Kenneth Copeland - Jesus' Ascension Enables You to Change Your Environment
Remember now, Jesus said to Mary, Touch me not, I have not yet ascended to my Father. Well, let’s read that, John 20… verse 11. But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre. Now, let me tell you something here. While in Egypt, the Jews learned to mummify back in those days. Of course, they don’t do it anymore. But they do bury a person immediately. They don’t wait. Rather, immediately. But back then, each finger was wrapped in everything but the face mask. And it made like a cocoon. Well, she looked in there, and there that thing was. And the face linen was still there. Because that would have been the very last thing. And so he wasn’t in it.
So I want you to understand that. Touch me not, I have not yet ascended to my Father. But go to my brethren and say unto them, I ascend up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. And Mary came and told the disciples. Now, once again, Hebrews chapter 9. Now let me remind you once more. That’s scripture… Let’s look that up. Where he was in Arabia, Keith. Isn’t that in the book of Galatians? Let’s go there. Yes. Yeah. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my conduct and time passed in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God and wasted it, and profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals, mine own nation. But when it pleased God, he separated me from my mother’s womb, to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the brethren.
Immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood, neither went up to Jerusalem to them apostles, but I went into Arabia. Now get this. I went into Arabia and returned again unto Damascus. Then after three years, it does not say how long he was there. And the people confuse that to say he was out there three years. I brought that up to Rick Renner. He was on television with me and he looked at that and he said, well, you know, I always thought that, but it’s an undetermined amount of time. It was revealed unto me what happened on the night that he was betrayed. Revealed. Where? Out there. That’s where the book of Hebrews came from. So let’s go back over there now. Ninth chapter. But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
This is what happened. And for this cause, he is the mediator of a new covenant, that by means of death for the redemption of the transgression that there were under the first covenant, which they are called to receive the blood promise of eternal inheritance. For a covenant is of force after men in the Testament. Otherwise, there’s no strength while the testator lives. Verse 23, It was therefore necessary, say necessary, that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these. But the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices. Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.
That’s what this book is about. Glory to God. Chapter 10. For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these sacrifices which they offer year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect or blameless. For then would it not ceased to be offered? Because that the worshipers, once purged, should have no more sin consciousness. Well, if you don’t have a sin consciousness, what kind of consciousness should you have? A righteousness consciousness. He who knew no sin was made to be sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. That’s not holiness. That’s right standing with God. Holiness is produced by the fruit of the Spirit. Against such there is no law. Amen.
Now, let’s go back now to Hebrews chapter one. I want you to notice the word. God, who at sundry times and in different manner, 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 the express image of his person, upholding all things by the Word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of majesty on high. The moment he did that, we were healed. The moment he did that, Satan was done. The moment he sat down, it was over for him. The scripture right here in chapter 2 said, He had the power of death, but he’s been brought to naught. That’s nothing, zero. Thank You, Jesus.
Now, there’s something special. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son. And again, when he bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he says, Let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.
But, now listen, But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, and they shall be changed: but thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail. Those are the words that he used to raise him from the dead. And again, he will be my Son. When I bring in the first begotten of many sons.
Jesus went in there on the 22nd Psalm. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? It is finished. And he spent three days and three nights in hell. It was a special Sabbath. It started on Wednesday, not Friday. John makes mention of that. Glory to God. It was a High Sabbath. Thank You, Jesus. Because Jesus had already said it. That’s the way this book works. It had to be said by the prophets to give the people something to say, and then once it’s in the earth, the devil can’t get it out. So everything was prophesied in the first covenant, and the devil thought he had him. By splitting two kingdoms and all that, well, you can ship his saddle on. He’s done. Praise God.
