Kenneth Copeland - Through Christ, You Can Do All Things
Now let's look at Jesus in the fourth chapter of the book of Luke. Always remember that Luke's gospel is a documentary written to Theopolis, along with the book of Acts. And in the fourth chapter of the book of Luke, Jesus had to go through the temptations that Adam failed. Turn these stones into bread. And he defeated him with, it is written. It is also written. And we need to understand that that's the way we need to win our wars. It is written. So, and Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit. Now he had always been, I mean, he was born of the Spirit. But when he was baptized in the Jordan by John, the Spirit of God opened John's eyes. And he saw the Spirit of God actually come on him and he described it as a dove landing on him. The Spirit within and the Spirit upon. The Spirit within and the Spirit upon. That's what happened on the day of Pentecost. But it happened here to Jesus in the Jordan River when John baptized him.
Now watch Jesus. He came back from temptation in the power. Read and study all that. When he came into Nazareth that day, I expect he didn't look all that good. He hadn't eaten in six weeks. And then the scripture said he hungered. Well, of course he did. Starvation set in and that's when the devil came at him and said, "Eat something". "Showed him all the kingdoms of the world. Said, 'bow down before me and worship me. And they're yours.'" They were already his. He created them. In the beginning God, in the beginning Elohim, plural. Let us make man in our image. So here we are. "And he came to Nazareth".
Now, why did he live in Nazareth? Because it was prophesied that he would be called a Nazarene. Well, he was not under a Nazarite vow. Samson was, but he was not. But he had to live in Nazareth in order to be called a Nazarene. Little bitty town. Little agricultural town. 120 people to 150. Well, everybody there knew him. They knew him since he's two. The Spirit of the Lord. "There was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened up the book, he found the place where it was written. 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. Because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, and to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.' He closed the book, gave it again to the minister, and sat down. The eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, 'This day...'" now that's what made them mad.
"'This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears.' And all bare him witness and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth. And they said, 'Is not this Joseph's son?'" No, it wasn't Joseph's son. "And he said unto them, 'You will surely say unto me this proverb: Physician, heal yourself. Whatsoever you have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in your country.' And he said, 'Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country.'" Now here he calls himself a prophet. He was raised here. We know him. We know all of his kinfolks. "But I tell you of a truth, many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when heaven was shut up three years and six months, and great famine was throughout all the land. But unto none of them was Elias save unto Sarepta, a city of Sidon, unto a woman that was a widow. And many lepers were in Israel at the time of Eliseus the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian. And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath".
Here he's called himself a prophet. He's saying he's the great Jubilee. And he has compared himself to Elijah and Elisha. And he said it was today. Let's kill him. They didn't even think. They just got so mad. Who does he think he is? He thinks he found himself in the book of Isaiah. Amen. And he did. "And they were filled with wrath and rose up and thrust him out of the city, led him to the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way and came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee, and taught them on the Sabbath day. And they were astonished at his doctrine, for his word was with power".
His word was anointing. The Spirit of God is upon me, for he has anointed me. Well, it's the same Spirit. And in John's record of that night, it's the most extensive. 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 chapters of John was all in that last Passover meal. It's all in there about the coming of the Holy Spirit and the power in his name and so forth. It's all recorded there. So put yourself in that place. And then we go to the book of Philippians, which is a Partner Letter. Thank You, Lord Jesus. Thank You, Lord. Every one of these, just Galatians 3, the scripture foreseeing preached to Abraham, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. The book of Ephesians, covenant books, full armor of God.
Now, this, the little town of Philippi was a Roman garrison town. And if you remember in the book of Acts, the apostle Paul was there with Silas. And at midnight, midnight in a dungeon, they were praying, singing, and praising God. And the power of God hit that jail and shook it. It was not a natural earthquake. It was the power of God shaking that place and it shook it so violently that all of the shackles and chains fell off the prisoners' hands and feet. And the two of them had been beat nearly to death. That was at Philippi. And then you can see it here in this letter to the pastor of that church. The pastor of this church was that jailer. Amen. So he dressed their wounds and took them home with them and he was saved, he and all of his house. And then they found out that they were Roman citizens and they were whipped and chained without a trial. Oh, would you tell them to go their way? And Paul said, "No, no, no. You won't come down here and apologize to me".
