Kenneth Copeland - Take Your Place in Christ
— Hello everybody, I'm Kenneth Copeland. This is the Believer's Voice of Victory Broadcast. And this is Mark and Trina Hankins. And they need no introduction... I'm telling you, you just knocking it out of the park, man. I get excited, and, you know, he's kind of excitable anyway, and so is Trina, and I need to get my testimony again. We were at the prayer cabin, and when I was a young lad, I had asthma really, really bad. And until they found out where it was coming from, anyway, and I was up there for some reason or other, I woke up wheezing going on. I said, "I'm not having this". Well, I had the TV on. She gave her testimony about being healed and delivered from asthma and said she doesn't have it, I don't have it, just shouted thank you and it was over. Haven't wheezed since.
— Yeah. Power of the testimony.
— Oh, yes it is, thank you again. Praise God and let's open our Bibles to two places, one in the book of Romans, the 14th chapter. And this as we know in the book of Hebrews, the second chapter, the Gospel preached unto us the same as them, but they didn't mix it with faith, so it didn't profit them anything. Faith is the mixture, I like to say like this. Faith is the catalyst. Did you ever use a catalyst... And once you get those two elements together, you've got to move it fast because it starts heating up. But either of the two elements are nothing until you get them together and then the action is about to happen. So faith is the catalyst to these blood covenants. It has to be mixed with faith, faith in the Word, faith in the blood, faith in the name. Amen. And the message you preached on the blood is one of the finest I have ever heard in my entire life because of the experiences that you've actually experienced in the matter of the blood.
— The power of the blood. Praise God. And so Romans the 14th chapter, the 23rd verse. "And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin". That is serious business and people talk about us, faith people and all of that. That, to me is a compliment. Ah they're just that faith bunch, yes we are. Well, you're just a fanatic. Yes, I am. I'm very fanatical about faith. The word fan, football fan. It comes from fanatic. Well I'm fanatic about this book. And people say I'm not balanced. I know it. I'm way out of balance. A balance is an equal amount of good and bad. This is all good. Anyway, then we'll go to the book of Ephesians because this is what we're talking about. But we need to realize how important faith is and my eye just dropped over here. Wait for the hope of the righteousness. Faith worked by love. It's just next door in the book of Galatians.
— It's all connected.
— But this and the book of Ephesians. I wanted you to see this, Mark the notes I made right here. In Christ in him, in beloved, in whom, in Christ. And we got that from the same fella. Brother Hagin, amen. What is it? 134 times I believe it is.
— Yeah, over 130 in Christ, in him, in whom. And that's who we are. And that's who he is in us. Anyway, Ephesians, Chapter 1 and verse 4, "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world". Glory to God. Now I have a serious question.
— All right.
— How did you all meet?
— How did we meet? We met at Bible College in Waxahachie, Texas, Southwestern Assemblies of God Bible College, I was a senior, she was a freshman. I asked her out on a date. She said, "Well, I need to pray about it". I said, "Well, let's just pray right now". I said, "Matter of fact, we were on the sidewalk". Let's join hands, give me your hand. Lord, I said, "If you want Trina to go out on a date with me, just let us know right now in Jesus' name". And I said, "What did the Lord tell you"? She said, "I don't know". I said, "He told me, 'Yes', I'll pick you up at seven". True story.
— The rest is history.
— The rest is history, glory to God. How long did it take you to ask her to marry you.
— We got engaged the next November.
— Just a few months but we spend all of our dates going out, studying Ephesians and Galatians and Romans cause we wanted to make sure we agree spiritually, you know, and we studied faith. We studied Dad Hagin. And I found out we believed in the same stuff.
— What a blessing. And of course Gloria and I were scriptural illiterates when we met. But I just got thinking about that. I'd never heard your testimony before. Met at Bible College, and I went to meet her dad. Her dad, Brother Bierman, he's almost 90 now.
— He said to tell you, "Hello".
— Oh, praise God. You can tell him how impressed I am.
