Kenneth Copeland - Know Your Authority in Christ
Hello, everybody. I’m Kenneth Copeland, and this is the Believer’s Voice of Victory broadcast. Praise God. Every believer has a voice, and it is the Voice of Victory. This is the Kenneth Copeland Bible College gathering up this morning. Welcome again. Wednesday finally is here. And we’re talking about the command authority of a follower of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Jesus Christ, the Anointed One, and His anointing. That’s the reason in Luke 4, when he went to Nazareth, we’re so used to the word anointing, but not back then. It was not used. He said, «The Spirit of God is upon me, for he has messiahed me». And they said, «Who does he think he is»?
Well, he knew who he is. And so do we. But there’s millions and millions of Christian people, and my heart goes out to them, that they do not know who they are in Christ Jesus. And they pray prayers that cannot be answered. But that’s our job, is to bring people to a place of knowledge… Usable knowledge in Christ Jesus. So, Hebrews chapter 11. There was a man, I heard his testimony one time, and he was financially in a real mess. And he just shut his eyes and opened his eyes and did like this, and it landed at chapter 11. Okay, I’ll file chapter 11. And he did.
«Now… now, now faith is the substance of things hoped for. The evidence of things not seen. For by it the elders obtained a good report. Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen are not made of things which do appear. By faith Abel offered God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it being dead yet speaks. By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see death, and was not found, because God had translated him. For before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him. For he that knows God must believe that he is, and that he is the rewarder of them that diligently… diligently, diligently seek him».
Now, let’s read this in the Classic Amplified. You just listen and I’ll read. «Now, faith is the assurance, the confirmation, listen, 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 had divine testimony born to them, and obtained a good report. By faith we understand that the worlds during successive ages were framed, fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose by the word of God, so that what we see was not made of things which are visible». It was not made out of nothing. It was made out of something you can’t see. It was made out of the faith of God, hallelujah.
Now, you talk about power of attorney, power of attorney to use his name, but his faith? Well, I’m glad you brought that up. Mark chapter 11. On the morrow, verse 12, «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 there on, and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves. For the time of figs was not yet. Jesus answered and said to it,» and he talked to that fig tree, «No man ate fruit of thee hereafter forever, and his disciples heard it. They came to Jerusalem, and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold, and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the money changers, and the seats of them that sold doves».
Now, I want to point out something here. He went in there the day before, didn’t do anything, not one thing. Went back to Bethany, came back, and received his message. He received his message, and went back, and overthrew their money. My father’s house of prayer, you’ve made it a den of thieves, and he cleaned it out, and overturned their money tables, and preached. That was the mission. You brought your lamb in for sacrifice. They’d find a blemish in it, and then sell you another one. They’d take the lamb that you brought back, and sell it. It was a den of thieves. They had this con game going on, but he knew it, and he overturned their money tables.
In other words, he took care of business. That fig didn’t mean anything to him. But think about it a moment. I have seen pictures of artists painting in the garden. I saw one. She had an apple in her hand, and both of them had belly buttons. There is no way. They sewed fig leaves together. Fig leaves. There is no mention of apple trees in the garden. The forbidden fruit was fig. It was a fig tree. In the Middle East, they get huge. Thank You, Lord. Now, back where we were in Mark 11. Let me read this again.
«Now, faith is the assurance, the confirmation, the title deed of things we hope for being the proof of things we do not see, and the conviction of the reality. Listen, faith receiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses. For by faith, trust, and holy fervor born of faith, the men of old had divine testimony born of them to obtain the good report». All right, Mark 11. I want to go here. When they were getting near Jerusalem and Bethphage at the Mount of Olives, sent two of his disciples and instructed them.
Now, verse 12. «On the day following, they had come away from Bethany. He was hungry. Seeing in the distance a fig tree covered with leaves, he went to see if he could find any fruit on it. For in the fig tree, the fruit appears at the same time as leaves. But when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for the fig season had not come. And he said to it, No man again shall eat fruit from you. And his disciples were listening to what he said. Have faith in God constantly. For truly I tell you, whoever says to this mountain, be lifted up and be thrown into the sea, and shall not doubt at all in his heart, but believes that what he says will take place, it shall be done for him. For this reason, I’m telling you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe, trust, and be confident that it is granted to you, and you will get it. And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him. Let it drop. Leave it. Go. Let it go. In order your heavenly Father may forgive you your trespasses».
