Kenneth Copeland - You're Empowered for the Supernatural
Hello, everybody. I'm Kenneth Copeland. This is the Believer's Voice of Victory Broadcast. Let's have a word of prayer, and we'll get right into today's Bible lesson.
Father, we thank You today for Your presence. We honor Your presence among us. And we thank You with all of our hearts for all the wonderful blessings and the outpourings and everything that You've done for us. You are so good, and Your mercy endures forever. Father, we thank You for this broadcast today. Manifest Yourself as You will. This place belongs to You, Sir. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
MORRIS CERULLO: Amen.
KENNETH: I want you to join me today in welcoming a very, very special guest, Dr. Morris Cerullo.
MORRIS: Brother Copeland, it's a delight to be here with you.
KENNETH: Well, thank you, sir.
MORRIS: This is a special place.
KENNETH: Like I told you before we got on the air, I've been wanting you in that chair for a long time now.
MORRIS: Thank you.
KENNETH: And I'm so blessed that you're here. There's so much that we want to talk about. I'd like to begin by reading in the last chapter of the book of Mark where Jesus spoke and set the course for the Body of Christ just at the last moments before He ascended. "And He said," beginning with the 15th Verse, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned," or condemned. "These signs shall follow them that believe in my name shall they cast out devils they shall speak with new tongues..."
MORRIS: Yes.
KENNETH: "...they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God. And they went forth, preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following". I don't know of another preacher of the Gospel anywhere that has done more to fulfill this than Morris Cerullo.
MORRIS: Thank you, sir.
KENNETH: And the flow of his ministry is unique. It's something that all of us wish we would have thought of. Ha-ha-ha. Of course, I know you didn't think of it. The Lord instructed you to do this.
MORRIS: Yeah.
KENNETH: The man's been in the ministry over 70 years. And I've known him over 30 of that 70.
MORRIS: 70 years.
KENNETH: And we've become very close over the years. But now, you could go, for instance, into any city and preach to the people in that city. Now, if you did that in every major city of the world, it still would not be as effective as going to that city and bringing in ministers from all over that country and literally training those preachers to preach the Gospel.
MORRIS: Amen.
KENNETH: And that's what Brother Cerullo's been doing. That's what his ministry's been doing all these years, which meant, instead of reaching the city, you reach the nation.
MORRIS: Absolutely.
KENNETH: And it has grown, and it has grown, and it has grown. And I've been privileged to be a small part of that. And it's blessed me beyond measure. Now, he has also... oh, my, my, my, my. I'm telling you, we're going to talk about the book of his life before the program is over. But I mean, you just read this and he's seen miracles and miracle healings, and things, just outstanding things. But one of the most outstanding miracles that I know of has happened to him. And just recently, just in the last...
MORRIS: Year.
KENNETH: ...weeks and couple months ago or so. And so we're going to be talking about that. And I want you to get ready, because I don't care what's the matter with you, you're going to get your healing. Praise God.
MORRIS: Amen.
KENNETH: All you've got to do is just receive it because it belongs to you. "Well, Brother Copeland, you reckon it's God's will"? You think He wants you to be sick? "Well, someone told me that". Well, someone lied to you then because the Word of God doesn't say that.
MORRIS: Absolutely.
KENNETH: Jesus said, "I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me".
MORRIS: Yes.
KENNETH: And you go search the Bible yourself and find out and see if Jesus told anybody that God put that sickness on them, or that they had to have that sickness for awhile, or that God was trying to teach them something. No. You know what He said? He said, "Your faith made you whole". So anybody that would believe it...
MORRIS: They get it.
KENNETH: ...they get it. Amen. Praise God. That's just wonderful, isn't it?
MORRIS: You know, Kenneth, this is one of my most favorite Scriptures that you read today in all the Bible, not only to start at the 15th verse, but it's an answer to the first 15 verses. In the Gospel of St. Mark, the 16th chapter, you'll find the story of not one believer, including Mary Magdalene, including the mother of Jesus, that believed He was going to be resurrected. Not one.
