Kenneth Copeland - God's WORD Is Filled With Power
Now, let's go to the fourth chapter of the Book of Mark. Let's go to the first verse. "And he, Jesus, began again to teach by the seaside and there was gathered unto him a great multitude so that he entered into a ship and sat in the sea," right there in the lake. "The whole multitude was beside by the sea on the land. He taught them many things by parables and said unto them in his doctrine. Hearken, behold". Listen. There is a problem. That's the first problem. Listen. Then look. Listen and let the words paint a picture. Listen and see. He talked about a sower went out to sow.
Now, go to the 14th verse. "The sower soweth the Word". Now, that's what this parable is about. It's about the Word of God. "The sower soweth the Word. These are they by the wayside where the Word is sown, but when they have heard". Now, first thing he said was listen. "When they have heard, Satan comes immediately". You remember what Jesus said in John 10:10? "The thief cometh but for to steal, to kill, and to destroy". Steal what? The Word, that was sown in their hearts. Now, the Word does its part. Let's look at Luke 21:33. "Take heed to yourselves lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness". Surfeiting is just overindulgence, just going way overboard. You can do that with food. You can do that with alcohol. You can do it with gossip.
"Drunkenness and the cares of this life so that that day come upon you unawares. For as a snare it shall come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth". Now, hold onto that and let's go back over here now to Mark and you'll see it in his teaching here. "Satan comes immediately to take away the Word that was sown in their hearts". Now, make a little mark on the word heard. That's the first time. "These are they likewise which are sown on stony ground who, when they have heard the Word," that's number two, "immediately receive it with gladness". Why? Faith came. "They immediately received it with gladness and have no root in themselves and so endure but for a time". It did. They stayed with it for a while.
"Afterward when affliction or persecution arises for the Word's sake, immediately they are offended". That one works most of the time. That's the one that the devil has gotten a lot of... To get offense, anything he can do to get you to be offended, anything, anything. Anything to get your attention away from the Word. Oh, you're excited that the Word of healing has come. Then the devil said, "Ain't that wonderful? You believe your healed now". "Oh, yes. I really do". "Do you remember what Sister so-and-so said"? "What"? "Well you know she was sick with that and she said that it wasn't the will of God for her to be healed. You remember she said that"? "Well yeah, but..." "Yeah, but you remember she said that". "Well yeah". "You remember the other thing she said about you"? "I wish I hadn't thought about that, you old..."
Now there for a little while, you were glad. I wish I hadn't thought about that. Well don't dwell on it. Kick it out. Say, "No, no, no. I know what you're trying to do, devil. You're trying to steal this Word out of me and I refuse to be offended". "In fact, every time you bring her up, I'm going to pray for her". "I think I'll just call her and pray for her and tell her I love her. Right? In fact, I'm going to do that right now. Glory to God". But most don't do that. "These are they, these are the people which are sown among thorns such as hear the Word and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches and the lusts of other things entering in choked the Word". It has to get in. Let's talk about these things.
"Among thorns such as hear the Word and the cares..." The thorns are the cares of this world, the worries, the problems, the... I just don't know what I'm going to do about this. I just pray and pray and pray and it seems like nothing happens and well maybe it wasn't God's will. That's it. That's probably it right there. It just... No. It's entering in. What do I do? Well you turn to 1 Peter 5. "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God which is the Spirit of God, casting the whole of your cares upon him for he cares for you". Amen. Read it in the Classic Amplified. "All of your cares, worries, anxieties, wants, and for all over on him".
Now, I've demonstrated this in a lot of ways in a lot of different times. Who wants to help me demonstrate this? Okay. Now, you come up and say, "Brother Copeland, may I see your preaching notebook"? "I don't have it". I didn't say there wasn't one. But you know what the problem with this is? It's mine. It's my care. Now, I own that book and the problem is people get to the place where they own that worry and anxiety. Now, did you see how quickly he handed that back to me? I'll tell you what. God will do the same thing because it isn't His. It's yours. It's your care. It's your worry. It is your problem. Can you do that? Can you cast that care? Oh, yes, but thoughts... You can't fight thoughts with thoughts. It just doesn't work very well. Amen. Well now what am I going to do?
Well you have a book so turn in it to 2 Corinthians 10. Now, you could go to 1 Corinthians 10 and it'll do the same thing, but this spells it out. "Now, I Paul myself beseech you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ who in presence am base among you, but being absent and bold toward you. But I beseech you that I may not be bold when I am present with that confidence wherewith I think to be bold against some, which think of us as if we walked according to the flesh. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. For the weapons..." Say weapons. Now, listen and behold. Think about weapons. And some of this big stuff's going to take an atomic weapon to blow it out of your head. But mighty, dunamis, dynamin, that Greek word dynamin is where the word dynamite came from. Might, dynamite, mighty, mighty.