Shortcut. Let it go. Let it go. That includes politicians. That includes kinfolks, people down the street. Gloria and I decided a long time ago that we live that way. First words and last words at night. First word in the morning. Goodnight, my love. I love the Lord my God with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind, and all my strength. I love my neighbor as myself, fulfilling all the law and the prophets. But the Master said in the meal that changed heaven and earth forever, «I give you a new commandment that you love one another, and all men will know you’re my disciples by the way you love one another, by the way you love one another». So, and this morning, I woke up early. Before I ever got out of bed, «Oh Lord, this is my receiving day. I receive Your Word. I receive Your anointing for the class today. The perfect words at the perfect time from the Word of God, from the book. And I praise You for it, and I thank You for it».
That’s how I’ve got out of bed. This is my receiving day. Hallelujah. And the anointing that abides within me. I’m so grateful to you, Father, at night. I am so grateful to You, Father, for I remember when You added the teaching anointing to my life and to my ministry. And I remember when the Spirit of God, through Brother Kenneth E. Hagin, the last day of June, 1977, called me forth and had set me apart into the office of the prophet. The seer, the seer standing right in the pulpit, you will see it run off in front of your eyes, just like on a television screen. And you’ll be able to minister to the people. And I’m so grateful to You, God. And there are things that I have seen that I’m not ready to say publicly yet, but when it releases me to, I will. And I rejoice in it. Praise God forever.
And the insight into this book, into his covenants. And it’s mentioned there. And we talk about his covenants. God, the Covenant, and the Contradiction. And Professor Stephens and I did many, many, over a hundred broadcast on covenant to get it down to that place where we could put it in a book. And I learned it many, many years ago and wanted to put it in the book. And finally, the Lord allowed me to do that. Well, and how to pray and pray right. And my daughter, Terri, wrote a book on that. There are different kinds of prayer, as we know. But now, «In the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. From the roots. From the roots. Peter calling to remember, saith unto him, Master, behold, or look, the fig tree which you cursed is withered away. Jesus answering said unto them, Have faith in God, or have the faith of God. For verily I say unto you, whosoever…»
This is a whosoever thing. We’ve found out it’s impossible to please him without faith. This powerful, creative, invisible force of God. «And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God». I have a little too reference. Have the faith of God. Well, of course, it’s the faith of God. For we found out in the book of Ephesians. For by grace are you saved through faith, which is the gift of God. And I’ve had people say, «Well, Brother Copeland, was it the grace or the faith»? Both of them. What’s the matter with you? Both the faith and the grace. Thank You, Jesus. Glory to God. Fourth chapter of the book of Romans. Thank You, Lord. Roaming through Romans. Those of you that hadn’t heard me say that, I was at ORU and they had books that said Roaming through Romans. And I thought, I think I better read Romans before I roam through it.
T.L. Osborne said, «Kenneth». «Yes, sir». «You’re born free». I said, «Sir, what do you mean born free»? He said, «You had no religion to unlearn. You were born free». Well, that’s true. Because the first faith message I heard came from Oral Roberts. And then I heard faith from Kenneth E. Hagin. Now, as I said before, I was preaching before that and loved it. The only time in my life that I ever raised my voice to Gloria Jean. Only time. And I don’t remember now what did it. We were in a little rent house. And on the inside I thought, she doesn’t deserve this. And I said, «Gloria, I’m so sorry». And I just fell over on that old couch and went to sleep. I thought I had slept around the clock. Now, I dare say that way I was ranting and going on, a lot of wives would have just slapped my face. I would have deserved it. Just slap my face and walk out the door instead of just standing there and take it.
Now, I wasn’t cussing at her or anything. I just, I don’t remember. And I just fell over on that old green couch and I was laying up here like this. And she was right up here. And I said, «Oh, Gloria, I gotta preach». She said, «I know it». She already knew it in the Spirit. And you remember, I asked her to marry me on the first date. She said, okay. And just went in her dad’s house. What? She said, she got in and thought, I don’t even know this guy. What have I done? Oh, well, I’ll get out of it later. Next April the 13th, it’ll be 63 years and she’s not out of it. And the closest thing. Now, in all that time, we were in our garden room there. We’re watching some TV. And I said something. I don’t know what it was. She got up and walked out of that room. She about 30 seconds, she came back in there and said, «I started to get mad, but decided I wouldn’t».
Came over there and hugged me and kissed me. Well, okay. That’s about it. We’re still on our honeymoon. Just her unconditional love. Anyway, now here we are in the heart of all biblical knowledge. Romans chapter four. «What shall we say then that Abraham, our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham are justified by works, he hath worth to the glory, but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness». And a hundred year old man and a 90 year old woman had a very special child, Isaac, Jacob, who became Israel. Amen. To bring in a very special child by a virgin Mary, by the name of Jesus. And we’re out of time. What did you do with it? We’ll be back in just a moment.