You are a spirit.  You have a mind, and you live in a body.  But that’s not what secular education teaches you.  Secular education teaches you that you are a mind and, therefore, you are to promote and enrich your mind.

Well, that’s only half true.  Yes, you are to promote and enrich your mind.  That’s why we have academic programs here at ORU.  That’s why we’re accredited on every level.  But it’s not just about your mind.  It’s about your spirit man too.

That’s why we have chapels.  I was just taping television early this morning with Napoleon Kaufman.  He spoke to you in chapel yesterday.  And he was talking about being, you know, an all-star running back for the Oakland Raiders and how in the middle of it, he discovered that the fame, the money, the women that were waiting for him when he got to the hotel, all that was not worth losing his opportunity to have a relationship with God.

Now he realized that all of that, as wonderful as the world treats that and the five million dollars in his pocket and all that, it didn’t give fulfillment.  And he said he came to the realization while he was on the field one day, a practice field of the Oakland Raiders, that he needed God.  And it came through one of his teammates, who was an outspoken Christian.

And Napoleon was giving the testimony this morning.  He said, “I was there on the field, the practice field, one day in Oakland, you know, getting ready for a game.  And, you know, I got tackled,” or something, whatever happened.

And he said, “I just let out a whole stream of curse words.  And one of these guys on my team walked up to me and said, “You know what?  You don’t really need to be doing that because you don’t have any idea how God can really use your life.”

And the person at the gate said it takes a key to get in, and only one person has that key.  And that key is with her estate.  And I said, “OK.”  That didn’t stop me.  And do you remember what the man said?

RR: Yeah, the man said, “This is your lucky day.  I have a key.”

LR:  He said, “In fact, I’ve been waiting for you.”

RR: And he handed her the key, and she gave the key to me, and I unlocked the gate, and we walked in, and I turned around and looked, and he was gone.  Crutches and all.  No car, no way for him to get anywhere.

LR: I have never told this story because most people think I’m crazy to begin with.  Now you have proof.

RR: Well, I got news:  I’m not crazy.  That was an angel.  Because no human being with braces and crutches could have gotten away from that place in a matter of seconds without a trace.

LR: Not to mention steps to go down, and there were steps to go down.

RR: And the Bible speaks of us being in the presence of angels.  I saw one.

LR: And at that moment, we both looked at each other and said,

“God is teaching us something.”

I have a friend by the name of Reba Rambo McGuire, Dotty McGuire’s daughter, Dotty Rambo’s daughter.  And she was in a store in California once.  And in that store – she had size 7 feet – and she had found all these shoes, but she had found one pair she wanted, and lo and behold couldn’t find but one shoe, couldn’t find but one shoe.  And they’re getting ready to leave, and finally Donnie was saying, “If you’re not leaving, I am.”

You get a glimpse of God, even if it’s in The Passion, and you will never be the same. “Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand which he had taken with tongs from off of the altar. And he laid it upon my mouth.”

Some of us need a cleansing in our mouth.  Maybe we don’t say cuss words, but do we say words that are not in harmony with the Word of God.  What do you use your mouth for?  For faith?  For fear?  To disagree with the Word of God?  “I’m an idiot.  I’m stupid.  I’m dumb.  I’ll never amount to anything.  Oh, God couldn’t use me.”  About time you took a coal and burned that word off your lips, “cause I’m going to show you how He can.”

“And he laid it upon my mouth and said, “Lo, this that has touched your lips and thine iniquity is now taken away and your sins have just been purged.”

“And I heard the voice of the Lord again, saying, “Who shall I send?  Who will go for Me?”  And I said, “Here am I, Lord.  Send me.?”

We need a “Here am I, Lord, send me,? session today, and that’s about what we’re going to get. Over here, John G. Lake wrote – now remember something; John G. Lake was born in 1870.  So this was a little while ago.  He said:

“Disease is dis-ease.  Let’s make it two words, broken law, wrecked ease, ease that has now been destroyed.  Ease is health and dis-ease is sickness.

“There are three kinds of sickness: sickness in the body, sickness in the soul, and sickness in the spirit.”  And he’s talking about needing a whole man, body, mind and spirit.  Isn’t that funny, in 1960, that was the label that God used through Oral Roberts on this university, “Whole man, body, mind, and spirit.”  John G. Lake got it in 1870.

Uncle Lonzo one day decided to tell his sweet young nephew that he was going to come and visit him, and his nephew was all excited because now Uncle Lonzo was going to get to meet Jimmy’s best friend.  And his best friend was just learning to play the guitar; and he said, “I promise you, I promise you, I promise you – I can get Uncle Lonzo to teach you how to play the guitar.”  So he did.

Well, as the story is told, Uncle Lonzo comes into town, and Uncle Lonzo says, “I’ll teach your friend.  I’ll be happy to. Just bring him over in the house.”  And his parents said,  ”Absolutely not.”

