Samuel Rodriguez - The God Who Heals
Today is healing Sunday. Before this service is over, no joke, here and online, you're about to experience your healing and your miracle. Physical healing, mental, emotional healing, relational healing. You're gonna see this week, families being restored, relationships being restored, even financial healing. Somebody, shout, "Healing".
Number one, your wounds will quickly heal because our God heals. There's a healing anointing. Broken, wounded, bleeding, sick: simply stated, not whole. And we live in a broken world, broken communities, broken families, broken nations, broken generations, broken people, broken children, broken lives. Broken physically, mentally, spiritually, relationally, financially. Broken by sin, wounded by words, sickened by malignancies. The world is broken, the world is bleeding, the world is wounded, the world is sick. And this week cannot deny, wounded people bleed on others, even upon those they love. Broken people break people, hurting people hurt people, but healed people... Healed people change the world. And here's God's promise, here's the word of the Lord. Not mine, we read it.
"Your wounds will quickly heal". I'm gonna repeat that till your spirit gets it. Your wounds will quickly heal. In other words, our God not only saves, our God heals. I said: our God... Let me repeat this one more time: our God... Our God is a healing God: he is a healing God. Throughout the course of human history, we bear witness of the following truth. When it's lost, God saves it. When it's broken, God will fix it. If it's sick, God will heal it. If it's wrong, God will make it right. Our God heals. One of the greatest titles descriptors attributed to the Almighty Creator of the universe is nothing less than Jehovah Rapha. Jehovah Rapha is the Hebrew, and it says, "Our God who heals".
By the way, this is not people assigning a name to God, this is not a name people gave to him, this is a name he gave to himself. Here's a story. In the book of Exodus, God frees his children from Egyptian captivity. They spent three days in the desert, they are in desperate need of water. They find a river and like the Sacramento and American rivers, they are contaminated. So, God instructs them to put a piece of wood in the water, they did, and God healed the water. Then the word of the Lord that God spoke, here it is. Exodus 15:26: "'if you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you". Somebody, repeat after me, "Jehovah Rapha. Our God heals". Say it one more time, "Jehovah Rapha. Our God heals".
Get ready to see your body perfectly healed. Is this for at least five people here? Get ready to... How many actually believe our God still heals? Is anybody here a witness in the healing power of God? If God already healed your body, or your mind, if you've already seen God heal, raise one hand. If he's done it on multiple occasions, raise both hands. If you don't think, if you don't aspire, if you don't hope, if you know that God heals, raise both hands and a foot. And if you believe we're about to see everything in your life healed by the power of God, now, give him the best praise you've given him all day. Somebody, get ready to see your mind healed, get ready to see your relationships healed. Why? Because Jehovah... By the way, for those of you, it's not Jehovah Ralph, it's Jehovah Rapha. Jehovah Rapha, our God...
Number two, your wounds will quickly heal because healing is God's promise for his children. Here's the subtext. If God did it before... If he did it before... If he did it before... I'm gonna give you the book. Exodus 23:25, 26, one of the verses that we pray. If you received our prayer outline a couple of weeks ago, you should be praying this every single day, "Worship the Lord your God, and his blessing will be on your food and water. I will take," this is the Lord speaking, "I will take sickness away from you, none will miscarry or be barren in your land. I will give you a full life span". He forgives all my sins and heals, not some, Psalm 103:3: "He forgives all my sins and heals all my..." No, no, no. "He forgives some of my sins"? He forgives all my sins and heals some of my? The majority of? Only the serious kind? "He heals all my", that's God's promise.
Isaiah 53:5: "Because of our sins he was wounded, beaten because of the evil we did. We are healed by the punishment he suffered, made whole by the blows he received". 1 Peter 2:24: "Christ carried the burden of our sins. He was nailed to the cross, so we would stop sinning and start living right. By his cuts and bruises," not "You will be". "You are... You are healed". Here's the proof in 1 Samuel 1. Healing, I'm giving you a list of biblical healings. Hannah received healing from barrenness. I love that. 1 Kings 17, Elijah raised a widow's son from death: he completely healed. 2 Kings 5, a man name Naaman, commander of the king Aram's army was healed of leprosy because the prophet prophesied. In the New Testament, you know the stories, Jesus healed the woman of the issue of blood, he healed the blind man, Bartimaeus, he healed the paralyzed man by the pool, he healed his friend Lazarus who was dead, bringing him back to life. These are just samples.
