Kenneth Copeland - God's Wisdom Will Lead You to the Right Path
Hello, everybody. I’m Kenneth Copeland, and this is the Believer’s Voice of Victory broadcast. And we’re here with the KCBC family, praise God. And I might add, thanks to Dean Erby, that we are an accredited college. And the credits will go to further education, and we have a whole list of colleges that have already agreed to take your credits. So I think that’s a very important thing to remember. Now, we’re talking about the command authority of a follower of Jesus Christ, the authority of the believer. Now, this is something that over the years I’ve noticed, that two things. One, there is no place in the Bible, first covenant, second covenant, no place there where it says to pray, and God will get the devil off of you.
The apostle Paul tried it three times, and the comeback was, «My grace is sufficient for you». In other words, you do it. You have authority. So we open our Bibles to the book of Ephesians. Now, I wrote something in my paperback, and to the Classic Amplified is now a Kenneth Copeland publication, so I just wanted everybody to know that. KCM Amplified Classic Edition. No one can defeat thoughts with thoughts. Let the Word fight its own fight. Matthew 6:25, «Jesus said, Why take ye thought saying? Think his words, and say them by faith until his words become my thoughts. That then is the renewing of the mind». You choose the thoughts, and there are thoughts you don’t need to be saying. Now, in the book of Ephesians, in fact, this entire book is about our authority. The whole book. It’s a letter. Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God. Well, there’s something we could talk about for a while.
Turn on over to 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». Father, we believe we receive the Spirit of wisdom, and then we find in the book of Proverbs that wisdom is «the» principal thing, not «a» principal thing. It is the principal thing. Well, why wouldn’t it be? The wisdom of the God who propelled this universe into being, and that’s the God that’s planning your life before the foundation of the world. Thank You, Jesus. I’d like to straighten out a little something here.
This ministry began on the 24th day of January, 1967, when I enrolled at Oral Roberts University. That’s not when I began preaching. That’s when this ministry began. I have a Bible that the people over in Azle, Texas gave me when I preached there in 1965. Then Gloria and I were invited to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to one of the largest prayer groups in the United States. They said, «Brother Copeland, we’d like for you to take care of the hot seat». I said, «What is the hot seat»? Well, they would have people come and sit, and I’d lay hands on them. Then I would begin to pray accordingly. Well, the Word of Knowledge was working then. I didn’t know what to call it, but it was already working back there then. Then we went to a Kathryn Kuhlman meeting, and I thought, wow, that’s pretty well what was happening to me. I’ve been preaching longer than that. Anyway, I just want you to know that.
Now, look at this. «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 and revelation and knowledge of him, that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened, that you may know what is the hope of his calling and what the riches of his glory and inheritance in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness», here we are, «what is this exceeding greatness of his power, his dunamis, to usward who believe according to the working of his mighty power, which he wrought, worked, which he wrought in Christ Jesus when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, power, and 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 the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him that filleth all in all».
Wow. Praise God. Thank You, Jesus. I remember Brother Hagin saying, we didn’t say, here comes Brother Copeland and his head. Here comes Brother Copeland and his body. No, I’m all one piece. My parents, for some reason or other, chose the name of Kenneth, and the Max was after her younger sister, Maxine, so I’m Kenneth Max Copeland. I was that before I ever knew I was. I was that when I was born. I think you’ll get a kick out of this. I came into this world in Lubbock, Texas. I don’t remember it. Six weeks later, I came in on December the 6th. It was on a Sunday. Then six weeks later, my dad moved us to Abilene, to a little house on 733 Sunset Drive. He paid $1,750. Brand new house. Those were depression days.
Then we moved in on 1118 Blair Street. I mean, we moved up. That house was $5,000. The first new car, after World War II, my dad traveled with Drone’s Business College, so he had an A stamp during the war. That meant he was in education, so he could buy… You couldn’t just go and say, «Fill it up». You had a stamp on the window. You could only get so many gallons. Gas was rationed, World War II. The first new car, Mother and I were very excited about it. He came home in a navy blue Ford. I thought, man, that’s a good looking car. In my mind, I can see it today. My dad wasn’t smiling. He said to my mother, «Vinita, this car cost $2,000 American dollars». Can you imagine that? You can only imagine it, but I remember it.
