Kenneth Copeland - Live and Walk Debt Free
Welcome everybody to the Believer's Voice of Victory broadcast. I'm Kenneth Copeland. And we're talking about and our theme throughout this year, according to the Lord until he says different is going to be you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Let's go to the eighth chapter of John. This is our golden text. Of course read the whole chapter of the whole eighth chapter and it's got 59 verses in it. And the 59th one is very interesting, the 57th says, The Jews unto him, "You're not yet 50 years old you hast seen Abraham? Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am. Then took they up stones to cast at him: but he hid himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them".
I am totally, absolutely convinced Judas was there, he heard and saw all of this. He was one of the 12. I'm completely convinced that he was so conceived and so money-minded that he thought that even if he didn't see it as betraying him, but he's going to get some money and put it back in the bag. And then he would just walk out from the midst of it. But he didn't. And then he realized what he'd done. But Jesus kept calling him "friend". That's covenant term, right until the very last. And now, are you listening to me? His worst mistake of all, was by getting under remorse and going out and hanging himself. And I see the picture of it in my mind, he just hung himself on this side of this cliff and then it broke off and his body fell. But even that had been prophesied. He went and threw the money back at them. We don't want your money. And the rest is in God's hands.
So now we're dealing with this right here. As he spoke these words many believed on him and then said then, after they believed on him, "Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If you continue in my Word, then are you my disciples, and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free". Glory to God, verse 36, "If the Son therefore shall make you free, you shall be free indeed". And I've heard people say that you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free, that's not what he said. He said it will make you free. There's a difference of authority there. To be set free is one thing. But now think about it like this. There were documents at the beginning of the Civil War here in the United States. There were documents, there had to be written documents and signed and went into the record. They didn't set people free, they made them free. The authority of those signed documents. This is a signed document, amen, and it made people free.
Then after that, in that case and in this case, people had to learn how, had to learn to be free. And there were certain people in this country that fought it and fought it and fought it and fought it and fought it and fought it. And that same political party today, I won't go into that. So people have to learn what freedom is. And spiritual freedom is number one: spiritual freedom. And that's what Jesus is talking about. You continue in my Word. Well we found out from what he prayed that the written Word is the truth. Sanctify them with your truth. Your Word is truth. So this Word is truth. And Gloria and I had to learn how to live debt free. Because it was this Word that got us out of debt. We had to learn how, I saw it, we came from Tulsa back to preach at Grace Temple Church. And I was reading down through the book of Romans. I came to 13:8. Owe no man anything but to love him.
So I got the Amplified, it said "Stay out of debt". There went my airplane, there went the ministry airplane right there. I said, "Gloria," she came in there. I was in the back bedroom, it was my bedroom when I was in high school. And so we were staying back there. She came in there and I said, "Look at this". She said, "Well, if that's what the book says, that's what we'll do". Okay. But now you can't build a doctrine or a truth on one verse of scripture, because that was not talking about money. So where do you go to find out? You go back to the blessing of Abraham. You go to the 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th chapters of the Book of Deuteronomy. And you search the blessing and you search the curse. We found it there. Both in the blessing and the curse.
And then we found it in the book of Proverbs. The borrower is slave to the lender. That's the truth. And we had to learn how to do that. And as I've told you before, that's one of the reasons I didn't want to go back to school because I had so much debt and Gloria said she failed to ask me about that when she said she'd marry me. But we wrote all of the checks, we did not sign them. We did not date them, put them in the drawer, prayed over those checks and called them paid. When we had the money to pay that one, we'd fill it in and take it to the people. One miracle right after another, after another, after another, after another.
Now check it out. It was $24,000 in 1967. It's about $214,000 now. But it's the same thing, and it do the same thing now that it did then. We just prayed and believe God and stood on it. 11 months later we were debt free and we've not been back in debt since. And neither has the ministry. Gloria's opinion and mine, this is the greatest thing since salvation and since being baptized in the Holy Ghost and learning how to walk and live by faith is learning how to walk and live debt free. And you come to that place where you say, I tell you, I don't see how this is going to work. But I know the truth and that truth made me free. Glory to God. Amen, so it's not a truth, it is the truth. But now the reason I brought up the total complete wiping out of slavery of any kind. And what a lot of people don't know during that time, there were a lot of white people that got in a whole lot of trouble.
