Kenneth Copeland - Power of Attorney in His Name
— Welcome everybody to the Believer's Voice of Victory broadcast. We're here with Melvin Barney, and the name, Say My Name is the book. Glory to God, hallelujah. Thank You, Jesus. Lord, thank You. We praise You today and we thank You for the power and the name that's above every name that's named.
— Thank You, Lord.
— We give You praise and honor for it. Thank You for sending this dear brother, this powerful man of God, this powerful pastor and lawyer into our midst with this great revelation about Your name.
— Thank You, Lord.
— And the commandment, the third commandment of the 10 dealing with the name.
— Thank You, Lord.
— And we thank You for it in Jesus' name. Amen.
— Amen.
— Now let's continue with power of attorney.
— Okay. So we were talking...
— Why do they use the word attorney there? Because you're an attorney. What does that word mean, legal, is that what the background is?
— Well, I guess that gives a little bit of, I don't know why they use that term, but it does give it a little bit of a legal sting touch to it.
— Well, it does, yeah.
— Because the thing about a power of attorney is that it is legally binding and legally enforceable. So that when one person conveys power of attorney to another person to act on his or her behalf, the agency with whom you're dealing with, they have to abide by it. They have to follow it. They cannot object to it. They can't decide, "I'm not going to do it".
— And then you have a legal document that actually says that.
— Right.
— So without that document, you don't have anything.
— Not without that document, you have nothing.
— It's not just what you say about it.
— If I go into the bank and I...
— I love this in your book, go ahead and tell it.
— I go into the bank and I say, "Well, you know what? I am really good friends with Joe, and Joe and I go back so many years and we're good buddies. And I'd do this for Joe and I was a part of his wedding and he was a part of my wedding. And we're just the best of friends. And so I want to withdraw $1 million out of Joe's account". The teller's going to look at me and she's going to give me a chance to get out of there. And if I don't move quickly, she's probably going to reach under the table and push that little red button, and then some law enforcement officers are going to show up after a while and cart me off.
— Because you don't have any legal right.
— Because I don't have any legal right to make request for her to give me money out of Joe's account. Now, if Joe had given me a power of attorney to handle his finances and to act on his behalf, then that puts me in a different place.
— Yes, it does.
— Because if I show her the power of attorney that he's given me, which is a document, legally binding document which is in writing, and I present that to her, after she inspects it she's going to smile at me and say, "Welcome to the bank," shake my hand, and then she's going to give me the money, give me what it is that I'm requesting. Because now I have authority to act on his behalf. I have a legally binding authority. And so for me to go into that bank with that power of attorney, it's as if she's dealing directly with Joe.
— That's right.
— It's no longer that she's dealing direct with me. Now she's dealing with Joe because I am his legally authorized agent. And so when we talked last time about that scripture over in the third chapter of First John at verse 22 where it says, "This is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son," that's talking about a power of attorney. It's the difference between believing in the name and believing on the name. When I believe in the name, that's just saying I believe that he exists or I believe that he is who he says he was. But when I believe on the name, what I'm saying is that I believe it's through virtue of this name that I can have what he promised me. Believing on the name, in that sense I'm seeing the name as an instrument. In that sense I'm seeing the name as a tool.
— Yes.
— In that sense I'm seeing the name as a seed that authorizes me to benefit from whatever his promises are. So when we come back over to the power of attorney and we talk about what a power of attorney is and you're giving someone authorization to act on your behalf, I cannot overly emphasize the fact that it is legally binding. And the agency with whom you're dealing, they don't have discretion as to whether they want to engage in commerce with you. They have to do it because of the power of attorney. When we consider the fact that we are operating, we've been given power of attorney to act on Jesus' behalf and in his stead, the devil can't block it. He might not like it, but he can't interfere because we are legally authorized to act on Jesus' behalf.
— Oh, because of the name.
— Because of the name.
— Yes.
— The power of attorney is in the name. Just as when I went into the bank and I had that document, it wasn't because of me that the banker had to give me the money. It wasn't because of who I was or what my background was or where I came from or who I knew or any of those things that she had to engage in business with me. It was because of the document, the power of attorney. With respect to when we flip that over to the spiritual realm and we recognize that Jesus has given us power of attorney to act on his behalf, "Whatever you ask in my name," when we recognize that that is a power of attorney, that means that the devil may have been fighting you all this way, but he can't block it because you're acting as God's agent utilizing your power of attorney. Now, if I'd gone into that bank and never pulled out the power of attorney even though I had it, then she would never have been obligated to give me the money.
— No.