I didn't have time to go over so many miracles, both the Old Testament and the New Testament. I'd be here all day. But then Hebrews 13:8 says this, "Jesus is the same," which means what? God never changes, which means the same God that healed Hannah will heal you. The same God that healed the widow's son can heal your son. The same God that healed Jairus' daughter can heal your daughter. The same God that healed Lazarus can heal your friends. In other words, if he did it before... I can't hear you. If he did it before... He never changes. The same God that did it before is the same God that can do it again. I don't know about you, but I have great expectancy that we are about to see miracles and healings like never before.
Now, you need to praise like he can do it again, you need to shout like he can do it again. If he did it before... If he did it before... Now, we need to upgrade. This is only for the crazy faith people in the house. You need to upgrade. Only for the crazy faith. You need to upgrade from "He can do it again," this is crazy, to "He will do it again". Oh, you missed it. I not only know he can do it again. Does anyone here have crazy faith, not to believe that he can do it again, but that he will do it again? Oh man! He will. "In my name, they will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed". Not can be, they will be healed. Mark 16:18: "There is healing in the name of Jesus". There is healing, healing for every aspect of your life. There is healing. Matter of fact, I wanna prove to you we're not making this stuff up. Where's Joe? Come up here real quick. Nadia and Joe, come up here, real quick. Both of you, come up here, real quick. Give it up for these two amazing young people. Hi.
—[b/] Hi. Hi, how ya doing?
[b]—[b/] Hey.
[b]—[b/] Come up here, both of you. So, we're talking about healing, and healing is not just physical, it's emotional, mental, it's relational healing, it's financial healing, it's that shalom of God: our God heals. And I just, I need to double down on this. There is a segment of the Christian community. Beautiful people who we will share some heaven space with them. They are saved. We're gonna be in heaven with them, and then an eternity in new Jerusalem, the eternal, yeah, we're gonna be together. Yet, they believe that healings were only limited to the New Testament, that healings don't take place today, that the last healing took place when the Book of Revelation was written. PBTT! Done.
Well, I haven't vetted this audience, you haven't been screened, you weren't interviewed on your way in. I'm just gonna ask if... God... Healed... You. If you experienced a healing that you know it was God and it's verifiable, certifiable, no hype, no joke, no made up, no exaggeration, but God, if God has healed you of something, camera people, get ready. We're not, this is not scripted, not planned. If you know that you know that you know, and you can verify that God healed you, if you've experienced the healing power of God, stand up right there where you're at. Now, camera man, take a wide shot.
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, don't tell me God doesn't heal anymore, don't... There is, how many here can give God your best praise? Because the name of Jesus is great. How many here discovered that he's the name above all names, above cancer, above diabetes, above any virus, any disease, every heart ailment? This is powerful. Go ahead, you may be seated for a second. I'm gonna get to you second because you're... But I'm gonna talk to Joe real quick here and just talk to you because yours is pretty amazing. These are two beautiful partners of our church here, members of our church. But Joe, talk to me here. You were skating...
[b]—[b/] I was skating.
[b]—[b/] Right.
[b]—[b/] In San Francisco.
[b]—[b/] Uh-huh.
[b]—[b/] I was going down the most scariest hills. I survived those hills.
[b]—[b/] You did?
[b]—[b/] Yes. The next day I came back, continued skating, and I fell, and I hit my head. I had a skull fracture and a lower back injury.
[b]—[b/] You were in the hospital?
[b]—[b/] Yes, I was in the hospital.
[b]—[b/] And what was the condition in the hospital?
[b]—[b/] Well, I was in, I was just in a coma.
[b]—[b/] So, you hit your head so hard, you ended up in a coma?
[b]—[b/] Yeah, and I lost two weeks of, just, memory, and I didn't even know what happened. I just woke up. It was just like something out of a dream.
[b]—[b/] And talk to me about the paralysis. You couldn't move...
[b]—[b/] And so, for two weeks, I couldn't move. I had to crawl to get to the bathroom, and I didn't come to church for two weeks.
[b]—[b/] Well, yeah. You're stating the obvious, and we missed you. By the way, don't do it again. But so, dude, but this is crazy. You're, and you don't remember, like, how you fell?
[b]—[b/] I don't, I don't know. I just woke up and it was...
[b]—[b/] That's wild. So, you were skating, you end up... You're skating one moment, and the next moment, you're in a hospital room, in a coma, not able to move.
[b]—[b/] Not able to move.
