Kenneth Copeland - A Fully Persuaded Faith
Now I'm talking about the fundamentals of faith. So let's get back over there to this. And we'll begin again tonight with Romans 3:27. And then I want to go to Romans 4, "Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay: but by the law of faith". Galatians 5:6 says faith works by love. And so that's the way it works. But these are fundamentals, these are the fundamentals. World War II. Gentlemen, this is an airplane. Yeah. Right. Now, hang on with me. How many of you in here fly? We're going to enjoy this together.
So for a moment here I am your initial instructor. This is an airplane. This is a propeller. It is called a propeller because it propels, this is fundamental and this is the leading edge. So follow me now. Leading edge of the wing. This, of course, is the wing tip. And this is the aileron. Of course, all of you know what an aileron is. Oh, what around? An aileron. Well, this is the empennage, the fuselage and this is the empennage. So we'll come back here. This is the horizontal stabilizer. This is the elevator. You mean an airplane has an elevator? Sweetheart, how do you think the thing went up and down?
These are fundamentals. This is the vertical stabilizer connected to that is the rudder. We come around the other side of the airplane and you'll find that it is essentially the same. But now we have to deal with torque and to take off, you're going to have to hold a little right rudder because the propeller is going this way and the airplane wants to go that way. So a little right rudder and you keep it straight down the runway. I have just described to you how 747 flies. It's just a little different in its size. But the basic fundamentals are just simply this: lift over drag. So you have to have lift to overcome the drag. And you have the cord of the wing.
And as the relative wind comes over the wing, it creates a high and low pressure system. The low pressure tries to get to the high because the physics says that this air has to meet here exactly at the same time. So as the airplane gets faster, then the pressure changes. And that pressure is trying to get her and it starts picking it up. And once you're off the ground, the faster you get, the easier it is to go faster. So in the Spirit you get the drag off of you, the sin which so easily beset us. Amen. And get in the Spirit and get a little lift here. Amen.
The fundamentals of an airplane, there are fundamentals in faith because God is the God of fundamentals. He has a book of destiny. And if you listen to him, he will have you at the right place at the right time. If you give him the praise and the glory, he will see to it of your divine health. Because in his book of destinies, sickness and disease are not there. It isn't there. No, the devil injected that in there. So we walk by faith and we stay there. And faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. And we stay there continually and constantly all the time.
Now, let's go to the book of Romans here. I'm going to show you something in the fourth chapter. And look at this in the 16th verse. "Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise..." Now, remember, these are blood covenant promises. "The promise might be sure to all the seed;" that the promise is sure to all the seed, "not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, As it is written," What did Jesus say to the devil? It is written. It is also written. It is written. That's what's big about this book.
"As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations," I have a little number 1 there, "before or like unto him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification".
Glory to God. That's a fundamental of faith. You want to know what the fundamental is about that? It is written. It is written. It is written. It is written. Hallelujah. And the things that people went through to get this put together in one piece, people died to get this book into our hands. A devil did everything he could to stop it. And he found that he couldn't stop it. So he just started trying to twist it. It is written. Now I'll give you scriptures. Believe it in your heart. Then say it with your mouth.
Now I want to turn to Mark 11:22 through 25, but we're going to settle something here. Mark 11:22. "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God" or have the faith of God. "For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive, if ye have ought against any: that your Father also which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses".
Well, Brother Copeland, that was a spiritual mountain in a spiritual fig tree. No, it wasn't. Let's turn to Matthew 21. Smart aleck. Brother Hagin, You know, nobody, nobody in Tennessee would be that dumb. Matthew 21:21. Okay. "Jesus answered and said unto them," now listen. "Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it".
What did he say? Think about that in your mind. Ask and what? What's the next one? Knock. Ask. Seek Knock. A-S-K It's kind of like a crossword puzzle. It says it across this way. Then it says it down that way. He knows what we need before we ask, but we have to ask. But ask in faith, nothing wavering. Well, now that we brought that up, the Lord brought it up. Let's go to the book of James, the half brother of Jesus. Praise God, turn to the book of Hebrews and turn right. "James, a servant 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;"
Now, actually. Well, let me read that in this. Thank You, Jesus. "James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered abroad among the Gentiles in the dispersion: Greetings rejoice! Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience".
I wrote a book one time, Patience and faith. The Power Twins. Well, patience is not well, let's put up with it. No, it's endurance and it's the way to look at it. "Count it all joy, ha ha ha when ye fall into divers tests and trials, knowing this," say I know it. "That the trying of your faith worketh patience, endurance. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect, mature and entire, wanting nothing". Isn't that good? "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. Listen. 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. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways".
