Samuel Rodriguez - Open Your Eyes To The New
Hey, I have a special guest with me, 'cause last time, I've been here a number of times, but she's never been with me until now. I met her when I was 11 years of age in an assembly of God church. We're originally from Pennsylvania. And I met her, and she fell head over heels in love with me the moment she saw me, and she found me to be completely ador, alright, it was the other way around. It doesn't really matter, does it? My wife of 33 years, Eva's in the house, so I don't wanna honor my baby. She's originally from Puerto Rico, and with great due deference, Jennifer Lopez has nothing on her. That's all I have to say. You may be seated.
Let me get right into the word. John 9, the gospel of John 9. This is the word of the Lord. This is God's assignment. "As Jesus was walking, he saw a man who had been blind from birth". Underline that please. He was born blind. Verse 6. "Then he spit on the ground," Jesus spit on the ground. A very unorthodox way of executing a miracle. That's messy. "He made mud with the saliva," more messy, "And spread the mud over the blind man's eye". He spread the mess. Yes, not highly recommended, unless it's allergy season. Verse 7. "He told him, 'go wash yourself'. So, the man went and washed and came back seeing". I wanna speak to you on the subject matter, "Your mess, God's miracle". Your mess, God's miracle. Messy miracles. "The process is temporary, the promise is permanent".
Open your eyes to the new. So, let me confess something. I'm a bit OCD, my wife can attest to that. My mind works in a very linear sequential manner. For all the trekkies out there, I may preach like captain kirk, but I process like spock. So, I find it to be a bit challenging to reconcile what I perceive as chaos with order. How can a miracle emerge out of a mess? Let's join some things and align some biblical truths. If you're taking any notes, and good luck with that, here it is. Number one, open your eyes to what you have never seen before. Open your eyes to the new. As Jesus was walking along, he saw a man who had been blind from birth. This man was not losing his sight. This man did not lose his sight, he never had it in the first place. He was born blind. His circumstance facilitates the environment for Christ to reveal a functional and ontological extension of the creative nature of providence.
In other words, with the woman with the issue of blood, he gave her back her health. With the invalid man at Bethesda, he gave him back his walk. With Lazarus, he gave him back his life. But with this man in John 9, Jesus did not give him something he lost, Jesus gave him something he never had in the first place. There is a difference between God restoring something you had and God giving you something you never had in the first place. Our God is not just the God that restores, our God is the God that gives us what we never had before. He is the Lord of the new thing. I'll repeat that for the hearing impaired. He is the Lord of the new thing.
Isaiah 43:19, "Behold I do a... do you not see it"? God is not interested in renovating your past. He is committed to releasing your future. Hence the question we have to ask ourselves in our families, in our faith, in our generation, in our nation, are we ready to see what we have never seen before? Are we ready to see? Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we cannot deny the fact that in the past three years in America, these past three years have officially been deemed now, Google it, as the cuckoo for cocoa puff season. We've never, we've seen, we're seeing stuff in America like we've never seen before. We saw the effects of a global pandemic that unfortunately killed millions. We saw the ruins of racial and social unrest, destroying properties, families, dividing communities, and even fragmenting the church.
We witnessed and continue to bear witness to a cancel woke culture that insists in silencing everyone and everything that refuses to tow the line of a morally relativistic, ideological worldview that runs counter to the word and the Spirit of God. We continue, man, I live in California, I'm seeing this. It's all across America, but we saw and continue to see a generation, a generation targeted, our children targeted by the architects of darkness with the message that there is no such thing as truth, gender, holiness, and personal responsibility. We are streaming, right? Well, there goes that.
Let me take advantage of this moment as we're streaming all around the world and with biblical authority in the spirit of Luke 10:19 and Matthew 28. Let me speak to every lie of the devil coming after our children. Get your hands off our children. In the mighty name of Jesus stop grooming, stop sexualizing, get your hands off our children. We saw the mess. We see the mess. If you turn on CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, and we don't discriminate, Telemundo! And you will see the mess. What if I tell you that in your family, in your faith, in your generation, even in our nation, we're about to see the mess become a miracle? Free chapel, we're about to see the mess become a miracle. Is that wishful thinking?
Let me give you just a mathematical equation. Let's see what happened this year. The year kicked off with an NFL football player who dies on Monday night football. Both teams coalesce, pray, he comes back to life. The very next day an ESPN anchor on live, on national television, interrupts the program, looks into the camera and says, "This may not be right. I may get in trouble, but I feel like praying". They prayed on ESPN. And when he prayed, he talked about the healing power of God.
Right after that, a coinkidink, the same identical demographic deemed by Gallup and pew as the most non-Christian demographic in American history, Gallup and pew declare, "A certain generation has emerged in America that is the most non-Christian, not committed to biblical worldview generation in American history. Generation z. It seems that God never got the memo". And all of a sudden, right after, God shows up in Asbury, Kentucky. In other words, "You say they are the most non-Christian. I say, my glory will shine upon an entire generation". Your children will not go to hell. Your children will not be lost. Your children will not be held captive by the works in the ideologies and social constructs of darkness.
