Kenneth Copeland - The Word Separates You from Your Flesh
Father thank you today for your Word. We come before it with open hearts and minds to receive heaven. Heavenly Words, heavens concepts, heavens ideas. Words that move heaven on the earth, and we thank you for it Jesus name, amen.
Romans 8:1, there is therefore now and we said yesterday that now always updates itself, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Now then, and we talked about exercising faith, instead of condemnation. Break completely away, yeah. Oh yes sir. Hebrews chapter five. Look at the twelfth verse. For when for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God, and are become such as have need of milk, and not strong meat. Look at this now. For every one that uses milk is unskillful in the Word of righteousness, for he is a baby. Strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use, or exercise, or training have their senses exercised, or trained to discern both good and evil.
Now, those of us that have been in the Word a long time, which I know you have, there are things that your flesh just absolutely will not put up with, that it hadn't been all that long ago it craved. Like any kind of tobacco addiction, and that kind of thing, I mean Gloria and I got born again, and it was several years before we really knew anything about the Word. And didn't know how to use our faith. I'll tell you, now the day I got saved, I mean since that moment, I physically felt it in my mouth, since that moment I never ever used profanity again. Never. Oh dear Lord, I fought those cigarettes, I didn't know how to do it. I flat didn't know how. My flesh was still dominating me in that. Why? I was a baby. A scripture illiterate.
Well you know, you win a few, lose a few. Not if you play the game right. No. But the first time, the very first time that I got into a meeting where the Word was being preached... Well I need to tell you this story. I was really miserable at my job, and I knew I had to be in the ministry, and it was really bothering me. So I went to a meeting down in Houston, I was working for my dad at the time. And I was half way there between Fort Worth and Houston. And I didn't have money enough to go back and get Gloria, only had money enough to get from there to Houston. And I called my dad and told him what I was doing, and that's the day that I quit that job. And I called Gloria and I said, babe, I'm going to have to go on down there, she's gone. So we went.
Well, oh Lord I'm going to be down there with those preachers. I ain't carrying these cigarettes in there. So I just stuffed them up over the sun visor of the car. And went on to the meeting. A couple of weeks later, there's a guy who said Copeland here, go get your wife. Gloria needs to be in this, glory to God thank you sir very much. I went out and got in that car, and I looked up there, and I thought look at that. Not one thought. Not one urge, not one thought about those cigarettes. God again, skip to my lou. Just God. I didn't quit. This is very important. I didn't quit smoking. The Word separated me from it. It's gone.
I'll tell you another one. I was always a guy that I read the paper. Particularly the funny paper, man I had to read the funnies every day, and all that. I just liked it. Well I was a student there at Oral Robert University, and I said Gloria, you know, I've just got a witness in my Spirit that I ought to fast my newspaper for a week. She said, that's good, that's a good idea. You know I've never read one through since. It's gone. I don't think there's anything wrong with reading the newspaper. It would be for me. I don't feed on that. I didn't quit reading the newspaper, the Word and actually totally immersion is what I'm telling you about, separated me from it. Separated Gloria from it. Amen. This is good stuff, you understand that?
Now, other things, it'll separate you from all kinds of natural mind worry and habits, it'll separate you from all of the junk of the world, but you have to get in it, and let it separate you because you're exercising and growing up in the Spirit. Growing up into Jesus, and you're going through adolescence, and then you're going into Spiritual adulthood, and you get to where milk just doesn't satisfy you anymore. Now I got to have some meat here. And the more meat you get, the tougher it is. Well of course.
Now, I, as most of you in this room know, I'm 82, and I'm in a real strong exercise program. And I workout, and all that. Well, hey, I hated exercise all my life. And it cost me. Because the Lord kept telling me to do it, and I'd do it for a few days, and then forget about it. Well that's about as committed as a cricket. I mean, it's no commitment there. Finally I realized how much it had cost me over the years. Not doing without the exercise, but the disobedience. Got it right, and glory to God.
If you say something long enough for it to get in your heart, it'll control your life. And my very first day, I was so excited about getting in that exercise room, and had my commitment made, and I'm just man am I excited about this. And I walked up, and I have an A frame in my exercise room, and weights down here and you pull this thing down. I walked up there, and I'm really feeling good about this. And I grabbed that thing, and all of a sudden, it came out my mouth where I could stuff it. I said, my God how I hate this. Before I could stop it. I'd been saying that for over 50 years, because I said it before I was ever born again. I said it back a long time.
Oh, Lord Jesus, I went right through 1st John one just as fast as I could do it. Oh Jesus, no, no, no, no, no, I love this. Because I love you, and I receive my forgiveness and my cleansing of it. I physically felt that devil leave my body. Now don't get the idea that that demon's in my Spirit. No, no, capital N-O no. As my daddy used to say, Kenneth, now, K-N-O-W-E now. That meant, a while ago boy. So what I'm saying, well I see I'm going to have to do something with that, not on account of you, but because of people watching. You are a Spirit, you have a soul, you live in a body.
Now, a born again Spirit, 2nd Corinthians chapter five. And thank you Lord, this gets us back on our track, verse 17. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. Say: "I'm a new creature. I've been recreated. Not just forgiven. I'm not just a forgiven sinner. I'm not just an old sinner saved by grace. I was an old sinner. I got saved by grace. And I'm a new creature. Old things have passed away and behold all things have become new, and all things are of God". So the Spirit man, is new. There's no room in there for a demon, it's full of God. Amen.
