Kenneth Copeland - Develop True Knowledge of God and His Love
KENNETH: Hello, everybody. We're Kenneth and Gloria Copeland. And welcome to our place here in Southwest Arkansas. Last week, we were down by the log cabin and on the other side of the pond there. And this week, we're up in front of the main house. That's the main house right behind us there. And they'll be showing you pictures of this when it was first moved in here. And you may feel like the guy that we brought out to move it. It was over across the highway, which is a good way to, oh, that's at least a mile and a half. It had to move, I guess, 3 or 4 miles, didn't it, to get it down in here?
GLORIA: Mm-hmm.
KENNETH: And he stood there and looked at that and he walked all around it, and he said...
GLORIA: Oh, it was a sight.
KENNETH: Oh, it was terrible. He said, "Copeland, why don't you just let 'er sit"? No, he said...
GLORIA: That was awful.
KENNETH: "I've got some advice for you. Just let her sit". And he wouldn't move it. I think he was afraid it was going to fall in half or something. And so we contacted Mr. Wooten. And I asked him, I said, "Mr. Wooten, the other guy didn't". I didn't say that. I said, "Mr. Wooten, are you willing to move this"? He said, "Kenneth, I'll move anything".
GLORIA: That's what we needed.
KENNETH: And he laughed. He said, "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it". And he did. Man, I mean, he and his son, they moved that thing down here and set it up, and it's just wonderful. And this is, of course, many, many years ago. And it's been such a blessing to our family. I was thinking about it before we started the sessions that we did for last week. So many of things, particularly in the early days of this ministry, so many of the decisions that we made that were just, we didn't see how we could do what the Lord was telling us to do. We came up here and prayed in the Spirit for two, three, four days at a time or more to get the direction, and got it every time.
GLORIA: Praise God.
KENNETH: Amen. Just...
GLORIA: The Lord knew how to do it.
KENNETH: Oh, yeah. Amen. Always.
GLORIA: Uh-huh.
KENNETH: And like in the first chapter of the book of James where he said, "Any man that lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth liberally, to all men and upbraideth not; but let him ask in faith, nothing wavering". Amen. Any man, he said, "Let him ask in faith". Well, hey, the Lord brought this strong on my heart. Let's just go over there, Gloria, and read that.
GLORIA: What chapter?
KENNETH: First chapter of the book of James. "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into different temptations", now, that word translated "temptation" is tests, temptations, and trials, "...knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience," or endurance, stability. "But let patience have her perfect work". Now, let me remind you of something here. In the 5th chapter of the book of Galatians, where it's talking about the fruit of the Spirit, which we'll talk about some more this week, it begins with love. We're talking about believing the love of God. Well, this would be a place right here where, right in the middle of whatever has blindsided you, and you've got to have the wisdom of God. You need to know that God is for you, not against you.
GLORIA: That's right, for sure.
KENNETH: "Count it all joy when you fall into different" trials, tests, "temptations; knowing this, the trying of your faith worketh patience". That's the same Greek word, "longsuffering," in the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace, goodness...
GLORIA: Patience, kindness.
KENNETH: Oh, excuse me, longsuffering.
GLORIA: Yeah.
KENNETH: And that's the same word, "patience". Now watch this. "Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. Let patience have her perfect work, that you may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing".
GLORIA: In other words, don't quit before you're through.
KENNETH: Oh, that's good. Oh, yeah, because that's what patience does. And you notice it's faith and patience.
GLORIA: Till you finish. Don't quit until you finish.
KENNETH: It's faith and patience. You're not just patience. You can't do it without faith. And the faith, you'll stop before faith can bring its, bring it to a completion if you're not growing in love, joy, peace and longsuffering, patience...
GLORIA: Kindness, gentleness.
KENNETH: ...and gentleness, goodness, and the rest of the fruit of the Spirit. So...
GLORIA: Love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, and self-control.
KENNETH: Temperance, self-control. Amen. Now, "If any of you", any of you, any of you. God is love. That's what we're majoring on. Love wants you entire, wanting nothing.
GLORIA: Praise God.
KENNETH: We even talked about that last week. I've had people say to me, "Well, I'll tell you this, now, God's not going to meet your wants. He'll meet your needs, but not your wants". That's not what that says.
GLORIA: No.
KENNETH: "...patience have her perfect work, you be entire, wanting nothing".
GLORIA: Nothing. Hallelujah.
KENNETH: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of love". God is love. "...let him ask of love, that giveth to all men," all human beings, "liberally".
