Kenneth Copeland - The Requirement for Manifestations of the Holy Spirit
Hello, everybody. I'm Kenneth Copeland. Once again, this is the Believer's Voice of Victory broadcast. Now, studying the manifestations of the Holy Spirit and prayer, all of the manifestations of the Spirit work together with prayer. And you'll find that the manifestations will overlap one another. But today, we're going to deal with something that has been misused. You know, the scripture says to rightly divide the Word of Truth. Well, one of the things you need to do when you rightly divide the Word of Truth is stay in the neighborhood. You don't jump out and say, well, see there? No. You go back and you stay in the neighborhood and you meditate these things because the Word will explain itself if you'll stay with it.
Now, there has been some... Charles Capps says you had to have help to misunderstand this book. And he said, we've had some high-priced help in the past. No, it's incomplete teaching and background of teaching through the eyes of a certain denomination or the way we do it or way they do it. But when I say stay in the neighborhood, you'll see here what I'm talking about. So let's go back over here now to the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians again. Then it begins to talk about the whole body of Christ. Now, that's important. So as you continue, in the 26th verse, it says, well, one member suffer, all the members suffer with it, and honor the other members, all the members rejoice with it.
"Now, you are of the body of Christ, members in particular, and God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers". After that, miracles, gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? No. Are all prophets? No. Are all teachers? No. Are all workers of miracles? No. All have gifts of healings? No. Do all speak with tongues? Oh... Now, this is talking about the ministry of tongues. He listed all nine of them, tongues and interpretation of tongues. Now, this is not talking about your prayer language. This is still concerning spiritual gifts. I would not have you uninformed. I would not have you ignorant of these things. So now he's going back over what he has just taught.
"Set some in the church, apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers. After that, miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues, different kinds of tongues". Are all apostles? No. Are all prophets? No. Are all teachers? No. Are all workers of miracles? No. Have all the gifts of healings? No. Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? He's referring to what he's just taught. Now, in another place, he said, forbid not, well, we'll see it in the 14th chapter. Don't forbid people to speak in tongues. "I speak in tongues more than all of you put together," one translation says. So you keep it in the neighborhood and you don't build a doctrine on one or two verses. Like I forbid women to speak in the church. Well, then it talks about when a woman prophesies, she's going to have to go outside? When you take all of that down and you get all of it put together, all of it put together, it has to do with the husband and the wife.
Now, back there in 1979, we were up at our prayer cabin and Gloria got up early. I was still in bed asleep and so were John and Kellie. And we'd just gone up there for a few days to rest and pray and get directions. Well, Gloria got up early and the Word of the Lord came to her. And the Lord said, "I want my people well. And I want you to tell people what you have learned about healing". Well, then she came to me and said, "What do you think about that"? I said, "Gloria, I think that is just absolutely wonderful". So then both of us began to pray about it. And that's when the Lord said, add a healing service in every meeting you do, every one of them. So Gloria did that for a year and she thought she'd done it. So she's through. The only time the Spirit of the Lord ever spoke to her through me like that was, and I didn't realize she decided that she had done, she wasn't going to do it. She hadn't said anything to me about it.
And Gloria, the Lord wants this Healing School to go until he returns. So what was all that? She received direction. I received a word of wisdom and ministered it to her. Well, women are not supposed to speak in the church. You talk about your wife and I'll talk about mine. Amen. The apostle Paul was talking about the body of Christ's chain of command, but you have to go back to all of his letters and put it all together. Anyway, let's get back to this. Now you come down, "Covet earnestly the best gifts, and yet I show unto you a more excellent way to covet that. Though I speak with the tongue of men and angels and have not loved, I am become as a sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal, though I have the gift of prophecy..." And see, he's going right back over the same thing he just got through with.
So see chapter 13, "I covet earnestly unto you a better way though..." He didn't write this thing in chapter and verse. So he hadn't changed the subject in it. He's right back where he was. And if you'll notice, well, not having love just wiped out all of those manifestation gifts that he's teaching in this letter. "Though I understand all mysteries and all knowledge and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not love, I'm nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, though I give my body to be burned and have not love, it profits me nothing".
Now, I want to read this. This is the Classic Amplified. "Eagerly pursue and seek and acquire this love, make it your aim". That's the 14th chapter. "If I can speak with the tongues of men and even angels, but have not love that reasoning intentional spiritual devotion such as inspired by God's love in us, I'm only a noisy kong and a clanging cymbal. If I have prophetic powers, the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose and understand all the secret truths and mysteries and possess all knowledge, if I have sufficient faith so that I can remove mountains, but have not love God's love in me, I'm nothing, a useless nobody". What does it mean? If I stand up in the middle of the congregation and give something out, it may be right and it may be a familiar spirit too. That's another study. Even if I dole out all I have to the poor in providing food, if I surrender my body to be burned or in order that I may glory, but have not God's love in me, I gain nothing.
Listen, "Love endures long and is patient and kind. Love is never envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vain glorious, does not display itself haughtily, is not conceited, arrogant and inflated with pride, is not rude unmannerly and does not act unbecomingly. Love, God's love in us does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking, it is not touchy or fretful or resentful, it takes no account of the evil done to it, it pays no attention to a suffered wrong. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when truth right and truth prevail. Love bears up under everything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, it endures everything without weakening, love never fails, never fades out or becomes obsolete or becomes to an end. As for prophecy, the gifts of interpreting the divine will will be fulfilled and pass away. As for tongues, it'll be destroyed and cease as for the knowledge".
