The Touch of God | Reverend Raymond Woodward |

you're so kind I love you praise the Lord everybody praise the Lord it is Sunday night marville there's nothing quite like that I'm so glad that we get to be here with all of you um let me tell you how this works um this church does not need any help in the preaching Department the uh you are served by some of the greatest preachers in the apostolic movement and your pastors they are amazing and you are blessed every single week so I'm definitely not here cuz you need any help in that department in fact the man who preached here this morning he can preach the lights out that's what I know he can preach with the lights out I know that he's amazing we love the Carpenters and all of these men and ladies that serve you on your pastoral team I love each one of them they all have unique giftings not only here in this church but in the body of Christ and it's a high honor just to call them friends it's been a great honor to be here with Beverly and to be part of the marriage Retreat this weekend in beautiful Gatlinburg but to be here tonight is a very special honor because we love this church and we're so thankful for you and the footprint that God has given you to bless the apostolic movement around the world um I've been here enough times that I don't just look for my friends on the Pastoral team I've been here enough times that I look for saints of God I don't know all of your names but I know many of your faces and when you're not here I miss you and I'm so glad you're here tonight because you are part of what makes this church a great great great church thank you for your faithfulness to the house of God I will get right to the word of the Lord I told Pastor Carpenter coming out of the prayer room if he wanted to preach tonight I'd be happy it would be fine with me but I'm here and I've got a word I believe is from the Lord one verse of scripture uh and then we'll head into this and let the Lord do what only he can do Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 15 Bishop Carpenter I think you were in Hebrews this morning for we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities but was in all points tempted like as we are yet without sin if you've got that Bible or that electronic Bible in your hand doesn't matter would you lift both your hands and your voice to the Lord right now and just pray for a minute Jesus I ask you to do what only you can do I ask you to fix what only you can fix I ask you to heal what only you can heal I ask you to deliver what only you can deliver God we give you all the praise and all the honor all the glory for who you are we exalt your name in this place tonight we have gathered not to hear a speech from a speaker we have gathered to hear your word from your throne I pray God that you would touch the saints of God and I pray that you would touch every guest that is with us we give you praise tonight we lift you up tonight we glorify Your Great Name tonight oh I worship you Jesus I wish you'd let a cry a shout out of you praise to the Lord Jesus Oh hallelujah oh thank you Jesus thank you Jesus thank you Jesus amen you may be seated I don't know if you've ever thought about this it's your body's largest organ it is also your body's oldest organ it was the very first one developed while you were growing in your mother's womb it's not your heart or your brain or your lungs the answer might surprise you your largest organ and your oldest organ is your skin the skin of your body is Yes actually an organ with a function much more vital to us than merely being a wrapper to hold your body together our skin receives and sends all the vital messages that our body needs physical messages of heat and cold and danger and safety of pain and pleasure but it also sends us psychological messages of love and care your other four senses sight and hearing and smell and taste are located in specific localized parts of the body but your sense of touch is found all over it's in the palms of our hands it's in our fingertips that's where the sense of touch is the most dense your fingertips are packed with sensitive tactile receptors about a hundred in each each of your fingertips alone so the act of touching or of being touched it signals to us much more accurately than anything else the quality of our environment the quality of our contact even the quality of our relationships it not only provides protection against the dangerous aspects of the world around us but it provides us with the means of experien in the wonders of God's creation as we are literally in contact with what he has made so from the very beginning of our beginnings we have been fearfully and wonderfully made to be sensitive skin sensitive to all of God's creation is it any Wonder then that from the very beginning of our beginnings the simple Act of tender caring human touch has carried with it all of the qualities of love and nurture and affirmation and compassion the sense of touch is so important that infants will die without it Dr Ruth rice in your country has spent years studying the effect that loving touch can have on premature infants and she says this and I quote the loving touch provides psychological benefits which have have long-term effects through touch infants communicate with their environment intensive care babies especially need loving touch from their caregivers to form positive trusting