Kenneth Copeland - Cast Your Cares by Resisting Fear
KENNETH: Hello everybody, we're Kenneth and Gloria Copeland. Welcome to the Believer's Voice of Victory Broadcast. Praise God right out here at our prayer cabin in Southwest Arkansas. Glory to God. Woo. I tell you, we love it here. We do this every year to share this with you, share it especially with our partners. It's a joy and a thrill to get to do it every year.
Father, we thank you today for the Word. We lift our hearts, we lift our minds to you. We receive revelation from Heaven, words that move Heaven on the Earth and bring glory to the name of Jesus and to bring ideas, insights, and concepts of the life of faith in You. It's in the mighty, wonderful, matchless name of Jesus that we pray. Unto you, Lord Jesus, we ascribe all of the glory. Hallelujah. Amen. Glory to God.
GLORIA: Good morning.
KENNETH: We're here again. Glory to God.
GLORIA: We like it in the woods.
KENNETH: You look especially good this morning.
GLORIA: Thank you very much.
KENNETH: I know what it is.
GLORIA: What?
KENNETH: Now as the day that we're taping this, this is the 17th of April.
GLORIA: Yeah.
KENNETH: Only four days ago, you and I celebrated, big time, our 57th wedding anniversary.
GLORIA: Think about it. Glory to God.
KENNETH: Then next year and next year and then the next year's going to be 60 years. We're going to have a party.
GLORIA: Are we? Well, great.
KENNETH: Amen.
GLORIA: We deserve it.
KENNETH: Yeah. Glory to God. Well, you do. I got to live with you. You had to live with me.
GLORIA: Aw, come on now. You're a sweetheart.
KENNETH: God bless you, sweetheart. You're the best.
GLORIA: Thank you, darling.
KENNETH: Now then, we're going to talk about, today, one of the most, how can I say this Lord? Other than walking in love, having revelation of the Word, then this, in my estimation, falls right in under there, because it is... Well, you'll see why when we get into this. That Jesus, our caretaker ...
GLORIA: Yeah, he is.
KENNETH: He's our caretaker. Gloria, 72 times in the Old Testament and 23 times in the New Testament, now there's a lot of other things that refer to it, but the phrase actually use "fear not".
GLORIA: That's right.
KENNETH: That phrase is actually used a total of 95 times in the Bible.
GLORIA: You know why? That's the opposite of faith.
KENNETH: Yes it is.
GLORIA: Fear is the opposite of faith. You can't do both.
KENNETH: No, you get it. You only need two or three witnesses for it to be established. 95 times it says that. That makes it an outstanding command from God. Let's go to, first of all, 1st Peter in Chapter 5. We'll begin reading with 5th verse. Now, I want you to... We're going to look at this very, very, very, very carefully now. "Likewise, you younger submit yourselves under the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another and be clothed with humility for God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves, therefore under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time". Now listen to me. God is not against your and my being exalted. No. He is, however, against us exalting ourselves.
GLORIA: That's a good point.
KENNETH: Now, and I have to be very careful with this because there's... Let me remind you of something. The Apostle Paul said, "I have planted, Apollos watered. It's God that gives the increase". Now many of you have heard me preach this again and again. I preached it just a few years ago right on this broadcast, I mean, from here. If you've heard it before, we're watering. If you've heard it for the first time, we're planning, so listen very, very, very attentively. Okay.
GLORIA: Now what verse are you referring to?
KENNETH: Okay, 1st Peter 5:6. Humble yourselves, therefore under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you in due time. Casting all, say the word all.
GLORIA: All.
KENNETH: Casting all your care upon Him for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant because your adversary, the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour. He can't just come devour you. He can't just devour me.
GLORIA: We might today say cast all your worry.
KENNETH: Oh yeah, we're headed there. That's included in the word care.
GLORIA: It is. It is.
KENNETH: All worry's, all care's fear based. Worry's a sin, because Jesus said, "Don't do it".
GLORIA: It's the opposite of faith.
