Kenneth Copeland - Healing and Forgiveness Are Connected
We're going to be talking about the healings of Jesus. This one, I may not get done with this one tonight, but I've got tell you this could well be my favorite of the whole bunch, Matthew 9:2. And we'll see different things from Matthew, Mark and Luke. Now, in praying about this and then just meditating on it and looking at it and seeing it in my spirit, and the Lord brought this up to me, that this man's situation was so much like the woman with the issue of blood. Now, both of them are shut-ins, one for one reason. One, because she's against the law for her to get out.
Read the book of Leviticus. A woman that had experienced issue of blood, past the normal time, then she's shut in. It's illegal for her to be in public. She's untouchable. She doesn't have leprosy, but she's still untouchable. 12 years this woman was in that shape. That's a long time to be shut-in. And by this time she's skin and bones and she afraid to get out there in public. Well, this man for a totally different reason, but he can't get outside either. The Lord began in meditating it, Hank, he was so much like her that he is saying, "If I could just get to Him, if I could just get to Him, He'd heal me. I know He'd heal me. I've heard all the stories. I know He'd hear me. I need to get to Him, but I can't. I'm stuck with is".
Well, let's read it and see what you see here. Matthew 9:2, Let's start with the first verse, "He entered into a ship, passed over and came into His own city, which would be Capernaum. And behold, they brought to Him a man, sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. Jesus, seeing their faith said, under the sick of the palsy son, be of good cheer". Now, we're gonna see a beautiful picture take place here. "Be of good cheer, cheer up, your sins are forgiven, you. Cheer up, your sins are forgiven you. Behold, certain of the scribes are within themselves, this man blasphemes".
I thought for a long time that this was a hostile crowd. That they just came to pick him apart. But then I began to realize, it was not. It was not in a synagogue. It was in his house, 'cause you gonna see, He was in the house. Say the house. In Capernaum. It was His house. When they excavated this place, they thought it was Peter's house because it was so big. But then they, by evidence, they've realized it was Jesus. It was not only His house, it was the headquarters for His ministry. And if you study it very closely, He taught the whole 18th and 19th chapters of Matthew, right there in His own living room. And He brought that little child up there to Him and any two of you shall agree there's touching anything, but it just suddenly goes wide-screen and it's just like you were there.
Now, this place, they had come in there from all around the countryside, to hear Him preach and teach. So they didn't come to pick Him apart, but when He said something, it caused them to lose their attention to what He was saying, because they had another thought. Now, I have seen this happen in meetings. Where someone comes to the service, someone you know that there's something about this person, or maybe you brought them to the service and whoever's ministering, you're thinking, "Glory to God, this is just what this brother needs. This is what this young man needs".
And just right up to the point where you think he's gonna tell you how to fix it, something happens in the audience to distract him and he's looking all over the place and I'm thinking, "Why didn't he listened to that preacher and just lose the whole thing more"? Just because of that moments of distraction and that's what the devil did here. And He's still talking and He is but they're not listening, 'cause he said, "This man blasphemed, Who can forgive sin, but God"? And we'll see more about it as we go. Praise God. Jesus, knowing their thoughts said "Wherefore, think ye evil in your heart, whether is easier to say thy sins be forgiven thee or to say arise and walk, but that you may know that the Son of Man hath power or authority on earth to forgive sins. Then He said to the sick of the palsy arise, take up your bed and go to your house. He arose and departed to his house. And when the multitude saw it, they marveled and glorified God".
So you see they, they didn't come there to fight Him. They marveled when they saw it but they'd gotten distracted. Now, there's in my thinking, this is the most important of all of these, because of what's happening here. Now, Mark chapter two, we'll see a little bit more. Mark two, chapter one. "And again, He went home to Capernaum after some days, and it was noise that He was in the house and straightway many were gathered together in so much that there was no room to receive them. No, not so much as about the door and He preached the word to him". Ah, now we have another element into this. He was preaching the Word to them.
So all of these different scribes in several, they're hearing the Word preached. "They came unto Him bringing one sick of the palsy, which was borne of four and when they could not come nigh unto him for the press, they uncovered the roof broken it up where He was, they let down the bed wherein the sick of the palsy lay. When He saw their faith, He said to the sick of the palsy son, thy sins be forgiven".
So what'd He say, "Son, cheer up, for your sins be forgiven thee. There were certain of the scribes sitting there and reasoning in their hearts, Why does this man thus speak blasphemies? who can forgive sins, but God only? And immediately when Jesus perceived in His spirit that they also so reasoned within themselves, He said, why reason these things in your heart? Whether it's easier to say to the sick of the palsy, thy sins be forgiven thee or to say arise, take up your bed and walk. But that you may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins, He said to the sick of the palsy, I say unto you, arise, take up your bed and go to your own house. Immediately, he arose, took up his bed and went forth before them all in so much that they were amazed and they glorified God saying, we never saw it on this fashion".
Now, Luke chapter five and we get the rest of the story. Praise God. Luke 5:17, "It came to pass on a certain day as He was teaching". Well, now we know He was teaching and He was preaching. Well hey, He went about teaching, preaching and healing. He did more teaching than anything else. Amen. 'Cause faith comes. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. So he said, "He was teaching and there were Pharisees and doctors of the law sitting by", well, we also know there were scribes and lawyers from what we got from the other writer, "which were coming out of every town of Galilee, Judea and Jerusalem" and like he said the finest donkeys in the land, were parked right outside. I mean they're some Cadillac donkeys in that, you know woo. Glory to God. Amen. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
Now listen, and now here's something we hadn't heard before. "And the power of the Lord was present to heal them". Well of course it was, Jesus was there but God intended for all of them to be healed. He intended for all of them to learn something about ministering healing because He's teaching and He's preaching. He's preaching, then He'd teach and use examples of parables and talk like only Jesus could. Amen. And all of a sudden, now He's in His own home. What. And He sees him coming through the roof and He said, "I'm telling you what? Those boys got some faith. I tell you. Man oh man. Whoa, that guy, let those four crazy friends carry him up on top of the roof. These boys really after this. Their faith, I see their faith".
