Kenneth Copeland - Jesus Gave You His Authority Over Death
Hello, I'm Kenneth Copeland, and I'm so stirred up over all of this. I'll tell you, and like the man said, if this doesn't set you on fire, your wood's wet. Amen.
So Father, we thank You today for revealing these things to us, and we give You praise and honor. We glorify You, and we praise and honor the name of Jesus. Holy Spirit, we humble ourselves before You, and we thank You for doing the things that the Son of the Living God said You would do when You come, and You've been here all these years. And we thank You and praise You, Father, in Jesus' name. Amen.
Now, let's open our Bibles to 1 Timothy 3:16, 15th verse. Now, let's open our Bibles to 1 Timothy 3:16, 15th verse. "But if I tarry long, thou mayest know that thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth". Jesus said, "You know the truth, and the truth will make you free". Then he said, "I am the truth and the way, and no man comes to the Father except by me". But then the Father said, "Anyone that comes unto me, I will for no reason cast him out".
Thank You, Jesus. Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. "Without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit". He was manifest in the flesh, but justified in the Spirit. This is when he went to the cross and raised up the mystery, believed on, and received up into glory. Classic Amplified.
"Great and important and weighty, we confess, is the hidden truth, the mystic secret of godliness. He, God, was made visible in human flesh, justified and vindicated in the Holy Spirit, was seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and taken up into glory". Now, Hebrews chapter one. Thank You, Jesus. Verse one. Now, let me remind you again, class. This is talking about, this is referring to Jesus. The Lord just gave me another direction. We'll go there.
"God, who at sundry time and in different manners spoke in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory, and express image of his person, upholding all things by the Word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, and sat down on the right hand of Majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels, as he has by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they".
And we inherited the excellent name. Oh, Lord Jesus. Great and important and weighty, we confess, is the hidden truth, the mystic secret of godliness. Now, I read this a moment ago, but I want this to really soak in. He, God, made visible in human flesh. That goes back to Philippians chapter two. God highly exalted him and gave him his name. That's another lesson. Thank You, Jesus.
Now, Hebrews chapter one. "In many separate revelations, each of which set forth a portion of the truth. And in different ways, God spoke of old to our forefathers and by the prophets. But in these last of these days, he has spoken to us in the person of a Son, in whom he appointed heir and lawful owner of all things. Also, by and through whom he created the worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time, he made, produced, and built, and created, arranged them in order. He is sole expression of the glory of God, the light being, he outraying of radiance of the divine. And he is the perfect imprint and very image of God's nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by his mighty Word of power. When he had, by offering himself, accomplished our cleansing of sins and riddance of guilt, he sat down at the right hand of my divine Majesty on high".
12, "Like a mantle thrown about one's self, you will roll them up and they will be changed and replaced by others. But you remain the same and your years will never, nor ever come to failure". These are the words that God used when he raised him from the dead. Now I'm going to take the Classic Amplified and go to the 22nd Psalm. My God, my God. Now listen, he's hanging on the cross. He said, "No man takes my life from me. I have the power to take it up or lay it down". And they were surprised that he was dead so quickly. Well, he did it. They didn't kill him.
"My God, my God, why have thou forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me? And from the words of my groaning. Oh my God, I cried in the daytime, but you answer not. I might put silent or find no rest, but you alone, oh you who are dwell in the holy place where the praises of Israel are offered. Our fathers trusted in you. They leaned on and relied on you and confident you delivered them. They cried unto you and delivered and trusted in, leaned on".
Now let's just... you can read all the way through this. "Be not far from me. Trouble is near. There's none to help. Many foes like bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have hedged me in. Against me they opened their mouth wide and their ravening and roaring lion. I'm poured out like water. My bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax. It is softened and anguished and melted down within me. My strength is dried up like a fragment of clay pottery. With thirst, my tongue cleansed my jaws and you have brought me the dust of death. Like a pack of dogs, they have encompassed me in a company of evildoers and crucified me. They pierced my hands and my feet".
David wrote this. "They pierced my hands and my feet. I can count my bones. The evildoers gaze at me. They part my clothing among themselves and cast lots for my raiment". Now see what I mean? He was not poor. I mean, they wanted his clothes. I mean, they gambled to get it. It was so fine. "They part my clothing among them and cast lots for my raiment. A long shirt like garment, a seamless under tunic". Ouch. That's expensive.
"Be not far from me, oh Lord, my help. Hasten and deliver my life from the sword. My dear life, my only one from the power of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth. You've answered me from the horns and wild oxen. I will declare your name to my brethren in the midst of the congregation will I praise you. You who fear, revere, and worship the Lord, praise him. All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him. Fear, revere, and worship him all the offspring of Israel".
Now isn't it amazing how he used both words there at the same time? Jacob who became Israel. But Jacob did something that was very, very, very important. He didn't give up. He loved Rachel, but he got Leah. But he didn't give up. He had no idea at the time that he was giving birth to the 12 tribes of Israel. Therefore, his name was changed to Israel. But it's used both here.
