Kenneth Copeland - What Does Faith Say About Your Covenant
Father, thank You tonight for the written Word, the covenant word of the living God. You've heard me say this a lot. I'm going to continue to say it. When you see phrases like the exceeding great and precious promises, exceeding great and precious covenant promises because every promise in that book is blood-backed. Blood-backed first by animals, second through the blood of a man and third through the sweet blood of Jesus. And I heard someone say one time, "Oh, those people they're just a bloody-minded". You better be. You need to be because every word of that book, every word of it does not contain the truth. It is truth. It doesn't contain it. It is because God is. Amen.
Now, open your Bibles to the Gospel of Romans. If I could just pick two books, it would be the Book of Romans and the Book of John because the Book of John contains the 13th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th chapters of John are all in the covenant meal that changed heaven and earth. Amen. "He that loves me, keeps my commandments. I will love Him, my Father will love Him and I will manifest myself to you" right there in the 14th chapter of John. The word that you said, "Don't let your heart be troubled. The words I speak under you are not mine. It is the Father that dwells within me, He does the works". That's enough right there to put you in the healing ministry. Thank You, Lord. Romans chapter 10. "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge".
So that would mean that is incorrect, right? What'd they need? Correction. "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves under the righteousness of God. For Christ the anointed one is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believes". Are you a believer? "Moses describes the righteousness, which is of the law, 'That the man that doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness, which is of faith speaks, it speaks on this wise. Say not.'" now there's some things you don't say. Words never word primarily for communication. Words primarily release power. Because the Almighty God who is a spirit created everything with words, everything. He said it, He said it. Look carefully now. Don't say this. "Who shall ascend into heaven? That is to bring Christ down from above". "Oh, if You could just come lay your hand on my fevered brow".
Don't be talking like that. You could just say it and say it and say, it doesn't work and you'll see why. "Or who shall descend into the deep? That is to bring Christ again from the dead. What does faith say? The word is nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thine heart that is the Word of Faith, which we preach that if thou will confess with thy mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in thine heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be sozoed, saved or healed". It's the same word. "For with the heart man believeth under righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation".
All right, now let's go over to the classic teaching on faith from Mark 11. I have heard this over and over and over and over and over and over and over in one way or the other, I just cannot go along with the Word of Faith. I just cannot support the Word of Faith any longer. Now, those are words from someone who's ignorant of the scripture and hadn't heard it or a baby Christian. That's not shipwrecked faith. That's just baby faith. "Well, I just don't see what difference it makes what you say". Well, he just got through saying here there's some things you say and some things you don't say because you have what you say. It happens so many times, "Well, that saying stuff just doesn't work for me". Yeah, it just did. So it doesn't work for you, but yet it does because the fear words that you say, there is no such thing as non-belief. You're believing something one way or the other all the time, all the time.
So let's look here in Mark 11. To get the best from this, you started at the first verse. You don't wait till you get to the 22nd to start there. The Lord has really been after me over this, because I was jumping from Isaiah 53 to 1 Peter 2:24. And then I realized that this is the way the Bible is written. This is a book of corrections and it will correct you before it comes time to pray. 1 Peter 2:24. There's 23 verses ahead of that and they are extremely important when it comes to praying for healing. A number things there. That's the 24th verse. So you go back and read that whole chapter. "Jesus answered and said unto them, 'Have Faith in God or have the faith of God.'" Well, what does that mean? We're talking about covenant promises. We're talking about exceeding great and precious promises. Well, you just keep reading and by these and through these, and all things that pertain to life. And he said, "You have obtained like precious faith". Faith is precious. It comes from God. It is God's faith and Jesus did it. It's precious. Amen.
Now let's read Hebrews 11:1 in the Classic Amplified. "Now faith is the assurance, the confirmation, the title deed of the things we hope for being the proof of things we do not see and the conviction of their reality. Faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses". When it becomes the title deed, it's yours. When you meditate the things of God long enough and get in the Word, I dug around my house and I found my old Sony cassette player that has a speaker in it and got it out and cleaned it up and put batteries in it. Glory to God. And I'm listening to Brother Hagin again and I tend to do that till I sound like him again. But faith works. I said faith works. So have faith in God. Have faith in God. Have faith in God.