[b]—[b/] And then... Where's pastor Rochelle? Come up here, sunshine. Come up here. So, pastor Rochelle, we had a meeting in the office, and I'm encouraging our pastors that we're all about love, and honor, and respect, and changing the world around us that we're not just about coming up here and, because this is important, but it's not just what we do here, it's what we do out there, and it's about loving people and just tending to their needs. So, what happened next?
[b]—[b/] So, I didn't, I couldn't remember anything, but I knew one thing is I just wanted to come to church, that's the one thing. And I called Rochelle, I asked her to bring a wheelchair, but she didn't come, she didn't bring me a wheelchair.
[b]—[b/] Stop! So, you wanna cut, first of all... First of all, this is not, he's gonna make me cry. He's in a coma, dragging himself to the bathroom, and all he wants to come to church. Yeah. That's what happens when you're hungry for the presence of Jesus, that spiritual hunger. And so, then, so, you called one of my pastors up to bring you a wheelchair and that woman did what?
[b]—[b/] She came over with prayers.
[b]—[b/] Oh, she didn't, she didn't bring a wheelchair, but she brought what?
[b]—[b/] She came, she brought prayers.
[b]—[b/] She brought prayers.
[b]—[b/] Yes.
[b]—[b/] And she prayed?
[b]—[b/] Over me, yes.
[b]—[b/] Over you...
[b]—[b/] While I was laying down, just not able to move.
[b]—[b/] You're not able to move, and she prayed over you. So, she didn't bring the wheelchair, she didn't give you what you wanted, she gave you what you needed. Oh, I'm preaching now. I'mma say it one more time. Surround yourself with people, not the people that give you what you want: surround yourself with people that give you what you need. Are you with me right now? He wanted a wheelchair, but he needed the power of God to show up in his life, so she prayed.
[b]—[b/] She prayed. And in three days, after two weeks of not being...
[b]—[b/] Of course, three days, of course.
[b]—[b/] After three days.
[b]—[b/] In apartment 33. Of course. Because it's a script.
[b]—[b/] I started walking after three days.
[b]—[b/] You started walking after three days?
[b]—[b/] Yes.
[b]—[b/] Somebody, give Jesus some praise. If he did it for Joe, he'll do it for you. If he did it for Joe, he'll do it for the people you love. If he did it for Joe, he'll do it for your children, and your children's children, and your children's children's children. That is powerful. And then you ended up running in a what?
[b]—[b/] My comeback within a month, I ran a ma...
[b]—[b/] Stop! The phrase you just used, Joe, the phrase you just used is prophetic and powerful. Your what?
[b]—[b/] My comeback.
[b]—[b/] Say it again. Your what?
[b]—[b/] My comeback!
[b]—[b/] Somebody's about to come back today. I said somebody's comeback begins right here, right now. New season, your comeback begins right here, right now. Your come, and you run a what?
[b]—[b/] I ran a marathon.
[b]—[b/] You ran a marathon?
[b]—[b/] Yeah, I did.
[b]—[b/] You were in a coma, you were paralyzed, you couldn't walk, you were dragging yourself, prayer over you, boom! God shows up and you end up running in a marathon.
[b]—[b/] I did.
[b]—[b/] Look what the Lord has done. Somebody give God a shout of praise.
[b]—[b/] Hallelujah!
[b]—[b/] Oh, I feel God right now. Can somebody high-five your neighbor and tell 'em, "The comeback begins today". Jehovah Rapha! God heals! I love that. That's... Yeah!
So, honey when was this, when the whole back thing, this right here? We just married. 2021? Cause we got married when we were like 11. Pennsylvania, folks. Whew! Kind of freaky people on the east coast, man. No, so, I had a medical issue. Hey, and I know you're saying, "Pastor, we know you have issues". No, medical issues. I did. So, stop it, Sean. He says, "Driving issues," repent. So, I had a medical issue. So, this right here, this part that leads, the blood that aims towards your brain, so, my vein, it's a normal width, mines is thinner than the rest, than everyone else, right? So, normal. And so, it's not, and so I had these amazing, massive, like massive migraines, right? So, they did a whole MRI thing, and the doctor says, "Well, your MRI, your migraines are not just the normal migraines and cluster headaches, your migraines is directly proportional to the fact that the vein that where the blood flow to your brain is limited, it's smaller". He said, "So, what is it", so, I go, "What does this mean? So help me".
