Kenneth Copeland - Faith Expects
So open your Bibles to the fifth chapter of the book of Mark. And I want to point out something to you. And I inquired to the Lord of whether I was to preach on this tonight and teach on it or not, and my direction was to just point this out to you and then we'll continue with the rest of the fifth chapter. Now, you know what this is. Let me come down there. This in the first part was where Jesus went across the lake, went across the Galilee. Now Madera is on the Southeast end and he went over there to deliver a man that was completely, totally demon possessed. Now there's some very important things to learn here about this. I'll only point out a couple of things. "They came over to the other side... into the Gadarenes. When he was come out of the ship, immediately, immediately, there met him out of the tombs a man with and unclean spirit". One.
Remember now what the apostle said in the sixth chapter of Ephesians. "We wrestle not with flesh and blood but principalities and powers, rulers of the darkness of this world". One. Now principalities and powers, there's a lot of them and wicked spirits in the heavenlies. Those are political devils. You can find those in the book of Daniel, where Daniel went on a partial fast for 21 days and didn't anything happen. Well, finally, Gabriel got through to him and he said, "We heard you the first day. But the spirit of..." You remember who it was? Huh? Persia. Iran. "The spirit of Persia withstood me the whole time". Michael, the archangel of heavenly warfare, he said, "He had to come help me so I could tell you what you need to know. And when he is gone, the spirit of Greece is going to come".
Well see, he didn't have the name of Jesus to fight that thing with. The only thing he could do is fast and pray. And he broke through, but that's wicked spirits in the heavenlies. And I wish I had the time to tell you, to dig into that, but I don't. So here it was an unclean spirit. "Because he had been often bound with fetters and chains, and the chains had been plucked asunder by him, the fetters or the shackles broken in pieces, neither could any man tame him. Always, day and night, he was in the mountains and in the tombs crying and cutting himself with stones. When he saw Jesus afar off, he ran and worshiped him. Cried with a loud voice". And it wasn't his voice. It was the voice of that spirit.
Now I have experienced this from time to time in different ways. And it's a nasty sounding thing. It's hard to even mimic it because if you mimic it, you don't have that nasty spirit's voice behind it. But the ones that I've run into went, "What is there to do with me, Jesus, Son of..." Just sickening, kind of a spirit. But he fell down and worshiped him. "For Jesus said unto him, 'Come out of the man, you unclean spirit.' And he asked him, 'What is your name?' And he said, 'My name is Legion for we are many.'" So there's 3 to 6,000 of them. Now, and then Jesus went through all of this.
Now read the 14th verse. "They that fed the swine fled, and told it in the city and in the country. And they went out to see what was done. They came to Jesus and see him that was possessed with the devil and had the Legion, sitting and clothed and in his right mind and they were afraid. And when they saw it... Got him to leave. And they began to pray to depart out of their coasts. And he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil, prayed him that he might be with him". Now let's get this. "Go home to your friends, tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee and had compassion on thee". Where did he get those clothes? He prepared for that before he went over there. Faith always prepares. Can't you just see Jesus? "Now, fellas, I'm going to go over there and we're going to set this man free. I'm going to send him home and call him to preach, but I want him to go home looking good. I don't want him going home with no clothes, all cut up". Praise God.
And I submit to you, he was a cutter. He went home healed. No scars. Good friend of mine was preaching. And there were some women that had been incarcerated and they had drug scars and cutting marks. He baptized them in water, and when they came up out of the water, the cuts were gone and the scars were gone. And I know full well that's what happened to him. He came up out there clean and Jesus dressed him up and sent him home. I love that. Praise God. Now we could have spent quite a time on... That's a whole teaching in itself. I inquired about it and the Lord said, "Point that out". But now let's go on. They immediately went back across the lake. What's interesting, get you a map sometime and look all these places up and there you can see where he had to go down the coast to go to Tiberius over here or to go over there. He had to go over this way across the Galilee down to Madera, madman of Gadara, he had to go down there. That's offset that Southeast point. Hallelujah.
So when he came back across there... Now I suggest that when you find the word Capernaum, write "home" by it. Now it was prophesied that he would leave Nazareth. But then he just got ran out of town. I mean, he actually had to disappear and walk out from among them to keep them pushing him off that cliff. Now I want to touch on something else here. This really helped me. I am completely, totally, absolutely convinced because all of his disciples thought he was just going to run Rome out of town. I'm convinced that Judas had the idea that's what he was going to do. And that he could do that and get money enough to fill up the purse. Jesus had disappeared and they couldn't touch him. Amen. It does good to meditate and read these things and ask the Lord for insight into them.
So now they were always, always watching for him. "Here he comes. Here comes the boat. Here comes the whole load of them across the gate. Get everybody down here". And there was always just crowd every time he came down. Jairus was already there. Now Jairus was what? Leader of the synagogue. The synagogue was in Capernaum. Who built that synagogue? Huh? Centurion. His name is Cornelius. There's not but one centurion in that area. And he is right up there just a little ways from where Pilate was. He was the garrison commander. So the centurion that built that synagogue, his name is Cornelius. And he's the one that got us all in there. He was the first non-Jew to come in. So we followed him. Amen. And now we're grafted in Jews. Amen. So, I mean, he no more than hit the shore. And behold... He said, "Look". Okay. "Look, here comes one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name. When he saw him, he fell at his feet, besought him greatly, greatly, saying..." He said it. "Saying, 'My little daughter lieth at the point of death. I pray thee come and lay thy hands on her that she may be healed and she shall live.'"
