Samuel Rodriguez - Get Up and Go
Come here, Paul. How you doing? You're so amazing. This is Paul, the guy who says he hated Christians, he's a hater, he was a hater, like one of the biggest haters. Hated Christians! Hater, hater, hater. Hated Christians, couldn't stand them. Just couldn't, and he was influential, he had influence. He had influence, people followed him, people listened to him. I mean, he had everything except he lacked Jesus, you could have everything in the world: you could have all the money in the world, you could millions of followers on your Instagram account, you could have multiple houses, you could have all the cars in the world, all the Jewelry in the world, all the contacts in the world, all the side hustles in the world, but if you don't have Jesus, you don't have anything. You don't have anything.
This guy had it all, had it all, had it all. And all, "You know, what I'mma go into that city, Damascus, and I'mma get letters and go kill more Christians". That literally was his objective. "I'm gonna get letters and we'll kill more Christians". That's what he did. So he's on his way, he's on the way, he's on the road. On the road again, oh little Pablo's on the road again. And Saul's on the road to Damascus when all of a sudden, Jesus shows up. He does a cameo, he wasn't supposed to show up because the moment he ascended, he sent the holy spirit. So, all of a sudden, this is where are all of my theologians here? All of a sudden, this is go mess people up. All of a sudden, you have two thirds of the Trinity on earth at the same time.
This guy must have been special. Jesus shows up, looks, just shows up. I don't know what he was wearing, I don't know what we was, I don't know if he shopped from Macy's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, nah, didn't need any of that. Just the light of his glory. We just read it John 1:5, we just said it. He shows up, he says, "Saul, first of all I know your name. I know everyone's name. Before you were born, I knew you by name". Jeremiah 1:5, "He knows you by name". So, he shows up and says," Saul, Saul, why are you", the light, just the light, the light, the light just boom, prompted him to do what? Okay, this is the part you're suppose follow.
We're going to do it again, take two, rewind camera three, tight shot. Take two. Audience, ready? Are you ready, take two? Ready? One, two, three. And the light of Jesus shows up and all of a sudden, that light prompted Saul to do what? And he, just like that, he fell. The light of Jesus. Act 9:6, the rest of the story in the words of Paul Harvey. Now he says, this is the Jesus, his presence prompted him to fall. It was the light of Jesus made him fall. Why are you coming after me, by the way he wasn't technically going after him, he was going after... So, he wasn't coming after... He was coming after who? His followers. I'mma that one more time.
Did he come after... He came after... One more time. He wasn't coming after... He came after... But Jesus said, "Why are you coming after", because anyone who comes after you, comes after him. Oh no, I'mma say that one more time. Who ever comes after you, comes after him. I'mma do that one more time. Whoever comes after you or your family or your children or your children's children, when you come after a child of God. There not coming after you, there coming after... That's why in Matthew 5, he laid it out. "Blessed are those who are persecuted for my name sake, they're the ones that will inherit the kingdom of heaven". The will inherit it all. And then Jesus verse 6, looks at the same guy who fell because of his light and then says, "Get up. Now, get up". Wait a minute, he has prompted: which one is it? He has prompted him to hit ground and then you go, "Alright, you hit the ground? Now, get up. Now, get up and go to the city".
This is so amazing. Notice this. Notice Jesus didn't stop. This is the craziest conversion experience. This is go mess people up. Look, this is the way he came to Christ, that was it. No, you missed it. Jesus never said, "You son of the devil, you evil wicked, unrighteous, condemning, legalistic instrument of hades. You have come after my children for so long, now I'm go make your life a miserable mess, I'm gonna mess you up". No, no, it wasn't even some of the religious, it wasn't even some of the stuff we do in churches. Like, "Okay, now I want you to go through growth track, ministry discipleship, five step, twenty", which all good, we do it. But none of that happened to this guy, talking about fast track. This guy was born again by hitting the ground.
Look how fast it was. "Here's my light, you fell, guess what? Now, get up and do what I tell you to do". You don't need thirty steps, you don't need twenty steps, you don't fifteen steps, you don't need ten steps. One moment in the presence of Jesus will change your life forever more! Be born again! Just one moment, one encounter with Jesus. How quick was that? Baam! Believe it or not you just hit the ground and now you're born again. How do we know it? 'cause then he got up, he tells them, "Now get up".
Look at your neighbor and tell them, "Get up and go". Tell your neighbor, the one that really doesn't want you to tell them anything. Tell that neighbor, "Get up and go". More of God requires you to get up and go. He was grounded, but not forever. He was on the floor but not forever. God's light prompted him to collapse, but not forever. The same Jesus that provoked the grounding now tells him, "Get up and go". This is our journey, this is our truth, this embodies our relationship if we surrender to his will and we stand with his word. We fall and we get up, we pray and we get up, we repent and we get up, we worship and we get up, we may go down but we... You know what makes us different other people that don't know Jesus, when they fall, the stay down. But when you are a born-again believer, when Jesus is the Lord of your life, we're not perfect, we may go to the ground but we always...