Now, I pointed that out for this reason. Things have changed. We were on a war footing back then. We need to stay on a spiritual war footing all the time. All the time realizing that we sit in a high place of authority. We sit in the heavenlies next to him. We sit there with him. We need to see ourselves looking down in authority on the devil. You get under my feet and you stay there. You get under my feet and stay there, because I have been raised up together with him and I sit together with him in heavenly places. Glory to God. I sit with him in heavenly places and receive the wisdom. Hallelujah. Thank You, Lord Jesus. Glory to God. Praise You, Lord Jesus. A new Bible. Come on.
Look with me in the book of Colossians. Colossians chapter one, verse nine. «For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you and to desire that you might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. All wisdom and spiritual understanding that you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness, giving thanks unto the Father which has made us able to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son or the Son of his love. In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sin, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature».
Glory be to God. «And he is before all things and by him all things consist and he is the head of the body. He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell. And having made peace through the blood of his cross by him to reconcile all things unto himself and by him I say whether they be things on earth, things in heaven or that you were sometimes alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in his sight». Glory to God. «If you continue in the faith grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which you have heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, whereof I, Paul, have made a minister».
Wow. Praise God. I remember the night before I registered at ORU and had $24,000 of debt. Gloria said, I must have borrowed money on my tricycle, but that’s pretty much it so, and I just fell on the floor praying, my God, my God, my God. And, I heard it on the inside, it was almost audible, «Get up on your feet». And I stood there trembling. «I sent you here. I’ll take care of you here. They can’t make a minister out of you. I’ve already made a minister out of you. All they can do is train you».
All they can do is train you. Little did I know that before the next day was over with, I would be second in command on the ministry airplane. And it was a Howard converted Lockheed PV2 Ventura, a World War II medium bomber, two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines, dash 17s, 1000 horsepower a piece. I’d never even seen an airplane that big before. And we have a picture of my standing under the nose of it, standing straight up and the nose of it was like this. Amen. Thank you. But the Lord said the night before, «I sent you here and I’ll take care of you here». Mrs. Campbell was typing out my bill and I didn’t have any money. And I said, «May I make a collect call»? She said, «Sure, dial nine».
I called my dad. He said, «Where are you»? I said, «Well, I’m in the registrar’s office at ORU. Why»? Listen to me. He said, «Eddie Matthews came by…» Now, Eddie Matthews was in the construction business, and dropped off a check and said it was for your ministry. I put it in the bank because I knew you would need it.: And it was just enough to pay that first quarter. And I thought, well, Gloria and I’ll just buy a candy bar and go broke again. And the Lord arrested me and sent me up to the sixth floor. And before the day was over, I was co-pilot on that airplane. He said, «I sent you here and I’ll take care of you here».
And 11 months later, we were completely out of debt, completely out of debt. Wrote those checks. They’re not faith checks. We didn’t send them out. No, no, that’s fraud. No, we wrote them and put them in the little drawer there in front of us and prayed over them. And as we had the money, we paid them. Glory to God. Thank You, Jesus. 11 months. And we told John and Kellie now, you’re not going to get much for Christmas, but we’re out of debt. And they got excited about it. And so got Kellie a little Don Johnny can of firecrackers and that is it. And we had Chef Boyardee for Christmas dinner. But we’re out of debt.
So the authority, we didn’t know it back then, but I watched the power of attorney of the name of Jesus work. Are you hearing me? The power of attorney. With the power of attorney for anyone, you represent that person completely. You completely represent that person. And the first time in the invalid room, I saw it work. We walked up to this little woman. You’ve heard the story before and I’m out of time. Oh, Well, we’ll work our way there tomorrow. Praise the Lord. Thank You, Jesus.