KENNETH: Not one.
MORRIS: And this story tells it here in the 16th chapter, how that "Early in the morning the first day of the week, they came to the sepulcher at the rising of the sun. They said, Who's going to roll this stone away"? Now, what were they doing there if they believed He was going to be resurrected?
KENNETH: That's right. That's right.
MORRIS: They expected to find Him in the grave. "Who's going to roll the stone away"? They entered the sepulchre. I'm just going to paraphrase it. They saw a young man sitting on the right side. And he said, "Don't be afraid: You seek Jesus of Nazareth: he's risen; he's not here: behold the place where they have laid him. Go your way, tell his disciples, tell Peter he goes before them into Galilee. You're going to see him," the angel makes a promise, "as he said unto you". That means the angel is testifying that before Jesus went away, "He told you".
KENNETH: He told them.
MORRIS: "'I'm coming out of the grave. I'm going to be resurrected.'" Now, they go out. Look at the 8th Verse. "They went out, they fled from the sepulchre; they trembled, they were amazed". Now, I want to ask you a question, all right?
KENNETH: Yes, sir.
MORRIS: If an angel of God stood here, you saw him, you heard him, and he said, "Morris, Kenneth, go down the street. You'll find a little house. Somebody in there is sick and afflicted. Go in there, lay hands on them," what would you do?
KENNETH: I'd go down there.
MORRIS: Would you really?
KENNETH: I believe I would.
MORRIS: All right.
KENNETH: Amen.
MORRIS: Not these disciples.
KENNETH: I know. That's right.
MORRIS: "Neither did they say anything". The angel who appeared to the women gave them the instruction, "He's going to fulfill the word that He said to you. He will rise". They walked out of the sepulchre. And what does it say? "They didn't tell anybody".
KENNETH: My, my, my.
MORRIS: "Now Jesus was risen the first day of the week, he appeared to Mary Magdalene, out of whom he had cast seven devils". Now she goes, and she tells them that had been with Jesus, those that mourned with Him, those that wept. "And when they heard that he was alive", what is the last part of that verse says?
KENNETH: They didn't believe it.
MORRIS: Now, what have we got? We've got a group of close followers, women, disciples. They all hear the message now that Jesus is risen, but they look at those that testified who had seen Him and heard the angel and they're giving the testimony, and they say, "We don't believe it".
KENNETH: My, my, my.
MORRIS: Now, these are the people, Kenneth, that He is depending upon to reach the world. You think of all these people that are watching the Believer's Voice of Victory today. What an incredible army God could have if you could give divine impartation to them so that when they got to the 15th verse, and He says, "Go ye into all the world". Who's going to go? These unbelievers? These that say, "I will not believe"? One more place, one more time. Kenneth, can I do one more?
KENNETH: Sure.
MORRIS: Okay. "And afterward he", meaning Jesus, right?
KENNETH: Mm-hmm.
MORRIS: "...appeared in another form to two of them, and they went". Now, we've got the women testifying about the angels and the empty tomb. The men have heard about it. They say, "We won't believe". Now, two others see Him. And they go and they tell it in the 13th verse to the residue. In other words, all the rest, right?
KENNETH: Mm-hmm.
MORRIS: And what does it say?
KENNETH: They didn't believe it either.
MORRIS: "Neither believed they them". How are we going to reach the world with these that are unbelievers, who have seen the resurrected Lord, heard Him speak to them, but they say, "We don't care. We don't believe it's real"? Now, the next scene, you read it. They're sitting together at meat. Jesus comes through the closed doors, right? Comes through the wall. He stands there in front of them. And this is what blows my mind. This is why God has asked me, "Build Me an army. Raise Me up men and women that will have the anointing, have the divine capability". To do what? "To prove to the world, I am not in the grave".
KENNETH: Amen. Witnesses that have evidence.