"Through God to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down imagination," the cross-reference says reasonings, worries, and that kind of thing, "and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience..." Of what? Of thought. "...when your obedience is fulfilled. Do you look on things after the outward appearance? If any man trust to himself that he is Christ, let him of himself think this again that as he is Christ, even so are we Christ's". We belong to Him. We belong to the Anointed one. We belong to the Messiah. We belong to the Anointed one and through Him, His anointing is in and on us. And our words are anointed if we'll pull them out of that book and begin... If that thought comes, I say, "No, no, no, no, no. I don't touch that in my thought life. I do not touch that".
So let's go back now to Mark. Thank You, Lord Jesus. We'll pick up where we were. Thank You. In this fourth chapter. "The cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things". The definition of the word lust is a longing or a craving for something that is forbidden. That's what happens on a diet. Ugh, you are lusting after that food. The deceitfulness of riches, not the riches themselves but the deceitfulness of them. "I'll tell you if I just had more money, I'd just, in this time of inflation if I just had more money, if I just had more money, if I just..." "Why do you not have enough money"? "Well I don't have a job". "Well that's understandable. Why don't you have a job"? "I got mad and quit". "Well you're really something, aren't you? You quit right on time and now you're stuck, you're mad because you quit, and you're trying to figure out a way to blame God for it".
But it's entering in and you don't have time and every time you walk up to that gas pump, you're going to blame it on the President. Now, you're walking in unforgiveness where he's concerned. You walk up to the gas pump with an exceeding great and precious promise. You grab ahold of that gas pump with a smile on your face. Glory to God. My God meets all my needs according to his riches and glory. By Christ Jesus, fill her up. Thank You, Lord Jesus. Thank You, Lord Jesus. Then the 20th, "These are they which are sown on good ground such as hear the Word and receive it and bring forth fruit some thirtyfold, some sixty and some an hundred".
In that 20th verse, that's the fourth time he said they heard it. Then you come on down. It said, "If any man have ears to hear, let him hear". When you get through with this teaching, 10 times the word hear was used not counting where he started over here at the first listen, but in his teaching in this, 10 times he said it. 10 times he said listen. Listen. Make a point of listening. Learn how to listen. "And he said unto them, is a candle brought to be put under a bushel or under a bed and not to be put on a candlestick? For there is nothing hidden which shall not be manifested. Neither was anything kept secret but that it should come abroad".
If any man, any person have ears to hear, if he has ears to hear, if he has ears to hear, if he has ears to hear, what does that mean? Has he made a decision of quality to be a listener? I've learned this over the years. I've learned it where I'm concerned. It took some training to keep from doing this. When someone comes up to me and begins to talk to me and then I start thinking about how I'm going to answer this and I don't hear what they said, particularly when they said their name, that's a big problem. Have ears to hear. How do you get that? Well now how would you say you get that? Since Jesus said, "Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall say unto this mountain..." He was pointing to a specific mountain when He said that. "Whosoever shall say unto this..." Whosoever shall what? Say. Words filled with power.
"Whosoever shall say unto this mountain be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he said". He said it three times. Believing once. Then He used it. "Therefore I say unto you what things soever you desire when you pray, believe you receive ears to hear. When you pray, believe you receive it when you pray. When you pray, when you pray, when you pray, believe. When you pray, believe you receive it". Not after you see it. Not after you feel it because you, listen, you're changing something here. This is the prayer of faith that changes things. Glory to God. Hallelujah.
When you pray, believe. When you pray, believe you receive it. When you pray, believe you receive it and you will have it. "And when you stand praying..." I mean you're just standing there. "When you stand praying, forgive if you have ought against any". That's all part of the whole thing. Why? Because faith won't work in an unforgiving heart. No. "When you stand praying, forgive if you have ought against any so that your heavenly Father forgive you your trespasses". Well ain't that what Jesus said? They said, "Teach us how to pray". He said, "Father, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those that have trespassed against us". Huh? You have to do it.
Some of you right now are thinking, "Well yeah". Well do it. You have ears to hear. Do it. "I don't want..." It didn't say what you want to do. There's a gap in your faith right now. Forgive if you have ought against any. Do it. Obedience. Obedience. Be obedient to the Word. Be obedient to the Master Himself because we've already read the master plan. We could say the Master's plan and it's thoughts of good and prosperity all the time, good and prosperity. That's what He's thinking. That's what He's planning. So let's begin to plan the same thing by being prosperous in our thoughts and prosperous in our lives, prosperous in our ways. He also said, "I would that you prosper in being health even as you soul prospers".