Kenneth Copeland - Jesus Paid the Price for Your Healing
Father, we thank You this morning. Thank You. Jesus Christ, the same yesterday today and forever. Hallelujah. Praise the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And years ago and Brother Roberts' ministry, a young boy by the name of Willie Phelps... Now Oral Roberts laid his hands personally on over 2 million people. And his shoulders had to be operated on because of it. Well, some people I've had people say to me, I don't understand that all that healing power going through. Healing is not a reward. We have to believe we receive it just the same. Well, he did, but it destroyed the top of his shoulders, doing what God called him to do. He had him operated on it and just kept on going. And then he had appendix problems. He told the Lord. He said, "I've had all the surgery I'm gonna have."
Well he was in the hospital and the doctor had an X-ray machine on him. So in his heart mind, he just went to the fourth chapter of the book of Philippians. You only communicated with me and giving and receiving that can be translated, that word can be, receiving can be translated. Receipting. He said, I cash my receipts this morning. He said, I've laid hands on a lot, a lot and lots and a lot of people. And he said, I cash my receipts this morning. They stood there and watched that appendix go down right there on the X-ray machine, the doctor said, "Richard, are you seeing that"? He said, "Yes, I'm seeing that". He said, "Why? I can hardly believe that". Richard said, "I totally believe it because I know what he's doing". And then Brother Roberts testified to that doctor.
Well, Little Willie Phelps was there just a young boy and he had problems. He could hardly walk. And his mother was there with him and Oral had just laid hands on so many people. And he was so tired. And he walked out and Willie called him. "Are you Oral Roberts"? "Yes, I am". "Um, I'm supposed to be healed today". He said, "Son, I am so tired and worn out. I just really don't have any faith left". He said, "I don't know about that, but I just know I'm supposed to be healed today". So he said, "Well of course", his mother was there. And he said, well, something like that. You'll just have to do the believing then, because I don't have anything left. He said, "I don't know about that, I just know I'm supposed to be healed". Well, you can't turn that down. I just know I'm supposed to be healed today, Oral laid hands on him. He was perfectly healed and he grew to be a strong, big man. And if I remember right, he became an attorney and supported Oral Roberts University. But he was supposed to be healed today. You are supposed to be healed.
Now I'll tell you something else that's exciting and how wonderful it is. And somebody just comes in and says, "Your bill has been paid". And that's happened to Gloria and I a lot. And so we were in one place. And this in fact, we were at Applebee's. And we walked in there and I just, you know, there's a booth in there that we just sit in all the time and we've had a Applebee's ministry. I mean, we've paid off cars and just all kinds of things for people... have been all kinds of things happen. So we just walked in there and I really didn't know these people. And I started to sit down over there and looked over, patted the people on the back, thanked him and everything. And they said "Brother Copeland" and I said, "Well glory to God". Well, I didn't pay more attention to it. And so they left. Well, and the waitress came around and I said, "I'm ready for the check now". She said, "No, the people paid the bill". I said, "Who"? Well those people that you were talking to over there, awhile ago, they paid the bill.
Now that's a wonderful thing. And we've had it happen a lot. But I'll tell you something, Jesus paid the bill. He paid the bill for our healing with his own blood. It's paid. It's paid for, our healings, our bodies are paid for. He owns these bodies. We gave them to him as a living sacrifice. So the thing that the Lord has directed me to do this morning is to go to the Book of Proverbs first and the fourth chapter. Now, this is the prescription in the fourth chapter of the Book of Proverbs, in the fifth verse, "Get wisdom, get understanding, forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee". Wisdom is the principal thing; It is not a principal thing. It is the principal thing, the wisdom of God. Amen.
Now it is continued verse ten. "Hear O, my son receive my sayings" and the years of "thy life shall be many". Now you come down to the 18th verse, "But the path of the just is as the shining light and shines more and more unto the perfect day". One translation says, "Just keeps getting brighter and brighter and brighter... The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble. My son, attend to my words". Now, what does that mean? Well, here in Texas, we say, "Well, I won't tend to it. Well, and you know, I tend to that I'll take care of that". That's what it mean. You know, I'll tend to it. I'll take care of it. Now, attend he said, "Attend to my words".
Okay, well that's first place, this Word is first. This is first in my life. This book is my life, it is my life. Pick up your Bible. Say that: "This book of covenant belongs to me. I am what it says I am, I have what it says I have. This book is my life. It's the Word of the Living God. He is my God. His son is my Lord and Savior, and he directs my life, spirit and soul, and body, financially and socially, this book is my life". Now that's thrilling, now lift it and say this, "This is a book of blood covenants. I'm in this book. I have a covenant, of life, healing, wealth, protection, with the Almighty God. His Son Jesus, bought and paid for this, with his blood. Therefore, I'm healed, I'm well. I'm taken care of, in his name. I have it. And I'm supposed to be healed today". "My son, attend to my words, incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh".