loving relationships Webster's Dictionary always gets into the act and they Define touch as the special sense by which pressure exerted exerted on the skin is perceived but also much deeper than that it is a sensation conveyed touch is a forceful or emotional stirring touch is sensitivity touch is responsiveness so by far the most important effects of touch are not the physical Sensations that you get from touching objects the most important sense of touch is its emotional sense and that's why we work this word so often and so far-reaching into our language we say wonderful beautiful meaningful things no one can touch his work these are problems that touch us all she has a touch of jealousy I never touched him we say all kinds of things her remarks touched off a controversy even the phone company got into the ACT a few years back reach out and touch someone she has just the Right Touch he's never lost his touch that song really touched me so it's kind of pathetically sad that one of the most common phrases we say to our children is don't touch we say it all the time don't touch I'm not saying it's not necessary sometimes maybe for your children much of the time I'm not sure but it's just kind of sad because it seems to summarize our human existence a little bit it goes all the way back to the beginning in the third chapter and the third verse of your Bible but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God said don't eat of it neither shall you touch it lest you die the very first command basically is don't touch that tree because if you touch that there's judgment because you're not in any condition to touch that tree don't touch it and then you go on through the law you go on through the books of the Bible in Exodus 19 when the law is being given here's what we read in verse 12 Moses you set bounds under the people round about and you tell those people take heed to yourselves that you go not up into the mount nor touch the border of it whosoever touches the mount shall surely be put to death so here's the message that comes loud crystal clear from the beginning of scripture don't touch you can hurt yourself if you touch the holy awesome things that God has created they're important but they have to be put in a box they're important but they have to be set aside as holy they're important and they will bless you but only if you handle them right so so many times the command ments everywhere are don't touch and it's especially true with one very sad case that takes up so many pages of Old Testament law Leviticus 13 verse 45 and the leper in whom the plague of leprosy is his clothes shall be rent his head shall be made bare he shall put a covering a mask on his upper lip and he shall cry unclean un clean all the days wherein that plague of leprosy is in him he shall be defiled he is unclean he shall dwell alone you put him outside the camp that's where his habitation will be he can't touch you and you can't touch him because there's leprosy there but it's not just the leper Leviticus 15: 19 and if a woman have an issue and her issue in her flesh Be Blood she shall be put apart seven days and whosoever toucheth her shall be unclean until the even so much of the law of God to separate God's people from plague and from punishment from judgment and from all kinds of evil is don't touch there are so many Commandments in the Bible that basically in one form or another say don't touch and we know as parents and grandparents that don't touch Commandments are necessary for our children because they can hurt themselves or they can damage things irreparably and let me tell you God's don't touch Commandments were not cruel or vindictive he wasn't doing that because he hated his creation they were necessary for the same reason you can hurt yourself or you can damage something irreparably in fact if if Adam and Eve had listened to just one commandment sin would never have entered the human race and we would not be in the same shape we're in in the year 2025 we would not but I'm so glad that our loving God he got so tired of the distance between himself and his creation he got got so tired of the law and the boundaries and the sacrifices and the Commandments and the constant ceremonies and the priesthood and those veils in that Temple and the endless shed blood because every one of those things said you can't touch God or you will die God's got to come up with a a bunch of veils and a bunch of sacrifices and a bunch of Feasts and festivals and Prest and holy days because you can't you're too sinful you're too common you're too human you're too frail and fickle and fragile and fallible you can't touch God or you will die you can sum up the entire Old Testament in one verse in the oldest book of your Bible not the first book the oldest book it's the Book of Job I don't think it's an accident that the oldest book in your Bible deals with the subject of pain and suffering and in the middle of job's trials and troubles he said this job 23 and three you could hear the pain in his cry oh that I knew where I might find him that I might come even to his seat job has pain and problems job has trials and tests and they are just overwhelming to him and in his days and nights of trouble and sorrow and sadness job just wishes that he could reach out and touch God but he can't find God because in the Old Testament there's no way to touch God in the Old Testament there's