Kenneth Copeland - Stop The Sin Of Strife Now
Now, we're going, to be going to the Book of James. Anyway, let's just go there now. That's our golden text for this time, and the Book of James is a faith book. It is a faith book, and it's all about "the trying of your faith Works patience, but let patience have her perfect work that you may be perfect and entire wanting nothing". This is Jesus' half-brother that wrote this. Pastor of that enormous church in Jerusalem. Second only to the classic teaching that Jesus did about it. In the 11th chapter of the Book of Mark. Praise God. But I want you to see something here from James chapter 4, the 17th verse. "Therefore to him, that knoweth to do good, and does it not, to him it is a sin".
You know to vote. You know it's the thing you should do. Yeah, but I don't like either one of them. That is no excuse. That is no excuse. Why, I don't like either one. I'm sorry. I'm not going to vote. You just voted for the wrong one. When you did that, you voted against God's pick. You pray and seek God with all your heart, for whom am I to vote? You don't just do it because your kin folks did? Either party. I'm not telling you what to do, but I'm telling you to pray and get it in your heart. And you're satisfied you have spent the time with God fasting and praying if you need to, to find out for whom you are to cast your ballot, which is your seed. And you know to do it and you don't do it. It's a sin in the eyes of God.
And there's a lot more here at stake than the economy. The economy is very, very important, but it's not the most important thing. I heard the Lord say this. It was so strong. It was almost audible. It was in that area of prophetic voice, which just, whoa, you just hear it with your whole being. I heard him say this: "Anybody, anybody, that votes knowing, knowing it's an announced fact that they are all for and push abortion, push it. He said, I will hold that person, they know that, and cast that vote in there anyway, I will hold them responsible. Just the same as I hold that doctor responsible for committing murder". This is serious business. Serious business. And like I said, your ballot is your seed. Determine in your heart how the Lord wants you to vote. Take time and listen to him. Listen to him.
Now, the third chapter of the Book of James, now, like I said, this is a faith book. It's talking about how faith works and what causes it not to work. Very simple book. This is the Book in chapter 2 vs. 23 Or chapter 1 vs. 23, "For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer", someone that just hears it and won't act on it. "He is like unto a man, beholding his natural face in a glass, for he beholds himself and goes his way. And straightway forgets what manner of man he is, or what he saw in the mirror, but whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty and continues therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, a doer of the word, this man shall be blessed in his deed". This is the man that preached about corresponding action to the Word.
So let's go on over into the 3rd chapter, vs. 13, "Who is a wise man, and endued with knowledge among you, let him show out of a good conversation", that word, actually, in the Greek, is manner of life. And it's translated conversation in the King James version of the Bible, which you know is very, very old. Very ancient use of these words. "So a, out of a good or his life of faith. His works with meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not and lie not against the truth". Just be quiet. Just don't say it, just don't say anything. "This wisdom descends, not from above, but is earthly. It is of the five physical senses. And it's devilish for where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work", but the wisdom that is from above or in other words, the Word of God and Luke 11:49, Jesus called the the written Word the wisdom of God. "But the wisdom, the word of God that's from above is first pure and it's peaceable, and it's gentle, and it's easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality".
It'll work for anybody. Anytime, anywhere they'll put it to work. You can just be right just about to just dress somebody down and just catch yourself, say, "No, no, no. I'm not saying it. I'm not saying no, no, no, no. I repent. I repent. Forgive me. It's gone". Without hypocrisy. Ah, now Copeland, come on. You name it, claim it, blab it, grab it, bunch. Well, I named and claimed it, blabbed it, grabbed it and I got it. Well, you hypocrites. Just going around and saying you're healed all the time. Anybody can see you're sick. You got all the symptoms of the flu. You got to have the thing that you and you go around saying I'm healed, but you hypocrite. You're not healed. You're just saying that. Trying to get somebody to give into your ministry. No sir. No, sir. No, sir. I didn't say I was healed because I look healed. I didn't say I was healed because I feel healed. You're right. I've done it before. Glory to God. Just be so sick. I could hardly stand up and just stand before God.
Now, I want to thank you that 2000 years ago, you bought and paid for my sickness and disease, and glory be to God, I, by his stripes, I was healed and I'm healed now. And I'll stay healed, glory to God. I will not compromise by the Word of faith. I will not compromise it. I won't compromise it. I'm not going to bed sick. Not as long as that book says by his stripes, you were healed, Kenneth! No, sir. No, sir. See what I mean? Now, something right here. Well look here, Brother Copeland. I'm not healed. Can you see that? Well that's not the truth. That's a fact. It is the truth. I've got this on my no, no, no, now Wait a minute. That's not truth. That's fact. The truth is Himself took our sicknesses and carried our diseases. He took our infirmities and carried our diseases. Sicknesses. He bore our sins in his own body on the tree, that we being dead to sin should live under righteousness. By whose stripes we were healed.
