Kenneth Copeland - Command Authority Is Delegated Authority
Hello, everybody. I'm Kenneth Copeland, and I'm stirred up, praise God. I'm stirred up about this whole business, man. There's a lot to be stirred up about. And for those of you that are not familiar with our broadcast, this is Professor Greg Stephens in Kenneth Copeland Bible College. And we are very grateful for him and for his life and for his service to this country in the military. Praise God. And he was in during war. And I was in in 1957. And they're just kind of between wars. But I want us to look today.../b]
[b]Father, we thank You. Oh, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for the command authority for a follower of Jesus Christ, the authority of the believer. But it's not just the passive believer. It's authority that must be used. And we thank You for the anointing to deliver it. And we praise You for it in the mighty name of Jesus, for that is command authority weapon right there, that name, which is above every name that's named. Glory to God forevermore.
Now then, in Matthew, we're this great message. And it starts as you flow from chapter six and all the way through. And he began to give parables and so forth. But the 29th verse, for he taught them as one having authority and not as one of the scribes. Well, now, this is Professor Doodad's take on it. And this is a teacher, Flingbong, and he's over here on this idea. But we're kind of in the middle. How do you kind of be anything? That word, I don't like it. Well, I'd kind of like to go. What do you mean you kind of like to go?
Jesus said, "Let your word be yes or no". You want to go or not? Well, I kind of don't know. I guess no authority in that a bit. And of course, I had to learn these things over the years. And the Lord corrected me on a lot of things, be specific about things. And he was very specific about what he taught because he wrote the book to start with. And we're talking about delegated authority. Now, when I was in the army, already had orders cut for Governors Island, New York, with a 10 day delay in route.
But, you know, I had that record going. I sat down there and they had a soldier that died with the flu. And so, oh, and it stirred up a lot of people. But every chief cook in Fort Gordon, Georgia, was squeezing orange juice to get the vitamin C and aspirin. That was the big thing about it. And kill it. The government didn't go into lockdown. And it was an epidemic all over the United States.
— They didn't shut your church down?
— No, no, no. President didn't get involved. President Eisenhower, he knew better to get involved in something like that.
— But he had authority as a General.
— He knew better. And because of him, we have our freeway system today because he saw the autobahn...
— Germany
— ...in Europe. Now, I swore an oath. So did he to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic not as the scribes, because they had authority and didn't use it. Oh, listen, I mean, don't take away from them because they spent hours and hours and hours and hours copying the Word and writing out the scrolls and doing all of that. But they wrote it out and didn't pay any attention to what they were writing. That was their job, would you say?
— That's right. And they couldn't make a mistake. They were very, to this day... I mean, everything has to add up, go up and down, backwards and forwards, number of words on the page, number of jots and tittles. The whole thing has to be exactly perfect. But in their search for perfection, they missed the perfect Lamb of God standing in front of them.
— Now, here's an example. Judge not that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. Now, y'all try not to judge not. Y'all try not to do that. That's kind of bad. You don't want to be doing that. But if you do, everything will be all right. We don't want to hold it against you unless you do it three or four times in a row. He didn't do that. He commanded them, you judge not that you be not judged. Hallelujah. Yes, Lord. Let's go to the sixth chapter of the book of Luke. Luke 6. Now, in my King James Bible, on the 27th verse, there is a paragraph marker. That's a thought marker. "But I say unto you which hear, love your enemies, do good to them that hate you". He didn't say try to do it. These are command orders. And I said before, I had orders cut for Governors Island, New York. But we had that terrible breakout of flu there at Fort Gordon, Georgia. And for those of you that don't know military terms, if it's a fort, it is a permanent installation. Fort Bliss, Fort Worth, was a permanent installation. It was a command post at one time. That's where the city got its name. And Fort Campbell, Kentucky. This is Fort Gordon, Georgia. It's a very old command post. Goes way back. But during World War II in Abilene, they had Camp Barkley. It was temporary. It was a temporary training facility. All this has to do with authority. Somebody gave the command to do that. And when that paper came out, I read my orders. I read my orders. Now, I want to show you something about Gloria's dad. I brought this with me this morning. Look at that. You see him grinning? Ha ha ha Now, this is black and white.
— Well, I can read that picture, that little diamond in those stripes.
— It made him a sergeant major in combat. He didn't have to wally around about it. His name was Wallace, but he didn't have to wally around. Everybody called him Babe Neece because he's a good baseball player. This, three rockers up and three rockers down with a diamond in the middle is sergeant major. The next rank is second lieutenant. Two hash marks, four years. This braid under his arm is blue. It's blue combat infantry braid that says a lot. When he put it on, oh yeah. You didn't salute him, but you better straighten up around him because he can flat tell you what to do. When he does, you have to do it. In many cases, let's turn that around to where you can see him. In many cases, if you lost an officer, he can come right straight to sergeant Neece. Now, sergeant, I'm new in this command. What do you suggest that I do? Well, he would suggest to the captain what to do. The captain, if he had any sense to do it...