Now we're not there yet, you go through and you begin to confess, I endure long, write it down and go over it and over it. Then every once in a while Gloria Jane started quoting that. Of course, she learned in the Amplified and she just quotes it. "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child, for now we're looking in a mirror that only dim and blurred reflection of reality in a riddle or enigma. And so faith, hope, love, abide. Faith, conviction and belief, respecting man's relation to God, divine things, hope, joyful and confident, expectation, eternal salvation, love, true affliction for God's glory and so forth. Eagerly pursue and seek to acquire this love, make it your great quest and earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual endowments and gifts, especially this you may prophesy".
See, it didn't pass away. He's still teaching. Now he spends this whole 14th chapter concerning the prayer tongue, concerning the ministry tongue and how to do it decently in order. But people have jumped around and said, see, see, passed away, passed away. You know when it's going to pass away? When we're out of here. When we no longer need apostles, prophets and evangelists, pastors and teachers. Yeah. Amen. Now it'll cease with me when I leave this body. Amen. And you're the same way. But until then, I'm going to talk in tongues every day and I'm going to wake up every day just like I do. Glory to God. One day closer to the resurrection. Hallelujah. One day closer to my birthday and one day closer to Christmas. And one day closer to the full, full manifestation of the prophet's ministry in my life. I'm standing for that. The full manifestation of it. Amen.
I learn more about it all the time. And before, before 2024, I went to the prayer cabin to find out what to do. Spent time up there and, uh, and just prayed and sought God. Amen. And forget the television. Don't turn anything on. Except if you're watching Victory Channel. But even then at a time like that, you spend time listening to the Lord. Spend time in it. Spend time in it. Read and praise and worship and thank God. And set up a routine, a way of life. And, I've done this for many, many years. I tell Gloria good night. And when you're married to your best friend, I mean, this is, this is important. And a lot of times we just, but I, you know, I enjoy her company and we spend time talking about different things and I'll just tell her good night, my love.
And, then the next thing I do before I shut my eyes, I love the Lord, my God, with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind and all my strength. I love my neighbor as myself, fulfilling all the law and the prophets. But in the 13th chapter of the book of John, the 34th verse, I give you a new commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. And all men will know you're my disciples by the way you love one another. And then, and only then I do it when I'm on the road, whenever I do, I call her on the phone and tell her good night and go through that every night, every night, every night. You wake up in the morning. This is my receiving day. Glory to God. One day closer to the resurrection.
Thank You, Jesus. You develop that kind of routine that is constant, continual communication with the Spirit of God. I just must not, I must not ever neglect to do that. That has developed over a period of years. And, again, you know, I mentioned earlier that they asked Smith Wigglesworth, I mean, the apostle of faith. I mean, miracles that are just magnificent. They asked him how long he prayed. He said, "Oh, about 15 minutes, but I rarely go 15 minutes without praying". And you dwell on these things.
Now, faith, hope, and love. These three, the greatest of these is love. Of course it is because God is love. And the same apostle said, the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy ghost. If he's in here, love is in here. Love created this universe. There's nowhere in the Bible where it said, God is power, but it says, God is love. And he uses his power in behalf of his human family. Glory to God. So we don't ever, ever want to set that aside. And you walk in this. "Now, follow after love and desire spiritual gifts, but rather that you may prophesy for he that speaks in an unknown tongue speaks unto men, but unto God for no man understands him. Howbeit in the Spirit, he speaks mysteries".
Now, Weymouth translation, I really like him. He said, he speaks divine mysteries, glory to God, a mystery between my Father and me. Thank You, Jesus. And Lord, I want to know, I want to know what I said here. Take the time to listen. "But he that prophesies speaks unto men". Listen now, this is simple prophecy. When you mentioned prophecy, people think, Oh, it's about the future, not simple prophecy. Look at this. "He that prophesies speaks unto men to edification, exhortation, and comfort". Edification to build up. You don't tear somebody down, build them up and exhort them and edify them, comfort them. Praise God. Thank You, Jesus. There are things that happen.
Well, I'm reminded now of the woman that came into one of our meetings. And she told me about this horrible car wreck where the car had been T-boned by somebody by some fast that it tore their car in half and her children were scattered out all over the place. And she said, "All of us were injured, but my husband, but he died. Why"? I don't know that. Well, here was the comfort. You continue to come. You and I will agree now, that's prayer, that the Spirit of God will reveal to you what happened. She said, that's good. Well, there was comfort right there. Now she's expectant. Well, I went, you know, I went into Mark 11 and you have what you say. And then I went to the different places, a woman with the issue of blood. And then she came to me. She had her answer. She received her answer through the teaching of this Word. She came up. She said, "Brother Copeland, I got it".
He went around and looked at all of us. And of course he was just, he was just brokenhearted and terrified. This was his family scattered all over the place. She said she had bones broken or her children were all beat up, but he was the only one that died. She said, he got down right all on top of me and said, "I am a dead man". Well, now how could that comfort anybody? It answered her question and it was answered out of the Word from Mark 11:22, 23, 24, and 25.
The woman with the issue of blood, she believed her heart and said it with her mouth. And I went over to David when he went after Goliath. I mean, he said it. Well, you could see what her question was. Then the devil would get in there and say, "God just let that happen to you to teach you something". No, she learned something, but she was comforted by the truth and the revelation of the Word. Amen. So continue now. I would that you all spoke with tongues. Oh, well, it hadn't passed away yet, has it? I would that you all spoke with tongues. Praise God. And we're out of time. He just keeps sticking that thing up when we get down to the good part, doesn't he? Okay. We'll be back in a few moments.