— He's a great man.
— Such a fine, fine man.
— So I went to meet him and asked him if I could marry his daughter. And he said, "Well, what are you going to do"? I said, "I'm gonna preach the Gospel". He said, "Well, what are you going to tell the people"? I said, "I'm gonna tell them who they are in Christ". So I said, "Do you want to hear about it"? After I talked a while he said, "Okay, you can marry my daughter". So we've been doing it ever since.
— That's good. When I asked Gloria's dad for her hand in marriage, he said, "Well, yeah, I introduced you to her".
— As long as you pay for her, right... Glory to God. Oh, glory to God. Praise God. So you preached and taught and really excited me, watching your broadcast on the Ephesians 1 prayer. That is so...
— It is phenomenal, yeah.
— And I'm glad you did because I had let it slip.
— Yeah, sometimes.
— I had not been doing that. And there's all the notes to it right there. But I just went, but you fired me up about it. Yeah, you know where I got it from. I mean, Dad Hagin came to my dad's church, in South Texas, West Columbia, Texas and so Dad Hagin would teach every morning and every evening, he'd stay at least two weeks. And he said, "If you want to be strong in faith, I'm going to give you six steps to the highest kind of faith". Well, once I found out what faith could do and what faith would do, I said, "Well, I'd sure like to have the best kind". So he said, "Well, the highest kind is number one, is you go through Paul's letters or Paul's revelation, and every time you see the two words, in Christ, in him, in whom, you circle or underline those two words, because that's describing something you are and something you have". So I found out there's about 130 something, 135 scriptures on, in Christ, in him, in whom. But there's only 35 that are really significant. So he said, "Now, if you want those scriptures to light up for you, you take the Ephesians 1 prayer and you pray that prayer every day, at least once a day, maybe twice a day, and you don't miss a day for at least six months". He said the first thing that'll happen is the Bible will become a different book to you. And he said, "If you'll pray that prayer, he said, now don't miss a day". And so I got the Ephesians 1 prayer and I put it on a card and I put King James on one side, Amplified on the backside. I carried it in my back pocket because I was 17 years old and I had bellbottom blue jeans and platform shoes and I had a big afro hairdo and I pulled that card out of my pocket at least twice a day. And I'd say, "Father God, I'm asking you that you give unto me the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God". So I prayed that prayer that the eyes of my understanding would be flooded with light, that I may know the hope of your calling. What is the riches of the glory of your inheritance in the saints. What is exceeding greatness of your power towards us who believe according to the working of your mighty power which you wrought in Christ, when you raised him from the dead and set him at your own right hand in heavenly places, far above all principalities and power and might, dominion and every name his name, not only in this world, but also that which is yet to come. Hath put all things unto his feet, gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body the fullness of him that fills all in all. Listen, I prayed that prayer twice a day, and the first thing that happened is the eyes of my heart. Now we know faith affects your hearing, your ears. But he said this revelation knowledge will affect your eyes or the way you see. You will start seeing things that you hadn't seen before. And so I'm praying that prayer, "Father God, I'm asking you, this is what I want," twice a day. Spirit of wisdom, revelation. He said three things that are going to happen. Number one is you're going to know the call of God, the high calling of God. Number two, the inheritance. And number three, the tremendous power which God released in Christ towards us who believe. So I saw there really is no power shortage. There is only a revelation shortage. In other words, man's greatest need, the believers greatest need according to Paul here, is for revelation, the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of God. So I thought my biggest problem in those days was dedication. I thought, well my dedicator breaks all the time. It does good on Sunday, but by Monday or Tuesday my dedicator is broke again. So I found out what Paul prayed here was not for dedication. He said, "I'm praying for the spirit of wisdom". It's a spiritual thing. It's a spiritual breakthrough.
— He did the same thing in the letter he wrote to the Colossians.
