Kenneth Copeland - A Faith Review
We're going to have a faith review tonight. This is increased day. I want to remind you of something. Prayer does not make faith work. Faith makes prayer work. You cannot have a faith review without Mark 11:23, and 24, and 25. So, would you open there, please? "And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry. Seeing a fig tree afar off, having leaves, he came, if happily he might find anything thereon. And when he came to it, found nothing but leaves, for the time of figs was not yet". Notice, yet is in italics. Jesus answered and said unto it. I mean, the man's gone to talking to trees. But I want you to notice this. "Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter forever. His disciples heard it". So he wasn't quiet about it. "And they came to Jerusalem. Jesus went into the temple and began to cast out them that sold, bought in the temple and overthrew it".
Now notice, he went in there the day before and walked around. I'm not so sure they even knew he was there. But he slept on it. And then went over there the next morning. "They came to Jerusalem and Jesus went into the temple, began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, overthrew the tables of the money changers and the seats of them that sold doves, that would not suffer any man to carry any vessel through the temple. He taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations, the house of prayer, and you've made it a den of thieves? The scribes and chief priests heard and sought how they might destroy him. But they feared him because all the people were astonished at his doctrine. When evening was come, he went out of the city. And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots".
He just said, "Nobody's going to eat anything off you forever". That fig tree could still be standing there, and there'd never be another fig on it. But it went to the root of the problem. And he said it. "Jesus answering, saith unto them, Have faith in God". Have the God, the faith of God. Have the faith of God. "For verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall say..." It's a whosoever thing. "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." And then he put it into motion himself. "Therefore I say unto you, 'What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them'".
When? When you feel it? No, when you pray. Believe it. Right then. It's mine. "And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have ought against any, that your Father also, which is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses". Now, "And seeing in the distance a fig tree covered with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it. For the fig tree, the fruit appears at the same time of the leaves. But when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for the fig season had not yet come". So what happened here? The fig season hadn't come, but the leaves had. That was a disobedient tree.
Now, in the garden, uninformed artists have her eating an apple. There is no mention of an apple in that garden. They covered themselves with fig leaves. So the tree was a fig tree. Duh. And listen, with these eyes, I saw a beautiful artist and they were just bragging on it, just bragging on it. And she's standing there with an apple in her hand, and she and her husband both had belly buttons. Really? No. If there's anything, he had a scar on his side. But you know he didn't because the Lord closed him back up. And when God does surgery on it, but then that's where she came from. No wonder she was fine looking. She's handmade. Made by Elohim. A heavenly woman. Oh, man.
So, now that we've seen that, that footnote helps. Of course, that's not in the King James. It just says that fig season wasn't yet. But this says why. So it was a disobedient tree. And the fig trees that I've seen in this country, you know, the kind of bushes, not in the Middle East. These things make great big trees. Now then, turn to Romans 4:16. Remember, any time you find the word promise, that's a blood sworn oath. "Therefore it is of faith that it might be by grace. To the end the promise might be sure to all the seed, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations before him and like him, whom he believed even God, who quickeneth the dead and calleth those things that be not as though they were".
That's Romans 4:16 and 17. Romans 4, of course, Chris's going to put it up there on the screen. "Therefore, inheriting the promises of the outcome of faith depends entirely on faith in order that it might be given as an act of grace, unmerited favor, to make it stable and valid and guaranteed to all his descendants. Not only of the devotees in adherence of the law, but also to those who share the faith of Abraham, who is thus the father of us all. As it is written, I have made you the father of many nations. He was appointed our father in the sight of God in whom he believed who gives life to the dead and speaks of things, non-existent things that he has foretold and promised as if they already existed". Hallelujah. Like one man said, if that doesn't set you on fire, your wood's wet.
Now, the great faith chapter in the 11th chapter of Hebrews. In the 10th chapter, verse 38, "Now the just shall live by faith, but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition, but of them who believe to the saving of the soul. Now, faith is the substance of things hoped for. Now the just shall live by faith. My righteous servant shall live by his conviction, respecting man's relationship to God and divine things, and holy fervor born of faith, conjoined with it, and if he draws back and shrinks in fear, my soul has no delight and pleasure in him. But our way is not that of those who draw back to eternal misery, perdition, and are utterly destroyed, but we are of those who believe, who cleave to, trust in, rely on God through Jesus Christ the Messiah, and by faith preserve the soul".
Now, remember this, class. Words are spiritual containers. In any language, regardless of knowledge, one way or the other. Jesus said, "You're justified by your words. You're condemned by your words, and you stand judgment for every idle word that you speak". What is an idle word? Well, I'll tell you, that just scared me to death. No, it didn't. You're still walking around. Well, you know what I mean. No, I don't know what you mean. Yeah, I do, because it used to be that way. It's a habit. When you said, it scared me to life. Makes sense. And John and Kellie, and we're just playing around the house, and they've gotten a pretty good size, and I jumped out from behind the door, and they, "Ooh, daddy, daddy, daddy".