I like the illustration Brother Hagin used. You live in this physical house. Peter called it a tabernacle. Let's say you live in an old house. You live in that old house, and they come in and tell you this old house is full of termites. That don't mean you're full of termites. It's just the old house that's got termites in it. Well, my flesh, because of my Words, I open the door for the devil to influence my flesh and my mind. And he just is riding me like I had a saddle on me. And is taking a shot at me. He was getting shots at me that he didn't have coming, because I allowed him to do it. But I want you to know, he got his back broken the moment I repented of that. And I physically felt him leave my body. I'll tell you what, glory to God. Victory in Christ. Absolutely nothing like it. Absolutely nothing like it.
Now, let's go to Colossians chapter two please. Thank you Lord Jesus. Colossians chapter two, remember there is now therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. We want to look at the 13th and 14th verses. And you being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh have equipped or made alive together with him having forgiven you of all trespasses blotting out the handwriting of ordinances or the note, the amplified translations. Blotting out the hand writing on the note that was against us. It's gone, it's gone. It's gone. Which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing to his cross. He nailed that, I'm telling you. In the Spirit, all my sins, sickness, disease, fear, all of it was nailed to that cross, glory to God. And it's gone. It is absolutely gone.
See yourself standing up there beside a river, and you look up and it's a river of blood. And you take that sin that's so plagued you, and the devils still trying to just eat your lunch with it, and it just crops up into you thinking that, kind of out of the blue, and it hurts. You just take it, and there it is. That nasty, filthy thing that don't belong to me. And you're standing right there on the shore of that river. And just watch it fall into that blood. And don't ever let the devil drag it up again. It's gone, as far as the east is from the west.
Now I'm talking to somebody, this just came up in me. You may have caused your girlfriend, or your wife, or somebody to get an abortion. You might have been the reason for it. You might have had an abortion. Well let me tell you something babe, now the first thing you need to do is accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior. Yeah, but Brother Copeland I did that when I was young. That's wonderful. Now do what I just told you. You cast that thing as far into the blood as you can get it, and you remember this sweetheart. Your little baby is in heaven waiting on you. You're going to get to raise him. You're going to get to raise her. That's right. Yeah but I didn't know. No, no, no, no. This is where you find all of the giving of scriptures, you can get your hands on. And I'll show you another one tomorrow that'll just I tell you what, it'll cause your Spirit man to just soar into the heavenlies. Because that thing's not there anymore. It isn't there. Do you hear what I said? This time shout. It's gone. It's gone. Praise God.
Just a few days ago, Gloria and I ministered in Gatesville, Texas in a women's unit, and women's prison. I taught and preached on these same things. Oh my, to see those women just light up and realize that these things are true, this one scripture right after another, just one right after another, after another, after another, after another until it gets down in your Spirit being, and as it does your flesh begins to say yeah, yeah. What's happening? Your mind's getting renewed. Say this: "That's not who I am. That's who I was. And I'm not that person anymore". Yeah, glory to God thank you Jesus. Well I've done just jumped all over this thing instead of the way... I'm just following the Spirit of God, thank you for helping me.
Now back up over to the first chapter of Colossians. And I want to show you how this took place. Colossians chapter one, now this is a prayer that I pray for my partners, and I'm going to show you how to pray this yourself. Verse nine. For this cause, we also since the day we heard it do not cease to pray for you. Now this is my Bible, it belongs to me. This is God speaking to me, and that you is me. And I can put my name right there. Now, as I pray this, I just say my partners right there. And desire, did the Holy Spirit write this through the Apostle Paul? So this is the Holy Spirits desire. So if it's the Holy Spirits desire, it's Jesus desire. And he's our Lord, and he's our savior.
It is his desire that Kenneth Copeland might be filled with the knowledge of his will, and all wisdom and Spiritual understanding. Why Jesus? That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing being fruitful in every good work, increasing in the knowledge of God strengthened with all might according to his glorious power unto all patience and long suffering with joyfulness. Now there's three fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, patience, and well actually two because patience and long suffering are the same fruit. Giving thanks, so we give you thanks Lord Jesus. Unto the Father we give you thanks Father, which has made us in the King James meet, M-E-E-T or able, A-B-L-E. And you'll see what that means.
To be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light, who hath, H-A-T-H, who has already delivered us from the power or the authority of darkness. And hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son. The word translated dear in the Greek is agape, the very love of God himself. Into the son of his love in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sin. Glory to God. The moment you said Jesus come into my life, take my life and do something with it. Come into my heart.
The moment you said it, that all happened. You were translated out of the kingdom of darkness and its authority, or his authority, Satan's authority. Translated out of that, and translate means to take out of one and put in the other. You were taken out of the kingdom of darkness, you were born again, praise God, the most powerful miracle known to humanity. Amen. And put into the kingdom of God with full rights and authority. First born rights. Jesus is no longer the only begotten son of God, the scripture says he's the first born from the dead, hallelujah. We're joint heirs with him. We're joint heirs with him. Heirs of God, amen? That means we have the same status of a first born. Now let me tell you something, in the first covenant, the adopted child always was first born. And we've been adopted. Huh? The adopted child always, always was heir with the first born.