I love it. I'm telling you, I am so looking forward to meeting this man. No, no, no. He said, "You just come, you just come tell me goodbye. My God liked to tore your prison up and you can just come down here and apologize to me". And they did. Now this is a Partner Letter. "Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ. All the saints of Jesus, which are at Philippi with the bishops and deacons, grace be unto you and peace from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God upon every remembrance of you always and every prayer of mine for you making all requests with joy for your fellowship". Now in Luke 5:1, that same word is translated partnership. So make a note of that.
Luke 5:1. "For your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this very thing that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ. Even as it is right for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart as much as in my bonds and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. You are all partakers of my grace". Did you get that? You're partakers of my grace. That's a key phrase. You are a partaker of my grace. "For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus or in the depth and Spirit of Jesus Christ. This I pray for you, love may abound" and so forth.
Now, verse 19, "I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and through your supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. According to my earnest expectation and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but with all boldness always. So now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life or death for me to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labor. Yet what I shall choose, I know not for I'm in a strait betwixt two having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful of you".
And this is a Partner Letter. He didn't write this in the time it takes you to read it. I believe he made that decision while he's writing the letter. He's just sitting there thinking. He used the word joy 19 times in this book. And he's in one of the worst prisons you could be in at the time. And he's thinking, let's die and get out of here. But if I do that, I can't minister to these people. And you'll see why in a moment. Well, it's, you know, it's a letter. So just sit down and read all of it. And we're going to get into some of it tonight. Oh, that 10th verse of the third chapter, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his death.
If by any means I might attain to the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained either or already perfect, but I follow after. If that I may apprehend that for which also I'm apprehended of Christ. Brethren, I count myself not to have apprehended, but... Notice this and I do are in italics. "I count myself not to have apprehended, but one thing. Forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forth for those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in the anointed one Christ Jesus and in his anointing". Powerful man.
Now you come through into this fourth chapter. "I know both how to be abased. I know how to abound". I know how. I learned it from God. And all the stuff I've been through. I know how. He didn't say sometimes I am or sometimes I'm not. "I know how to be abased. I know how to abound everywhere and in all things. I am instructed both to be full, to be hungry, both to abound, to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me". I can do it. Through the anointed one and his anointing. I'm going to say it again. Christ is not Jesus' last name. It's not a title. It's what he preached. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me. That's what Christ means. Anointed. It is the Greek translation of the word Messiah. So there in his hometown, he has just sat there and called himself Messiah. Ah, but Bartimaeus. We'll talk about him tomorrow. What did he do? Son of David.
And Jesus had already asked in the book of Matthew. The Christ, who shall he be called? They said, the son of David. Son of David, do hesed for me. Son of David. They said, no, no, no, no. Jesus stopped. Bartimaeus called on the covenant. King James says, mercy. Son of David. Messiah. Have mercy on me. Do hesed for me. He stopped and said, "Send him to me". He could not do anything else. The Syrophoenician woman said that. Son of David. She got his attention. She had no covenant, but she stepped over into your and my time. He called her a dog. She said, yes, Lord. But the dogs get the crumbs at the master's table. He said, "Woman. Great is your faith. For that saying, go home". Your daughter's healed.
Well, her daughter was vexed of a spirit. She was demon possessed. She went home. She's all right. The power of his Word. So here it is. Verse 15. "Now you Philippians know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I departed Macedonia, no church communicated with me as concerning giving and receiving, but you only. For even in Thessalonica, you sent once again on my necessity. Not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. But I have all and abound. I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell and a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God".
Nobody partnered with him. All the rest of them just took care of him while he was there, but then forgot him, I guess, when he left town. This one is the only one. This prison church. So grateful. In my bonds. And all those guys are thinking about their backs and how they'd been whipped. And that jailer that could have been killed for letting the prisoners escape. And they helped him everywhere he went. "Even in Thessalonica, you sent once again unto my necessity. Not because I desire a gift, but I desire fruit that may abound to your account. I have all and abound. I'm full. Having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odor of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, well pleasing to God. But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus". That is an exceeding precious covenant promise. And it's as good today as it was back then. Hallelujah.