KENNETH: He we go. Now, look at this. Resist him steadfast in the faith knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world. But, I love it. Look at it, but the God of all grace who has called unto His eternal glory by Christ Jesus after that you have suffered awhile make you perfect or mature, developed, establish, strengthen and settle you.
GLORIA: That's good and it settles you.
KENNETH: That's good, isn't it? Now let's deal with this suffer a while.
GLORIA: Okay.
KENNETH: Suffering with sickness and disease that's not what he's talking about at all. He's talking about resisting. Now, what is the born again believer supposed to resist? Think about this, Gloria. We resist everything that Jesus bore for us on the cross. Boy, and that gets tough. That's tougher than physical resistance.
GLORIA: That's a whole curse.
KENNETH: We resist sin. We resist poverty. We resist sickness and disease. In that resistance, I remember one time in Oklahoma City, I had the flu so bad I couldn't get out of the bed. Well, call them in, Gloria, and tell them I can't come. That'll be the day. You don't do that. I was so sick. I remember, we borrowed our hostess. I wasn't going to hand my razor to you to shave me.
GLORIA: I appreciate that.
KENNETH: We borrowed Lavinia's electric shaver. If she hadn't had one, I'd just gone unshaven.
GLORIA: You should have seen him.
KENNETH: We were sitting up in the middle of the bed. I was so sick, and Gloria held me by the hair on my head and shaved me. I'm resisting, you understand? I'm resisting that. I've got a message to preach this morning. I'm going to preach it in the name of Jesus. Got over there at the church. Gloria helped me get dressed and got to the church where I was preaching that day, Brother Hartfield's church. I caught a hold of the pulpit and read my scripture. Boy, and the room started going around and around and around and around. I said, "I'll be back". The choir practice room was right behind the platform there. I just went around and went in that choir room. I'm telling you took authority over the devil. See, he's trying to devour me.
GLORIA: Yeah, he is.
KENNETH: He's trying to devour me. He's trying to shame the message. He's trying to break it down anyway he could. Now what? Now, that was my care. That was my care. I needed to do this meeting, but you don't give in to that. When I walked back out there, I caught a hold that pulpit and got woozy again. I preached two hours and 15 minutes on healing. By the time I got through with that message, I'll tell you, I was healed. Everybody in the house was healed. Then the devil crawled off with his tail between his legs.
GLORIA: That's the important...
KENNETH: That's where he belonged.
GLORIA: That's right. That's how you do it.
KENNETH: That's how you do it. What happened? I was exalted in due time.
GLORIA: Instead of taking it.
KENNETH: Yeah, I was exalted in due time now. Now then, so I'm resisting him steadfast in the faith. Now that's suffering. Well, I'll tell you what. It's suffering when you just have to get the corner of that sheet and say, Go bless God as long as 1st Peter 2:24, By His stripes, I was healed. As long as that's in the Bible, I'm not laying down".
GLORIA: Did I try to shave you?
KENNETH: Well, I wasn't about to turn that razor over to you.
GLORIA: I was going to say I'd be the one suffering.
KENNETH: Lavinia had electric shaver, you remember? We did it that way. Now then, I want to do something here. Let me read to you. This is the word translated care; anxiety, distress, uneasiness of mind caused by fear, fear not, 95 times in the Bible, caused by fear of danger or misfortune. Now worry; to torment oneself with cares, anxieties. It's the same. See, it's the same. Literally, exchange the same word. Let me read it again. This is care; casting all of your cares over on Him, anxiety, distress, uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune. Now then to get a good clear insight into this, let's go over to Mark chapter 4. Now, this is recorded in Matthew 13:22. It's recorded in Mark 4:19. It's recorded also in Luke 21:34. It says exactly the same thing in each one of them, so let's just take it from the Book of Mark, verse 14. "The sower soweth the Word. These are they by the wayside where the Word is sown. But when they have heard Satan cometh immediately and take of the way the Word that was sown in their heart, these are they likewise, which are sown on stony ground, who when they have heard the Word immediately receive it with gladness and have no root in themselves and so endure but for a time. Afterward when affliction or persecution arises for the Word's sake... See, Satan's after the Word. He comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy it. A lot of people thought that kill, steal and... That's not what Jesus said. It needs to be in that order; steal, kill, and destroy. He's not out to steal your family. He's not out stealing your money. He's out to steal the Word. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. If he can steal the Word, he can have all the rest of it. He's got it. Now, listen carefully. Verse 18: "These are they which are sown among thorns such as hear the Word and the anxiety, the stress or uneasiness of mind caused by fear of danger or misfortune in the world and the deceitfulness of riches and the lust or the pressure of other things entering in choke the Word". Uh-oh. Now look. You can be talking in tongues. You can do all these things and go to bed and worry and get up worried. It's not working. It isn't working. It'll work to a degree, but no where near like it should. Something like 98%. This is just mind boggling. Something like 98% of all chronic diseases are self induced.
