Kenneth Copeland - You Are Redeemed by Love
So now the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. No condemnation. Free from the law of sin and death. Walk not after the flesh. The Spirit that raised up Christ. He's the same yesterday, today and forever. Now, then, cursed is everyone that hangs upon a tree. So let's turn to the next book, Joshua. So now we only have two left of the originals. Joshua and Caleb, the men of faith. And Joshua said, "I'm now 84 years old and I'm stronger than I was 40 years ago when I got here. Give me that mountain". And Joshua was the one... He was to Moses what John was to Jesus. Joshua went everywhere he went. He'd follow him up the side of the mountain and go just as close as he could and just wait there for him.
And when Aaron did what he did and then lied about it, he said, "I don't know, we just threw that gold in there and that calf just jumped out". Well, you know, younger brothers they... while I'm at it, Moses did not stutter. The problem there, Moses was in that desert. Aaron never left Egypt. Now, Moses was raised speaking Egyptian, but he got off out there in that desert. And when he got back, you know, it would be after 40 years, you hadn't heard that language. So Aaron would talk for him and for a long time, I thought the man just stuttered. But he didn't. He stammered around at that Egyptian language, it had been so long since he heard it.
So now here's the book of Joshua. And oh, there's so much here. Then we found out that it was like God said when he talked to Rahab. "We have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did unto the two kings of the Amorites, that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og, whom ye utterly destroyed. And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the Lord your God, he is God in heaven above..." They had it won. They gave them 40 years to regroup and raise up another family that was not afraid of them. So now they had to fight their way through there. But it was just like God had said it would be had they come back with a good report and not moan and groan about that. But then that got them out of the desert.
Finally, the Lord said, I'm paraphrasing. "I've had all of that murmuring I'm going to take. You tell them all of them are going to die 20 years old and older". And 20 years old down, I'll build an army out of them, and he did and David came out of that. So let's go over here to the 8th chapter. Now remember, cursed is everyone that hangs on a tree, the 23rd verse, "And the king of Ai they took alive, and brought him to Joshua. And it came to pass, when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness wherein they chased them, and when they were all fallen on the edge of the sword, until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned unto Ai, and smote it with the edge of the sword.
And so it was, that all that fell that day, both of men and women, were twelve thousand, even all the men of Ai. For Joshua drew not his hand back, wherewith he stretched out the spear, until he had utterly destroyed all the inhabitants of Ai. Only the cattle and the spoil of that city Israel took for a prey unto themselves, according unto the Word of the Lord which he commanded Joshua. And Joshua burnt Ai, and made it an heap for ever, even a desolation unto this day. And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until eventide: and as soon as the sun was down, Joshua commanded that they should take his carcase down from the tree, and cast it at the entering of the gate of the city, and raise thereon a great heap of stones, that remaineth unto this day". He hung on a tree.
Now, verse 33. "And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, as well the stranger," and so forth and so on. "as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the Lord..." It happened right there, the king of Ai right there between those two mountains, hung on a tree right there in that place. Why is it so quiet in here? Right there in that place, Right there in that spot. They hung him on a tree and pierced him. Fell on a stake. That's where he died.
Now turn with me to Galatians chapter 3, verse 1, Chapter 1. "Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead; And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia: Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed".
Now, the word "faith" is used in this letter 20 times, in this little letter. And like I said earlier, sit down and read it. You might just get a clean Bible you haven't marked up and just sit down and just read it. It's a letter and get the New King James where the thee's and thou's are gone. You can't keep from marking it up. Now, chapter 3, verse 2. "This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? If it be yet in vain. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached... the scripture preached..."
It'll preach to you today if you'll meditate it and study it, it'll talk to you. "The scripture preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for the just shall live by faith. And the law is not of faith: but the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:" Ai, the king of Ai was the example.
Now I'm telling you that was the picture of Jesus being hung on that tree and pierced with a stake. And what did they do to Ai? They burned it to the ground. Smile. Read the back of the Book, we win, you know, come on. You go back to Revelation where he said, "The End" and we'll be there one day. We'll be there one day I'm telling you, I'll tell you what excites me is when Jesus sat down there and his said, "A spirit has not flesh and bone as you see me have. Do you have anything to eat"? And he sat down and he ate some fish and a honeycomb. So his body worked just as well as it ever did before. It just didn't have any blood in it. The glory of God was flowing through his veins. And you and I are going to be considerably better looking without all these scars and all this beat up stuff, I tell you I got scars all over me and sometimes I just look at them and think, that was stupid.
Now I got over into archery and I still am... And boy, I'm telling you if my forefathers would of have the thing like I have now, it'd been a different story, maybe. Now the other guys would of still had all the guns but anyway, you know but I just had a long bow and I'd take it part of the way to school with me and then pick it up on the way back home. And I had a little quiver with me and I was out in the backyard and I was practicing with it. I just happen to see that scars is the reason I thought... and I had an arrow that was cracked and I didn't know it. And I pulled it up there and let it go. The arrow broke and a piece of it went through my thumb right there. And it was just sticking out here. Daddy! And he came out and blood just going all over my hand, he said, "Well, it's not too bad". I said, "Really"?
