Kenneth Copeland - Take Part In God's Covenant Promises
Kenneth Copeland: Hello everybody, I'm Kenneth Copeland. Welcome to the Believer's Voice of Victory broadcast. Let's have a word of prayer. We'll get right into today's Bible lesson.
Father, we thank you. We praise you and we honor you today on this broadcast. And sir, as always, we open our hearts and we open our minds to receive revelation from heaven, words that move heaven on the earth. And we are especially excited today, father, for what we learned all last week and to get into this this covenant, get into the depth, get down into the heart and the basis and the basics of it. And we're so excited about it. We're so thrilled today. And with all of this week, sir, we give you praise and honor and glory for every word that's said and every deed that's done in the mighty name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Amen.
Kenneth Copeland: Join me again today in welcoming this fellow, what was your name again? Sorry. Professor Greg Stephens teaches in and he's associate pastor at EMIC and teaches at Kenneth Copeland Bible college. And last week... now, Greg teaches first covenant, Old Testament in the school, but his knowledge of the Hebrew language and his knowledge of Hebrew custom. That's what he teaches. In fact, Greg, just get into what your whole...
Greg Stephens: I teach Old Testament survey. And Old Testament surveys what I call looking at this book at 30,000 feet. We look at every who wrote it, who's it written to, what's this book about? And that's the first year group. Now, second year is the fun one, it's where we do it a little deeper dive. And t's called Old Testament truth. And we start off with covenants because it all is based upon covenants. God made a friendship with Abraham, that friendship or a promise that promise turned into a friendship or relationship. And from there, it turned into an everlasting covenant. And if you don't understand that, that you are in a covenant that's tied to Abraham.
Kenneth Copeland: Let's look at these two verses here. Because anytime you find the word promise, first covenant, or second, Old Testament or new, anytime you find that word promise, I mean, you stop right there and you start searching the neighborhood that word is in. I mean, you just take some time. What is this about? Now, our golden text for this study all last week, and this is in Ephesians chapter 2. Now, here is the problem. This is a major problem. Greg, I would say in studying covenant for 50 years, well, 53 really. Cause I began to study this while I was still a student at Oral Roberts university, 53 plus years ago. And the more I find and the more I look and the more I see this is the major problem throughout the body of Christ and why we don't receive from God any more efficiently than we do. And it's all right there. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 11. Remember you being in time past Gentiles, that word Gentile just simply means somebody that doesn't know God, you being in times past Gentiles in the flesh who are called uncircumcision. You see, I mean, it is the Bible. That's what the Bible is. By that, which is called the circumcision in the flesh made by hands at that time, and get this, at that time, you were without Christ being aliens from the common wealth of Israel, strangers from the covenants.
Greg Stephens: Plural.
Kenneth Copeland: Both of them, strangers of them, just stranger to it. And you can be born again, love God with every fiber of your being, filled with the Spirit of God, walking in the love of God, and still have a hard time receiving by faith.
Greg Stephens: That's true.
Kenneth Copeland: Strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. Well born again, Holy Ghost baptized, tongue talking, healing believing, prosperity believing Christian is not without God.
Greg Stephens: Yeah, exactly.
Kenneth Copeland: But if you know, if you're not aware and you don't, you don't study, you just kind of carry your Bible around. You don't study in the light of your blood covenant with God, you are essentially without hope and without God.
Greg Stephens: God says my covenant will I not break nor alter the words of God. He's not going to break it just because you don't know it, that's not his fault. You can walk in every blessing of it, verse 13, but now in Christ Jesus, you were sometime far off have been made by the covenant, by the blood covenant of Jesus.
Kenneth Copeland: Now let's go over there to second Peter. Now this tells us what happened when we got born again. Well Brother Copeland, I know what happened when I got born again. Yeah. You got born again. Got baptized in the Holy Spirit. I tell you when I got baptized the Holy Spirit, I was scripturally illiterate, man. I didn't know I was a new creature. I thought I was just old sinner saved by grace talking in tongues. You know, I had no idea.
Greg Stephens: And that thinking will keep you there.
Kenneth Copeland: It'll keep you right there. I didn't know I had a covenant.
Greg Stephens: You'll go to heaven, but you, you won't ever prosper.
Kenneth Copeland: You cannot grow spiritually under that kind of condition. Now, listen to this, second Peter, Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ to them that have obtained like precious faith with us. Now, right there. If you sat most people down, and said, Hey, let me ask you something, do you have the same faith as John or Peter? Well, no, they're apostles.
Greg Stephens: They walked on water.
Kenneth Copeland: Yeah. Well, where did they get that? Well in Jesus, the author and developer of our faith, they didn't get one kind of faith and we got some other kind of faith, it's the faith of God, amen. Well see, not knowing, just not having any concept. There's no concept at all, but listen to it. Grace and peace be multiplied unto you. Well, how do you do that? Through the knowledge of God and of Jesus, our Lord, according, it's according to something. It's not going to multiply. Just stop right there. There is no way it's going to multiply. It cannot multiply. According as his divine power, say that out loud, his divine power. Ah, according as his divine power has given unto us all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of him, that's called us to glory and excellence whereby are given to us exceeding great and precious promises that by these, you might be partaker of the promise. My God. Whew. That promise. That's God's Word. That's his bond, man. God's Word is good. His Word is his bond. It's impossible for him to lie. It isn't that he won't, it's impossible for him to lie. Now Jesus could have, but he didn't. Because he's a man he could have, but he didn't. Well, what do you mean it's impossible for him to lie? Well, I mean, you know, I said this before, but he comes in... glory to God in this a marvelous Sunday? Uh, Lord. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. This is Tuesday. Not anymore it isn't.
Greg Stephens: Whenever he says.
Kenneth Copeland: Yes, his word is. And if he said it's Tuesday, all the calendars changed. The world backs up a little bit. Hey, it's possible for him to lie. Because his word is.
Greg Stephens: He's not a man that he should lie.
Kenneth Copeland: That's right.
Greg Stephens: Absolute truth. So that promise is true. So we are partakers of that divine nature because he said, and you got to learn. And now everybody religious people will argue with you on that one. But you've got to learn that I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
Kenneth Copeland: Greg, back there years and years and years when I first recorded gospel music. I mean, way back there, I'll tell you brother, I was so excited about being made the righteousness of God, come on. The thing that throws everybody is the word righteousness. It just simply means right standing with God. I'm telling you I was excited and I was singing about it, preaching about it, and everything else I can get ahold of. There were Christian disc jockeys wouldn't play my song "I've been made the righteousness of God". They wouldn't play it. Who does he think he is? I didn't think, I knew exactly who I was. That's the difference. Now they're good people.
Greg Stephens: Sure. Absolutely.
Kenneth Copeland: And here, you know, I'm this green recording artists that preach too loud and stood up and said, why he's the most, that's the most arrogant man. He stands up and says I can have what I say. They've never been taught.
Greg Stephens: No.
Kenneth Copeland: See, they're all of this and don't know it.
Greg Stephens: So they don't have the knowledge.
Kenneth Copeland: No, no covenant knowledge.
Greg Stephens: And because they don't have covenant knowledge, they can't fully walk in the promise. It's not Jesus' fault, he provided it. But he's not here now you are.
Kenneth Copeland: Let me tell you why I'm so excited and then I'm going to cut you loose, brother. Last week we studied the seder meal. Now you really need to pay attention to people who have steadied five books of the Bible for thousands of years, they know something about it. You understand? We kind of stumbled into this. They know.
Greg Stephens: Yes they do.
Kenneth Copeland: And everything, even the linen napkin means something because the high priest wore linen clothes so that he didn't perspire.
Greg Stephens: That's exactly right.
Kenneth Copeland: So the linen cloth was pure. You know what that stands for to me? A sweat-less anointing.
Greg Stephens: He had a linen, the high priest had a linen bonnet on his head means that he's levelheaded cool-headed.
Kenneth Copeland: Oh yeah. That's cool itself. Right? Absolutely. So everything, every word like Jesus said, every jot and tittle, that's I dot and every cross bar of a T. This, I mean all the way up, just not including the maps.
Greg Stephens: Let me tell you how the scribes used to do it. Hebrew has both letters and numbers attached to it. So they do a numerical count, the scribes would on each page. And let's say the page is 1,900 characters. If it was 1,885, they threw that page away. They just destroyed it. If it was one too many, they would destroy it. You don't add to or take away from and they were meticulous over it. So I would write my page and I would hand it over to you. And then you would go back and make sure it was all exactly correctly.
Kenneth Copeland: And and and and and when it was written by hand, before you would write the name of God, you go take a bath and change clothes.
Greg Stephens: That's exactly right. That's exactly. His name is in there a lot.
Kenneth Copeland: Well, that makes us dead in the third primmer. Doesn't it? I mean, come on. First primmer.
Greg Stephens: Such a respect for the Word. And I praise God that us that had no covenant promise that there's a group of us that have a love like you do for this Word.
Kenneth Copeland: Yes, sir.
Greg Stephens: And an honor, and a respect for the Word.
Kenneth Copeland: I want to make this one observation. This is what got to me last week and it got to me, and I'm thinking about this. I'm thinking about it again this morning. The cup always, I'm talking about that last supper. I don't call it the last supper. It's the covenant meal.
Greg Stephens: That's exactly what it is.
Kenneth Copeland: Every eye was on him. These men had, I mean, these are Orthodox Jews. I mean, they knew exactly what he's doing. But what he did, he picked up the cup reserved for Messiah.
Greg Stephens: Yes, sir. He told them, he told them.
Kenneth Copeland: Oh, he didn't even have to say anything. This is my word. This is the cup of my blood. This is Messiah's blood. That just, that burns in me, brother ,and the reason I want to thank you. I let that slip in times past. I knew that. And when you brought it up, I'll tell you, I mean, inside, I was sitting there just repenting God, forgive me for being dumb, but I'll never forget it again thanks to you and the anointing that was on this last week.
Greg Stephens: He taught that he taught that very thing, what he does in the upper room. He taught it in Capernaum, his hometown. And he taught, unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood. Well, they got offended.
Kenneth Copeland: Oh, everybody left, but the 12. And they said, well, where would we go? They thought about it.
Greg Stephens: It was very interesting. And we'll get into this on another time. It's very interesting some of the stuff that happens there, Peter will confess him again as Lord right there. But you'll see of them doesn't in that offense. It's really interesting to see that, we'll get into it when we talk about Judas a little. This whole covenant is a transition time. Jesus is transitioning to them what's about to happen, he's keeping them in faith, he's keeping them in the Word and he's transitioning them into a second covenant, a new covenant in his blood and his body so that they will know in the next few hours, some things are going to happen to me. Don't be afraid. Fear not, this has to happen. And he's already prophesied it when he was in the temple that he'll destroy this in three days, I'll raise it up. He's already prophesying what he's going to do. See he's calling those things, which be not right now, but he's already prophesying he's coming out.
Kenneth Copeland: He's already on the other side.
Greg Stephens: He's already, it's a done deal to him. Yeah. From the foundation of the world. He's the one. And so he's already transitioning them into this new covenant. And last Friday, we talked about Mark chapter 11. We looked at that, and that story of when he rode into town. Now John gives you some details that Mark and the others didn't do. And if you don't mind, I'll show you in John chapter 12. John chapter 12, this is after he's come into Jerusalem with the Palm branches and all, and look at, look at verse 19, John 12:19, the Pharisees are therefore said amongst themselves, perceive you how you prevail nothing. Behold, the world has gone after him. That whole town is believing. Why? Primarily because of what happened with Lazarus. Now, Jesus has raised people from the dead before, Jairus' daughter. I mean, every funeral he ever went to, he messed it up.
Kenneth Copeland: But Lazarus is rich man.
Greg Stephens: Yes. And he's right there near Jerusalem. And he's been dead for four days.
Kenneth Copeland: And they were there. They were present.
Greg Stephens: They were all present.
Kenneth Copeland: They weren't at Jairus' house.
Greg Stephens: No, that was up in the Galilee, but they were all there.
Kenneth Copeland: They were there and saw it. They're stuck with it.
Greg Stephens: Every day that man walks through town it's testifying of who this other man is. This is why they plot to go ahead and kill Lazarus too. That's a dangerous place to be. Verse 20. This is very interesting. This was the telling point for Jesus right here. And there were certain Greeks among them that came up to worship at the feast and they go to Phillip and you can read on down there in verse 21. And Phillip comes to Andrew and Andrew and Phillip to Jesus. And here's the interesting phrase right here. Now your member, his very first miracle. He says to his mother, my hour has not come. Verse 23 of John chapter 12. And Jesus answered them saying, the hour is come. What is it that made the hour come? The Gentiles are ready to believe.
Kenneth Copeland: That's it right there. I had never seen it.
Greg Stephens: I'm ready. It's... My Lord Jesus, it's time to unite the covenant of promise with both groups. That's what he came to do. It's time to unite the covenant. It's to get this group and this group, you did it right here with, with KCM and EMIC.
Kenneth Copeland: Yeah.
Greg Stephens: These two got to come together.
Kenneth Copeland: Well look, and after that it only took 10 years, and they came in, it was Cornelius' house.
Greg Stephens: That's exactly right. That's exactly right. So he's making, Jesus is making a transition to our covenant for them. And he's bringing this new group that never had a covenant, strangers. Go back to our golden verse. Back to our golden verse He's bringing these strangers in. They're ready to believe. And this is how he knows my hour has come. That the son of man should be what? Glorified. Now what's about to happen to him the next day is not going to be glorifying, it won't look glorified, but it is glorified. And you get into that prayer that he preaches. Well, he preaches a sermon to them in chapter 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17. And that prayer he prays is all about the glory of God. And I'll show you what set that prayer up in John chapter 17 as this week goes along and it'll...
Kenneth Copeland: Oh praise god.
Greg Stephens: Cause it goes, it goes all the way back to his mercy.
Kenneth Copeland: Amen. That's going to be good.
Greg Stephens: We're probably close to time.
Kenneth Copeland: Yeah, we are out of time. Praise God.