Well, don’t you care? They said, Lord, cares thou not that we perish? And like Brother Hagin said, with the pain that I’m experiencing now, it just… Oh, wait a minute. I’m not giving him anything to work with. I repented and backed up. Hallelujah. I know better than that. Glory. And Mr. Devil, I just can’t tell you how much I don’t care. Carest thou not to the man that cared enough to go to hell for three days and three nights. And I began to talk about that to him, and I began to think of things. I mean, think of things that way, I mean, way, way back when. And I lay there and get thinking about it. I said, Lord, I repent of that. I know that’s a long time ago, but that’s stupid. You’re a product of your own environment. People being a product of their own environment create their own problems by going to bed at night full of fear and worry.
Now, I’m going to give you another Keith Moore example. Well, you open this file drawer… in your mind. It’s not in there. It’s not in there. Well, take all the files out. It isn’t in there. It is not in your head. It may be in your heart. So, stop worrying about it. Cast the care, 1 Peter 5, on him where he cares for you. Hallelujah. So, the environment can change you or you can change the environment. Amen. Brian, do you agree with that? Of course you do. Thank You, Lord. You change the environment around you. Gloria and I change the environment around us a lot. We’d go on those motorcycle rides and just fun and laugh and just laugh until you couldn’t laugh anymore.
And Jesse and Cathy and Dennis and Vicki Burke and Happy and Jeanne Caldwell and Gloria. We were the Glory Riders. And we’d take on a vacation and just take off and ride through Colorado someplace. And then just sit around and laugh and talk the Word of God. We never did take a vacation from the Word. We didn’t take off and go crazy for two or three days. No, no, no, no. We were right here in Branson and we’d been riding and we went to a video store because one of the hotels here had a video player. So, well, all of our rooms did that. I don’t remember where we were staying. And there was a young boy walked in there and walked in that video store and walked around there to us. And he just simply said, «Are you the ones on television»? We said, «Yes».
I was standing right in front of him. And Jerry was right here. And then we just gathered around him. Yes, that’s who we are. Would you pray for my mother? She has cancer. We started praying. He said, «Oh no, she’s out in the car». She’s out in the car. All of us gathered around. Now, the first time I was ever in this building, it was the Johnny Cash Theater. We came in here. Big stage here, of course. All of us right down front. And came and said, standing right in front of me and in front of Jerry and said, Mr. Cash would like for you all to come see him, please. What does Johnny Cash want with us? We walked back there. He said, «Copeland…» And he looked over there at Jerry. He said, «My knees… I don’t know whether I’m going to be making it through this whole thing or not».
I mean, Gloria just grabbed him by the knees. I did too. Jerry got around on one side. We ganged up on him. They had the little whistles, whoa, whoa. Whoa… And gathered up around him and prayed. We were right here. The stage came out there about like this. They put us right down front. That June Carter, I’ll tell you what, she broke up the whole place. He turned around to their son. He said, «I’m telling you, that mama of yours is something else». It’s hilarious. And they did the curtain call. And he came out for another curtain call. And here’s what he did. Changed the environment at the right place at the right time. Hallelujah. There are other theater that they had before this one. Tony Orlando Theater. Shirley Boone called and said that Debbie was fronting for Tony Orlando.
I’m talking about changing the environment. And Tony Orlando and Dawn. And he just walked up and he grabbed Shirley. He said, Shirley Boone, teach me how to live. Well, those of you that are up with that, he did have a complete nervous breakdown. Well, I can see why. I mean, he bounced around all over that stage. He never slowed down one bit. He sang Yellow Ribbon about 10 or 12 times or pieces of it, just jumping up and down. We went to that other theater. And we just wanted to watch him because we had been there that night, Gloria and I both had, when Debbie was fronting for him. He stopped and he had us stand up. He said, «Now that’s Kenneth and Gloria Copeland. And as most of you know, I did have a nervous breakdown, but watching them on television, they taught me how to live».
And he went on to be very, very successful and still is. Amen. Change your environment. Make yourself available. Well, I’m just a nobody. You mean to stand there and tell me I’ve stood here and wasted all my time? You’re a nobody? What do you mean? Well, after all, I’m just human. How dare you? You are not just human. You are a born-again human. That’s the biggest miracle of the whole thing. You’re a new creature in Christ, baptized in the Holy Ghost, speaking in the Spirit, the gateway to the supernatural.