Kenneth Copeland - Your Covenant Will Fight for You
Hello, everybody, I'm Kenneth Copeland, and this is the "Believer's Voice of Victory" broadcast. Praise God and welcome to Kenneth Copeland Bible College, praise God, and we are glad you're here and we're glad you're there. So come on, class. Yeah, thank you, Jesus, glory be to God. Let's open our Bibles, first of all this morning to First Corinthians three and verse six. And I'm addressing this particularly to the class this morning.
Now, to the first year, first year students, listen to this, the Apostle Paul said, "I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase". If you are first year, I'm planting, planting. If you're second year, I'm watering, on the fundamentals of faith. This is the primary calling of this ministry. Many years ago, the word of the Lord came to me, "Teach my people faith". And so that is our main thrust.
Now, there are others that are called in a different direction. I mentioned, before we came on the air, I mentioned Michael Koulianos. What a man of God. Michael, Todd White, mighty men of God. And I could mention mentioned others, but their calling and their thrust is in another area, primarily in the area of praise and worship. But yeah, they are mighty men of faith. But their calling is in another stream, another flow.
Now, in years past, the devil has been very successful and calling people into a place where they get in strife. Well, that's that faith bunch. Yeah, that's us. That's the name it, claim it, blab it, grab it, that's us. Don't take that as an insult. No, I'm glad they recognize it. I named it claimed it, blabbed it, grabbed it and I have it. But you see, these other men and women called in that stream there to major on the glory and to major on the worship of God. But now it's time where the streams are coming together and making a river. There are those that their primary calling is healing. Primary calling is healing. I would certainly say that about Brother Koulianos and Todd White. But now that's not all they're called to do, but healing and miracles is, whew.
Listen, there's things we need to learn from them. I need to learn from these people. I don't need to cut them out of my life and let the devil cut them out of my life, dear Lord. We need one another. I need them, they need you. You need them. We're in the body of Christ, we need one another. Hallelujah. So I wanted to give you that scripture to put a picture on where we are. I'm planting and watering but God gives the increase. But God, but God. Oh Lord, we thank you this morning. We give you praise and we honor you today on this broadcast and in this.
"There's no reason," sayeth the Lord, "to turn your back on any other person of faith," whether they be called in the five-fold ministry or whether they just be someone that loves God. Because we need one another, we're all part of one another. We're connected to one another in the Spirit and we are a body, and we are a strong body. And it's strong because our head of this body is very, very strong and His name is Jesus. And the body cannot do anything without its head, but neither can the head do anything without His body. For these are the days when the manifestations of this shall come to pass and in the great hours to come you'll see more manifestation of this because the hour is now, sayeth the Lord. Whoo, glory to God, hallelujah. Thank you, Lord Jesus. I said thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you, Lord Jesus.
Now, then. Today we will begin, if you will turn with me to First Samuel, the 17th chapter. Now, those of you that are first-year students, let me remind you of this. This book is an extremely accurate record of two covenants. Brother Copeland, is that all you're gonna preach and teach about? Well, you just now figuring that out? What else is there to preach and teach about? If you have something else to do, you're just wasting your time. I'm not saying you don't do other things, but I'm talking about in your preaching, teaching, your Bible study and so forth. You're not reading a Bible, you're reading covenants. And when you see God's Word, I'm gonna stay on you about this, I'm gonna pound this at you.
Like my dad used to say, "Just unzip your head and stuff it down in there". This is called God's Word because it is His bond. It is His Word, it is His promise. It is His oath. Don't ever lose sight of that. Not ever lose, don't don't ever lose sight of that. All of them are blood covenants beginning right in the beginning. Adam, Adam, red. You start with blood right there. Then it's all the way through this book. First, the blood of animals, then the blood of a man in circumcision, then the blood of God. Thank you, Jesus. Amen, I said amen. Glory to God, glory to God.
The 17th chapter of First Samuel, verse 20. "David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, took and went as Jesse had commanded him and he came to the trench," or the camp, "as the host was going forth to fight and shouted for the battle. For Israel and the Philistines," this is just a note for your own information, the word Palestinian comes from that. Does that, that says something, doesn't it? Palestinian. "For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army. David left his packages in the hand of the keeper of the carriage and ran into the, he ran into the army and came and saluted his brethren".
Now, we know David was less than 20 years old because had he been 20, he would have been in the army. So he's less than 20, somewhere around 18 years old, 17, 18 years old. "And as he talked," he saluted his brethren, "as he talked with them," now, when you see the word behold, then look, "there came up the champion of the Philistine of Goth, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines and spoke according to the same words, and David heard them," now pay close, underline this, if you haven't already, "and all the men of Israel, when they saw the man," he hadn't said anything yet, when they saw the man, "they fled from him and were sore afraid. And the men of Israel said, 'Have you seen this man that's coming?'"
