Kenneth Copeland - The Ministry of the Laying On of Hands
Open your Bibles to the book of Hebrews, please. So we'll look first in the fifth chapter and we'll read down and get ready for the "Therefore" in chapter six, verse five. "So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee. As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing".
Now he's about to go into that later. And that's where you really get into the meat of this book. For the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. "For every one that useth milk is unskillful in the Word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil". Right there is our mission statement to bring people from milk to meat and to become skillful in the Word of righteousness and grow up and be mature.
"Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; Or maturity. Not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead work, faith toward God, the doctrine of baptisms, laying on of hands, resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment. And this will we do, if God permit". So the principle of the fundamental doctrines of Christ. That makes these things sacred. You can take each one of these and spend sessions on it. So now the laying on of hands, hallelujah. So Lord all right, Mark 16. You know that one had to be in there.
So many people have received healing through this. He upbraided them because they didn't believe the people that told him he had risen. "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs, these signatures will follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them;" These are all signs. And here's another sign. "They shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover". That's an exceeding great and precious promise. Well, Mark 8:24. I know I'm going backwards, that's just a funny way of writing things. 8:24. In the 22nd verse. "And he cometh to Bethsaida; and they bring a blind man unto him, and besought him to touch him".
Well now, you can see right there Jesus had to be famous for his touch. That's why they came to him. Touch him, that's all he needs. Just touch him. You'll be all right. Praise God. So he put his hands. He led him out of town. Why did he do that? Too much unbelief. He got him out of town. They came to him. He agreed. But we're going out here. "He laid his hands on him and he asked him if he saw anything. He looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking. After that he put his hands upon his eyes, and made him look up: and he was restored, and saw every man clearly". Well Brother Copeland, why did he do all that? In order to get him where he could see. Why? Well, I don't know, ask him. There's a lot involved in it. And Jesus just didn't do it all just the same way every time. Mark 6:5. We talked about this, but let's look at it again, this is something good here. This is where he was in hometown there. It's more detailed in Luke's Gospel, but this was Mark's account of it.
"He began to teach in the synagogue: and many hearing him were astonished, saying, From whence hath this man these things? and what wisdom is this which is given unto him, that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands? Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him". May I remind you of something? Every prophet is kin to somebody. There's only one that came here that wasn't kin to anybody that was Adam. Everybody since is kin to somebody. A person in my hometown. Bless his heart, I can still see his face. He said, "Do you think Kenneth is a prophet"? And a person says, "Yeah, I think he is". "Woah, he's our kinfolks".
Well... see hometown. Anyway, but here's what I wanted you to see. And there... Now he marvel because of their unbelief. "There he could do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands on a few sick folk, and healed them". I mean they wouldn't hear a thing in the world. They wouldn't listen to him. They wouldn't pay attention to what he preached, but he laid hands on a few of them anyway. Some of them got it. And he went about teaching in all of their villages. So I believe there are many more of them as time went because they didn't know he was doing mighty works. So praise God. Mark five with Jairus, we read this this morning. He besought him greatly.
Now he's at the seashore there, the Sea of Galilee, they just push the boat up there and his whole staff got out. He was already waiting and obviously he was up front and he just fell right there in the edge of that water. And besought him greatly. My little daughter is at the point of death. You come lay your hands on her and she'll live. So I present to you that Jesus did a lot of touching people. And there are scriptures that say everybody touched him were healed. Now he didn't heal everybody, he healed all of them that would let him. So now Acts Chapter five. Praise You, Jesus. I love this part. Let's go to... This is that situation to Ananias and Sapphira.
"Tell me whether ye sold the land for so much? And she said, Yea, for so much. Then Peter said unto her, How is it that ye have agreed together to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, the feet of them which have buried thy husband are at the door, and shall carry thee out. She fell down straightway at his feet, and yielded up the ghost: and the young men came in, and found her dead, and, carrying her forth, buried her by her husband. And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things. And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people;" That was prayed over here in the fourth chapter. And it happened here then in the fifth. They laid hands on the hands of the apostles, many signs and wonders. What's a wonder? Well, it makes you wonder.
And you say, "Oh, I just wonder. I wonder why I haven't had the manifestation yet". You're in wonderment and you better get in faith. You just keep wondering. And the devil will answer you. Well, you're just not worthy right now. You need to do some soul searching. And die to yourself, really?... You need to go to the Lord and say, "In the name of Jesus, I'm asking You, Father, according to John 16:23, that whatsoever I ask the Father in his name, You would give it me, ask and receive that your joy may be made full. So I'm asking You, I believe, for my manifestation". So would you give me instructions, please? Am I in the way? How am I missing it? The differences is in the attitude.
So anyway, praise God, Acts 19:6. I'm like Brother Hagin, Luke titled this, The Acts of the Apostles. Actually, it's the acts of the Holy Spirit, after the Day of Pentecost. Praise You. "And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost. And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism". So this is a group of Baptists that were there in Ephesus, "Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance..."
All right, there's another baptism but that's not in the church. That was John baptizing and calling for repentance. Through the blood of Jesus our sins have been reconciled. So we're baptized in water to represent what he was preaching over there. And he's the one that baptized Jesus, glory to God. "And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Ghost came on them and they spoke with tongues and prophesied". Isn't that good, that just makes me want to camp and just preach on that whole deal, praise God, thank You Jesus.
Now Acts 28:8, you're going to like this. This is where they got into a hurricane. It was a named storm and this is... he came... look back here in that 27th chapter. "And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope that we should be saved was then taken away. But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me," you should hearken to me, you should listen to me, "and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer:" Cheer up. "Be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island". 14... I mean two weeks of this, two weeks of being out there in that storm. I mean, they're throwing up and he says, "Cheer up".
The plan was greater than the storm, he's going to Jerusalem or Rome. He's going to Rome. God told him and the angel told him. "They were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita. And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold. And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand. The barbarians saw it. The venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live. And he shook the thing off into the fire, and felt no harm. Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god".
Well, that's even worse... "In the same quarters were possessions or estates of the chief man of the island, whose name was Publius; who received us, and lodged us three days courteously. And it came to pass, that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and of a bloody flux: or dysentery, to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, he prayed and laid his hands on him, and healed him". Glory to God. He prayed, he laid his hands on him. It doesn't say what he prayed. He laid his hands on him and healed him. What do we say to that? What did Jesus say? It's the Father that dwells within me. He does the works. We've been a bit too timid in that area. Cornelius said, "My servant, I'll come heal him". All the time he's saying it's the Father that dwells within me, he's the one that does the work and he's the good one, I'm not. Hallelujah.
There's been times that the Lord has directed me to say, "I'll come and Jesus will heal him". I don't know that that's not what Paul prayed when he prayed. I suspect he did because he gave Jesus the credit for everything but the storm. He laid his hands on him and many things happened. A great move of God began. And you can track that move of God on Malta until today. And there are great historical things about that very meeting and that very healing and that very healing happen by the laying on of hands. No wonder the laying on of hands, the doctrine of baptisms, the fundamental doctrine of Christ is laying on of hands right in the middle of the entire situation.