Kenneth Copeland - Your Faith Is Your Economy
All right this is a Faith Convention, right? So open your Bibles to Mark chapter 11. Oh, absolutely so, you didn't think I'd go anywhere else, did you? Thank you Jesus, Thank you, Lord Jesus. Mark Chapter 11, We'll read the words of Jesus and verse 22, "Jesus answering said unto them, have faith in God". The cross-reference if you have a King James cross-reference It says, "Have the faith of God". And I like to quote what Brother Hagin said when he was here on the earth, have the God kind of faith, I really do like that. Have the God kind of faith, hallelujah. And this is the way Gods' faith works. This is the way it works. We have His faith. It is the gift of God. Not a works lest any man should boast, Amen.
So that faith, the same faith with which God created the heavens and the earth mountain-moving, Planet-creating faith and every one of us, according to the 12th chapter of Romans, every born again, child of God, starts off with exactly the same measure of faith, amen. Now, depending on what you do with it, let me illustrate this like this. It is so graphic and that the Bible compares spiritual growth with the growth of a child to an adult. Desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby, but after you're 35 years old you need something other than milk, dear heart. Amen, so a little baby starts out, the same number of fingers, everything, same muscles, bones, everything, but then it grows and develops and grows.
Now it's not left up to God, how much we grow spiritually, or the quality of the spiritual food that you eat, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God", Matthew 4:4, isn't that correct? That's what Jesus said. Amen, so just exactly like in the natural, He provides food for your spirit, food for your mind and food for your body. Now it's our choice, I set before you life and death, blessing and cursing, you choose, You even think the choice, you think that's a no brainer. Amen. But then the flesh rises up and it needs to be put back down, amen. So and just because you're in your 80's, doesn't excuse you from daily exercise. And since I finally got it straight, now I can talk about it. I was disobedient in that for a long time, and I paid the price for it, but thank God for His mercy and His grace that endures forever. And I'm in the best physical condition, I've been in my life. So praise God for it, amen.
So the choice is ours, let's go to what Jesus said. "Jesus answering said unto them, have faith in God". now that's the answer. Well, what about my children, have faith in God. Oh Lord, what about the economy, well have faith in God. Well Brother Copeland, I mean what would my faith do to the economy of the United States? Well, if you're obeying God and praying, first of all, for all men, kings and all that are in authority, you don't have to, you're not required, to like somebody's politics, but you are required to pray for them. And you don't have any business hating a man, just because you don't like, anything about him. Amen. So we just get that fixed right off the bat 'cause faith doesn't work in an unforgiving heart, or a judgmental heart or an unwilling heart.
So, every born again, child of God, everyone that's accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and savior has this faith born into their inner man. All of us start out with exactly the same measure, and it is the same measure. You remember what the apostle Peter's wrote his letter to those of light, precious faith with him? Oh Brother Copeland, I ain't got that as much faith, as the apostle Peter, well if you say so, Legally you do. But it's gonna work now, according to what you say, according to what you think, according to what Word you take, according to how you hear it and measure the Word according to how you act on it, Amen. All right, "Have faith in God". Well, back to what I was saying there, your economy, you can prosper right in the middle of the worst times financially. In fact you want me to tell you something? The big fortunes, I'm talking about big personal fortunes were not made when the economy was good.
Oh Brother Copeland, no I don't understand that. It's because people listened to God, and made investments when everything was so bad, and then when it got good they sold them. So it's the people listening to God when the economy's bad. What you don't wanna do is buy when the economy is high, and then sell it because it went bad. Ah, ah, no, no, no, no, and if you'll listen to Him, and walk in faith and live by faith and listen to God. What good does poverty do for God? It steals from His church, it steals from His people, Amen. His desire is for all of His children, in the Old covenant and the New, the first covenant and the second. In the first covenant, the book of Deuteronomy, God said, there should be no poor among you. In other words, He's provided for it. He's provided for it. It's available. By faith, it's available.
When you follow heaven's economy, and you follow the rules of prosperity that govern increase. If you follow those, you will increase, you will prosper. Spiritually, mentally, physically, financially, and socially. Money is the lowest part of the financial power. Financial prosperity is the lowest form of power, there is. The highest form of power is prayer and praise, glory to God, thank you. Come on, give the Lord a thanksgiving for that. All right. But your and my personal economy, let me put it like this and you'll see it. The man, the woman, the family, that lives and walks by faith never has to change their lifestyle because of the times. Times go up and times go down, but we're like Jesus, and we are the same yesterday, today and forever.
And we live and walk by heavens' economy and all of our needs are met abundantly so that we have to help other people and can do whatever the Lord Jesus commands us to do. We're soldiers in the army of the Lord, and no soldier has ever gone to war having to buy his own weapons. What kind of an air force would we have, if the pilots had to pay for them, we wouldn't have any air force, if a fighter pilot had to pay for an F16 and the F16 is cheap, wait till you pay for an F35, you don't even wanna know how much that thing costs, amen. Well, we're not supposed to be paying our way. "Let him that stole, steal no more. Let him work with his hands, that which is good. In order that he may have to give, to those that need". "Give and it shall be given unto you", huh?
You see the flow of it? So our own lifestyle and our own personal economy, should pray, we should be blessed and moving in the good things of God all the time, day in, day out, day in, day out, giving God the praise for every moment of it, and enjoying life to the fullest healed and well and strong. Amen, all right, have faith in God. "For verily I say unto you whosoever". So this is spiritual law, it works for whoever will say it, good or bad, it works on both sides of the spectrum. "Whosoever shall say, unto this mountain, be thou removed, be thou cast into the sea and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things or but shall believe that those words, which he says shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he says". And then Jesus immediately puts that very principle into action.
See the word, therefore? always stop and see what it's there for. "Therefore I say", now he gave the principle the way the faith of God works, then he said it, Oh glory, "Therefore I say unto you, what things so ever, you desire", He has made with that statement, the way, not a way, the way to receive all our desires met. Therefore, what thing so ever you desire believe that you received them when you pray and you will have them. Well now Brother Copeland now that just doesn't work for everybody. No, it doesn't it works for those that believe they receive when they pray. Thank you, Lord, glory to God. There are some very basic fundamental things, about spirit, soul, and body. Before I get into that, "Therefore I say unto you whatsoever thing you desire when you pray", that's when you believe, that's when you start believing. "When you stand praying, forgive".
You believe you receive when you're praying, and at the same moment you, forgive. 'Cause these are the things we know. These are the things we must be reminded of. Amen. Another thing, the power of a loud voice. Jesus could have said Lazarus come forth, but He didn't. He said it with a loud voice. I wanna demonstrate that to you this morning. I want you to say greater is He that's in me than he that's in the world, we're gonna say it together, and I want you to say it firmly really like you mean it. Three, two, one. Now wait a minute, wait a minute. Now this time we're gonna say it at the top of our voice. We're gonna put a shout in this thing, that'll get down in your bones, three, two, one