Does anyone know what I'm talking about in this place? If you've ever been there and got up raise one hand. If you've ever been there on more than one occasion, stop acting like you haven't been there more than once. If you've been there more than once but you've got up more than once raise both hands. If you can't explain yourself and nothing can explain you because every time the enemy thinks you're going to stay down, you always continue, is there anybody here that in the last three years life should have kept you down but somehow... Somebody praise like you got up! Somebody worship like you got up!
That's why they can't explain people like us, 'cause we're different. Different is a politically correct way to say we are different. You said it, not me. Awkward. Awkward with an Oxford, awkward. We get up, we always get up, we always get up. Jesus looked at the man who fell, overwhelmed by the light of his presence and said, "You're not staying stuck in this season. You cannot permit yourself mentally, emotionally, spiritually, financially, relationally to stay stuck in one season. You must have the maturity, the bandwidth, the understanding to know that there is a season to be on the ground and a season to"... King Solomon, one of the most brilliant individuals to ever occupy space on this planet, put it this way.
Ecclesiastes 3, he said, "There's a season for everything, for every activity under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to... A time to kill and a time to... A time to tear down and a time to... A time to cry and a time to... A time to grieve and a time to... A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones. A time to embrace and a time to... A time to search and a time to quit... A time to keep and a time to throw away. A time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be quiet, a time to speak, a time to love, a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace". Told him to get up. And being grounded, being grounded does not define you forever. Oh, this is, okay, that phrase, "Get up and go" it wasn't the first time. It wasn't the first time in the Bible. The same identical phrase, there's a guy name Joshua.
If you've ever read the Bible raise one hand. Oh, see y'all laughed, right, cause you're going, like, "Pastor Sam, you're", no, no, no. We're living in a different day and age. Your pastor can't assume that you actually read the Bible. We're living in a different world. So if you've ever read the story of Joshua and the battle of Jericho raise one hand. If you know of someone whose name is Joshua raise your other hand. If you know someone who is Joshua who owe you money raise one hand. No, not that guy. Just kidding, that's my cousin from jersey, we'll talk about that later. So, this Joshua's same phrase, so the people of Israel, they messed up. Joshua 7:10. They mess up, the do something naughty. Naughty.
Somebody say, "Naughty". Naughty. So, they do something bad and the same people that shouted on the walls of Jericho, messed up and now God said, "If you didn't do what I told you to do I can't protect you. I'm going to let the, do their thing", and they did. So, then Joshua did this, Joshua went, Joshua starts praying, watch, watch, watch. "Oh, God, we messed up, oh God, we need you, oh God, we messed up". Right, it sounds beautiful because it's biblical and it's holy and repentance works, all of that, right? 2 Chronicles 7:14, even the book of acts, when you repent refreshing rain comes your way. So, repent is good. The problem is that he got stuck there. God shows up and says, "Hey Joshua, what you doing"? Stating the obvious, "I am praying in your presence, grounded," same phrase. And God looks at him, this is so powerful and says, "No, no, no, no".
Okay, "Hey sunshine, there's a time where you pray and then there's a time where you get up and you act on the very thing you prayed for". You're gonna get this by tomorrow morning. Some of you have been praying for the same thing for 5 years, 10 years, 20 years, you need to start. Listen, does praying work? Absolutely! Pray every day, pray every hour, pray without ceasing, pray in the spirit, absolutely! But there comes a time where you got to go, "I'm not going to stay in that position, I'm going to get up and I'm going to act like God already answered my prayer! I'm going to walk like God already answered your prayer".
Here's another thing, if you're praying for healing, if you've been praying for healing for ten years, I'm going to teach you how to pray the right way. If you're saying, "Lord, take away the arthritis, take away the arthritis". Ten years of the same prayer. "Take away the arthritis". You need to stop making that prayer. What? Yep! Listen, after you prayed about it one time, two times, maybe three times, I would even give you four, five times, lets give you a biblical number, seven times. Maybe after that you should pivot from, "Lord, heal me from my arthritis". To, "Lord, I'm already healed. By your stripes I'm already healed". "Pastor Sam, what if my hand looks like this"? Walk and continue to say, "By your stripes I am healed".
People lift up your hands. So stop thinking that when you're born again, all of sudden you can't work in the same job. You're going back to that same job but not like you use to be. You're going into that environment but not like you used to be. Because Damascus needs the new you. Lift up your right hand, I'm gonna land. You still have to live there. A different Saul stepped into the same Damascus. I sense God. I'm going to have to do this one more time, I'm so sorry. But I gotta show them something. Can you for real quick? Sorry about this. We'll talk to you later about this. Try to make it happen. Who told him to get up? Did you know the light did what to his eyes? So, he couldn't see.
So, Jesus is, now, he's only working from what? I'm sorry, he got up not based on what he can... But based on what he could... You need to get up. I don't care what you see in your bank, I don't, I sense God. I don't care what you're seeing in your marriage right now, get up. I don't care what you're seeing in your bank account right now, get up. I don't care what you're seeing on the news right now, get up. Because we don't get up based on what we... We get up based on what we... Because faith comes from... And hearing of the word of...