He's got this big smile on His face. You know what He said? "Son, cheer up, your sins are forgiven, you boy. Come on down here, come on down here. Aaah, forget that roof, we'll fix it later. Come on, oh man. Look at you. Whoa, if you're not something, man oh man". "What'd you say? Why did you reason that? I know what you're thinking. I know what you're thinking. You just had the thought that I blasphemed God, because I told him his sins were forgiven. No. To prove to you, which is easier to say, oh, this is just huge. Which is easier to say? Your sins be forgiven, you. Arise, take up your bed and go home. Prove to you that the Son of Man, has the power and the authority to forgive sins". He said to the man sick of the palsy, "Rise, take up your bed and go home".
Now, what is so big about that? Exactly. I'm talking exactly. Exactly. Dennis, exactly the same power that forgives heals. It's not one or the other. It's the forgiving power that heals. It's the healing power that forgives. My God give somebody a praise here. Hallelujah, wooooh. Glory be to God. It's the same power. It's not two different powers, why? It's the same loving God. He is the forgiver. He is the healer. He is the forgiver. He is whoa! Same power. It's not one or the other. That's what that whole story is all about. Amen. The same God that has healing on His mind, has forgiveness on His mind. He came to forgive. He came to forgive. He came to remember your sins no more. "I, even I, am he that blots out your transgressions, and remember your iniquities no more". For my own sake.
I kept reading that and reading that and reading that and it disturbed me. I said, "I don't get this". I said, "You did that for my sake". No, He said, "I did it for my sake". Oh, I don't get it. I just plain don't get it. Very plain. He said right in here, very authoritatively, "Kenneth do you wanna remember ugly stuff, about your children"? I said, "Of course not". He said, "Well, neither do I". Besides that, He said, "If I remember your sins, I can't bless you". Amen. I was sitting on the platform one day and then just praising and going on so, that I actually had stood up preach a couple of times and it just broke loose in there and people just running all over the building and two, three times I stood up and I tried to read my text and I finally just went over and sat down. And things are just happening all over the place.
This one little woman about two rows back, she jumped up and just spun around and around and around and sat back down in her chair. And I thought, "Well, now that's strange". And I'm just sitting there watching all of this and now the Lord said to me, just so clear and just clearly and plainly, He said, "Kenneth, if it hadn't been for sin, I never would had a serious thought". Nothing serious about Him. So sin happened and He got serious. Then He fixed it, He's not serious anymore. He's just a happy God. He's a happy God. Amen. And I found out later the little woman that jumped and spun like a top had come there with cerebral palsy. She could just barely get around. And people had helped her into that chair and she just jumped up and spun like a top and walked out of there just as straight as everybody.
Well, of course she looked fine to me, but I didn't know. I didn't see her when she came in. There's some craze cure. They praised all night long. I finally just quit and went home. Amen. And I was in England when it happened and people told me, "No, no Brother Copeland, don't be disturbed if the English people, are not all of that responsive. You know they're very quiet". Now, they're not. Not, when you preach and teach faith and talk about Jesus, they screamed and hollered, they just do it with a different accent. That's the wildest bunch I ever saw in my life. Oh, we had a time. That whole meeting was wonderful. So that one is a hallmark of healing and forgiveness. Forgiveness and healing.
Would you stand please? Thank Him and praise Him. Thank Him, thank Him. Worship Him, worship Him, worship Him. Praise God. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Anyone in this room that has never received Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? Tonight is your night. He came tonight just for you and you came tonight just for Him. And so we praise and thank Him for it. Anyone in this room that has never accepted Jesus as Lord, and you want to tonight? Would you raise your hand? Anyone at all? Praise God. Thank you, Jesus. Yes, amen. Praise you Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
Anyone that would say, "Brother Copeland, I know the Lord, but I've gotten away from Father's house, but after hearing this I'm coming back tonight. Tonight's my night". Raise your hand. Anyone up there in the balcony? Yes, praise God. Thank you Lord. Thank you, Lord Jesus. Praise you, Lord Jesus. Thank you Lord. And I'll tell you something else. Anyone that's never been filled with the Spirit speaking with other tongues, like on the day of Pentecost, but tonight's your night. Tonight it's gonna happen to you. I said, it's gonna happen to you. It's gonna happen right now. So in the name of the Lord Jesus, let's just all raise our hands and we're gonna pray and we're gonna lead them, right straight to the throne of God.
And you pray this just like you were receiving the new birth and old things passing away. That old dark nature just going away, glory to God and all things being made new right there in your spirit. I remember when it happened to me, glory to God first week of November, 1962. I remember it like it was last night and praise God. So just raise your hand up towards heaven and put your hand over your heart and say, "Oh God in heaven". Say it out loud where you can hear yourself.
Oh God in heaven, I believe with all my heart, Jesus has been raised from the dead. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. Take my life and do something with it. I receive you as my Lord. I receive you as my Savior. I repent of sin. I receive total and complete cleansing. I repent. I receive and by faith I'm clean, because your Word says in 1 John the first chapter, that you are faithful and just, to forgive me my sin and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Fill me now 'til overflowing, with your precious Holy Spirit. I receive it. I receive Him now. I receive my supernatural prayer language glory to God.
Now, don't start frowning. This is not a time to frown. Well, no, no. This is a joyful thing. Glory to God. Jesus said in the gospel of Luke, "How much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those that ask Him"? All you gotta do is ask and believe you receive. It's that easy.