— Yeah, sure did, same thing. I pray that you be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Wisdom, as the Scripture says, is a principle thing... I don't know what the average is now, but it probably hasn't changed much. It's way, way, way up there. Far more college graduates fail than succeed, particularly at their field of education. Unless they go into medicine or something like that. And there is even some failure there, why? They don't have the wisdom to deal with the knowledge of what to do with it. So what did God tell Joshua? Meditate in my Word night and day and then you will observe to do all that is written there. So it's the foundation of all this. Is it to be revealed to you.
— So the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so the Lord said to me, "Every breakthrough in faith will come from a breakthrough in the spirit of wisdom and revelation". In other words, for your faith to grow and to go forward, then there must be a breakthrough in revelation knowledge. More than just information, revelation knowledge.
— Revealed knowledge.
— Revelation knowledge unlocked and really the greatest thing is just simply the desire that you know that's your greatest need. And you just say, "Father God, I'm asking you," so Dad Hagin said, "You stick with it for at least six months and don't stop and do it every day". Father God, I'm asking for the spirit of wisdom and revelation. I have to say it this way because, the first breakthrough I had, because I was raised in church, I know all the Bible stories. I mean, my dad's a great pastor and great preaching, but I didn't have this Ephesians 1. And so my first breakthrough was on a Friday night, me and some friends were studying the Word and we got out of Ephesians here and we're out, and we come to Ephesians 2:4, 5 and 6 and it says, "God who's rich in mercy for his great love where which he loves us. Even when we were dead in sins, he made us alive together with Christ and raised us up together with Christ and made us sit down together with him in heavenly places". Well, I was just 17, 18 years old, and I saw that happen. I saw myself made alive together with Christ, raised up far above with him, seated together with him in the same place of authority and blessings, seated together with Christ.
— With all things under our feet.
— Let me just tell you what the first thing I did. I laughed. I started laughing. I was in that meeting I went, whoo, I just saw myself raised up together with Christ, seated with him and the devil's way down there and I'm way up here. So really, the fight of faith, you don't fight it from down here.
— That's right.
— Come on, you take your place in Christ seated up there with him.
— So what happened? Faith came.
— Faith, just like that.
— Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.
— The repetition of that word and the revelation of that word.
— And your faith in your spirit picked you up there and put you there. So you could see it.
— I saw it.
— And when you saw it, you said something.
— I started laughing...
— He said, HA HA. There is a laugh that'll come out of your spirit, which means I'm not trying to get it. I'm not someday gonna get it. God's already done everything he's going to do about this for me in Christ and I took my place in Christ and I'm seated together with him and I'm looking down there and said, "Devil you lying dog you're way down there and I'm seated up here". And so taken that place. So revelation knowledge gave me a breakthrough. I like to say it this way cause the Lord explain it to me. Because years later I went to a Chinese restaurant, I suppose, and got me some sushi and some.. Japanese... I got sushi, and I got some of the green wasabi. And so you get the soy sauce, you put that green stuff in there. So the lady says, "Be careful of that green stuff". I said, "I'm from Texas I eat jalapeno peppers, I ain't afraid of no green stuff". So I got my sushi and then I dipped it and I put double wasabi on there. Man when I put it in my mouth, that wasabi, boom, hit me, went right to my head. I thought my brain was going to explode. I went, Wow, Wasabi! Well, while I was meditating on the Ephesians chapter 1 and 2, the Holy Spirit hit my brain like wasabi and it hit my... In other words, it brought such a radical change to my thinking from my perspective. I'm no longer down here trying to get victory or trying to get up there. I went "Wasabi", the anointing of the Holy Ghost hit my brain. The Spirit of Wisdom and Revelation opened my eyes. And I went, "Wow, I'm seated together with Christ in heavenly places". And so I begin to see the importance of what Dad Hagin would say, "Take your place in Christ". And then he would say, "The best way to study the Bible..." and there are many ways to study the Bible. He said, "The best way to study it, is go through Paul's letters, Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Colossians, go through Paul's letters every time you see the two words, in Christ, in him, in whom, circle or underline those two words, because that describes who you are and what you have, not what you're trying to be, not what you're someday going to be, but what God has already done for you in Christ". So I just followed his instruction. I just went through those scriptures in a circle and wrote them down. Then I looked them up in the Amplified Bible and other translations, and I had wasabi all the time.