Right after that, pastor Jentezen and I, our mutual friend, Greg Laurie releases the film Jesus revolution. It was expected to make about six to seven million in box office receipts. Up to this very moment, over 50 million strong. Right after that, this Easter that just passed, all the expectations were that, if you saw the pews, you saw the different Gallup, Barna, Lifeway, all the different surveys out there, "30% of Christians that attended church prior to COVID will not come back, will not come back, will not come back". Not even seasonal. You would assume the methodology would incorporate some elements in order to give it legitimacy of some sort of temporal glitch in the proverbial matrix. Woo-hoo. Too much caffeine. But no, no, like, like who would ever say, "I'm never ever going back to church ever again"?
Like, where's the methodology? Nevertheless, supposedly 30% of people that were Christians prior to COVID somehow are not going back to church. Well, we're getting reports from all over the world, this past Easter, watch this, some publications forthcoming to validate this, this past Easter was the Most Highly highest attended Easter Sunday in history. The mess is about to become a miracle. We are about to see more people get saved than ever before in American history. I'll repeat that. We are about to see more people come to Jesus as Lord and Savior than ever before in American history. And I need you to get ready. Turn on your porch light. We're about to see our prodigal sons and daughters come back home.
Matthew 24, the last days. I know we're living in the last days. I live in California. "In the last days, men and women will become lovers of themselves". We call that narcissism and many of the accounts on Instagram. "In the last days," watch this, "Men and women will deviate from their natural sexual desires". We call that California. There is, but there's, that's not what prompted me to catch a flight, a 3,000 mile flight to get here today. There is a last day promise that prompted me to get on a plane and be here today. It's so good of a promise that it was released originally in Job 2:28 and repeated in Acts 2:17. "In the last days," this is what God promised. This is God's promise.
"In the last days, he said," he never said, "I may," or "I might". He never said, "I hope to". He never said, "I probably will". He never said, "If the following five conditions are met". He said... No, no. He said, "I will. I will". Hey hey! "I will pour out my spirit upon all..." the next thing to fill America will not be COVID 2021 or 22, the next thing to fill America and the world will be the glory of the risen Christ Jesus. Accordingly, your family mess is about to become God's miracle. Your mental mess is about to become God's miracle. Your financial mess is about to become God's miracle. Your health mess is about to become God's miracle. Your generational mess is about to become God's miracle. And America's mess is about to become God's miracle.
Which means what? What does it mean? Instead of riots, revival. Instead of lockdowns, open heavens. Instead of relativism, truth. Instead of political affiliation, prophetic designation. And instead of storming the capitol, we're about to storm the gates of hell in the name of Jesus and take back everything that belongs to us. Instead of many under fear, one nation under God. Raise your right hand and repeat after me. "I'm about to see what I've never seen before". Say it like you believe it. "In my family, in my faith, in my finances, in my relationships, in my church, in my community, in my thinking, in my actions, in my words., in my surroundings, in my health, in my nation. In my generation. I'm about to see the glory of Jesus like I've never ever seen before".
If you believe it, praise like you believe it. Free chapel, if you believe it, I dare you to shout like you believe it. Worship like you believe it. Rejoice like you believe it. Pray like you believe it. Live like you believe it. Forgive like you believe it. The mess is about to become a miracle. Three points quickly here. Point number two, open your eyes to God's Spirit. I wanna illustrate this, so I just wanna lay this out. So, we need a Jesus and a blind man. So, I brought with me, who is our security chief for our campuses in California. And I never tell him, I never like, you know, give him like the heads up, "Jason, I'm gonna share this".
But Jason Fortick is not your normal cup of tea. Right after 9/11, he joined the military, led alpha teams into very a precarious area of Afghanistan and in Iraq. And he defended our freedom. His name, for the glory of God, appears in three museums. And he's a war hero indeed. That's a modern-day Gideon. Jason Fortick, come with me please. So Jason, for this example, you're gonna play Jesus, and to be full of integrity, you're gonna be creatine Jesus. Whoa, better yet, not fast Fabio. That's not create, this is creatine Je... not steroid Jesus, creatine, 'cause creatine's legal. Oh, we lost the hair. There it is. So, creatine. That's the... Anyway, alright, stop it! You're creatine Jesus, Michael, you're the blind man.
Alright. So, you're blind. You're blind. All right. And by the way, you're twinning. This was not coordinated, but this is pretty interesting. Alright, there it is. Here it is. "Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva and spread the mud over the blind man's eyes". That's an unorthodox method to facilitate a miracle. It's a process, and sometimes the process is messy. Sometimes the process is complicated. But here it is, the same God of the process is the God of the outcome. I'll repeat that. The God of the process is the God of the outcome. The process is temporary, but the promise is permanent. Do not make the temporary permanent. Do not confuse the process with the promise. Do not confuse what you're going through, with where you're going to.