My wife can bear witness. This is the doctor. The doctor says, "Well, this is, I'mma kid, so I'm starting to preach, ministering already, but no one, no one, this is before, no one knew". So, the doctor looks at me and says, "Well, Sammy", he goes, "Sammy, this is real simple, son. I don't know what you do", and I was a student back then at the university and ministry. He says, "Sammy, I don't know what you do and what you're gonna do for a living, but this I can tell you. Because of your condition, there's a couple things you need to know. One, you have to be careful and never get truly excited". I go, "What do you mean by that"? "You gotta be careful. You can never yell or scream out of the blue because this right here, something may pop and erupt, and so, you can't, you have to be very careful. So, I mean, they could try to operate and expand that, but you don't wanna go down that route. All you gotta do is be careful. Don't ever get super animated, don't ever get super, you know", not making this up.
[b]So, I'm going like, "Are you kidding me"? He went, "Yeah". Like, he even went, "If you go to a sporting event, and your team scores, try to reserve yourself and not get too excited in your response, right"? So, all of a sudden, I'm watching television, and I'm, like, down. I'm going like, "But, I don't get it. You called me to preach, but this, I can't, so, how do...", so, I'm watching television, and all of a sudden, this person who's name majority of you would recognize back in the day, started ministering and says, "The Lord says there's a young", on television, "There's a young man right now... Oh, the Lord says he's from Pennsylvania. And you have a calling upon your life. You're a young man, you're a preacher, and you have an issue right here with the back of your neck, right here with this vein. Well, the Lord says this very moment, that issue has disappeared, completely healed". I go back to the doctor and guess what? Completely disappeared!
The healing power of God. So, many of us, many of us, if we haven't experienced personal healing, we know someone who has. Is that right? If you know of someone who has, as you stand with me, one final point. Your wounds will quickly heal when you intercede and confess. What does that mean? We can learn a lot from the first healing recorded in the Bible. Genesis 20:17: "Abraham prayed to God: and God healed Abimelech, the king. For the Lord had caused all the women to be infertile because of what happened with Abraham's wife, Sarah". Abraham gets a word, king Abimelech, in chapter 20, Abraham prays, I don't wanna get into the story. Simply stated, Abimelech says, "Hey, guys". And Abraham says, "Hey, I wanted to introduce you to my sister, Sarah". King Abimelech says, "Sarah looks amazing".
So, king Abimelech takes Sarah and takes her in, and he's not intimate with her because in the middle of the night, the Lord appears to king Abimelech and says, "You better not touch her. You better not touch her. Here's who she really is". So, he gets up the next day and says, "Abraham, you lied to me". And he says, "No, same father, different mother. You know, no, technically she is, but she isn't. She's actually my wife". And this whole story. And all of a sudden, but God says, "Look, you know I'm not gonna kill you, but the consequence is even for the steps you took, the women around you will not be able to give birth until Abraham prayed..."
Stop. In Genesis 20, Abraham interceded for a king. Praise for a king to do away with barrenness. The Bible says, "And God his heard his prayer and he healed". That's the first healing in scripture. Stop, you missed it. Genesis 20, Abraham prays for barrenness to end in another man's life. In Genesis 21, Sarah gives birth to Isaac. You're not getting it. You want your healing, pray for someone else's healing. If you worry about, and pray about, and worry meeting the context of intercessory prayer, if you deliberate and pray for someone else's healing, the next chapter, you will experience your healing. So, pray. "Pastor Sam, I'm fighting with diabetes". Find someone else who has diabetes and say, "In the name of Jesus, I'm gonna fast and pray for your diabetes to disappear forevermore by the power of God".
Whatever it may be. Mental healing, emotional healing. A family is broken apart, pray for that family to be restored, relational healing, and watch your family get restored. Whatever you need God to do in your life, pray for someone else's need in the name of Jesus. If you got that, raise your hand. James 5. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other, and pray for watch other, so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. We can't take away the continual dynamic, the relational reality from Genesis to revelation, that when we confess our sins, there is a healing component attached to it. Confession and intercession lead to healing, that's wow! Lift up your hands.
Heavenly Father, you promised us today via the conduit of your word and the leaning of your spirit, that you, the healing God, Jehovah Rapha, you are the God who heals. So, this morning, Lord, we're not hoping for healing, we're not just putting spaghetti on the wall thinking it will stick, we know that you are the God who heals. Today is the day. You said it, you said it. Make room, today is the day, today is the day. This is the day, this is the day of healing. You are Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals. We believe you right now in the name of Jesus, by the authority of your word, in Jesus name.
I'm gonna ask one time. If you need healing in your life, be it physical, mental, emotional, relational, financial healing, if there's an area in your life that needs to be made whole, whatever it may be, it could be here, it could be in your family or in someone you love, raise one hand. Healing. Salvation last week, healing this week. That's the power of God.