GLORIA: Liberally.
KENNETH: "...and upbraideth not"
GLORIA: Freely.
KENNETH: "To upbraid" means to find fault with.
GLORIA: Yeah.
KENNETH: "And it shall be given him". It will. God's not saying, "No, no, no, you can't know My will in it". No. He wants you to, His desire is that you be filled with his, glory to God, well, here's another one. Hold your place there and let's go to the book of Colossians, Chapter 1. "That you be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding". There it is right there in the 9th verse. "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".
GLORIA: Think about what that says.
KENNETH: That's God's will.
GLORIA: Mm-hmm.
KENNETH: We're not supposed to be stumbling around in the dark and trying to figure out on our own and our little peanut brains what to do about something that God's already got a plan. He's already planned your way out of it. Instead of you making your plans and ask Him to bless them, find out what the plan is. It's already blessed.
GLORIA: Yeah, His plan.
KENNETH: Yeah. And the first time that came upon me, I added, "Dummy". I'm thinking, "Come on, dumb-dumb". Well, I've learned since then not to call myself "dummy". But I sure feel like it sometimes. But even though you feel like it, even though you think it, don't say it.
GLORIA: We need all the help we can get.
KENNETH: Don't say it. Yeah. Don't be calling yourself dumb. Come on. "A thought unspoken dies unborn".
GLORIA: That's good.
KENNETH: Now, you understand that? Ha-ha. That's good.
GLORIA: Is that original with you?
KENNETH: No, it comes from Brother Hagin.
GLORIA: Oh.
KENNETH: Amen.
GLORIA: Well, it's good.
KENNETH: I started to sound too dumb to think that, but I didn't say it, did I?
GLORIA: No, no. You're good, good.
KENNETH: All right, let's go to I John. Let's go to the 4th chapter of I John. Father, we thank You for Your Word. My, my, my.
GLORIA: Oh, yes, Lord.
KENNETH: We're so blessed...
GLORIA: We love Your Word.
KENNETH:...to have the Word of God and have You, Holy Spirit, as our teacher. Rise up within us today and show Yourself big and strong among us. And while the Word's going forth, just heal everybody. Heal their bodies...
GLORIA: Yes, open their eyes.
KENNETH: ...and give peace to their minds, wherever they are in the world right now watching and listening to this broadcast in Jesus' name.
GLORIA: Praise God.
KENNETH: All right, Chapter 4, Verse 8, "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love". Now I want to go down. Well, let's go ahead and read down through there. "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we love God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation," or the sacrifice, "for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another". Verse 16, "And we have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love". Now, our whole impact is to develop and to renew our minds and have faith in the love of God, faith in His love. God is love is God is love.
GLORIA: That's right.
KENNETH: Say that, "God is love"
GLORIA: God is love.
KENNETH: "is God is love".
KENNETH: And He loves me.
GLORIA: Yes, He does. I love you, too.
KENNETH: I love you, too. Oh, and again, happy anniversary, sweetheart.
GLORIA: Thank you very much.
KENNETH: 55 years and going strong.
GLORIA: I wonder if anybody's ever had a 100th anniversary.
KENNETH: Well, I don't know. I guess...
GLORIA: We could go for it.
KENNETH: ...I guess Abraham and Sarah might have got close.
GLORIA: Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's right.
KENNETH: Amen. Glory. Now, Gloria, you said that and just got me all fumbuzzled.
GLORIA: Well, listen, let me further bumfuzzle you. You skipped 11, 12 and...
KENNETH: I know.
GLORIA: ...and 13.
KENNETH: I intended to.
GLORIA: Did you?
KENNETH: Yeah. Would you like to read them?
GLORIA: No.
KENNETH: You think we should?
GLORIA: If you want to skip them, we'll skip them. Okay.
KENNETH: You want to know how to live together 55 years, there's a good example. Ha-ha-ha. Amen. Okay, now, glory to God. Amen. Now, "God is love". We need our minds completely renovated, just transformed, renewed to where, every time you hear, "God," you think, "love". It's very important. "God" actually is a religious word that, if I've got my facts right, it originated in German theology, "Gott". And because God was never called God. He's got a name. He's got lots of names.
GLORIA: Yes, He does.
KENNETH: And there's Jehovah Rapha, "God our healer".
GLORIA: Mm-hmm.
KENNETH: But His name wasn't God. Jehovah is the English mess-up on... Oh, forgive me, Lord, for that. And y'all forgive me for saying that. I know the Lord will forgive me for this because that's not the way you say His name. But every time you see, "Lord" in the Old Covenant, every time you see it, if it's referring to God, referring to the Lord, it's going to be written out capital L, small capital O-R-D.