And permit me to remind you, if you are going through what you've never been through before, it's only because you're about to step into what you've never stepped into before. Take the mud and spread it, please, creatine Jesus. Spread this real quick here. Here we go. "I can see clearly now, the rain is gone, I can see all obstacles, in my way" Taylor swift has nothing on me, buddy, alright, nothing. There it is. Spread it. Now this is, he took his spit, the spit of Jesus. This is the spit, the spittle, looks like night wing. The moment you hear saliva, what do you think? Somebody said, "Gross". Who shouted gross? Gross.
There's two types of people in this audience right now, the pessimists and the optimist. All the pessimistic people, that cup is half empty, you would say, "Gross bacteria, viruses and germs". All the optimistic, that cup is half filled will say, "What's in your spit"? Your DNA. No, literally your DNA. No joke. This is not like, "Is it rhema"? No, it's science. Literally speaking, Jesus took his DNA, literally he took his DNA, his DNA. The DNA, not of Sam Rodriguez or Jason Fortick, the DNA of the King of kings, of the Lord of lords, the host of hosts, and the Prince of Peace, the Messiah, the conquer, the Son of Man, the Son of God, the way, the truth and the life, the resurrection and the life, the alpha and the omega, the author and the consumer, the Lamb of God of the lion of the tribe of Judah.
The DNA, it wasn't just any DNA, the DNA of God in the flesh. He took his DNA and placed it upon the eyes of a man who was born blind. In other words, woohoo. "With your DNA, you can't see, with my DNA, you will see my glory. With your DNA, you are a victim, with my DNA, you are more than a conqueror. With your DNA, you have perpetual trauma, with my DNA, you have a powerful testimony. With your DNA, you are limited, with my DNA, you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength. With your DNA, you will make excuses, with my DNA, you will make history".
Oh, 2,000 years ago, Jesus died, resurrected, ascended, and he transferred, he gave us something. Jesus did not give me his spittle: he gave me and gave you something greater than his spittle. We don't have the spittle of Jesus: we have the spirit of Jesus. We have his Holy Spirit. If with the spittle of Jesus, this man opened up his eyes to see what he never saw before, imagine what you and I are about to see. We have his spirit. "The same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives inside of us", Romans 8:11.
I wanna remind everyone here, the Holy Spirit is not a denomination. The Holy Spirit is not a network. The Holy Spirit is not an emotion. The Holy Spirit is not a moment, not even a service, a conference, an ideology or a Philosophy. The Holy Spirit is not an app that you can swipe. The Holy Spirit is the most powerful person and force on planet earth today. There is nothing more powerful than the Holy Spirit, and that spirit is still the most powerful spirit on the planet. We need to stop drinking the Kool-Aid. Stop repeating the talking points of darkness. The most powerful spirit in the world today is not the spirit of moral relativism or cultural decadence or even of deconstructionism. It's not the spirit of identity fluidity. It's not the spirit of melees and chaos. The most powerful spirit in 2023 is still the Holy Spirit of Almighty God.
"Where that Spirit is present, there is power", Acts 1:8. There is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17. We are to be driven by that spirit, not by the flesh, Galatians 5:16. We are to be filled with that spirit, not be drunk with wine, Ephesians 5:18. We are anointed with the Holy Spirit, 1 John 2:27. Temple of the Holy Spirit, 1 Corinthians 3:16. Oh, that spirit is powerful. Nothing can stop that spirit from... You can't stop, during COVID. Y'all live in Georgia. "Georgia sweet", y'all all live in Georgia. I live in California. What does that mean? During COVID immediate, and I'm immediately, I'm not speaking disparagingly. I know we're streaming, so.
The governor of California, bless his heart, the governor of California deemed churches non-essential day one. "Churches are not essential". We expected that, it's California. "You guys can't meet, y'all". Yeah, yeah, yeah. We expected that. But then he did something that... Do your Google due diligence. Make sure I'm not making this up. He did something no one ever did before. No elected official ever had the audacity to do before. He made it illegal for me to gather in my house with my family or friends to have a worship service. By executive decree, he said the following, "I hereby prohibit any gathering in homes where there is any sort of singing, worshiping, praising," he used the word praising, and he said, "Chanting".
The word chanting is the part that killed me, 'cause I love to chant. Wake up every morning and go, that's what we do at the Rodriguez home. And we do it a Spanish accent, which is... Google it. I can't gather with my own family? And I can't sing and lift up Jesus. No, you can't. It's technically illegal. Camera man, gimme a tight shot. I wanna make this clear. There's not an executive order, there's not one executive order, there's not a Supreme Court decision, there's not a legislative decree, there's not a law, a social media campaign. There's absolutely nothing or no one that will ever have the power to stop the Holy Spirit of God from moving. You can't cancel the Holy Spirit. I said, you can't cancel the Holy Spirit. You can't stop the Holy Spirit. It is not by might, nor by power, but by... Somebody praise like you have that spirit.