, who began a good work in you, will complete it even to the day of Christ Jesus. I believe that this struggle will build strength in the body of Christ: and that with boldness, we will go forth and bring revival that the gates of hell cannot prevail against. Why do I believe this? Because Jehovah Jireh, he saw it before it happened. And he began preparing a table before we got here: that when we came to this place, we would not lose heart. We would not faint in strength. But we would declare, "I am pressed, but I'm not crushed. I'm persecuted, but I'm not abandoned. I'm struck down, but I'm not destroyed".
Church, we can do all things through Christ! I know in whom I have believed. And I believe that he's a way maker. I believe that he can make a way where there seems to be no way. Because when you flip through the pages of his word, that's exactly what he does over and over and over again. In Isaiah 43, "Thus says the Lord who makes a way". Think about what Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 55:8. He said, "My ways are not your ways". Ask yourself how many prayers have been prayed in this nation this week. Ask yourself how many chapters of the holy word have been read this week. Ask yourself how many families have sat down together to love on one another this week. Ask yourself how many songs of praise have been sung this week. How much loving kindness, and grace, and mercy has been demonstrated between fellow men on the earth today?
Grudges have been let go. Pride has been diminished. Foolish strife has been decimated. Why? Because God's ways are not our ways. Yes, this crisis is real, but my God is real. And he's using this to teach us how to trust in him. Only God could get all of that done in less than 30 days. It may not have been the way we wanted it, but God made a way. Flip through the Bible. He made a way for Israel to get out of Egypt. He made a way for the children of Israel to get through the wilderness. He made a way for them to enter into the Promised Land when he caused the Jordan to roll its waters back left and right. He made a way at Jericho when he brought the walls down. He made a way for David when he brought the giant down. He made a way for Elijah when he sent fire down. He made a way for a virgin to give birth to a Son, and for that Son to be the spotless Lamb of God, and for that lamb to take away the sins of the world!
When Christ hung on the cross, don't just see a sacrifice, but see him making a way where there seems to be no way. Because with that one act, God made a way for my sins, which were scarlet, to be washed white as snow. He made a way for that crown of thorns to make this unrighteous wretch an heir and a joint heir and royalty with Jesus Christ. He made a way for the stripes that were upon his back to bring health and healing into my body. He made a way: that when he was stripped of all things, he gave me sufficiency: that whenever he was nailed to that cross, he set this captive free. And whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
And when he hung there, bleeding and dying for my sins, and he declared, "It is finished," he made a way that once and for all, I would be crowned a conqueror, because Christ is in me. He is the hope of glory. And the world cannot stand against me, because greater is he who is in me than he who is in the world. To whom it may concern today, I know in whom I have believed. His name is Jesus. And I am persuaded that he is a healer. I am persuaded that he is a provider. I am persuaded that he is a way maker. And he'll make a way for you if you know him.
So I want to close this way: do you know him? If you do not, this is the day of salvation. If you do not, the hand of God in this moment cannot be ignored. You must accept the reality that his Holy Spirit is calling you to forsake your sin and give your heart to Christ. Do you know him? Have you walked away from him? He wants you back today. That's why he asked you to watch this program. That's why he sent me with this message: that you might find that he is reaching out to you: that you might receive him, and with him, joy and confidence, and peace, and forgiveness, and mercy, and grace, and love, and provision, and protection, and healing. All of this simply by asking him to be your Savior today. So right where you are, I want you to pray this prayer with me.
Lord Jesus Christ, today I receive you as my Savior. And I thank you for setting me free. I thank you that I can cast all of my cares upon you. And you, Heavenly Father, will carry them for me. Lord, make a way where there seems to be no way. Send provision to meet every need, and touch every physical body that desperately needs to be healed in every nation, in every city, in every state, in every home that's watching today, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Here at Cornerstone, we often sing and end our services with the Lord's prayer. And our church is watching today all over this city, so I want to sing this song in praise and worship, knowing that God hears it when we pray. And then pastor Hagee's going to bring the blessing.