Kenneth Copeland - The Ephesians 1 Prayer: Receive the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding
— Hello everybody, I'm Kenneth Copeland and this is Thanksgiving Day. Our family gets together. It's quiet large now, and the first thing we do, is we pray and we give thanks that everyone in our family, all of them, are born-again believers. All of them. Amen. That's rejoice time. All of them. Even the small ones. Amen. They are all in the household of the kingdom of God and we give thanks for that. Father, we give thanks to You today for this daily broadcast. We worship You and praise You for it. That it's going out and carrying the good news of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of the living God throughout the earth. Praise God. Doing everything and all the tools you've given us to do as Jesus commanded. Go into all the world and preach this Gospel to every creature. And we are doing that in this daily broadcast and we praise You and we thank You for it, Sir. In Jesus' name. Amen. Oh, glory be to Jesus. Hallelujah for this book.
— Amen.
— Yes, amen. Thank you.
— And for our nation.
— It is.
— Our nation, our family, the Bible, our covenant.
— And I like to remind the Lord of the food every day I eat. Every meal I eat. I bless our partners all over the world. Every meal. Spirit, soul, body, financially, and socially. Wherever they are throughout the world. And Lord, you directed in the 17th chapter of the book of Genesis. You spoke with Abram and he fell on his face. And you entered covenant with him because he would teach his children. George Washington, the first president of the United States, was led by the Lord to the same scripture. The day he took his oath of office, the 17th chapter of the book of Genesis, he chose God and he shocked everyone when he kneeled down and kissed his Bible and looked up and said, "You'll be our God and we'll be Your people". Entered into a covenant relationship in the first act of Congress at Paul's chapel. St. Paul's chapel that survived 9-11.
— New York City.
— No Washington DC yet.
— There was none.
— No. They walked arm in arm down to St. Paul's chapel and they prayed together and they dedicated this nation to the living God. Hallelujah.
— Just what we're celebrating today, the pilgrims did that same thing.
— Yes, they did.
— They made covenant before that got here.
— And the hunt expedition, they sailed a ship from England knowing they would never get back home again. And they took the timber of the ship and made a cross and planted it on a beach and dedicated this nation for the proclamation of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, which is Virginia Beach, Virginia today.
— And the Gospel has gone out from there through CBN.
— It's incalculable. You cannot calculate how many people have been born again through the 700 Club. It's impossible to calculate.
— So what you do when you pray every day, when you eat for your partners, Paul does that same thing. Ephesians chapter 1, Ephesians chapter 3, when he does prayers for them, putting himself in remembrance. And that's what this day is about, is putting ourselves in remembrance and being thankful for the blessings. Are we perfect?
— No.
— Was George Washington perfect?
— No.
— But we have a covenant...
— We have an advocate.
— ...with him that is perfect. And we have an advocate. Amen.
— Glory to God. So let's look at Ephesians chapter 1. Hang on a minute. "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, to the faithful in Christ Jesus, grace be to you and peace from God, our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ the anointed One. According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love". Oh, did you get it? "Having predestinated us into the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence. Having made known unto us the mystery of his will according to the good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on the earth, even in him, in whom we have also have obtained an inheritance. Being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will". Now, come down here at the 16th verse. "I cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom". We stop. I believe I receive it.
— Yes, amen.
— I believe I receive it. We know in the book of Proverbs, wisdom is the principle thing, not a principle. It is the principle thing. In the book of James, any man that lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, but let him ask in faith nothing wavering. "...that the God of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him. The eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints. And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power, which he hath wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead, set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places far above". Say far above, "far above all principality. Far above. All power. Far above. All might and dominion. And every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come. And has put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church, which is his body that fills it".
— I receive it.
— Oh, we receive it. Oh, thank You. Oh, glory be to Jesus. Glory be to the Father. Oh, hallelujah. Oh, let this mind be in you. Which was also in Christ Jesus. Who's now thought it not robbery will be called equal with God. "And you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. He made you alive. Wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this world. According to the prince of the power of the air. The spirit that now works in the children of disobedience. Among whom also we had our manner of life. Times past in the lusts of our flesh. Fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind". And of the mind. The renewed mind. The prosperous soul. Praise God. Thank You, Jesus. The spirit that now works in the children of disobedience, "among whom also we all had our manner of life and time passed in the lust of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others. But, God", ah.
— Rich in chesed.
— Yes.
— Rich in mercy, rich in chesed, for his great love wherewith he loved us. Loves me, loves you as much as he loves Jesus. Look at this. Has raised us up together, made us to sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus.
— Oh, dear Jesus. "...that in the ages to come, he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It is the gift of God". Praise God. Not of works lest any man should boast. For we are his. Listen. The first few times I read this, I was just... For we are his workmanship. Oh, glory to God. "We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Remember that you being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, called uncircumcision by that which is called circumcision in the flesh made by hand. You were without Christ being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world". And there are just too many Christians today.
— They live on that side of the cross. Colossians will also teach that I was crucified with him. I was buried with him. I rose with him right here. I'm now seated with him and I reign in life by Christ Jesus with him. Too many people still...
— Through his righteousness.
— Through his righteousness and it says right here, because of the blood, I was washed in the blood. We have too many people that are still trying to live back over here. It's what the Lord spoke to you when he said, "Let me die".
