Kenneth Copeland - Be Strong And Courageous In The Lord
Welcome, everybody, to Friday's edition of the Believer's Voice of Victory broadcast. And we are going to have a magnificent weekend and come back and talk about faith. Ha-ha-ha-ha. We're going to start this year on faith. Amen. All right. We don't judge anything by the way we feel. The fact that the Spirit of God is in here, now, sometimes feelings come, but feelings are fickle. You feel one way, one way. Well, I sure feel like God heard me. Well, how does that feel? Uh, well, I just had goosebumps all over me. You going to base your healing on a goosebump? The goosebumps will go away and you'll come back tomorrow and say, "Well, I don't guess I got anything". Why? I just don't feel like it.
Well, I've experienced, back in the day, I didn't see any different than that either. I thought, well, you know, how is she going to get it? In the book, these are blood covenants. It starts off with the blood of animals. And here was God's whole idea. God is not in the business of people dying. He is life. And He is not in the business of wanting people to die because of sin. He said, "Take from the animals. Kill the animal, not the man". And then through circumcision. And then, then began the animal sacrifices, particularly the lamb on the Passover. That's what Passover was. Take a lamb. And so what did John the Baptist say? "Behold, the lamb of God". That's where all that came from. And you need to be necessarily knowledgeable of what all went before because everything, once a prophet by the Spirit of God said something into the earth, there's no way the devil could get it out.
The fact that Jesus was in Nazareth was because it said He would be a Nazarene, not because He had a Nazarite vow. That was prophesied. And then Micah, old Bethlehem Ephrathath. There's one coming. 715 years later, Jesus was born in Bethlehem. So that Word by that prophet controlled armies to get down to the exact second that He was to be born into this earth. It is that exact with God. One before and it's too early. One second later and it's late. My dad used to tell me, "Kenneth, you tell somebody you're going to be there at two o'clock, be there at five till. And if you're not going to be there, call somebody and let them know. Because the minute you're late, you're lied".
I learned that from him. But that's where he got it. It's where he received it. So in the first covenant, it's in two parts, as you know, the blood of animals, then the blood of men through circumcision. And it's all the sacrifices. Then when Isaac was born, a supernatural child, supernatural child. The Lord told him to sacrifice him. So Abraham just did it. He took the boy and the sacrificial wood and so forth. And you remember what he said to the helper? The lad and I will be back. We'll be back. But he went through with it. Read it in the book of Hebrews. He raised the knife and that angel stayed his hand. And there was a ram stuck in a thicket. And he sacrificed the lamb instead of that boy. Why? Because our good God, our Jehovah, our peace, the long suffering God, knew that the day would come when his only begotten Son would say, "If there be any way, take this cup from me". He couldn't. His covenant partner was willing to do it. He couldn't back away. He literally had to turn his face to keep from seeing it.
But all of it had been prophesied. Every word of it. That he would be born in Bethlehem. That he would be in Nazareth because it was said that my son would come, be called a Nazarene. Wasn't because he was on a Nazarite vow. Samson was. That's a Nazarite vow. But because he came from Nazareth. Now then, I want us to open our Bibles here. We can't do anything but feeling. So go to Deuteronomy, the 31st chapter, verse six. "Be strong and of a good courage. Fear not, nor be afraid of them. For the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee. He will not fail you, nor forsake you". You've heard people say, "Well, that's God forsaken". That's blasphemous. He's never forsaken anybody. Nor has he forsaken any country. People have forsaken him or just too ignorant of his ways or just don't know him at all. Well, now that's first covenant. Let's go to second and last covenant.
In Hebrews 13, "Let brotherly love continue. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares". I can tell you about that. "Remember them that are in bonds as free with them and them that suffer adversity as being yourselves also in the body. Marriage is honorable in all the bed undefiled, but whoremongers, adulterers, God will judge. Let your conversation, let your character be without covetousness. Be content with such things as you have, for he has said, I will never leave you nor forsake you, so that we may boldly say, the Lord is my help". See that? See what he did? He took what was written and he said, because of that, we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper and I'll not fear what men can do to me. He took what was written and put it in his own mouth and wrote it.
Now go to the book of Joshua. Moses has departed the earth. "Now after the death of Moses, the servant of God, it'll come to pass the Lord spoke unto Joshua, son of Nun, Moses' minister saying, Moses, my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan now and all this people unto the land, which I do give to them every place" and so forth. How's he getting this? He's hearing it in the Spirit. He knew Moses was dead. He was there. Now he took over. He was one of the spies, he and Caleb. Now listen to this. See what I said? Listen to it. You can hear these words, but you know, you hear people thinking pictures. So if I say D-O-G, what's that? Your dog, big dog, little dog. It could have been depend on God. Ouch. So it would be a time to inquire, are you talking about me or depend on God? Or do you have a pet that you're... to which you are referring? You are so picky. Yes, I am. Because I live by my thoughts and my words and I didn't used to know that. Amen.
So I have a ball cap that says D-O-G. It has a picture of a dog on there and it says depend on God. So you can't trust your mind to just assume what that meant. That's a good illustration. And now look at the eighth verse. "This book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth, but you shall meditate, meditate therein day and night that you may observe to do according to all that is written therein for then you shall make your way prosperous. Then you shall have good success. Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of good courage, be not afraid". Where did he get that? I just read it to you in Deuteronomy 31. That's cross-referenced. Well, who wrote that? Moses. He wrote the first five books. And then that's where Joshua took over from there. So feelings don't have anything to do with this. You be courageous. Don't... I'm just paraphrasing this.