And 26th verse, "The poor and afflicted shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise the Lord. They who diligently seek for and inquire of for him and require him as a greatest need. May your hearts be quick and nine forever. All the ends of the earth shall remember and return to the Lord. And all the families and nations shall bow down and worship you. For the kingship and the kingdom of the Lord's, and he is ruler over the nations. All the mighty ones upon the earth shall eat in thanksgiving and worship and go down in dust, shall bow before him. Even he who cannot keep himself alive. Posterity will serve him. They shall tell of the Lord to the next generation. They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people to be born. He has done it. That is, it is finished".
David, the prophet, saw these things in the Spirit. They were not in heaven. They were in paradise. An area in the upper regions protected by God. You can see it. Jesus said there was a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus, and he went into hell and he looked up and saw father Abraham. And father Abraham said, "Son, remember," so your memory is not in your brain. It is in your spirit. And he's in hell remembering and he's there today. And so is Judas. Well, how do we know that? Jesus said, "Woe to is the man that betrays me".
And in the garden, he called him friend. He could have repented, but he hung himself in that condition. He committed suicide and doomed himself forever. When he could have, Jesus gave him that opportunity to repent. He didn't do it. He did it for money. And then he went in and threw it back. I'm convinced that he thought Jesus would just turn around and walk away like he always had before. But they didn't know, have any idea. He'd been telling them all along about the cross, but they didn't get it. They didn't have a clue. And I want to remind you of this, Class.
Now this will get you excited like I am. Check it out in the book of Luke. He was, he could not have been more than 10 or 20 steps from the cross itself. And he stopped and turned around and ministered to the women. He's only steps away, but his ministry was still alive. It's in the book of Luke. And he turned around and ministered to them. And he couldn't have been, I don't know, because I don't know the distances, but he was there. He was already there. His cross was either on his shoulder or Simeon's shoulder. And he stopped and turned and ministered to those women right up to and after death.
Now, one thing that is super, I can't, my head doesn't get this, but the book says it. Here he is. Here he is. He said, "A spirit hath not flesh and bone as you see me have". No blood. His blood is in the heavenly mercy seat in heaven. But what most people don't realize, he said to Mary, "Don't touch me. Don't touch me. You go tell them. I go to my Father and your Father". He went in, it's in the book of Hebrews, and he cleansed all of the heavenly utensils of worship. Adam's treason had to be fixed. It went all up through, but not including the throne of God. It was so massive. It was the first one. It started it all. But then God fixed that for him and killed an animal and made clothes for them. But they're there.
But Jesus had to go in there and cleanse all the heavenly utensils of worship with his blood. Came back and said... he just appeared there. Just came in, the door's being shut. 20th chapter of John. And he said, "Handle me, flesh and bone as you see me have". And he sat down and he ate with them. Well, he doesn't look like glass. You can't see through him. He's a man. The only difference is in his veins is the glory of God. We're headed there. We will be called the glorified ones. We're headed there. Amen. We're no longer flesh and blood. The glorified ones. But our body function is the same. And the differences are magnificent. Then you see him on the island. Fish on the grill.
May I ask you something, class? Where did he get the fish? Whosoever shall say unto these fish, come here. And they obeyed him. I'm adding that little fish that, I'm glad I didn't get to make the big load, but I made it this time. Now, my dad, A.W. Copeland. Oh, what a man. He would say something like, "Kenneth, let's go get some dead chicken and put it in the ministry". I mean, I said, "Okay, Dad, let's go".
And that was my dad. But he was a highly honorable man. Hallelujah. Well, I won't go there, but maybe later. Thank You, Father. We're so close. Every day when I get up, I did it this morning. I said, "Glory to God, one day closer to the resurrection". Every day. Every day. I'm one day closer to the resurrection. And today is my receiving day. Praise God. I'm reminded of little Willie Phelps. How much time? Just time to give this. And Brother Roberts came out and he was waiting for him, he and his mother. And he looked up and said, "Are you Oral Roberts"? He said, "Yes, I am".
I can just see him saying that. I'll tell you why. He said, "I'm supposed to be healed today". He said, "Well, son, the anointing is lifted". He said, "I don't know what I know about that, but I'm supposed to be healed today". He said, "Well, if you'll do the believing, I'll do the praying". And his mother was holding him. His legs just didn't work. Richard told me this is the greatest miracle that happened in their ministry of the whole time. And this was before I was there. He laid hands on him and little Willie Phelps just jumped down and ran off. His legs worked. Glory to God.
The reason I know what it sounded like, we came in late one night and Kellie walked up to him and said, "Do you love Jesus"? My daughter, you know, my oldest daughter, in case those don't know. Well, you should know by now. He said, yes, I do. Why? She said, "If you love Jesus, you'd share your toys". He said, okay. She said, "If you'd let my daddy borrow your airplane, I could go home and see my nanny". Oh, we're out of time. But from that time on, Kellie could do no wrong in Oral Roberts' sight. Has this been a good study or what? Give the Lord a praise. Hallelujah. Thank You, Jesus.