And I won’t tell you the name that he called this young man because I don’t like to talk like that, but I’ll tell you this much: They said, “Absolutely not, under no circumstance.”

When Uncle Lonzo saw the look on Jimmy’s face, he said,  ”I’ll make you a deal.  When your friend comes down the road, we’ll just go outside and sit on the curb.  And we’ll just sit down, and I’ll teach your friend how to play the guitar and how to tune his guitar.  I’ll do whatever you ask me to do.”

So down the road comes his friend with a guitar that was only held on by one string, that was his guitar strap, and knowing that he couldn’t get near the house, Jimmy and Uncle Lonzo went out and met him and said, “Let’s just sit out here on the curb.”  And Uncle Lonzo spent hours with this young man and taught him how to play the guitar, just two or three simple chords; and taught him how to tune his guitar.  And the little boy went home and his parents ripped Jimmy, and said, “Never again, under any circumstances, are you to be with that young man.  He is from the  ”wrong side of the tracks.?”

So Jimmy lost contact with his friend, until one day he read about his friend.  And billions of dollars later, record label after record label, and movie after movie, he never reunited with his friend, but he knew his friend did good.  His friend was named Elvis Presley.

In the last ten years, I’ve given out almost a million prayer cloths.  There’s nothing special about the cloth, but the cloth contains my prayers.  I’ve laid my hands on it and I prayed.  And then I have sent it out, nearly a million of them, all over the world.  And almost every day we get a testimony of someone who’s used that prayer cloth as a point of contact.

One woman took the prayer cloth to the hospital.  Her husband was in a coma.  She pinned it to his pajamas.  The doctor said, “Take that off.”  She said, “No.  That is my point of contact for my husband’s healing.”  She knew there was no power in the cloth, but the cloth was a symbol of the healing power of Jesus.  And her husband came out of the coma and was released from the hospital.  That actually happened.

Richard Roberts – Those are just six methods.  They’re not the only methods, but they are some of the methods that God uses through me.  But I have news for you, if you will believe and if you will trust Him, He will use those methods through you because God is no respecter of persons.  If He’ll do it through me, He’ll do it through you.

There’s some who believe that we should not lay hands on people.  But Jesus told us to do it.  There’s some who say, “Well, that was a word for the disciples of that day.”  I do not believe that because the Bible says if I continue in His Word, then I am His disciple.  If you continue in His Word, then you are His disciple.  We pray, but He does the healing.  Now I’m not one of the twelve, but I’m one of the millions.  So I have a Bible right to lay hands on the sick.

Now I watched my father Oral Roberts lay hands on people.  He’s now 90 years young.  And I have seen him lay hands on people all of my life.  He has probably laid hands on more than anyone who’s ever lived.  He’s laid his right hand on more than two million individuals.  Probably no one has touched as many people in prayer as my father Oral Roberts.

Pastor, I remember days when he laid his hands on as many as 10,000 in one day.  I was there.  I saw it.  I was a boy, and I walked up and down the aisles with him as he did it.  And oftentimes he would say, “Richard, you touch them.”  I didn’t realize that God was using that to prepare me for the healing ministry.  And he touched them, no matter what they were afflicted with.  He was not afraid of sickness nor disease because he knew Jesus’ name was higher.

Pastor, I remember a time when he laid hands on a man who was in the last stages of cancer.  And if you’ve ever been with someone in the last stages, there is a terrible odor.  The smell of the cancer in the last stages is very bad.

Richard Roberts -And the man was in a hospital bed.  He had been brought to the tent.  And my father went to lay hands on him.  And when he got near, the smell was so bad that he turned and vomited.  And he said, “I can’t do this.  It’s too hard.”

And I’m so glad that they are here with us tonight.  And I’m glad that you all are here with us tonight as well.  And I want you all to see God’s love here tonight.  Thank you.

RR: Hallelujah!  Tonight I’m going to pray for the sick.  Who here tonight needs healing?  Let me see your hand.  You’ve come to the right place because God shows himself alive with miracles and signs and wonders.  And what He did last night, He will do tonight because He’s God.

But before I pray for the sick, I want to plow some new ground.  I want to do something that may seem very unusual in El Salvador.  I want to talk to you about the greatest mistake that I see Christians make today.

The Bible says in Genesis, “As long as the earth remains, there will be seedtime and harvesttime.”  He said there would be day and night, there would be hot and cold, and there would be seedtime and harvesttime.  It is an eternal principle.

It has never been more evident than here in El Salvador.  As I see all of the rich vegetation in this land, as I see the farms, as I see the fruit trees, as I see the coffee beans growing, El Salvador knows something about planting seeds.  Without a seed, nothing grows.