Now, the last time he was over there, there were giants over there. Well, so what? They said, "We are grasshoppers in their sight". How'd they know that? So it was the grasshoppers that kept them out, not the giants. Feeling, seeing, fear. Class, there were 2 million of them. Who's going to stand up against 2 million people coming at you? Caleb came back and said, "We are well able. Give me that mountain. These 40 years, I'm over 80 years old now. Give me that mountain. Let's fight this thing". Joshua was there. Those two went into the Promised Land. They were the combat soldiers of the day. Now, think about his mind. The last time he was over there, those giants were there. But now as you read on, now listen to this. In the second chapter, and Joshua sent two men to spy, secretly saying, now, he didn't send 12. He just sent two. He'd been through that. And he and Caleb were the only one. And a woman took the two men and hid them. And Rahab, and they came, the woman took the two men and hid them.
"Then it came men unto me, but I wish not whence they were. And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate, when it was dark, the men went out, whither the men went, I don't know. Pursue after them quickly, for you overtake them. She had brought them up to the roof of the house, and hid them with the stalks of flax, which had been laid in order upon the roof. And the men pursued after them the way to Jordan unto the fords. And as they, which pursued after them were gone out, they shut the gate". Now listen. "And before they were laid down, she came up to them on the roof, and she said to the men, I know that the Lord had given you the land, that your terror is fallen upon us. And all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea".
All the giants and everybody else had heard that. That was the time, that was the time to strike. And it cost them 40 years. And the last time they praised God was after they got and that water came back and drowned Pharaoh and all of his people. But she said... I'm paraphrasing, "Where have you been"? Our hearts fainted on account of you. We heard what your God did at the Red Sea. The devil hoodwinked that whole bunch. They could have gone in there, you know, without firing a shot. It was only 11 days walk. And they roamed around out there for 40 years. Had they obeyed God through Moses? You get it? Feelings. We can't do it. Oh, we can't do it. Oh, we'll never do it. Oh, we can't do it. Oh, we can't do it. Oh, we can't do it.
Well, in the 90th Psalm, that's where the 70 or 80 came from. He wasn't saying, this is the lifespan of people. Would you turn that to the 90th Psalm? Is that your Amplified? Good. This Psalm is credited to Moses who is interceding with God to remove the curse, which was necessary for every Israelite over 20 years of age when they rebelled against God at Kadesh Barnea to die before reaching the Promised Land. That's Numbers 14:26 through 25. Moses, most of them were dying at the age of 70 years of age. This number has been mistaken as a set span of life for all mankind. It's not intended to refer to anyone except those Israelites under the curse during that particular 40 years, 70 years, never has been the average span of life for humanity.
Jacob, the father of 12 tribes, lived to be 130. He complained he had not attained the years of his immediate ancestors. In fact, Moses lived to be 120. Aaron, 123. Miriam, several years old. Or Joshua, 110. Note as well in the millennium, a person dying at 100 will still be thought as a child. Isaiah 65:20. How many people have had the idea? Well, when that's all you believe for. And Brother Hagin would say that. Well, you know, he's only promised us 70 or 80 years. And then Keith Moore pointed that out, and he picked it up. But he said, in the 91st Psalm, which is credited to Moses, with long life, he'll satisfy you and show you his salvation. So Brother Hagin said, "When I go, you'll know I was satisfied". Well, he had such a supernatural life to begin with. He was born so premature. And he preached night and day. But he was satisfied.
Came home from a meeting, and Jerry Horton would come over and fix breakfast for he and Oretha. She fixed him a second bowl of strawberries and cream. He looked over to Oretha and smiled, and... 86 years old. Praise God. He was satisfied. And Ken Jr. called me, and he told me about it, and told me when going home service was going to be. Then he called me back. He said, "Kenneth, his heart won't quit beating". Well, that is a supernatural heart. God gave him a new heart. And he said, "He's gone, but his heart keeps beating". I said, "Let me pray in the Spirit, and I'll call you back". And I prayed there. I thought I knew anyway. And I called him back later on that afternoon. I said, "Ken, you and the family are going to have to go down there to that hospital and turn that heart off by faith, because it's a faith heart to start with". He said, "I knew that. I just didn't want to do it".
So they went down there and took Mark 11:22, 23, 24, and 25, which started his heart in the first place. Stood over him with their Bible, laid hands on them, and spoke to his heart, and it beat a few more times and stopped. That's right. Praise God. Forevermore. Thank You, Jesus. So it's in the pages of this book. And she literally said, "Where have you been"? Rahab the harlot. And the Bible continues to let us know that it's Rahab the harlot. But you better be careful about the way you talk about her. She's Jesus' great-great-grandmother. Ha-ha-ha. Yeah. But even in the book of Hebrews, to let us all know, it's the world that cannot take the word harlot, but God changed it. She became a woman of God. She's a faith woman, and she's in the book of Hebrews. Hallelujah.
Now, about angels. My mother's younger brother, his name was Floyd Russell Owens. And he wouldn't wear anything but blue overalls. I guess I must have inherited that. Blue is my favorite color. Anyway, my Uncle Bud nicknamed everybody. And he called him P. K. Edelman Boy Blue. So he went as Pete Owens all the rest of his life. There was another young man there that lived and farmed in that same community. And he was skinny and had a long neck. And Bud called him Turkey Neck Shepherd. He went by Turk Shepherd all the days of his life. And when he passed, I said, "Dad, do you have any idea what Turk Shepherd's first name was"? He said, "I have no idea". I told you that because my uncle rolled off of the highway in a brand-new Studebaker and went down into this valley. He's a powerful man. He picked up the back end of the car one time, but my mother had changed the tire. And it landed on top of him. And a woman came up there and said, "Pete, everything's going to be all right. Somebody's going to be here to help you in just a little while". When they got him out of that car, he couldn't find her. Angels unaware. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Now my uncle Bud paid the supreme sacrifice in World War II. We're out of time. We'll be back in just a moment, everybody.