That's truth. And you take that truth, glory to God, and you hang on to that truth and you don't let go of it and you just keep on and you just stay there and you just, praise God, you don't ever quit. I guarantee you that truth will get rid of that fact. That's a good place to shout amen. Glory to God. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Praise you, Lord Jesus. Absolutely so.
Now then, we talked about about the staff of Jesus, and so forth. And they were arguing and couldn't cast devils out and so forth. We dealt with that last night. And they said, "Why couldn't we cast them out"? Jesus said, "Because of your unbelief", This kind cometh out not but by praying and fasting. Devils don't respond to fasting. Fasting won't remove a devil. God never changes. You can't change God with fasting, no. Fasting ministers to you. Amen. Had they been spending more time fasting and praying and spending that time listening, paying more attention to what Jesus said, they would have not had time to argue with one another about who's going to get the big job one day when this is over with and he kicks out Rome, and... Hallelujah.
Now let's go into this a little bit deeper. Strife, discord, lack of agreement or lack of harmony. It emphasizes a struggle for superiority. "Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sin". "A wrathful man stirs up strife, but he that is slow to anger appeases strife". Now listen to this one, "A froward, disobedient or a troublemaker sows strife, and a whisperer separates the best of friends". "The beginning of strife is when one, is as one that lets out water". Like a little crack in the dam. "Therefore, leave off contention before it becomes a fight". "He who loves strife loves transgression or sin". One translation says that he who loves strife, loves to sin. Just loves to argue, just fight and fuss. "Where no wood is, the fire goes out. So where there's no talebearers, the strife ceases".
Just let us stop with you. Just don't listen to that stuff anymore. Well, did you hear what, that did you hear what? What? I didn't want to hear it. I don't want to hear that. Just don't come tell that to me. Many years ago, James Robinson, glory to God. Oh my, James and I have been very, very close friends for over 30 years. And he came from the Evangelical group, and of course I came from the Charismatic Pentecostal side and we were not supposed to like one another. But we love one another. And this was years ago. And there he was in a minister's group and this man came up to James and just, just really started hammering me. And James said, "Could I have everybody's attention, please? Could I have everybody's attention? This brother here has Brother Copeland on his heart. And so he's going to lead us in prayer for Brother... Go ahead, Brother".
See what he did? He stopped it right then with an act of love. I mean, he and Betty are, what, lovely. I've never met, I've never met a man in my life that exhibited that kind of precious love for the body of Christ. I've seen him just weep, just because Christians are fussing. Hallelujah. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Praise you, Father. Praise you for it. "An angry man stirs up strife. A furious man abounds in transgression".
Now I want to turn to this one in 1 Corinthians, and let's just to turn to this. Those were from the Book of Proverbs, let's turn to 1 Corinthians 3. Let's read those first three verses there, "I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babies in Christ, I fed you with milk and not with meat, for hitherto, you were not able to bear it". You couldn't hear it. "Neither yet now are you able, for you are yet carnal. For where there is among you envying, strife, and divisions, are you not carnal and walk as mere men, natural men"? You're acting like natural unsaved men. You act like somebody is not even born again. You're just fussing and fighting all the time. There's that strife, division, dividing.
Division, the spirit of division is the author of one of the most despicable things in the eyes of God that exists: racism. I hate it. God hates it. It's the product of deep sin and judging people. People react and respond according to the way they were raised from little children, amen. Therefore, different races of people have different mindsets and sees things through their eyes, there's the Black race. There's the White or Caucasian race. There is the Red man of which I am a part. And then there there's the Asian races of course, and all of us in a different environment. Everybody sees the difference, and where there is a difference. Satan magnifies it in hate, and brings about all of the strife and the wars and rumors of wars that he could possibly cause to take place. But it's up to us, the children of God, to put a stop to it. And to put a stop to it. We have to stop it in our own church congregations.
We have to put a stop to fighting one another over politics. No, I didn't say we should do it. We have to do it! And we have to do it now. "You walk as mere unchanged men. For one said, I'm of Paul, another I'm of Apollos. Are you not carnal? Who then is Paul and who is Apollos but ministers by whom you believed? Even as the Lord gave to every man, I planted, Apollos watered, but it's God that gave the increase"! Glory to God. There you have it right there. It's God, it's God. It's God that gives the increase. It's God that pulls our different nationalities together. It's God that brings in, it's God that brings the peace that passes all understanding. If we are willing and strong to be obedient to his Word.