And that's the last thing he ever said. And he had a lot of opportunities to really mess this deal up. He didn't say anything else. He just stayed right there with Jesus and Jesus didn't say anything to him. Look what happened. "And she shall live. And Jesus went with him". Now there's something to see here. Now I want you to see. I mean, all he had to do is say it. So Jesus said, "Come on". Oh, he didn't say anything. He just went with him. Where's he going? To his house? He just started down the road. Well, of course no telling how many people there. And there were all thronging him. But Jairus didn't say anymore. But now something happened here. "Much people followed him and thronged him. A certain woman, which had an issue of blood 12 years, had suffered many things of many physicians, had spent all that she had, was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse. And she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment for she said, 'If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.'"
That same word translated whole in other places is translated saved. Same word. Praise God. "Straightway," immediately, "the fountain of her blood was dried up. And then she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague". She didn't feel it first. She said it first. She touched and she knew it. She knew it. My spiritual father said, "You got to get it in your knower. And you just know that you know that you know that you know you know that you know that you know that you know you know that you know you know that you know you know you're healed". And he said, "When it gets to the place where you know you know you know," he said, "that's when it'll take place". And you have to stay in the Word till the knowing comes. You start out on hope, and then you get the scripture and you stand on it and release your faith and you continue to thank God and confess that thing. "By his stripes, I'm healed. By his stripes, I was healed. If I was healed, I'm healed now. Thank God. I praise you for it in Jesus' name".
But there comes a time. It's the thrill of taking a group of scriptures that cover the situation and lay them out there and put the Word and the blood of Jesus on those scriptures and put the name on them and take hold of them. And that's where bulldog faith comes in. I'm so glad Gloria came up with that and you come to KCBC, you just get ready because you a bulldog. KCBC bulldog. Amen. When we get a hold of a bone, we don't let it go. Just take it by faith and hold onto it. Amen. And just continue and continue right on up to the manifestation of it comes. But that's not when you start shouting. You start shouting the day you made the commitment to get it. Jairus said it. He hadn't said anything yet, but he is right there. You see that over in the book of Luke and Jesus said, "Fear not". He said, "Stop the fear". He's dealing with death and fear at the same time. Amen.
So and I notice this. Follow this. "She came in the press behind and touched his garments. She said it... Behold and straightway the fountain of her blood dried up. And then she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague. Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue or power; it's dunamis had gone out of him, turned him about in the press and said, 'Who touched my clothes?'" Now notice he got out of the boat and faith... You come lay your hands on her and she'll live. Faith put him on the move, and faith stopped him in the road. And everybody kind of... when he stopped. They all banged into.. He just stopped. "Somebody touched me. Who did this"? How do they know that she'd been there 12 years? I'll show you. Jesus immediately knew that and turned and said, "Who touched my clothes"? "The disciple said to him, 'Thou seest the multitude thronging thee and sayest thou, "Who touched me"?' He looked round about to see her that done this thing. But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her came and fell down before him and told him all the truth".
That's how they knew. She told it. She testified. Well now what do you think Jairus is thinking? "Now I told him she's about to die, and here we stand listening to her". You know the devil well enough to know it's hard on him. He's having to just stand there and wait. But then Jesus said something. Let's follow it. "And he said under her, 'Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole.'" There's that same word again. "'Go in peace and be whole of that plague.'" Go in peace and be whole of that. Don't you let the devil put that back on you. You be whole. I hear him saying, "Yeah, you know how you got this? So keep it". Now can you imagine what kind of condition she's in? And you can go over to the book of Leviticus and you can see a woman that long beyond natural could be stoned. And there's the leader of the synagogue, but she heard of Jesus. Amen. But she had to do something. Number one, she said it. Number two, she did it.
Now let's go over to James chapter 2. James is a faith book. Should be. Man is raised in the house with Jesus. Looking at the 2nd chapter and the 17th verse. Let's start reading here in the 14th verse. "What does a profit, my brethren, though a man say he has faith and has not works"? Now in Weymouth's translation, and it's the New Testament in Modern Speech. If you don't have one, let us know because we put it back into print. It is an amazing New Testament. And here it's corresponding action. And people get hung up on works, but you put corresponding action in there, and then you can tell what you're talking about. "What does it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith and has not corresponding action? Can the faith save him? If a brother or sister be naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you say, 'Depart in peace and be warmed and filled,' not withstanding you give them not those things which are needful for the body, does it profit him? Even though faith, if it has not corresponding action, it's dead being alone".
It takes action. You have to put it into action. Well, I didn't come up with all this. Brother Hagin was in a meeting and he was staying in the home with a pastor that was very good friends and the whole family and all. And they had all come over after the service that night. And they sat down to have some refreshments together. And Brother Hagin said, "I have to pray and I have to pray now". So everybody said, "Well, let's just get on our knees". He said the moment he got on his knees, there was Jesus. And he had some things he wanted to talk to him about. And then he said, "Lord, now the woman with the issue of blood". He said, "I'm missing some parts of that". And the Lord said, "Yes, you are". He said, "Write down these four points". Well, I mean, he's there in the dining room on his knees and his head over in a chair. So he got up and he went inside where the bedroom where he was staying and grabbed a piece of paper and something to write with and got in there and closed his eyes and there was the Lord.
He said, "It's amazing how well you can write when you're in the Spirit". He said, "Now let me give you the four points". He said, "Anybody, anywhere, at any time that will take these four points and carry them out, they can have whatever they need or whatever they want from the Father". I mean, that is the fundamental of faith. Now then you come down to this. She received it. She had already received it before she ever got out of the house or she never would've left that house. The devil would've come up with something. "I just look so terrible. I'm so skinny. My clothes don't fit. I'm just skin and bones. I've been bleeding all these years. Oh Lord, what am I going to do? What am I going to do"? No, she didn't buy that. She said, "If, if I but touch his clothes, I will be made whole. It's mine. All I need to do is get out there in that street and do it". She received it. Hallelujah. It belonged to her. All she had to do was act. That's all she needed to do. Then she told it.