Well, we'll do the math here in a moment. "Have you seen this man that has come up? Surely to defy Israel is he come up and it shall be that the man who kills him, the king will enrich him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free," or "exempt from taxes. David spoke to the men who stood by him and said, 'What shall be done to the man that kills this Philistine?'" Now, he saw him too. I'm gonna kill him, what do you get? "And takes away the reproach of Israel. For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God"? Who does he think he is? "And the people answered in after this manner saying, 'So shall it be to the man that killed him,'' and Eliab the eldest brother".
Now, we already know that Eliab was a coward, because he was the oldest and the best looking, and when Samuel went to Jesse's house to anoint the king, he turned Eliab down. Because God said, "I look on the heart". I look on the heart. Well, he's not necessarily a coward, that's too strong me to say that, forgive me, Lord. But, very carnal man. Obviously very carnal. Because God didn't like his heart. He said, "Don't you have any more children"? They said, "Well, we got this little kid out in the sheep barn". Get him in here. He said, "Behold, the King of Israel".
Now, the eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. "Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, 'What'd you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep?'" see, he's downgrading him, "in the wilderness. I know your pride and the naughtiness of your heart that you come down that you might see the battle". What battle? What battle? "And David said, 'What have I done now? Is there not a cause'"? One translation said, "Isn't it a good question"? "And he turned from him toward another".
See, he just turned around and walked off from him. "He turned from him toward another and spoke after the same manner. And the people answered him again after the same manner," he just keeps asking, "What do you get if you kill him? I'm gonna kill him, what do you get? I'm gonna get the girl, I'm gonna get the taxes. Whoo hoo, I'm gonna kill him". He never said anything about his size. Didn't care how big he was, why? He's covenant-minded. Covenant's on his mind, covenant's on his mind all the time. He's sitting out there singing to those sheep, and he's got covenant on his mind. He's an Orthodox Jew, and man, he understands, and he's got whooo! Yeah, I'm gonna kill him. I'm gonna kill him graveyard dead right out there in front of everybody. Thank you, Jesus.
"When these words were heard which David spoke, they rehearsed them before Saul and he sent for him. And David said to Saul, 'Let no man's heart fail because of him.'" I love this, "Your servant will go down and fight with this Philistine". I'll go fight him. "Saul said to David, 'You're not able to go against this Philistine and fight him, for you are but a youth and he's a man of war from his youth.' David said to Saul, 'That servant kept his father's sheep. There came a lion and a bear and took a lamb out of the flock, I went out after them, smote him, delivered him out of his mouth. And when he rose against me, I caught him by his beard, smote him, and killed him.'" I killed him.
Judges 14:5. "Then went Samson down and his father and his mother to Timnath and came to the vineyard of Timnath, and behold, a young lion roared against him. The spirit of the Lord came mightily upon him and he rent him as a little kid, and he had nothing in his hand, but he told nor his father and mother what he did". I believe David had Samson on his mind when that bear and that lion came up against him. I believe he had him on his mind. How dare you come steal that sheep? Just grabbed him and just killed him right there. Samson wasn't a big man. He just had a big God. David wasn't a big man, but boy, he had a big God. Praise God.
Does this do something for you? Man, it does for me. "Your servant slew both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them". They didn't have any covenant with God, neither does he. I see no difference. I see no difference. "And moreover," David's getting stronger the moment, and you know the moment you start talking faith, it gets stronger and you get louder. I think he's getting loud with the king. "And moreover, the Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.' And Saul said to David, 'Go, the Lord be with you.'"
Hey, Saul was a faith man. The Bible says that Saul was head and shoulders taller than any man in Israel. This is a big man. I'm convinced that Goliath, because, man, they sang songs about Saul, I'm convinced he wanted Saul to come out there and fight him. Well, the king didn't have any business going out there against him. Thank you, Jesus. Saul armed David with his armor and so forth.
"David girded his sword upon his armor and assayed to go, for he had not proved it. David said to Saul, 'I can't go with these. I haven't proved them.' And David put off. He took his staff in his hand and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook and put them in a shepherd's bag, which he had, even in a script, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. And the Philistine came and drew near David. And the man that bear the shield went before him. When the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth and ruddy and of a fair countenance". And we're out of time. Maybe we'll kill him tomorrow. Hey, Jeremy, help us here, son.