Kenneth Copeland - You Can Have a Life Worth Living
I want to go over to the 90th and the 91st Psalm. So both these Psalms are about Moses. Prayer of Moses, a man of God. It's a prayer. It wasn't a song. It was a prayer. But it is in the Psalms. "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God. Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men. For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night. Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up. In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth. For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled. Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance. For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told. The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knoweth the power of thine anger"?
Look at Numbers 14:26. Now they kept saying we're going to die in this desert. He brought us out here to kill us. "And the Lord spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, How long shall I bear with this evil congregation, which murmur against me? I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me. Say unto them, As truly as I live, saith the Lord, as ye have spoken in mine ears, so will I do to you: Your carcases shall fall in this wilderness; and all that were numbered of you, according to your whole number, from twenty years old and upward which have murmured against me. Doubtless ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware to make you dwell therein, except Caleb and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, which ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have despised. But as for you, your carcases, they shall fall in this wilderness".
So anybody older than 20, it was over. Now it didn't mean they went to hell. They just didn't get into that land. They went into the bosom of Abraham. They were his people, but they're covenant people and they kept saying it. They kept saying it. So he had to do what they said. And in doing so, he raised up an army of people that were born there. They didn't have any fear of that wilderness is all they'd known all of their lives and he built an army out of them. So people mistook that to be the span of life, 70 or 80. It never has been the span of life. Anybody have an Amplified copy here this morning. This psalm is credited to Moses, who is interceding with God to remove the curse which made it necessary for every Israelite over twenty years of age (when they rebelled against God at Kadesh-barnea) to die before reaching the Promised Land. Moses says most of them are dying at seventy.
This number has often been mistaken as a set span of life for all mankind. It was not intended to refer to anyone except those Israelites under the curse during that particular forty years. Seventy years never has been the average span of life for humanity. When Jacob, the father of the twelve tribes, lived to be 130, he complained that he had not attained to the years of his immediate ancestors. Moses himself lived to be 120. Aaron 123. Miriam several years older, and Joshua 110. Note as well that in the Millennium a person dying at 100 will still be thought a child. And the devil sold that bill of goods... Sold it to my mother. God didn't say that. You have to go back to Genesis 6:3 to find out what he said about it. So then when you follow that, that's first mention. So as you come across then all of the food laws were in the light of living 120 years.
"So with long life, I'll satisfy you". What? 120 years. I looked up, and show him my salvation. I looked that up in the Blue Letter Bible. In the Hebrew it says, "Show them my victory". Victory over all this. He is a God that is victorious. Praise God somebody. All right, we're winding down here. "Yet is their strength labour and sorrow; Labour and sorrow. Labour and sorrow. Now... Thank You, Jesus. Thank You, Lord Jesus". Yes. Matthew 8:16. Matthew 12:15, Matthew 19:2, Mark 6:56, Mark 4:38 to 40, Luke 6:17 to 19, Luke 9:10 to 11, said Jesus healed them all. But now you have to qualify that. All those he healed believed it.
Turn with me again to Luke 4. We talked about this yesterday. "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord." and he closed the book. He preached that everywhere he went, he healed them all. But now go to Mark 6. "And he went out from thence, and came into his own country; and his disciples follow him. And when the Sabbath day was come, 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"?
Well, there's James. There's Judah. Amen. We read from James a while ago. "And are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. But Jesus, said unto them, 'A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin.' And he could there". He could there. Not wouldn't, he couldn't... "And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them". One translation said minor ailments. "And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching". That is the cure for unbelief. But he couldn't do it there, so he didn't heal everybody. So when it says he healed them all, then it was all that believed it. Then in great multitudes. Come on, people, we don't even have a tiny multitude in here.
Now we do online. A lot of people. But think about it. All of them jammed in out there at once. There's no telling who was in that crowd. Nobody was born again. I mean, they might have stolen something the night before, but they were in that crowd and the good news healed them. The Gospel of the Kingdom. He would say, "The Kingdom is near. The Kingdom is here. The Kingdom is here". Well they'd been taught about the King of the universe. Hallelujah. The Gospel of the Kingdom. And in many cases in those multitudes, they all were healed. Praise God, he marvelled because of their unbelief. What is unbelief? It's not non-belief. There's no such thing as non-belief. Everybody in here this morning is believing something while I'm talking. His tie is crooked or something. That's the reason the devil will do his best to distract people. But non-belief doesn't exist. Unbelief is a choice. Unbelief is a choice.