Richard Roberts – Last night I shared how God gave His Son as a seed and how He sowed it for a desired result.  He sowed so that He might receive something back.  But it goes against the teaching of most Christians.  Many Christians have been taught to give, but they have never been taught how to receive.  Many have been taught that it is not godly to receive.

And then one Friday they hung Him on a tree.  And they drove nails into His hands, and they drove nails into His feet.  And the blood streamed down.  And they striped His back.  And they thought they were killing Him, but they didn’t understand that God’s plan was to sacrifice His only Son for you and for me.

Now let’s talk for a moment about two things.  Let’s talk about the blood that He shed and let’s talk about the stripes that He took.  Many people do not want to talk about the blood today.  Many ministers don’t want to talk about the blood.  They say they don’t want people to be offended.  But I want you to know that I am not ashamed of the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  He shed His blood.

They put a crown on His head, and the crown of thorns caused Him to bleed.  And they stuck the spear in His side, and it caused the blood to flow.  They drove nails into His hands and into His feet, and it caused the blood to flow.

And they thought they were killing Him, but they didn’t realize it was part of God’s redemptive plan.  The blood that was shed was shed for the remission of sins.  No longer by sacrifice of animals, but the shedding of the blood of His own Son so that blood would not be shed again.  God did it once and for all.  He shed His blood for the remission of sin.

I’m not ashamed of the blood of Jesus.  He did it for you.  He did it for you.  He did it for you.  He did it for you.  He did it for you.

Now let me talk for a moment about the stripes.  They took a type of whip, and it was tied together with bits of metal and rock.  And they lashed Him 39 times.  Why 39?  Well, in the Roman Empire, 40 stripes was a death sentence.  And so they striped Him 39 times, one time short of 40.

Richard Roberts – But that wasn’t the main reason.  They thought they were punishing Him.  But instead, He was taking the stripes for your healing and mine.  And with each stripe, He was taking on your disease and your sickness.

Somebody who’s had back pain right here on this row, you’re getting healed.  Whoever has back pain on this row, stand up.  Somebody right here has back pain, right here in this area.  Who are you?  Stand up.  Somebody right here has back pain.  I thought it was this row.  Yeah.

Just come out here a minute.  Had it for a long time?  Had it for a long time?  Show me where.  Right here.  Loose it, in the name of Jesus.  Now bend over three times.  Now come back up.  Again.  Now again.  Now how is it now?  The pain is gone?  Hallelujah!

Praise God.  What a wonderful Savior.  Hallelujah!  Hallelujah!  Praise the Lord.  Just close your eyes for a moment.  (Tongues)  Lift your voice in praise.  Just lift your voice.  (Tongues)  Come on, lift your voice.

Hips are being healed right here.  Hips.  Hips are being healed right here.  Hips are being healed.  Just keep your prayers going.  Hips are being healed right now.  Someone’s arm is being healed right now.  Someone’s arm is being healed.  Somebody else’s back is being healed.

Someone’s feet and legs are being healed.  The back of someone’s hand is being healed.  Someone here who had been crippled and not able to walk properly, and you’re being healed now.

Someone’s shoulder is being healed.  In the name of Jesus, I speak to this back condition.  In the authority of Jesus’ name, every back pain, come out now, in Jesus’ name.

Richard Roberts -Shoulder pain, come out.  Every shoulder pain, come out now, in the name of Jesus.  Every pain in the neck, come out now.  Pain in the arm and in the hand, in Jesus’ name, come out now, right now, in Jesus’ name.

His ways are above your ways.  His thoughts are above your thoughts.  And He’ll take the things that the world calls foolish and He will use them to confound the wise.  So if you’re trying to figure out God, you’re wasting your time.  You will never figure God out.  So stop being so analytical.  Is anybody here analytical, trying to figure God out?  Afraid to raise your hand, huh?

We all want to figure God out.  But He will not be figured out.  It comes down to trust.  Do you trust Him?  Do you trust the source of your life?

Even as I’m preaching, pastor, someone’s receiving healing in their left leg.  Even as I’m preaching, someone’s getting healed in their mouth.  Even as I’m preaching, someone’s getting healed in your chin.  Don’t be surprised if God interrupts my preaching with the word of knowledge because that’s how He uses me.  I don’t have to wait till the end of the service.  He can interrupt any time He wants.

Someone’s left leg is getting healed right now.  Whoever you are, you can stand up and you’ll find the pain is completely gone.  There she is.  Someone else is being healed in the mouth.  Someone’s getting healed in your mouth and someone in your chin.  We’ll find out who that is later.

Everyone needs a source.  Every river needs a source.  The first night we were here, we took a boat ride along the Seine River, and we saw the beautiful buildings, and we saw the Eiffel Tower.

Richard Roberts – And there was a man with a microphone who was giving us directions and telling us whatever it was.  And the same river is wide.  But somewhere it has a beginning.  It has a source.  And if you turn the source off, the river dries up.