— A wasabi experience.
— Man, the Word is alive. It's a living thing. And the spirit of wisdom and revelation really brings it from just being information, intellectual, to a spiritual power.
— Now, Mark, I had those kind of experiences in the seminars that we had years ago under Brother Hagin. Because Gloria and I both, when we were married and on purpose on Friday the 13th on purpose in 1962, and then she accepted the Lord Jesus in October and mine in the first week in November of that year, then in January, both of us received the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Didn't know anything. I mean, scriptural illiterates, both of us and anyway, but we got into those seminar right there at Oral Roberts University. And then those 10-day seminars that he had. And I remember the one that hit me, I mean it just set me on fire. First Thessalonians the 5th chapter. That your whole spirit and soul and body. Now of course my young life was in the Southern Baptist Church, they talked about the new birth all the time, but I never heard that and but they thought the soul and the spirit was all the same. A whole lot of Christians do. But that hit me. We were right there in one of those seminars, and I leaned over there to Gloria, I said, "This opens the whole Bible up. This is the key to the whole matter, right here. Spirit and soul and body". I am a spirit and I have a soul and I live in a body. That's set me free.
— Wow. You know, I went to Bible college, I went 4 years and graduated because I was lucky, not because I was smart, but I graduate from Bible college. And so studying Paul's letters or Paul's revelation, they said, "We could understand everything Paul writes," these theologians said, "if we could understand what the word Pneuma is", and the word Pneuma is the Greek word for spirit. "If we could figure out what the Pneuma is", cause Paul is always talking about the Spirit. And in Romans chapter 8, he uses the word spirit 20 times in one chapter. In other words, your answer, your victory, your deliverance, your blessing, your healing is all a spiritual thing, not just an intellectual, not a physical thing. And so the spirit of wisdom and revelation, in other words, a spiritual thing. "When I pray in the spirit, my spirit prays", Paul said. "And then the words", Jesus said, "I speak are Spirit". So Dad Hagin said, "Physical healing is spiritual". You receive it first with your spirit, and then it comes into your body. And so the spirit of wisdom and revelation is something that hits you in your spirit. The disciples when they were talking to Jesus on the road to Emmaus it said, "Our hearts were on fire while he's talking to us".
— They got born-again right there listening to him.
— I believe it.
— That's a spirit book. And it's a middle Eastern spirit book. And in order to appreciate it and receive the depth of it, you have to realize the problem that God had. His only way to fix it was through a series of blood agreements. That's something else, the biggest part... When it translated testament it kind of threw everybody off. I'm satisfied that the translators were trying to get over the fact that this is a testament. It is the will. The last will and testament of Jesus Christ which that's good. But that's a covenant.
— It's a covenant.
— And faith in these covenants is everything, to understand that they are blood covenants. And when you couple that like the prayer, the Ephesians 1 prayer, when you realize that blood paid for this. That's the reason it works. And you cannot separate the spiritual realm and the earthly realm. You can't, a spirit created the whole matter. So can't separate them. The world doesn't have a clue, but then, of course, that's our job.
— To me the Lord said something like this to me, he said, "The blood covenant", he said, "The two words, 'In Christ' are blood covenant terminology".
— Yes, it is.
— Everything God did in Christ. What happened on the cross, the death, burial, resurrection of Christ, everything God did in Christ. He did it for us set to the credit of our account, just like we were there. And so when you see what happened in Christ on the cross, through the blood...
— And to know the difference between the atoning blood of an animal and the remitting blood of Jesus. Because when you look up remission, it means like it never happened. And we're out of time. Oh, my, glory to God. But we'll be back in just a moment. Praise God, give the Lord a praise, thank You Lord Jesus. Hallelujah.