no way to reach out and actually touch the almighty so job's cry is the Cry of the Old Testament everywhere oh that I knew where I might find him I wish I could leave this dung Heap where I'm sitting scraping myself with a Shard of pottery trying to get some relief from these boils and Soares and this pain I wish there was some way some special elevator some escalator that could take me straight to the throne of God but you can sum up the whole Old Testament in that verse I wish I knew I wish I could just touch him that's the old Old Testament but aren't you glad we're New Testament people because even God got so tired of the distance let me tell somebody here tonight he's so sick and tired of the distance between you and him he wants to do something about the distance that you feel because he feels it too and he doesn't like it any more than you like it and he would love to touch you my goodness God did something about it Galatians 4 even so we when we were children we were in bondage under the elements of the world everything around us said don't touch you can't touch you can't get to God but when the fullness of time was come we didn't do anything different God did something different when the fullness of time was come God sent forth his son made of a woman made under the law why did Jesus come in flesh let me tell you why he wanted to get close to us he wanted to get up close and personal with us and he came to redeem them that were under the law that we might receive the adoption of sons I am not worthy of the title but I am a Son of God I am not worthy of the privilege but I am a child of God I am not worthy of that honor but I am a child of God everywhere you look in the Bible in the Old Testament was don't touch this and don't touch that and you can't touch that leper and you can't touch that person that's got an issue and you can't touch that person that that's sick and you can't touch that house that's got a leper living in it or they've been there you can't touch that Garden you can't touch anything you can't touch God if you can't touch those things you sure can't touch God and everywhere you look it was Don't touch don't touch until Jesus came and then the gospels are filled with all kinds of wonderful stories but so many of them have this word in them Jesus touched her hand and the fever left her Jesus touched them and said arise Be not Afraid Jesus touched his ear and healed him Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes and immediately they received sight Jesus came and touched that young man's coffin and he said young man I say unto thee arise let me tell you when Jesus shows up the funeral's over everywhere you look in the gospels they brought young children to him why that he should touch them Jesus healed many in so much that they pressed upon him for to touch him it's kind of all like this verse in Luke 6 and verse 19 and the whole multitude sought to touch Jesus why did they want to touch this Rabbi this Prophet this teacher This Man From Galilee why did they want to touch him because there went virtue out of him and healed them all I came to this service tonight to tell somebody in this great congregation that if Jesus ever touches you everything the devil spoke about you it's history if Jesus touches you any disease can be healed if Jesus touches you every addiction can be broken Every Chain can be shattered if Jesus touches you that's why people wanted to touch Jesus and news flash that's why we're here tonight we came because we want to touch Jesus and have him touch us oh my mark chapter 6 and verse 56 and withs soever Jesus entered whether it was into Villages or cities or country they would actually lay the sick in the streets and they besought him that they might touch if it were but the border of his garments here it is and as many as touched him were made whole I don't know what kind of blessing God has for you tonight I don't know what kind of Deliverance God has for your family tonight I don't know what kind of healing God has for your body tonight but here's what I do know if you get a touch from Jesus something is going to be better something is going to be healed something is going to be changed it's the healing touch of a great God I wish you'd turn up the volume on your praise for a minute and lift it high to the Lord yes yes yes yes I thank you Jesus I thank you Jesus oh my I stand in this Pulpit to affirm and confirm the words that your pastor has been preaching to you he's been teaching you and preaching to you about the doctrine of the Oneness of God that is not an incidental accidental Revelation in Scripture that is the most foundational fundamental revelation of scripture that here o Israel the Lord our God is one Lord see here's here's how this works if Jesus had been just a prophet or just a Rabbi or just a teacher or even just a miracle worker him touching people wouldn't have been any big deal but because he was God robed in flesh it was a very big deal because they' lived for thousands of years in the Old Testament and nobody could touch God and God had confined himself behind that heavy veil in that Tabernacle and then in that Temple he wasn't doing that to hide he was doing that to protect them from his glory and from his Holiness but now God had a plan in the fullness of time that he could robe himself in flesh flesh like ours flesh that had inconceivable the same sensors the