— Because I didn't use the power of attorney. We, the people of God, we have the name, which we are to use as power of attorney. But if we don't...
— The other illustration you gave, you're out in the rain with an umbrella and you don't open it.
— You don't open it.
— There's no authority there.
— And you don't benefit from the umbrella.
— That's right.
— The protection that the umbrella provides, because you're not using it, you're carrying it around in vain. And if I go to the bank and I try to engage in this commerce with the bank and I never bring out the power of attorney that I have, then I'm carrying the power of attorney that I have in vain. Now, can you imagine how the person who gave you the power of attorney feels if you've not used that power of attorney to manage that person's affairs?
— You know, that reminds me, Melvin, of a woman in England and... Oh, the magnificent, very world famous preacher, English. Anyway, I'll think of it in a minute. And there was an elderly woman that was in a lot of poverty. She was about to die. Spurgeon.
— Okay.
— And they asked him to go down and check on her. And he did, she lived in this old shanty down close to the water and it was damp in there, and she was in bad health. And he went in there to check on her, and she had something framed on the wall. And so he read it, he said, "Is this truly yours"? She said, "Yes, it is". He said, "You were first maid to the queen"? She said, "Yes, for many years". And she said, "When I got old and retired, she gave me that". And she said, "So I hung it on the wall". She said, "Do you know what it says"? "Oh, no, sir". She said, "I never did learn how to read". The queen gave her a stipend, or what we would call a retirement for life, to be taken care of at any expense, a nice place to live, a good thing, but she couldn't read so she couldn't take advantage of what the queen had given her. So that actually was power of attorney of that queen. She could have taken that anywhere she wanted to and she could have purchased anything she wanted to purchase because the queen would have paid for it.
— Mm-hmm. Exactly.
— She had hanging on that wall a power of attorney and she couldn't read it.
— So she had that power of attorney in her possession, hanging on that wall, in vain.
— In vain. That's it.
— Mm-hmm. And we are instructed not to carry the name of the Lord our God around with us in vain.
— In vain.
— But instead we are to utilize it in order to, what did he say here in John, that 15th chapter? "You've not chosen me, I've chosen you and that you should go forth and bear fruit, that your fruit should remain so that whatever you ask in my name".
— Yes.
— So we are to utilize our power of attorney in order to cause the will of God to come to pass.
— Yes, glory to God.
— And when we don't do so, we are carrying his name around in vain.
— And in there he said in the 15th chapter of John, "If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you".
— Yes.
— You ask me ...
— What you will.
— What you will. Now, this word "ask," verse 26. "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name," now, he started out over here by saying in this 14th chapter, "Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me". The 10th verse, "Believest thou not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwells in me, he does the work".
— Yes, yes.
— I was saying, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also, and greater works than these shall he do because I go to my Father, and whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do that the Father may be glorified in the Son". And I began to look that word up in the Greek, and it had two meanings, ask and demand. And I expect that's where you were headed.
— Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
— That name, you can demand in that name with that power of attorney.
— When I go into that bank I don't have to, if she's resisting me when I have the power of attorney, I don't have to go in and say, "Oh well, I guess she's just not going to let me have it". I can make demands. "I need to talk to your manager. I have a document here that gives me authority to make this withdrawal, to conduct this business on behalf of this person. And I don't have to accept no for an answer. You cannot deny me. This is a legal right".
— Yes.
— If we have to take this to the court, we can take it to court.
— Yeah.
— This is a legal right. You must comply. And that's the attitude that we are to take with the enemy. Whatever we ask, whatever we're demanding. And some of the issues that people have with that is they interpret this as making demands of God. And we're not making demands of God, because God is the one who told us to do this.
— Yeah, he told us to do it.
— So whatever we bind on earth is bound in heaven. Whatever we loose on earth is loosed in heaven. He's working with us to do this. We're not making demands of God. We're making demands of whatever is blocking the blessing, the enemy.
— Yeah.
— We're making demands of the enemy that you loose my children and let them go. We're making demands of the enemy that you will not interfere with the peace in my household. We're making demands of the enemy that you're not going to afflict my body with pain and with sickness and with disease. We're making demands of the enemy and God is backing us up.
— Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
— And this is our power of attorney right here.
— This is our power of attorney.
— Glory to God. Now, Acts chapter three. The day of Pentecost has come. "And the Spirit of God, a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, it filled all the house where they were sitting". I want you to notice it was not a rushing mighty wind, it was a sound of it.
— Glory.
— And all of the angels sent forth. That's what it says, the first chapter of the book of Hebrews explains that, sent forth the Spirit of God. And all those angels, Jacob's ladder is no longer. The angels don't have to come and go, because the devil had authority here because Adam gave it to him. But that's over.