— ...would listen to him.
— Highly disciplined.
— The guys who've been with him and the new recruits coming in, the replacements, they're going to listen to him. I don't mean this disrespectful. They're going to listen to him more than they'll listen to a second lieutenant or a first lieutenant that just came from the academy or ROTC. They're going to listen to that guy right there because he knows everything. Like you said, a new officer will listen to him as well because he has those men.
— When he sees that blue braid under his arm, and of course, he wore that for the picture. You didn't wear that...
— No, not in combat.
— ...in combat. Right over here is a little infantry badge with a rival on a field of blue. He was in the first infantry division, the Big Red One, the nasty red one. I read his MOT, his mustering out card that listed his rank. I read his MOT, his mustering out card that listed his rank. Now, when he had that card, it released him from military duty. The North African campaign, which meant he fought Rommel. The Battle of the Ardennes or the Battle of the Bulge. He was under Patton there for a while. There is a strong, strong likelihood that he knew Olin Creech, Carolyn's dad, because he was there and he was in the first infantry division. They very well knew one another. Obviously, he had this rank by the time they got that far. Olin might've been under his command. Under his what?
— Command.
— He had the authority. He had the authority. That authority was given to him by the United States government, coming down through the president of the United States and coming all the way down the chain of command to his immediate superiors. Well, Babe was a very disciplined man. And he was very squared away. And, Greg, I learned right on. Don't even think, don't have it, don't even think that you're going to get the best of him when you're quail hunter. He carried that M1 rifle all those years. That thing weighed nine and a half pounds without the bayonet on it. I know, I carried one. They put us there in El Paso in a deuce and a half trucks, went to the line of the sand out there. And the way it goes, you start, you sling the weapon over your shoulder and full field pack. And you start out in cadence. And somebody says at ease. That means you don't have to march in time. And took us a little 24 mile walk across the desert sand. These Air Force guys. We use our brains.
— Yeah, that's it. But, get that please. Tech Sergeant. There it is.
— My flight suit. Now, here's the thing about this. I wore this, went to Desert Storm. It was in peacetime. You can fly jet aircraft. You can fly multi-engine aircraft. I can't do that. I can't fly jet aircraft. But this, these wings and this uniform put me on the flight line. But even though you had the ability to fly, you didn't wear this.
— No, I don't have the authority to wear that.
— Right. And so, delegated authority.
— That's what this is all about. And without this kind of teaching and time spent meditating on that authority, then when the faith comes, and it does, it has to. As faith comes, and as you hear it taught, and as you hear it preached, the delegated authority in the training chain of command, the Father to the Son, to the Spirit. And that delegated authority is all in the book of authority. These are orders. It doesn't whimper around about anything.
— Jesus said, "The words that I speak are not my words".
— Let's turn over there, 14th chapter of John. Now here again, for years, I didn't really catch on to this. But in study and meditation, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17th chapters of John are all what I like to call the meal that changed heaven and earth forever. Because Jesus here was preparing his command force, preparing them for when he would leave, and send his representative.
— Yes, sir.
— All of this had to take place. We're here in the 14th chapter, or 13, 14, 15, 16, 17. John 14, let not your heart, where's my pen? What did I do with my pen? Here it is. Now y'all kind of try to let not, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. Let not your heart be troubled. All right. That's a command. So don't allow it to be heart troubled. Get hold of your emotions with this book. In my Father's house are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again and receive you to myself. And then you come down, verse 10, to the 10th verse. Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? Listen, the words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself, but the Father that dwells in me, he does the works. This is the key. That's the key verse. Are you listening to me, radio and television audience? That's the key verse to Acts 2.
— It's true. It's truth.
— He said, he's coming. I'm going to be leaving. They had no idea he's going to go to the cross, and go to hell, and suffer there. When I began to preach that, I'm telling you people, there's a... Can you read? I mean...
— It's all right there.
— Yeah. And you go there, and it's in Acts 3. You'll not leave my soul in hell, until you see my body receive corruption. But here's the command. The Father that lives in me, he does the works. The Father that lives in me, he does the works.
— Whatever you ask in my name that will I do. Look here at verse 21. And he that keeps my command.
— Yes. Look what I did. Is that red line around that mark? He that hath my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me. And he that loves me, shall be loved of my Father. I will love him, and I will manifest myself to him.
— He's not a stranger to a person in a chain of command.
— Now, what command? Well, back up. A new commandment, 13:34. A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know you're my disciples, if you love one another. Praise God. Thank You, Jesus. And I'll be back in just a moment. Greg and I'll be back.