A double-minded man. Praise God. Let him ask in faith. So when we came in the office that day and we Gloria and I made our petition for that $5,000, so I did it. She and I did this. We went to those scriptures. So here again, we went to Mark 11 and Mark 11:24. And everything you desire when you pray... and I said, "Gloria, let's get it. Let's go to the Amplified and get this". Oh I love it. Mark 11 "For this reason I am telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe, trust and be confident that it is granted to you, and you will get it". Granted. Grant. We're going to make us a heavenly grant here. Oh, yea. Okay. And that's right. Okay. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Thank You, Lord. John...
Now, this is in The Last Supper of John 16. Jesus, help me. We need to find that... John 16:23 I'm putting together a petition here about faith. Oh, yeah, 23rd verse. I'm on my knees in front of my dad's chair. In fact, I still have my on a little New Testament. It just came out in the New Testament first. I still have both of them, the little New Testament and then the fat one that was both the New Testament and the full Bible. Yeah, there it is. Oh, listen to this. "And when that time comes, you will ask nothing of Me, you will need to ask Me no questions. I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, that My Father will grant you whatever you ask in My Name" so we wrote us out an Heavenly grant.
And we still do it today. We do it in our board meetings, don't we, Jerry? I mean, we have a heavenly grant. And when Dave Middlebrook, our lawyer, graduated, ORU... And he puts it all in, he puts all the whereas is in there, and everybody signs them. Hallelujah. Heavenly grants and petitions. Now that is a fundamental of faith and I was praying and I said, "Lord, well I don't understand. I need to do these things". He said, "Write these things down. You have my written Word. You write yours down. I'll honor yours".
Well, I still carry this, double strength. There's number three. He is my strength, that the weak say I am strong. I have saving strength and when I'm down, praise God, wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. Mount up with wings as eagles. Run, the Lord is my strength and shield. The Lord is my strength and saving. Praise God and the devil. I forgive. I hold nothing at all against anyone. According to First John, I received my forgiveness and total cleansing from all sin, my sins are completely blotted out and gone. Satan, you're bound, take authority over every principality in power. And I wrote all these things down because in 1983 I set aside the month of January and I fasted that month and properly.
And when I came off of that fast, I heard the Lord say there's coming a spiritual storm. He said, "I have been manifested as the cloud. I have been manifested as the rain. I have been manifested as lightning". Well, there's a scripture that says lightning like a flash has come out of his hands. There is a hiding place of his power but he said not all at one time. He said there's coming a move of God in the United States. It's going to hit it like a storm. Well, our next meeting was Fresno, California, and I thought it was going to hit then. Well, it did to a degree. Well, I just kept saying it. Brother Hagin just kept saying it. We just kept saying it. We just kept saying it. We just kept saying it. Just kept saying it.
Well, in the seventies, it did. It hit. But then, you know, oh, Lord God, we needed to happen again. And there was a movie came out, the Jesus Revolution, at the same time that Asbury hit. And it's not over yet and ORU sent a team down there and I mean, everybody else sent a team down there to get in on that. What's this country coming to? Jesus! It belongs to him. That's fundamental. Hallelujah. Praise God. So now let's go back here and look at this now. In Mark 11. "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. And when ye stand praying, forgive if ye have ought against any:"
So faith won't work in an unforgiving heart. Now I want to go to... we did Romans 4:17 calling things that'd be not, being fully persuaded. Let's talk about being fully persuaded. Why was Abraham fully persuaded? He had a blood covenant with God in his own blood at 100 years old the same day. Now, I don't know what kind of cutting instruments they had, I don't even want to think about it. I'm not but 86 and give me 15 more years and then come up. No, no, man. Just get out of my side. No, no, don't. Don't bring that flint rock anywhere close to me. He shed his own blood. He's swelled up. He went through all of that. He was fully persuaded. Fully persuaded.
He had a covenant. A blood covenant with the Almighty God. He appeared to him and he fell on his face before him. And he talked to him. Hallelujah, entered covenant and changed his name. Hallelujah. And he just simply said, "Old woman, you don't count, old man, you don't count. Only what God said counts". When he was still Abram and went against three kings, just armed his own household. But it was the first time anybody ever fought at night. And he said, "Never let it be said, any man made Abram rich, but Almighty God" and he raised his hand to him. Never let it be said anybody made Abram rich, but Almighty God. Hallelujah.