— That's over.
— Jesus took it back. He took the keys of hell and death. He defeated the grave. So now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, which 3:00 in the afternoon. A certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple. Daily. Now go back, if you just do it in the book of Mark, see how many times they went into that temple. He went into that temple to cleanse it. He went into that temple. He went into that temple. He went, and right by that man all that time.
— Several times a day.
— So now, "Which was called beautiful, to ask alms of them that entered into the temple, who seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, asking alms. Peter fastening his eyes upon him with John said, 'Look on us.' And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them". Because they had received from Jesus over and over and over and over and over and over and over. And you know what he did? He's smiling. He said, "Here are my boys again, glory to God. And I know Jesus is gone and all that, but here are my boys, they're still here, and I'm going to get something out of this thing today. Glory to God". But what did Peter say? Peter said, "Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk. He took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength".
— Yes.
— He had the power to do that. He was in that room that night. He heard Jesus say that, he heard him say it. "Whatever you ask in my name, whatever you demand in my name, I'll do it". And he used it.
— He used it.
— When I first became an employee of Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association and I watched Oral Roberts, just kept my eyes on him. And it rose up on the inside of me. He uses his faith on purpose.
— Yes. Yes.
— He uses it like a mechanic uses a tool. And I know I go to my toolbox, I don't just pick up anything in there. I have to have a specific tool for a specific job, and I have to get the right one or it won't do the job.
— Right.
— I told him that. And he said, "Well, I never thought about it like that. But he said it has to be on purpose.
— Yeah.
— It has to be on purpose.
— Mm-hmm.
— And he used the name of Jesus on purpose.
— Amen.
— And he spoke that name in authority. Then I began to learn from Kenneth E. Hagin about that name.
— Glory.
— And the authority invested in the name. Now, here's what, my being a student of names, really fascinate me. And I tried to figure out where my mother got my name. I never did find that. But anyway, the name, I don't care who it is, let's just use the name of Rockefeller, any wealthy name like that. Everybody in this room recognizes the name Rockefeller. Why? Because of what's behind the name. Wealth.
— Yes.
— He started out in poverty, but his mother taught him to tithe.
— Praise God.
— He said, "If my mother hadn't taught me to tithe before I got the first million, I never would have tithed on the rest of it". And he gave the credit to tithing.
— Amen.
— But now it's what's behind the name. What's behind this name? The universe.
— Everything.
— Whoa.
— Glory to God.
— The universe is behind this name.
— Yes.
— And the creator of the universe. He had the authority to make Abram the father of many nations.
— Yes.
— "I make you". He didn't say, "I've called you to be," or, "Try to be".
— Made you.
— And he said, "Your name's no longer going to be called Abram. You're connected to me". So everything he did, he did in his name.
— Praise God.
— Isn't that good?
— Amen.
— Praise God.
— And Abraham had to agree with God.
— Yes, he did.
— Because now he has to start calling himself Abraham.
— Yes, he does.
— If he's resisting it, if the enemy's talking to him in his mind, "Well, I can't call myself Abraham because I'm not yet the father of many nations," then he's cutting off his blessing because he has to sow that spiritual seed with his mind.
— Every time he said it.
— Over, every time he says it. So he's sowing that seed, which when the germination period passes will come up, because so is the Kingdom of God. If a man should cast seed into ground.
— And we're still celebrating the authority of the mighty nation of Israel today that he fathered.
— Yes.
— Hallelujah.
— Hallelujah.
— Amen. So authority to give the name makes the name carry that authority.
— Hm.
— Now, Sarah had her name changed.
— Sarai to Sarah.
— Yes, she did. But now faith renewed the both of them.
— Yes.
— Sarah died. That old man lived to be 175 years old and had six more sons. Now, that's faith in God.
— Hallelujah.
— Yes.
— Thank you. And that was after he was 100 years old.
— That's after he was 100. Yeah, his body was dead, but not any more.
— God renewed it because he spoke what God said.
— Yes, he did. And he used his faith to do it.
— Yeah.
— It was the supernatural power of the creative force of God in his very body.
— Hallelujah.
— And I've learned over the years that it'll work in my body, but then in James you find out, not without corresponding action.
— Faith that hath not works is dead.
— That's right.
— It's like leaving the pack of the seeds sitting in the windowsill.
— Sitting in the windowsill. And that's what they make treadmills for and that's what they make exercise rooms for. And that's the reason you get on that treadmill and pray in the Spirit and give God the glory.
— Amen.
— And we're out of time. Come on. Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah.