Kenneth Copeland - The Holy Spirit, Your Standby Power
Father, we just praise You today. Thank You, Lord, for being our Savior. Thank You for being our baptizer with the Holy Spirit. Thank You for being our healer. Thank You for being the wisdom of God for us and to us. And thank You for sending Your mighty Holy Spirit to dwell within us, for greater is He that's in us than he that's in the world. And we boldly declare that we lean heavily on our teacher and our guide, our intercessor, our standby, our advocate, our helper, our comforter, our healer, our strengthener. Glory to God. And I thank You for it in Jesus' name. Amen.
You know, the Lord just reminded me, as I was praying and I said, "Standby". Yesterday I started to tell you about the standby and I got to talking about that, you know, that old Oldsmobile that I had back there when I was a student over at ORU. And I didn't get into the "standby" part. "Well, what's the standby"? Well, see, the Spirit of God is not just something you just carry around with you. I mean, He's not excess baggage, let me tell you for what. Amen.
And, man, that old car, you could push the accelerator down and hit passing gear, and it would say, "Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha". That's supposed to be standby power. Not in that old car. But, hey, mm-mm, in my new Escalade, glory to God, over 400 horses sitting there waiting on me. Mm-hmm. Come on, man. You're just driving along just as nice and get down around that floorboard, and you hit that standby power, and I want you to know that red rascal gets off and running. Let me tell you something else, I taxi out on the runway with that Citation X and I'm just, you know, I'm taxiing around and just getting ready to go, got everything lined up, get out there on that runway.
Son, I'm going to tell you something, you push those throttles up and that thing better be pointed in the right direction because something or another about to happen! Let me tell you what, that Citation X, no supersonic fighter jet, nothing can compare to the Greater One that lives within us! It's God! It's God, the Holy Spirit! It's the same Spirit dwelling in Jesus that raised the dead and healed the sick and made blind eyes see and the maimed were made whole! Whoa-ho-ho-ho. Glory. Oh, I better get in here and preach. Glory to God. I got it all over me. Hallelujah. Thank You, Lord Jesus. We praise You, Sir. Standby, standby power. Praise God.
You just need to learn how to turn Him on. Well, no, let me back up. It's me I turned on. He's always on. Amen? Hallelujah. Now, Mark 11:24, "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them. When you stand praying, forgive, if you have ought against any". The Scripture said, in I John, let's turn over there. I want you to put your eyes on it. I John 1 because, you remember, whatever you do, it's all based on the Word. Faith cometh by hearing the Word, the Word of God, the promises of God. This is a promise of God. Verse 9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just", the word translated "just" means righteous, "to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". Amen.
So I take that and, "When you stand praying, forgive, if you have ought against any". "Father, it's not in my heart to hold against anybody. In the name of Jesus, I obey the words of Jesus and I thank You for it. And, Holy Spirit, I'm looking unto You. And You're my helper. I'm looking to You, Sir. And I repent. I repent of every known sin. Glory to God. And I believe I receive my forgiveness, and I believe I receive, by faith, my cleansing. See, Jesus promised it, Sir, and I receive it now. It's mine".
"Yeah, but I don't feel like I'm forgiven". Oh, shut up with that "feeling" business. That's your flesh. It's in the habit of feeling that way. Just slap it over the head and tell it, "Shut up", because it's what Jesus said. I mean, that's it. He's commander-in-chief. Now, Lord, help me with this. If I have ought against any, if there's anything that I need to remember, anything I need to deal with here, I pray about it in the Spirit. And listen to Him. This is my point here today, spend time listening to the Greater One that's on the inside of you. He will lead you and guide you into all truth. And He's in there. He's ready. He's speaking all the time. Just be quiet and listen, right in here.
Pray this out loud: "Lord Jesus I love you with all my heart, all my soul, all my mind, and all my strength". Now, be quiet. Be quiet. Guide your hearing, not here. Guide your hearing down here. This is where you'll hear that inward witness. And just be quiet. Now, I just heard, "I love you, too, Kenneth". A lot of you did the same thing. "Well, I didn't hear anything". Well, just keep listening, sweetheart. He's talking. But you don't recognize somebody unless you talk to them all the time. And this is where, depending on Him... He's always speaking. It's not that He don't like me and don't ever talk to me. No, no, no. That's a lie from hell. Just, pfft, spit that out and forget that forever. He's always speaking to you. Amen.
We're going to look at that in just a moment. He's always speaking to you. It's your ears that need cleaning out. And it's not these ears, it's right in here. He speaks to every born-again believer all the time. Amen. Hallelujah. But spend time listening. Oh, yeah. I was doing this years ago. And I prayed that prayer just like I prayed with you. And I heard it right in here. He said, "You remember that man that was selling cantaloupes down there on the corner where you turn to come into your street"? Oh, the minute He said it, I remembered it. "Yeah, I remember him".
What he had done, he was selling cantaloupes out there, and Gloria bought a sack full of cantaloupes about this tall. There are two great big, beautiful cantaloupes on top. We took those off there. Every other cantaloupe in that sack was rotten. I said, "I'm going down there". And Gloria said, "No, you're not". I wanted to go spank him, you know? But, "No, no, no. Now, don't be doing that". Well, that seemed like such a slight thing to me, but I was angry. And you know, I forgot about it and went on, but it was unrepented. I needed to deal with that. That don't look like any big thing. Let me tell you again.
Now, I've said this before. And you need to make note of this. There are things that look little to nothing to us, but they're big with God, particularly in unforgiveness. Amen. You're sitting there watching the news, "I don't see how them people can be that stupid". Now, wait a minute, have you ever been president? "No". Have you ever known a president? "No". All you know is what the news said about them, and, you know, I know that there, people to make ridiculous choices and all of that. But you don't need to be judging those people, you need to be following the Scripture in I Timothy 2 and praying for them. Amen. Now, I mean it. Well, "You mean I have to forgive that"? Yes, you do if you want your faith to work. Now, this is big. This is important.
"Well, Brother Copeland, I need to be praying about my family. I've got problems here". I know it. And you need to get that mess out so your faith will work. Faith works by love, not unforgiveness. "Well, I didn't mean to". I know you didn't mean to, but what I'm saying to you is Satan uses that kind of stuff, and you need to just turn it off. You may be like me, you can't be trusted with the news broadcast. Amen. Turn the thing off. "Well, I want to find out what's happening". Well, pray in the Spirit. The Lord will let you know what's happening, anything you need to know. Glory to God.
When the time comes, vote. "How do I know how to vote"? I'm telling you right here, pray. "Who do I vote for, Sir"? And this may take awhile. It may take time, but you're praying in the Spirit. See, you're praying things you forgot about. You're praying things you don't remember. But you're handling it in the Spirit and the Holy Ghost is on your side. He's working with you. He's taking care of business. He's working, He's praying things that you forgot to pray. He's taking care of things in your life. He'll reveal something that needs to be repented of. He took me over weeks at a time where He started me back here with this. It was time for the prophets ministry to excel.
And in Hebrews 12:1, "Let's lay aside the sin, and the weights". May not be a sin, but it's a weight. It's something burdening you down that you need to get off of you. And I mean, He just took me through, just like peeling an onion, just one strip right after another. And "Yes, Sir, glory to God", got rid of that one. And I'm going along here. He said, "You need to take care of that". "Oh, yeah, okay. Yeah, I'll take care of that. Oh, yeah, take care, oh, yeah".
What am I doing? I'm back in training, man. I'm working out with my spirit. "He that prays in an unknown tongue edifies himself". I'm edifying myself. And I'm moving in areas where I'm doing a lot more of it. And I've always done a lot of it, but more, more, more. Praise God. Building up, building up, building up. What are you doing? I'm getting ready. There's an outpouring of the glory here right now. I mean, the cycle has come around again. And this time, it's like the great healing revival in the late '50s and the Holy Ghost outpouring in the '60s and the Word of Faith outpouring in the '70s and '80s and '90s. It's all of it rolled into one big explosion, and it's here now! Glory to God. Amen.
So, spend time listening to the Greater One. Now, spend time in the Word. Go back to the Word of God. Let me show you now, in John 16. Jesus is speaking here about the Holy Spirit. It's just days away from Him going to the cross and being raised from the dead, and the day of Pentecost is coming and all that. Now listen to what He said. In the 16th chapter, 13th verse, now listen to this, "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will", this is His job, He does His job, "he will guide you into all truth: he shall not speak of himself", He's not talking about Himself, "but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak".
Hear what? Whatever He hears Jesus say to Him concerning you. Jesus is your Lord and your Savior. If you've just made Him Savior and not Lord... "Lord" means, "I am here, Sir. I am Yours to command. I change what you say change, I do what you say do. I am yours. You're my Lord. I'm following You, Sir". Now, when you get to that point, He's always ahead of things. He's always ahead of things, always. You may be driving down the road. And the Lord says, and you hear it on the inside of you, "Don't go that way this morning". "Really"? "Yeah, I want you to go that other way". "Lord, that will probably take me 15 more minutes. Hey, it's not mine to argue".
Brrrr, head that way, and then you find out there was a big wreck down there on the highway, and it took those people three hours to get to town. Huh? He's always ready with everything you need all the time. He's in there with you. He's your standby, your teacher, your advocate. He's always there, always ready. If we're listening, then He's speaking. "Whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he also speak: he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he will receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father has are mine: therefore said I, that he will take of mine, and show it to you". Glory to God. That's access to everything the Father knows and has. Glory to God. That just kind of boggles, it does boggle the human mind, but your spirit will lay hold on that, thank God. Hallelujah. He'll reveal things to you.
When you're listening to Him, praying in the Spirit, listening for guidance, listening for Him, instead of saying, "I just don't know what to do here. I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do", no, no, don't be saying that. "I don't know where I left my car keys". Yeah, you do. You're the one that left them. You know where they are. It's just not in your mental faculties don't remember. You did it without thinking or something. But your Father within you knows. And He's just as interested in your car keys as you are because He's trying to tell you to go somewhere.
Father, I know you know where those cars are, and I boldly declare that the Greater One that's in me is revealing those keys. You know where they are, therefore, I know where they are because You're in my spirit and my spirit knows.
Now all I need to do is get that information from in here up to in here where I can get my hands on it. I'll tell you, Gloria and I have experienced that over the years countless, just countless times. I'll tell you something else. Your ministering angel knows what you did with it. But he ain't going to do nothing about it. You're in command of that angel. You just simply say, "Ministering spirit", this is Hebrews 1, "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for those shall be heirs of salvation"? "Ministering spirits, hey, help me here. Get this into my hand. Thank You, Father, for showing me where it is. Amen".
I was in Houston, Texas, and this is, oh, just early days of my ministry. I went down there to preach for three days and wound up staying three weeks. And I ran out of anything to preach. And man, I thought, "Well, you know, I'll just go back and preach the same thing again". And so I'm praying. Right down here, "Go look in the backseat of the car". "What"? I'm dealing with this right here, right now, I... "Go look in the backseat of the car". "What is in the backseat of my car? Nothing". "Go look in the backseat of the"... "Okay"! I thought it was just myself, see. I didn't know the things that I'm telling you here. I didn't know to listen to the Greater One on the inside. Well, I knew it, but, of course, I was developed in it like I am now.
So I went down the parking garage of that hotel. And, "Oh, I remember, I remember, I remember. Glory be to God". I was driving out of the parking lot of a church where I had just spoken on a Sunday morning, and a guy ran out there and said, "Brother Copeland, Brother Copeland, I want to give you these. Bless you, sir". I said, "Thank you". And I just put them in the back of my car seat and drove away, and I didn't even know what they were. I went out there and looked; a whole set of books by one of the most powerful word of faith men that ever lived, E.W. Kenyon. Glory to God. And I looked at that and I thought, "Who is this? I don't know this man. But, okay".
And man, I started reading those books. Oh, my spirit went... Give me some more of that. I mean, it just was, man, I'm just eating it up. It's feeding my faith and I'm reading it at night and preaching it the next morning. Glory to God. Amen. Then so, what's happening? He's leading me, see? He knew that was in the backseat of that car. And so I went down there and got it. There was another time that this ministry was, phew, man, oh, millions of dollars behind in the television ministry.
And man, I was worried about it. And, "Oh, oh, Lord. Oh, Lord, oh, Lord. Oh, Lord". I said, "I don't want to give that board meeting". I didn't prepare for my board of directors meeting till midnight the night before the thing. And I'm... what? "This department, best year we've ever had. This department, best we've ever had. This department, best year we've ever had. TV department, we're 6 million behind. And now, this department, best year we've ever had". I said, "Gloria, get up"! She'd already gone to bed. "We've had the best year we've ever had, and I didn't know it"!
And we came in there, and, oh, I realized. Here, it was the Lord, see. He said, "You know better than to carry the care of this. The only department that any trouble was the one you were carrying the care of it and you were trying to fix it. Now roll that care off over on me". See, needed to hear that. But He was telling me all the time. I wasn't listening to Him. I'm griping and going on. Shut your mouth and get down there and listen. Amen.