And some of them lost their lives because of what they were doing. Documents documented the Constitution of the United States is the oldest living governmental document without change of any government in the world. And it's not been changed. And this nation and that document is built, it is truth based on the Bible. That's where it got its foundation. Amen. So you go back and you study these people out. They wrote the Constitution with in mind getting rid of slavery. That all men are created equal. Most especially George Washington.
Anyway, let's get back to this. In fact, the Lord would talk to me just in the last few days that throughout this year to study his life, study his life, find out about him since he's the first president of the United States and since he was a born-gain man and since he was a praying man, to study his life, outstanding military man, military general. And anyway, he's the one that dedicated this country, before there was a Washington, D.C. The first act of Congress of the United States, was to dedicate this nation to the Almighty God. And the Liberty Bell has quotes from the Book of Exodus on the top of that bell. And they rang it so strong, they cracked it. Liberty is precious, but you have to learn how to live in it. Because free people are free to do the wrong stuff. But this one is headed back the other way, anyway.
Now then, since the Word of God is, Jesus said, your Word is truth. I want us to look, so we're going to continue in his Word. We're going to continue in his Word. Look at Luke Chapter 11 and we'll start reading the verse 45, are you there? "Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou reproachest us also. And he said, Woe unto you also, ye lawyers! for ye lade men with burdens grievous to be borne, and ye yourselves touch not the burdens with one of your fingers. Woe unto you! for ye build the sepulchres of the prophets, and your fathers killed them. Truly ye bear witness that ye allow the deeds of your fathers: for they indeed killed them, and ye build their sepulchres. Therefore also said the wisdom of God, I will send them prophets... Therefore said the wisdom of God", this is the wisdom. It's true but it's his wisdom.
Now this is when you go over to the Book of Proverbs and you just have a picnic because it says "Wisdom is the principal thing". Now, class, let me tell you the truth about that. It does say wisdom is the principal thing, get it. How do you get it? Let's go to the book of James. Let's go to the truth and find the truth. "James, a servant", it actually says a slave of God, "and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes which are scattered abroad, greeting. My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;" And actually it says different tests and trials. Knowing this, now knowing, when Jesus said, "You shall know the truth and the truth will make you free".
Look it up now, in the Book of Matthew talking about Joseph. The word is Ginosko. He knew not his wife, you shall have an intimate relationship with the truth if you continue in my Word, you'll know it. And I quote my spiritual father, Oral Roberts. He said, "Kenneth, you get into the Word and you stay there and you read it and you say it and you look at it and you live it and you talk it until you know and then you know and then don't quit till you know, till you know that you know that you know that you know. And when you know that you know that you know that you know you are healed you'll receive it". He said you get it in your knower. Well, that's what he was talking about. You come to that intimate relationship with the Scriptures on healing. You shall know the truth, and the truth will make you free from sickness and disease. It'll make you free from debt. It'll make you free from bad language. Glory to God.
I experienced that the day I accepted him as my Lord and Savior. Praise God. But it was the wisdom of God. So in the Book of James, what do we find out? "Count it all joy when you fall in". Well now, there's a truth, count it all joy when you fall into different temptations, tests and trials, count it all joy. Well, ha ha ha. The minute we said that we started laughing about, you know. Yeah, but you don't know what I'm going through. No, but I know the one that'll get you out of it. And I'll tell you what he wrote through the apostle Peter. Cast all your care over on him, for he cares for you. Don't be worried about it and anxious about it. Just get rid of it. Just dump it over on God. He's your caretaker. And there it is, knowing this, that the trying of your faith works patience.
"Let patience have her perfect work that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. If any of you lack wisdom", about what? The trial, test and temptation. That's the truth, honey babe. Oh, it gets better, doesn't it? "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. Let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all of his ways". Let him ask in faith. Amen. All right you want more, you want more truth about that? Okay, turn to First Corinthians. Oh, I'm going the wrong way.
First Corinthians chapter one. Let's start reading with the 27th verse. "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise;" What was that? Oh Okay. "and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus," listen class, "who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption".
Glory to God. He is our wisdom. And his wisdom is right here in this book. It covers everything in life. And we found the writings of Peter, exceeding great and precious promises that have everything to do with life and godliness. The joy of the Lord is our strength and you go back over where it says that, you remember where it says that? But don't just read the eighth verse. Go back and read into the 8th verse, they were grieving. And he said, "Grieve not for the joy of the Lord is your strength". And we're out of time. Glory to God, we'll be back in just a minute. Yay! Hallelujah! Glory to God.