Now I have a cross reference Bible here and it has a little three out beside health. You go over to it to the center section and it says Medicine. This is medicine to your flesh. This is the prescription for healing in life. But what good is a prescription if you don't take it? You know, the doctor gives you a prescription. And after, you know, three or four weeks, you call him, say, "This stuff's not doing any good. I'm not any better at all". "Well, have you taken it three times a day like I told you". "Well, no, but it's sitting right here on the cabinet. What's the problem"? "You're not putting it in the system". And I was talking about that time with that blood clot. That night the Lord said to me when I realized what I'd done, I was just quoting scriptures. That's the time he said to me, "Kenneth, the memory of a potato has never nourished anyone. You have to put it in the system. You have to put the Word in the system".
Now, the 107th Psalm, please. Thank You Lord Jesus. Psalm 107, "0h give thanks unto the Lord for he is good and his mercy endures forever". He is good and his mercy endures forever. Verse 17, "Fools because of their transgression and because of their iniquities are afflicted. Their soul abhors all manner of meat, and they draw near unto the gate". They draw near unto the gates of death. "Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble. He saves them out of distresses, he sent his Word and heal them and delivered them from their destructions". He sent his Word and healed them. What does that mean? The centurion Cornelius sent word to Jesus. My servant is sick unto death.
They sent him word, listen to Jesus now, he said, "I'll come and heal him," he so easily. But that's what he was called to do in the earth. And people get all hung up on whether or not it's God's will to heal today. Well, healing... we do believe Brother Copeland that healing has passed away. Well, Brother Hagin had that problem? And the Lord said to him, "Has faith passed away"? No and it never will. Well, God would have to change his name. He said, "I am the Lord that healeth thee. I am the Lord that heals... I am Jehovah Shalom or your peace. I am Jehovah Rapha, your healer". That's who he is, I said that's who he is. And he said, "I am God and I change not". He can't change any more than the devil can change. That's just the way God is. And that's just the way the devil is. Hallelujah now.
So now notice that. "Fools because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them out of their distresses". Well, now let's just stop here right now. If there's some kind of problem in that way or any kind of unforgiveness, let's just fix it right now. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Amen. So that is not a situation. And we're going to pray the prayer of faith and a little while. But right now, I'm going to turn over to Mark, chapter 11. And we'll look at that. Jesus' classic teaching on Faith and in the 12th verse, "And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet".
Now let's put that up in the Amplified, the fig tree, "The fruit appears at the same time as leaves. But when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves for the fig season had not yet come". So that tree had leaves a little bit ahead of time. Well, he saw it afar off and got over there "And Jesus answered and said to it," he talked to that tree. Now in the Garden, the forbidden fruit was a fig tree. How do we know that? Because they took fig leaves and tried to clothe themselves. Now can you imagine a fig leaf suit? Always beware of an artist that paints belly buttons on Adam and his wife. They're not there. God created them, amen. And I've seen it again and again.
And one time, David Weeter and I were in this beautiful place and this and they're taking in there and they showed the painting of them in the Garden. And look at the magnificence of this artwork and so forth. And there they were, their little navels sticking right out there. Well, now I looked at David, he looked at me, there wasn't no way I was going to say anything to that person about that. Anyway. Now in the morning as they passed by... So what did he say? He said "No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever". Count them, nine words. "And they went on to Jerusalem and he into the temple, and he began to cast them out that sold and bought in the temple, overthrew the table of the moneychangers. And seats of them that sold double and would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. And he taught".
Now this is the reason why, he had cleaned that sin out of that temple. Here's what they were doing. If you brought your lamb, your unblemished lamb as a sacrifice, they'd find something wrong with yours and they'd go get one you'd have to buy it. Then they'd take yours back there and someone else come in and they'd find something wrong with them and sell the one you brought to them. He said "You're a den of thieves". He caught them at it, and overturned their money tables. I mean, he messed that place up.
Now, I want you to notice this. He went in there the night before and the day before and didn't do anything. He just walked through there and observed. Why? He went back that night to pray because he said, "I only say what I hear my Father say, and I only do what I see my Father doing". They went in there the next day and came down to the bottom line. He preached. Now look at this. "He preached and he answered and said unto them" and so forth, and anyway. and they came back in the morning, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roost. And those are big trees. Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, "Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away, dried up from the roots". Now, remember, words are spiritual containers. Jesus spoke to the tree. He talked to the tree. He didn't talk about the tree. He talked to the tree. And they asked him about it. And he answering saith unto them, "Have faith in God".