GLORIA: 98%.
KENNETH: There was a Chinese doctor. He was a really funny guy. He was talking to my dad. He said, "It's easy to get sick man healed. Take head off. Put on shelf. Get well. Put head back".
GLORIA: Pretty good, isn't it?
KENNETH: The worry and the stress and all of the things that go with it, self induced. Cancer's not contagious.
GLORIA: No.
KENNETH: Heart disease is not contagious. It all goes back to this area as a major, a major impact on human beings, particularly where sickness and disease and poverty and all those things are concerned. We're most concerned now about the Spirit, soul and body. Now let's look at John 14:27. John 14. Let's go to the 24th verse. "He that loveth me..." Let's go back to this 26th verse. "The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, which is the Holy Ghost, who the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said unto you". Now, get this.
GLORIA: Praise God.
KENNETH: Listen to what he said. "Peace, I leave with you. My peace, I give unto you, not as the world giveth, give I unto you". Listen now. What's He saying? There's a commandment. Let, not you, let not your heartbeat troubled neither let it, don't you let it. That's talking about your Spirit.
GLORIA: That's right.
KENNETH: Don't you let your Spirit be troubled. Don't you let it be afraid. You have authority over fear. Glory to God. Right quick, right now, let's go over to 1st John in the 4th Chapter, 18th verse. "There is no fear in love, perfect or mature love casteth out fear". The love does it. Isn't that good?
GLORIA: That's good.
KENNETH: Remember, faith filled words dominate the laws of sin and death.
GLORIA: Faith works by love, the scripture says.
KENNETH: Yeah, Galatians 5:6. Oh yeah, so and there you have it. Faith works by love. Well, fear works just the opposite of love. Isn't there, it doesn't work.
GLORIA: Yeah. Fear works by worry.
KENNETH: Listen to this. "Because fear has torment, he that feareth is not mature in love".
GLORIA: God is love.
KENNETH: Now look at this. You can't relegate to God, "Oh God, get this fear out of me". That doesn't work. You can't relegate to Him what He has all ready relegated to us and put under our authority. We have to do our part, Gloria, or it don't work at all.
GLORIA: It says love casts out fear.
KENNETH: That's a given.
GLORIA: You can't put up with fear.
KENNETH: No, you can't. Those words, faith filled words, and like Gloria said, "Faith worketh by love. Grace worketh by faith". Now we started out in 1st Peter 5, He gives grace to the humble. Boy, it's all tied together, isn't it?
GLORIA: It is. 18 says, "He that feareth is not made perfect in love". If you're in fear, you're not walking in love.
KENNETH: That's good.
GLORIA: That's what it said.
KENNETH: Yeah.
GLORIA: "He that feareth is not made perfect in love".
KENNETH: Don't let the word perfect throw you, because it's not talking about perfection. It's talking about development, talking about continually developing, continually... staying in the Word all the time. Totally immersing yourself in it.
GLORIA: That's pretty easy, see, because you cannot be in faith and be in fear.
KENNETH: We're out of time.
GLORIA: You've got to deal with that.