Look at your neighbor, tell them, "Get up and go". Even if you don't see it, get up and go. Even if you can't perceive it, get up and go. It's not based on what you see, it's based on what you... And if you're hearing heaven, if you hear God speak to you, one hand. If you're hearing the spirit of God quicken your heart and your spirit in the past few weeks and months about you, your destiny, your family, your generation, about the glory of the risen Christ, shining through you, about more people coming to Jesus through your testimony than ever before. How about you becoming the primary conduent of his glory shining, about you no longer making excuses. If you're hearing God speak to you, raise both hands. Then get ready to get up and go. Not based on what we see, this church is not driven by what we see on the news, we are driven by what we hear in the spirit. We are driven by what we hear from the preaching of the word of God from biblical truth.
Can anybody come in agreement right now, that you and your family is about to get up and occupy everything God has promised, not based on what we see but based on what we hear. Matter of fact, let's make a commitment, raise your right hand, now, we're gonna pray. This is kind of an awkward sermon but it is what it is. Him falling multiple times makes it awkward. Raise your right hand let's do this. I want you to hear me as you raise your right hand, stop listening to the wrong voices, stop listening to negative voices, toxic voices. Voices that believe in a world view that counter or are antithetical to our Christian value system, stop listening. Stop listening to haters and detractors, stop listening to the voices in your head. You know what I'm talking about.
Have you ever told yourself to shut up? If you been there raise one hand. If you've done it multiple times because on many occasions you didn't listen to yourself. Stop listening. Stop listening to serpents in the garden. Stop listening to serpents in the garden. Stop listening to foxes, to Jezebels. Now, we're going to repeat. You don't have to, if you want to you're gonna make this prayer in front of the presence of God, in front of each other and God is here, this is the covenant. Say, "Heavenly father, from this moment on... I commit... As for me and my house". Say it like you believe it. "As for me and my house, from this moment on we will never again listen to voices that run contrary to the will of God or the word of God. I will not react or respond to anything or anyone that wants to rob my peace, kill my joy or destroy my God ordain purpose. In Jesus name, I will only listen to that, which is full of truth, love, grace and hope, in the name of Jesus".
If you believe that your final clap offering right here. Lift up your hands really high. Somebody lift them up really high, that's it. "My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it". Luke 8:21. "Blessed are those who hear the word of God and deserve it". Luke 11:28. More of God requires you to get up by listening to the right voices. Get up refusing to stay stuck to the one season. Alright, ready? You have your hands raised? And this is what Jesus did not do. I'll show you, get your cameras ready.
Does the Bible say Jesus did this? Jesus didn't help up. Oh snap. Jesus didn't help. Jesus gave him a word. No, no. "Hey sunshine, my word is sufficient", you're still waiting for God to send thirty thousand angels to help you do what he's already ordained you to do and anointed you to do? No. Matter of fact, you know he had people around him. Jason, come up here. You know, he had people around him? He had friends. His friends didn't help him up. You know, sometimes when your, the people around you try to help you up when you're grounded, they may do more harm than good. Oh, you think, have you, someone in a car accident or someone in an accident someone who falls. First responders, Jase, you've dealt with this. First responders, what's the rule of the game. Do they automatically just pick them up.
Jase: Absolutely not.
Samuel Rodriguez: Why don't first responders just look at someone on the ground like this and just pick them up?
Jase: Because we really don't know what the injury is that they have.
Samuel Rodriguez: And? Who cares? Just pick them up. Who cares?
Jase: You can further injure them even more than where they're at right now.
Samuel Rodriguez: I can further injure them?
Jase: Yes.
Samuel Rodriguez: I can exacerbate things?
Jase: Yes.
Samuel Rodriguez: If I don't know where the injury or the wound...
Jase: Absolutely.
Samuel Rodriguez: I can make things worse?
Jase: Absolutely.
Samuel Rodriguez: That's why you can't let people... They're people that end up paralyzed because there were people with good intentions that tried to picked them up, but they picked them up the wrong way. There is someone who knows where you're broken, there is someone who knows where you have been injured, there is someone who knows the specificity of your wound! The power of God. So he does, he says, "Go ahead, get up". You know who picked him up? Go ahead, show him. Have you ever been in a place where God gave you a word and even though there are people in your life who are beautiful, you had to learn for a season to pick yourself up, raise on hand.
Have you ever been a place that even though people tried, they just didn't understand where you were broken, how you were broken, when you were broken. Only you knew it, so only you, because God gave you a word, you picked yourself up. You have to learn to pray over yourself first, learn to pick yourself up, learn to prophesy over yourself. Learn to proclaim God's promises over yourself. Alright, lift up your hands, we're done. Lift up your hands, say it with me against those that are not standing, say it with me. Just, oh man. Pick yourself up 'cause there is a word, get up and go. Don't stay stuck in one season. Don't. Mentally, emotionally, relationally, spiritually, financially, in respect to your calling, your purpose, your career, your assignment on this planet. Don't stay stuck in one season. And stop waiting for someone else to pick you up.