— That's right.
— You had to get to a place in your understanding that you let him go to the cross for you.
— He said very boldly inside my spirit, "Let me die. Let me go to hell like the scripture says. If you don't let me die, you will never live". Well, I preached that Jesus went to hell. That's what the scripture says. Now I was talking about that meeting in Hereford, Texas. Well, we were there three weeks in this old abandoned drugstore building. And I'm telling you, a big man. And I was standing there and I said, "Well, Lord, here he comes". And he went. Turned around and out the door.
— Spirit arrested him.
— What is this? Well, then he came back. He said, "Brother Copeland, may I speak to you"? And I said, "Please do". He said, "I used to be a truck driver, alcoholic. But God got a hold of me and delivered me from alcoholism. And you preach some of our people that Jesus went to hell and made me mad. And I didn't like it because people got baptized in the Holy Ghost. But you saw what happened to me. The Lord just pulled a suddenly on me and I couldn't say what I came in there to say. And I couldn't sleep. So I got up out of bed and went over to Sanctuary and got on my knees and I said, 'Lord, did you go to hell"? He said, "You better believe it, big boy, if I hadn't, you would have".
— Well, Jesus tells the disciples, "Where I'm going, you can't go".
— That's right. That's the reason he said that, you can't go there.
— I'm the only one that can do this. You can't do this.
— Now you think about it.
— He took captivity captive.
— And that's the reason. When he said, "If there's any way to take this cup from me," and he sweated blood through the pores of his skin. So he shed blood right there in the Garden of Gethsemane. He paid it three times. Nevertheless, thou will be done. Nevertheless, thou will be done.
— I had, I probably shouldn't confess this. I was at a store not too long back, about a year ago when this guy recognized me and let me know he didn't like me. And he said, "You go to hell". And I said, "Jesus won't let me". That's the first word that came out of me. Jesus won't let me, I tried. I put my faith in him and he won't let me do that. And you can't, you don't have the authority to. That's what we're talking about. We're talking about command authority. In those prayers, in that verse.
— You don't have the authority to send me there.
— No, you don't. No. If the devil had the authority, he would have already done it. But he's been, I had a praying mama like you did. And he has been stripped of all power and authority. And a lot of Christians don't know that. You were praising God that all your family's born again. I know some of you say, somebody out there, I just sensed it in my spirit. You said, "Oh, I wish mine were".
— Well, don't wish.
— Don't wish it. That's your covenant. And you believe it and you stay there.
— And witness to them.
— And pray and live in front of them.
— Yet before the Lord. And just pray what Jesus said, pray. Lord, send laborers across the path. You know to whom they'll listen. Send laborers across the path with the word of their salvation. And I pray that in Jesus' name. Hallelujah.
— And just pray that those laborers, they'll have ears to hear. Now you got another weapon you can use. Whatsoever things you bind on earth are bound in heaven. Whatsoever things you lose, you bind the enemy from being able to speak and influence your loved one. And you lose the ability to hear when that laborer comes across the path.
— There was years ago, a young man and I prayed that for his brother. He didn't want anything to do with Jesus. So we prayed that. So his brother called him. He said, "What'd you do"? He said, "What do you mean what'd I do"?
— What did you do?
— Why?
— I picked up a hitchhiker and he had a Bible that looked like a newspaper. He said, "What did you do? Everywhere I look, somebody's got a different kind of Bible and they shove it out there to me". And he said, "Okay, okay, okay. I accept Jesus". And he said, "Not only that, I got baptized in the Holy Ghost. Now what else am I supposed to do in this life"? Thank You, Jesus.
— All authority is delegated authority. Jesus operated and delegated authority and he used his command voice. And that command voice, he called things which be not as though they were. That's what you do with your loved one. You start speaking in the Spirit realm using your command authority. Speak the Word. The Lord will tell Timothy that. Or Paul, I'd rather, will tell Timothy that.
— I carry this with me in my book everywhere I go. "15 January, 1957, Fort Bliss, Texas. I, Kenneth Copeland, do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic, that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same, that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and orders of the officers appointed over me according to regulations, uniform, code of military justice, so help me God".
— Yeah, he swore it.
— I did it, so did he.
— There's no expiration on that oath.
— No, it is not.
— You meet a military guy, frankly from other generations, and I would say even in this generation, they realize that that didn't expire.
— No, no.
— I still live by that code.
— Yes, I do too.
— And I live by this code.
— And you can take the boy out of the army, but you can't get the army out of the boy. So all of my hangers make a question mark.
— I do too. So all of my clothes face the same way.
— That's right.
— I do not have my socks in a foot locker. No, thank you. I have them in the bottom drawer of my closet.
— I don't iron my underwear anymore. I used to in the military. It's not comfortable. That's all I got to say about that. But it becomes part of you, Brother Copeland. That's what we're talking about with command authority. It just becomes part.
— And it struck me with such a vengeance, such that I stood before my serial number, 18476975. Praise God. It's stamped on my heart. There's a serial number on me, just like there's a serial number on your car. That was the day. That was the day. And I swore it to defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic. And I'm still at it. And we're out of time, but I'm hooked at the heart with the state of Israel. We'll be back in just a minute.