Someone chooses not to believe that for whatever reason. I don't believe that. And faith and unbelief are... there are... So simple people don't... judging other people, it's so simple that people don't understand it now days. It's so different in this... I think I'll go to the store. You think you'll go. Well, there could be any kind of thing get in your way of going to the store. You haven't made a decision yet. Well, I believe I'll go to the store. In fact, I'm going to go at 10:00 this morning. I need to go to the store. You're going to the store. You've made a decision and you put that decision into motion. Faith is that simple. But the decision is based on the book. Amen.
Well, I need to fast for a few days, and you're about to eat the biggest meals you have ever had. Oh but that looks so good. I think I'll fast tomorrow. Yes, you're not going to fast tomorrow. And long as you keep using the word fast, the devil will see to it that you pig out every day. But when you get on your knees and you write down the time of the fast and while you're fasting, you don't fast to change God, you fast to change you, you take command of your flesh. There must be a reason for the fast and you go before the Lord, and you state that reason and you write it down. Let the weak say I am strong. He is my strength. Make my feet true and fair. This was a fast that I was going into that the Lord led me into, and I still carry those words with me. He said, "I put mine in words. You write your word down". He said, "You based it on my Word, I'll honor your written word," amen. And great things happen to me at that time. Now... Thank You, Jesus. Yes. A life worth living.
Now we go to First Corinthians 15. "So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written," It is written. Say it is written. "Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ". He's a victory God. He gives us the victory over the grave. He gives us the victory over death. Glory to God. It's the last enemy shall be put under our feet. But actually, it's put under our feet now while we are here. Well, what about when we get to eternity? We're in eternity. Eternity starts now. Eternity for you started this morning when you woke up. Amen. Take that, adopt that kind of attitude. Amen. We're one day closer to the resurrection today. Amen, this is our healing day.
Like little Willie Phelps said, "I'm supposed to be healed today". Brother Roberts said the anointing had lifted from him and he was so tired, he said, "I don't know about that, I just know I'm supposed to be healed today". And he was, grew up to be a powerful man of God. Thank You, Jesus. June the 28th, 1980, midnight. While I was worshiping Jesus, his presence filled my spirit and he began speaking to me. He ministered to me, and then began answering questions for me about some things that I had prayed about. Stand up right on your feet. I commission you to lay hands on the sick with a special anointing. And there were some other parts of it. Will you go to only one if I ask you to? And I agreed to that. And then just a short time... this is 1980, a short time after that. You know who the Lindsays are, Christ for the Nations? Gordon had gone on to be with the Lord, but Freda was still here. Her daughter was in Israel, and her daughter had sent word, "I need Kenneth".
Now I went before the Lord and I said, "You want me to go"? Yes. "Lord", I said, "That's 9000 miles". He said, "What if it was Kellie"? I'm gone. Now there were other things that happened on that trip that's neither here nor there, but I went and was able to minister to her and brought her into a peace and into a place of victory in her life and with her husband and her ministry and so forth... Lay these hands on the sick. No sickness or disease shall be able to stand before you. Your words shall be my words. Your thoughts shall be my thoughts, receive my anointing. I held on to this until I heard from the Lord. Now, it didn't mean I hadn't laid hands on the sick. I did. But on the 12th day of February, that was activated. That's the reason I carried it until now. Hallelujah.
So the anointing has increased. "Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen. And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature". And we're doing that. Our presence is on five continents, praise God forevermore. "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be condemned. And these signs..." This is his signature. "These signs shall 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; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them..."
Notice "them" is in italics, "working with and confirming the Word with signs following". Glory to God. Hallelujah. Now the healing mercy and the healing glory of God has been flowing in here all morning long. I want you to just raise both hands and be very bold about it. Thank you. Say this:
The Gospel that I have heard is the power of God unto my salvation. I confess Jesus Christ Lord over my life. Spirit, soul and body. I receive the power of God to make me sound, whole, delivered, saved, healed, now. I act on the Word of God. I receive the power of God. Sickness, disease and pain. I resist you in the name of Jesus. Sickness, weakness and pain, you are not the will of God. I enforce the Word of God on you. I will not tolerate you in my life. Leave my presence now. I will never allow you back. My days of sickness and disease are over. I am the saved. I am the healed.