Now, I did not get this from Mark Hankins. I got this from Brother Hagin who got it from the Lord after reading the Book of Mark. And he is there in the church and he just rolled over on his back just sitting there thinking, "Did you notice in Mark 11:23 believe is mentioned once and saying three times"? So he said, "You have to preach three times as much about the saying as you do the believing. For my people have the believing part down, but it's the saying part". Now, that's the part. That's what I was saying. "Well, I just can't support the Word of Faith anymore". Well, you have to hear that and hear that and hear that and hear it over and hear it again and hear it again and hear it again and then hear it some more and then hear it after that. And then just keep listening to it and keep saying it and listening to it and talking about it. And then you go through the Bible and you look for faith and you look for words, and you do a Word study. And it starts in Genesis and it goes to the Book of Revelation. "We overcame Him by the blood of the lamb and by the word of our testimony". Glory to God. "Love not their lives unto death". Praise God. Amen.
So look at it. "For verily I say unto you, whosoever shall say". Now, that's one, correct? "Under this mountain. Be thou removed, be thou cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those which things, which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he says". 3:1. And that has worked over the years in my life. I have to remember that, particularly when things really get close to home. Now, I want you to notice Jesus laid this down say, say, say. "Therefore, I say to you". So He did what He just said. "Therefore, I say to you whatsoever thing you desire when you pray, believe that you receive them and you will have them". And it's all the same discourse. "And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have ought against any that you heavenly Father may forgive you your trespasses".
So see, the laws of the Spirit work all the time. The laws of faith work all the time, whether it's fear or faith. They're both faith. Fear is faith in something. Fear is faith. In a snake, fear is faith. In a tornado or a hurricane, it's faith. It's just the opposite of faith in God. It's faith in the disastrous things in life. So thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Lord Jesus. "When you stand praying, forgive, if you have ought against any that your Father also, which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father which is in heaven forgive your trespasses". Now remember this, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples. "Our Father which is in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, that will be done on earth as it is in heaven forgive us our trespasses as we forgive others who trespassed against us".
There it is again. And he's still talking about prayer. It's all right there. "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you". Let's stand and praise God. Those of you watching, do you know Jesus as your Lord and savior? The Almighty God and His Son, Jesus together made this so simple, so simple. The shortest salvation prayer in the Bible was on the road to Damascus, Saul of Tarsus who became Paul the Apostle. See the name changed, covenant name change? God changed his name. Said, "Lord, who are You"? And he wrote two thirds of the New Testament. Isn't that amazing? You could pray that, "Lord, who are You"? Gloria prayed. I mean, I fouled the job up and I'm out looking for a job. She found a Bible that my mother sent me. She had never heard the word born again. She had never heard it in her life. "And Ken, precious seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you".
And so she picked that Bible up and read it. She said, "Well, I certainly need things". She just said, "Lord, take my life and do something with it". The Apostle Paul just said, "Lord". He called Him Lord. Then he would be the one that would write in the Book of Roman, "Whosoever would believe in his heart that God raised Him from the dead and confess with his mouth Jesus as Lord, he shall be saved. For with a heart man believes unto righteousness". And that's women too, mankind. "Believes unto righteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation". So we're going to lead you tonight right to the throne of grace. So do this, put your hand over your heart indicating, I mean every word of this. Lift your other hands up toward heaven and say this:
O God in heaven. I believe with all my heart. That You raise Jesus from the dead. Come into my heart. I believe. That He's alive. I believe. That He is now in my heart. I thank You for that. I receive Him by faith. I believe it because You said it in Your Word. And now that I am born again. Fill me with Your precious Spirit. To overflowing. Just like on the day of Pentecost. A supernatural prayer language. Oh thank You, Jesus, that I'm now filled with the Holy Ghost.
The Apostle Paul said, "I will sing with my spirit. I will sing with my understanding. I will pray with my spirit". The Amplified said, "My spirit by the Holy Spirit in me prays". Ooh, isn't that good? Hallelujah. Now, by doing that, we got back what we lost at the Tower of Babel when all of the languages were confused. And now we can go back and speak the language of the Spirit.