Well it went in this way, went got the pliers and something he could peel off like here like that and just pull it all the way the rest of the way through. Well... okay... it worked out okay. Well, then, okay, well, I stayed with that and got into archery competition but oh... I got me a Benjamin Pump, BB gun. I'm telling you, pump that thing up about six or eight times. So my dad had put up with me, man, he'd come home. I said, "Come on, I got my new Benjamin Pump". Okay, get in the car. So we got out into the country there, wasn't anything that would land and stop on a post, I'd shoot at it you know, particularly field larks, they're yellow and had a little target right in front of them, poor birds got around me.
So I was sitting there and it had a safety on it. My dad said, "Put that safety down". "Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I do that. Bounce along there..." I said, "Daddy, I shot myself". He said, "Well is it bad"? Well yes it's bad. He said, "Okay, let's go see Doctor Adams". Well that BB was almost through the skin on top of my arm. I could see it and I thought, "Well, this is not going to be any big deal". It didn't hurt, I didn't feel it, but it went through that muscle sticking out up here. So I went and Doctor Adam's laughed, I didn't appreciate that too much. He's over there and got a scalpel you know and that BB just popped out. I said, "Give me that". No, he said, "That's nasty".
Okay, so he got some gauze. I wasn't liking the looks of this. Well what does this have to do with the message? Not much. Had I obeyed my dad, I wouldn't have been in that doctor's office. Had they obeyed God in the first place. So he strung that gauze up in that hole and he just poured alcohol on each end of the gauze and seesawed it back up and down in there. I was doing all right up until then... Come on, he pulled it out and put another one in there and left it. This is not looking good. The life of A.W. Copeland... I mean every time he came home is was something. And so he said, "You come back and see me, you know, in a few days," whatever it was...
So went back over there. Well, what now? And so I got over there and so he just yanked it out... and he put another one in there and he seesawed that one, I said, "What are you doing"? He said, "Kenneth, that BB's nasty and greasy". I said, "I don't care what it was, it's gone". Disobedience, it's a terrible thing. He put another string in there. And then when I went over there the last time, you know, he put another one in there and seesawed it around and cleaned it out and put a little band-aid on each side. I've been band-aided, man... Cut and falling down... The obedience to God. Very careful obedience to the one that loved you more than his own life is precious. He is love personified.
Nowhere in the Bible says he's power. It does say he is love and he's complete, total, absolute goodness, no badness, no darkness in him. He's not a man that he should lie, the son of man that he should repent. But when the son of man came, he could lie and refused to. That's what makes him so important. Lived a sinless life and went to hell so we don't have to go. Our substitute, our substitute. He went to hell so we don't have to. He was made sick so we don't have to be. We were made the righteousness of God in him. We had no righteousness of our own, right standing with him. And you walk with him and learn him and listen to him. And you look back over the years and you began to realize. He has given me everything that I really desired in my life.
This little book of Galatians, "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for me, for it is written, cursed is every one that hangs on a tree". Deuteronomy 21:23. "And if a man have committed a sin worthy of death, and he be to be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; for he that is hanged is accursed of God; that thy land be not defiled, which the Lord thy God giveth thee for an inheritance".
You cannot separate spiritual law from physical law. It is tied inevitably together. And so all of these things were said. And then that happened to Jesus. So now here we are again, why? We read the blessing. Now any time that I conduct a wedding or any time Pastor George conducts one or we do one together, which we've done a number, the bride and groom, once they're married, then I serve communion to both of them for the first time in their lives as man and wife. And then I go to there and read the blessing. This is the blessing of Abraham on this new household. Hallelujah.
And there it is now, notice here it is. "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a curse for us, for it is written cursed as ever one that hangs on a tree so that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith, of what the Spirit promised to Abraham..." through faith.
"Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto. Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ". My my, come on down here. Verse 26, "For you all are the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, or in Christ then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise".
Oh my. I have no way to count the times over the years. Many, many, many, many years. Many, many, many, many times. No, that's under the curse, you can't put that on me. Don't even think you can. It's just part of our vocabulary. Amen... Is part of our vocabulary. No devil, you can't do it. Christ redeemed me from that. No, he redeemed me of that. That's a curse of the law. Get it off of me. And when that little place on my hand there was diagnosed malignant, that's the first thing then I went, "No, no, no, no, you, you". And when they said malignant. So that's a name. So read the book of Philippians. It has to bow its knee to the name of Jesus because God highly exalted him and gave him his name, which is above every name that's named, Heaven and Earth and under the Earth, we're redeemed.