same tactile receivers in his fingertips as are in our fingertips and Jesus could hold little children and they would feel the warmth of his hug and he could reach out and touch a leper imagine that and they could be healed and so what's happening when Jesus touches people is more significant than a rabbi or a prophet or a teacher touching anybody God was literally in flesh touching people and for the first time people were actually able to reach out and touch God that's why it was a big deal when Jesus healed the sick Isaiah 35 and4 say to them that are of a fearful heart be strong fear not watch this behold your God will come with a Vengeance even god with a recompense he will come and save you and when he comes then the eyes of the blind shall be open and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped then shall the lame man leap as an heart and the tongue of the dumb will sing and in the wilderness Waters will break out and streams in the desert why was it a big deal when Jesus healed people that was God touching people that was God coming to heal people that was God coming to give Deliverance it's everywhere in your Bible it's everywhere in the Gospels it was such a big deal when Jesus walked on the water that's not just a cool trick when Jesus walked on the water that man named job had worshiped his God and he said this in job 9 and8 God Alone spreads out the heavens and Treads on the waves of the sea when Jesus walked across the waves of the Galilee every step he took he was saying I'm God Almighty in a body of Flesh I'm God God Almighty in a body of Flesh I'm God Almighty in a body of Flesh it was a big deal when Jesus walked on the water and that's why it was a big deal when Jesus raised the dead because Ezekiel the Captivity prophet he said this in Ezekiel 37 and13 and you shall know that I am the Lord when I have opened your Graves oh my people and brought you up out of your Graves when Jesus cracked open the grave of Lazarus and said Lazarus come forth and that man who'd been dead for days came coming came out of that grave stumbling over his own grave clothes that was Jesus saying I'm God Only God can bring people out of their graves only God can raise the dead it was a big deal when Jesus touched people we've heard about leprosy it was the AIDS epidemic it was the Corona virus pandemic on steroids in Jesus day leprosy was contagious it was feared it was fatal and it carried a terrible stigma but the worst Damage Done by leprosy was that victims completely lost their sense of touch they couldn't feel anything anymore they lost their sense of touch leprosy causes your whole body to go numb when someone's blind they can't see when someone's deaf they can't hear but when someone has leprosy they can't feel anything being blind and deaf never killed anyone technically technically having leprosy never killed anyone either but imagine what your life would be like if you had no feeling at all a leper could be cut vegetables with a sharp instrument accidentally slice off a finger and not even know it because they had no feeling in extreme cold they could freeze their fingers and toes and not even realize it they could be sleeping by a fire and roll too close to the flames and burn off a foot without ever waking up so lepers didn't die from leprosy so much they died from the damage that was done to their body because they had no feeling in their limbs and that's why leprosy is a perfect picture of Sin Sin causes us to lose all spiritual feeling just like leprosy cause victims to lose all physical feeling sin causes our hearts to be hard and our conscience to be seared and we can't even fathom what damage that does I don't know if you've ever thought about how hardened and without feeling our culture is towards sin today it's like it's no big deal see they can't feel the damage that is being done to their lives and their minds and their families and the Old Testament the law of Moses had been used many times to condemn people to a life of leprosy you have to live out there you can't come in here nobody can touch you and you can't touch anybody else and even though the law made provision for the priests to examine those who claimed to be cured scripture and Jewish history never record the law of the leper being used to cleanse any Jewish citizen from leprosy yes in the Old Testament there was one man named nonon he was healed of leprosy in 2 Kings 5 but non was not Jewish he was not one of God's covenant people people and Jesus himself made that observation to the congregation in the synagogue in his hometown of Nazareth he said there were many lepers in the days of e Elijah the prophet but none of them was cleansed except for non the Syrian nobody under the law of Moses had ever used that law that would cleanse a leper the priests would examine them and the priest would say you can go home now you can go back to your family you can be embraced by your wife again you can be hugged by your kids again not one time in all of Old Testament history had the law of the leper ever been used it was a Dusty old law in the dusty old Book of Leviticus and nobody had ever used it generations of priests had studied it and practiced the rituals but nobody had ever used it to save anybody from a life condemned to isolation and then all of a sudden every where you heard about there were lepers coming and showing up to the priest saying I need you to