GLORIA: Hmm.
KENNETH: Indicating that that's the name of God. Now, Jehovah Rapha, Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey, our healer. Well, think about it. If healing has passed away, God had to change His name. Why? Because love heals. And get to that place. Get to that place. Work on it, work on it. We have just, love, and particularly among English speaking people, "love" has become a slang word. "Don't you just love it? Oh, yeah, don't you love this? Don't you love... oh, I'll tell you I loved that coconut pie last night". Well, see,it's just a slang word. And when you think about that, it's just the same as using the word "God" like that. And people do that. "Oh, God. Oh, my God". That's actually blasphemous.
GLORIA: Mm-hmm.
KENNETH: And people, "Well, I didn't mean it that way". Well, the devil is a legalist. He takes you for what you said, not what you meant. He doesn't care what you meant. And he'll accuse you in front of God over something like that. And, "Well, my Lord"! There's another one. "Well, don't you just love this? Don't you love the". Well, by doing that, we've had absolutely no concept of love in its reality. And right here in I John, the 2nd chapter, it said, "Love not the world, neither the things in the world". So he's talking about here, "Well, my goodness, Brother Copeland, what are we supposed to say"? Well, use the Scripture. I quoted this over and over again last week, what the Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy. He said, "Tell those that are rich in this world, not to be highminded", be willing, "being ready to distribute," or being a giver, which would include tithing. And the scripture just takes for granted you're a tither because, particularly the New Testament teachers because, if it's in the Old Covenant, they didn't even consider not tithing. So not high-minded, just because you got money doesn't make you any better than anybody else. "Ready to distribute," for He gives us all things... Now, it's things we're talking about here. "Love not the things in this world". "He gives us all things richly to enjoy". Glory to God. That's what love does.
GLORIA: Yes.
KENNETH: He's not trying to just meet your needs. He gives you all things. Your needs have got to be met somewhere in all things. Jesus, love Himself, manifested in the earth, said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God". Okay, "Seek ye first the kingdom of love and his righteousness," His way of being right and all these things will be added to you". He wants you. He designed, we found it over there in the book of James, "to be perfect and entire, wanting nothing".
GLORIA: That's what the blessing does.
KENNETH: That's what the blessing is.
GLORIA: The blessing comes because you do what God says.
KENNETH: And that's what the blessing was for.
GLORIA: Yes. And I like the blessing.
KENNETH: I do, too. I've walked in the curse all I want to.
GLORIA: Oh, man, I remember that.
KENNETH: Glory be to Jesus.
GLORIA: Yeah.
KENNETH: Well, in renewing our mind that God is love, love is God and God is love and He loves me, and bringing our thinking to where somebody says, "God," somebody says, "Jesus," the first thing that, just love crosses your mind. Thank You, Lord. "The world suffers," saith the Lord, "because of no knowledge of Who I really am. I have told you time and time again I am the Lord, the God, love, that healeth thee. I sent My Word to heal you. I sent My Son to heal you. My whole purpose in My existence is to manifest love. I am love. I do love. I think love. I work love. I enjoy loving you. So rejoice and understand these things and think on them and meditate on them and be willing to follow Me in this love life and you will have more understanding, and you will have more enjoyment, and you will have greater greater influence than you ever had before. And you'll come to that place that you always saw in working continuing happiness in life in this earth, saith the word of love Himself".
GLORIA: Praise God. I receive that.
KENNETH: The Spirit of grace.
GLORIA: Amen.
KENNETH: Hallelujah. Glory to God. Oh, thank You, Lord. We appreciate it, Sir. Thank You. Hallelujah. Glory, glory, glory, glory, glory. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Jesus. Now, that brings us to this, and keeping all of that in mind now, "We have known and believed the love that God," who is love, "hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love," who is God, "dwelleth in God," who is love, "and God," who is love, "in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love". Of course not. There's no fear in God. There's no fear in love. Well, there's not supposed to be any fear in us because we're born of His love. "But perfect love casteth out fear", here, get it, get it, get it, "because fear hath torment". God, who is love, has no plan for you to be tormented.
GLORIA: Right.
KENNETH: The tormentor is Satan. And without fear, there's no torment there for him to latch onto.
GLORIA: That's right. That's right.
KENNETH: Glory be to God. And we're out of time.
GLORIA: That's right. That's right, too.