And the Lord, on the inside of me, said, "What are you doing? Who do you think you are? I said, Fear not, and you're frightening your children. Don't you ever do that again, and don't you ever let them go to a scary movie. You keep them out of there. You get them in the habit of laughing at fear, and something will come along and not all that funny". And there was one man, every time he'd leave, he'd say, "Well, I'll see y'all later if a train don't hit me". A train hit his car and liked to kill him. Idle words. Jesus said, "Let your word be yes and no. Anything else is evil".
So you develop new habits. Use Bible words. There's a lot of good words in there. Isn't this magnificent? It's the work of the Lord, and it's marvelous in my eyes. Awesome. Wonderful. Or hoopty-doo. But at least that's not idle. It just doesn't mean anything. I have a favorite one that I text. Yee-haw. But then I'm from West Texas. All caps, of course. With three little red heart explanation points. Of course, I'm a one-finger texter. Uh-oh. Takes me a while. Forget it. I'll just call you. All right. Well, you see this on the screen. Now faith is. If it isn't now, it's still hope. And the apostle Paul wrote by the Spirit of God, these three abide, faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love. I have heard it. Don't get your hopes up. Oh, don't get your hopes up. It might not happen. I have an answer for that. At least that's not idle.
Hope is the blueprint for faith. You better get it up. Brother Hagin said that the Lord told him it's hope like your grandparents are coming. Well, I understood that. Because my grandparents live 300 miles away. We lived in Abilene. And they had a farm in Fielton and then went to church in Littlefield. But every once in a while, my mother would say, "Meemaw and Papa are coming tomorrow". Oh boy. Oh boy. Every time I'd hear a car. What? I'm expecting. I'm expecting. And these things are relative. My dad would say, "Kenneth, got to get up early in the morning. We're going to go fishing".
Now, I don't know whether we're going to Kirby or Fort Fathom, but we hadn't much rain and Kirby's kind of a shallow lake. We'll probably drive on over to Fort Fathom Hill. What'd I do that night? I got my fishing tackle out. Got it all by the door. Got everything placed just right. And wake up in the night and check it. Going fishing with my dad in the morning. And he'd come in and say, "Kenneth, in the morning, I want you to mow the yard. But you don't have to do both of them. You can mow the backyard the next day". I didn't get up. I didn't wake up. I didn't want to wake up. I hate that lawnmower. My grandfather said, "Well, I'll tell you one thing. That young man, he's very brave. He'll lay down right by the side of a job or work and go to sleep. You're really strong".
We were out there one day and West Texas dirt get hot in the bottom of my boots, my toes would curl up. So he wanted me to go help him in the field when he's out there hoeing weeds and goat heads and stuff out and getting pile them up. And there was a Spanish guy and my grandfather just take that, just swing it, cut the stuff, just walk about like I'm walking now. Well, he had lapped us. And he said, "When does that old man fall down"? I don't know. I said, "Papa, how come you can just outwork us all"? He said, "Because you don't set your jaw boy". In other words, you didn't intend to start with. He's right. Bottom of my feet hurt. I'm going to the house. All of these things have spiritual application. Early on, I was thinking about that and I set my jaw to learn faith and study it and dig into it. It is a spiritual force.
Now listen to this. "Now faith is the assurance, the confirmation, the title deed of the things we hope for, being the proof of things we do not see and the conviction of their reality". Faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses. For by faith, trust and holy fervor born of faith, the men of old and divine testimony borne to them and obtained a good report. Confirmation. The title deed. Oh, not just the substance. It is the title deed. Glory to God. Can you see what it's saying? I own it. If I can see it with my hope, that's the blueprint and find the scripture. It's mine. I own it. I believe I receive it. It's mine. Hallelujah. I own it. I have a biblical deed.
If you know real Bible hope, most people hope is wish. You're going to get healed this morning? I sure hope so, Brother Copeland. I sure wish I would know. But someone else will say, yes. I came here hoping to receive. I expect to. I fully expect to. I was in a prayer line one time. I walked up to this man and I said, "What's the problem"? He said, "I've got this right here". No, it's on this side. "I've got this right here". I said, "You know, by Jesus stripes you're healed". "No, I'm not". I got it right here. I said, "The Bible says by his stripes you were healed". "I know it says that". "Well, you're healed". "No, I'm not".
And so the Lord said, "Tell him he never will be". I said, "I'm going to ask you one more time. Do you believe you're healed"? "No, I don't". I said, "You never will be". "Just what do you mean I never will be"? "Because you're not giving God anything to work with. You have to believe it before you get it". Isn't that what Mark 11 says? So I just read it to him. Believe you receive. You're trying to feel it. Well, yeah, it hurts. And I said something like, well, forget it then. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I believe I receive it. It's mine. I said, "That's better". I laid hands on him. I want you to know. Boom. Our God knocked him down and he got up and he said, "Brother, I see what you mean".