examine me I need you to run that test I need you to go through that little ritual I need you to go back to Leviticus and blow the dust off that chapter because I met a man named Jesus and he healed me I met a man named Jesus and He restored me I met a man named Jesus and he touched me and his touch made everything new in my life that's the testimony of the lepers in the gospel I can one up every leer in the history of scripture because Jesus didn't just heal my body Jesus healed my life he healed my soul he cleansed my sins he changed my heart he put me off the road to hell and put me on the road to Heaven I am not here because I've done anything religious I am here because God touched my life if you are thankful for the touch of God on your life and your family I want you to lift up your hands one more time I want you to lift up your voice get your voice in the air higher than your fingers get your voice in the air higher than your hands your hands are wonderful but they don't make a sound of praise your voice voice makes that sound of praise thank you Lord for saving me thank you Jesus for setting me free oh yes Jesus Oh yes God it's everywhere in the gospels Jesus would walk up to lepers that everybody else wouldn't touch and he would touch touch them and I speak to somebody in this place tonight and you feel like I'm suffering from something very akin to leprosy because I don't feel much my hope is gone and my peace is gone and my joy is gone I feel like my life has dried up I feel like I'm past feeling I feel like I just don't have what it takes anymore I'm discouraged I'm desponded I'm depressed I just don't have it I just am past that feeling and I feel like life has been been unfair to me and I feel like I'll never get over it and I'll never get through it and I'll never get past it I have wonderful news for you tonight he's looking for you to touch you he's looking for you to set you free this wonderful music team just come on back and help me I'm finished remember that woman with the issue of blood in scripture the Bible tells us she had suffered for a long time 12 long years the Bible says she had tried every doctor every treatment every medicine every cure she had exhausted every resource she had spent every dollar and in the process of trying everything she had grown worse in the process of trying everything everybody else recommended she had just gotten more and more and more sick but the worst thing of all for her was that her problem shut her out of the sanctuary and shut her out of the Lord's House and the law said nobody can touch her or you'll be unclean too she has the issue of blood but if you touch that woman you'll be unclean you have to go and go through ceremonial Washings and can you imagine what she felt like when she came anywhere near the people that had gathered in the house of God she was an outcast everybody knew her problem in her little village so nobody wanted to be near her nobody wanted to touch her nobody wanted to let her touch them and she comes to Jesus in Luke 8 and the Greek words in Luke they tell us that this is a very bad day to be bothering Jesus the crowds the the words that are used to describe the crowds they mean St stifling and suffocating and choking the people are thronging Jesus they're wanting to get to Jesus they're wanting to get something from Jesus and furthermore Jesus is busy right right now he's trying to help a distraught father named gyrus whose daughter is about to die so gyrus he doesn't want this lady there either he's thinking Jesus please come right now you don't understand my little girl is dying you've got to come right now he's probably pulling on Jesus arm trying to get the master away from that crowd so he could come and heal his daughter it's a last resort kind of reest Quest so nobody wants that little woman there and in that crowd on that day that stifling suffocating crowd she crawls probably on her hands and knees the the Greek words literally tell us that she came from behind she snuck up on Jesus she didn't know if he'd have time for her she didn't know if he'd be concerned about her she certainly didn't know if he was going to do anything for her because nobody else in that mass of people wanted her there at that moment on that day she was an inconvenience to them she was a nuisance to them she was lower than them she had problems that they didn't have and nobody wanted her there on that day and so she came crawling probably on her hands and knees up behind Jesus and the Bible tells us you you remember the story she reached out and she touched just the Hem of His Garment and Jesus stopped the church service and he said who touched me and the crowd started saying what are you talking about we're all touching you we're packed up against you like sardines Jesus we're all touching you and he said no no no no someone touched me differently because I felt virtue go out of me you touched me by accident you touched me because you were just part of the crowd you touched me because you just happened to be here in my presence but I'm talking about somebody that showed up today because they had an intention to touch me I'm not talking about the accidental incidental person that got bumped up against my presence because they happen to be in a great church on a Sunday night and there was an altar service I'm not talking about them I'm talking about somebody that made their way