MORRIS: Ability to do it. So now, you read it. He said to them, when He went into the room, He said, "Go ye into all the world. Go on". Now, would I send these unbelievers? Would I send these no-good renegades who walked with Him, who saw Him open the eyes of the blind, unstop the ears of the deaf, raise the dead? And now He Himself appeared to them in His resurrected body, and the angels appeared to them and the testimony is the same; they believed not, they believed not, they believed not. And now Jesus comes into that room, "Go into all the world, preach the gospel". I wouldn't send them. You probably have more faith than I do. But Jesus looked at them, and here's the key: When He saw them, He was not depending on what they were. And Jesus is not depending on what you are or what you possess. He's depending on only one thing: "What can I make of you"?
KENNETH: Amen. Amen.
MORRIS: "And when I touch your life, and when My anointing comes into your life, when the Holy Spirit which is in Me, that Holy Spirit that raised Me from the dead, dwells in you, you'll go out. And then you'll do these works".
KENNETH: Yeah. Because of Him, these signs are going to follow you.
MORRIS: Amen.
KENNETH: Amen.
MORRIS: Because He's changed you from a doubter, from a questioner, to one without question, goes forth. And like Jesus, "As My Father sent Me, so send I you".
KENNETH: Amen.
MORRIS: And they grabbed ahold of it. They became proof producers.
KENNETH: Isn't that wonderful? Praise God. Hallelujah. Well, it comes right back to our front door.
MORRIS: Amen.
KENNETH: We have to do this. But just take Peter for example. Run, hide, well, so did the rest of them.
MORRIS: Yes.
KENNETH: But then, hen after the day of Pentecost, it was a totally different story, wasn't it...
MORRIS: Hallelujah.
KENNETH: ...because of the greater One that came and the anointing that came on them when they were baptized in the Holy Ghost.
MORRIS: Change.
KENNETH: Absolutely.
MORRIS: That's what we need.
KENNETH: Inside-out.
MORRIS: We need to be changed.
KENNETH: Praise God.
MORRIS: And you know, the wonderful thing about it is, we're not alone. We think it all depends on us, but it really doesn't.
KENNETH: No.
MORRIS: Remember what Jesus said to Peter? "You're a renegade. You're going to deny me". And Peter, of course, he was that, you know, strong man. "No, my God. I'd never do". He said, "You will. "But," He said, "Peter, I want to tell you something. I prayed for you".
KENNETH: Praise God. Amen.
MORRIS: "I prayed that you would not fail". And so remember, we're never alone. We're called, we're chosen, and He's praying for us consistently that we will be what He was to His Father, and He gives us the ability to be Him.
KENNETH: You know, I did essentially the same thing when I accepted the Lord as my Savior in the first part of November of 1962. Gloria and I had been married about six months. And she got saved a couple of weeks before I did. And I knew almost immediately what I was supposed to do. I knew it when I was a teenager, and I didn't want to do it.
MORRIS: No.
KENNETH: And there were some things happening. The devil made sure that there were some things happening that enforced that in me. And I won't go into that. But when I should have been at Oral Roberts University, I knew I was supposed to go there.
MORRIS: Mm.
KENNETH: I should have been there in 1963 instead of 1967.
MORRIS: Hmm.
KENNETH: So all of '63, all of '64, all of '65. And let me put it this way. I should have been in the first class. That class graduated while I was there, but I enrolled in school that last semester. So I got to watch that class graduate. I should have been there that whole four-year period.
MORRIS: Mm.
KENNETH: I was that late coming to work. Ha-ha-ha.
MORRIS: Yeah.
KENNETH: But same reason, I didn't want to go to school. And I kept thinking, "What am I going to do? I can't do that". I never was all that hot in school in the first place, and I don't like it. But I mean, how am I going to do this with little children, how can I do this? I can't do it.
MORRIS: Mm.
KENNETH: So I'm thinking the same thing.
MORRIS: Absolutely.
KENNETH: "I can't do that. I can't do that". And when I finally figured out, "I can't do it," ha-ha-ha, that's when it changed. But the idea that, "I have to provide for my children. I have to do this. I have to do that," rather than trust God to do it, that's where so many failures happen right there. And we're out of time. Oh, praise God.