to the house of God tonight and they said with every Mile in their car I got to touch Jesus I got to touch Jesus I got to touch Jesus I'm down to my last shred of hope I'm down to my last Fray nerve I can't do this anymore and you came I've got wonderful news for you Jesus also came to this service and just like you came to touch him he came to touch you that's the message of the Gospel when we couldn't help ourselves fix ourselves deliver ourselves lift ourselves or better ourselves Jesus came all the way from heaven so he could touch us oh my would you reach over right now would you take the hand of somebody standing next to you you don't even need to know their name if they're okay and you're okay take their hand and lift that hand right now you can feel that person touching you right now your hand can feel their hand but there's a greater hand that's in this room tonight than their hand they're just praying with you but this Jesus I'm talking about he can heal you he can deliver you he can turn around depression and give you Joy he can turn around sickness and he can bring you healing would you lift up your voice church and would you give him praise yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yes yes yes yes yes yes there's already people in the altar would you bring your friend your spouse your neighbor in that seat would you come to the altar with them would you get as close as you can and make room for everybody to be touched by the power of Jesus his hand is here his grace is here his healing is here his forgiveness is here his Deliverance is here yes yes yes yes yes lay your hand on somebody near to you pray for them you're the hand of Jesus to them right now you're the hand of God to them right now were your better what a God what a God what a God what a God what a God what a God what a God what a God I call you for Perfection What kind of God was for they said it's over for still you say no it's not no it's no it's it's what it God what it what a God what a God what a God what a God what God what if the highest place our reaches at your feet then I've done it all if the best thing that I've seen is your glory that I've seen it all your love has changed my life forever satisfying God you are my everything in the highest place at your I'm done it all the best thing that I've seen is your glory seen it all and I seen it all your love has changed my life forever satisfy God you are my everything in the highest place I reaches and your feet then I've done it all if the best thing that I've seen is your glory that I see your love has Chang my life forever satisfy you are my one word is the only then I H it all if I feel your heart and love see your your treasure of this life could ever satisfy God you are my you're my everything you are you are my everything you are what God what a God what God what a God what a what a God in the highest place I reaches at your feet that I've done it all it's the best thing that I've seen is your glory seen it all your love has changed my life forever satisfy you are my never see your hand pleasure of is high could ever satisfy God you are my oh singer you are my you are my everything you are my angel at your feet that I'm seen it all the best that I've seen is your glory forever satisfied forever satisfi God you are my is the only you it all heart never see your hand it all no Treasure of his life could ever satisfy God you are my I see God you are my i s God you are my what a God what a God what a God what God God God what the highest place the highest place the highest your it's the best thing that I see is I it all I se it all your love has changed my life forever satisfi God you are my Tre of this who isy God you are my everything s God you are my you are my your feel your head and oh heav could satis God you are my and one word is the only I still have it all no Treasure of this life you are my presence of God is so rich in this room right now do you understand what the body of Christ is about it's not just some kind of image it's real we are his body we are his hand hands we are his hug we are his eyes we are his tears we are his mouth it's not just an image it's who we are called to be when you touch them he can touch them through you when you love them he loves through you Pastor Ericson talked about our prodigal coming home you've all pretty much read the story of the prodical son in the Bible that boy was one decision from Deliverance he was one move from his miracle and your prodal is the same I know know your heart is hurting and I know your mind is whirling and you wonder how in the world they've gone so far and they've said so much there just one decision they may be sluming in the pig pen today but they can be back home in their bed in father's house by tonight before you pillow your head you have no idea One Touch from God can do like a mighty Army I'm going to get ask you to get spiritually in lock step with everybody around you just like a choir of uplifted hands grab somebody's hand and lift it just Lift Every hand that we can and lift every voice that we can and pray you can pray over your prodal you can pray for healing you can pray for deliverance you can pray for a miracle but pray something you're his words you're his voice you're his hands you're his body when you pray it he's praying it yes yes yes yes in the name of Jesus pray in the Holy Ghost pray in the Holy Ghost