Kenneth Copeland - How Jesus Ministered the Goodness of God
Hello everybody. I'm Kenneth Copeland and God is a good God. God is a good God. He's good to all, hallelujah. Thank You, Jesus. And we've been talking about that. We talked about it last week. We're talking about it again this week, because we must, we must remind ourselves all the time that He is good. He is completely, absolutely totally good. There's no bad about Him. And as we talked about last week and my father in the faith, Oral Roberts preached that all the time. There were songs written out of his, a number of songs that were written out of his ministry and those great campaigns and tent campaigns.
I was in two of the last three tent meetings that they had, and I mean, God is a good God, I mean, they opened up with that and everybody needed to know God was a good God and it upset Pentecostal preachers. One I told you about him last week that actually said this to me, I wish he wouldn't say that. Well, it kind of shocked me, I don't know why. I asked him why? You want him to say, God is a bad God? Well, no, but I wish he'd quit saying that. Why? I said. Because it gives people the wrong impression. That came from traditional teaching that God will make you sick, God will take everything you have so He can teach you and train you that He can replace it. I personally, I'm not saying that I personally, I personally heard a man preach. God will break your leg just to prove to you that He can heal it. I wouldn't have anything to do with a God like that.
I used to serve one like that, and his name is the devil. Oh, and by the way, yesterday I talked about a man, a good friend of mine that put on his calendar, nothing. That was Robert Morris and has a great, pastors the great Gateway Church. And he has a book that you really need to get in that very line and what a man of God he is. I'll tell you, he's just one of my heroes. So anyway, I didn't tell you yesterday what his name I wanted to correct that. So now God is a good God. Hebrews chapter six. We'll back up into the fifth chapter. The mission statement of this ministry is in the fifth chapter and describes my personal calling, what God called me to do, consequently, what God called Gloria to do, and then the base for this ministry.
Let's go in five 11 and talking about Melchizedek "Of whom, we have many things to say and hard to be uttered. It's hard for me to say this to you, seeing your dull of hearing. For when, for the time you ought to be teachers, you have need that one teach you again, which be the first principles of the oracles of God and are become such as have need of milk and not strong meat. For everyone that uses milk is unskillful in the word of righteousness for he is a baby, but strong meat belongs to them that are of full age. Even those who by reason of use or practice and training, there are senses, there are physical senses exercised to discern both good and evil". And the Lord said that to me many, many years ago, that's your job. You go and you teach babies and bring them to that place where they're skillful in the word of righteousness.
Well, that starts with faith skillful in the word of righteousness. He said, you ought to be teachers by now, but you don't know anything. You're babies, grow up. Strong meat belongs to the mature, full age. And that's the job of this college, is to bring you to that place where you can bring others up to that level. Now some of them refuse to go, they are babies and they keep spilling their milk and they never will. They just don't care. And sometimes I thank God I'm not a pastor, but those of you that are called to pastor that you know, there's a grace to do what you need to do. You know, a pastor looks at me and says, dear Lord, that guy has to pack up and go places all the time. He's always traveling around all the time. I like to stay at home. Well I do too but I can't, I'm traveling preacher. Amen.
And I think the same thing I wouldn't put up with that bunch every week, all week. Yeah. Yeah. I would. If I was called to pastor, that's where I would be. That's where pastor George is and I tell him time to time, I don't know how you do it. He said grace. But you have all ages in a congregation, but you don't yield to the babies because the whole congregation will come to the place where they want you to do it all. You pray for me. I don't want to pray for myself. You pray for me. Those kinds of people will wind up to the place where they no longer received their healing, because there comes a time that you should be staying well, just not get sick in the first place, but you're going to have adults and you're going to have babies and you take care of the babies, grow them up glory to God. And my job is to grow the pastor up and help. I'm a helper. No, that's not the way you say it in Texas. I'm a helper. I'll help you. Amen. Thank You, Jesus.
Now what do you do when you find a therefore? You stop and see what it's there for. "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto maturity", of the old English word, perfection to maturity, "not laying again the foundation of", number one, repentance from dead works. Number two, of faith towards God. The doctrine of baptisms, plural, doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands and of resurrection of the dead and of eternal judgment. These are the fundamental principles of the doctrine or the teaching of Christ. So now, in my opinion and judgment I learned this from Kenneth Hagin. This is sacred. Particularly the laying on of hands, the laying on of hands is the one that is most personal in contact. So repentance from dead works.
What would you think about someone that would say, "Well, you know, I don't much care so much about that repentance stuff". You don't? Well, I don't want to make a doctrine out of it. It's already a doctrine. Faith towards God. That's our business is faith towards God. It's impossible to please God without faith. And did Jesus teach that or not? He taught about that more than anything else about faith. It went right on over into the book of Acts. It went right on over all the way through the letters. The apostle Paul majored on it, quoted the Psalmist. Let's say that, that said, we believe, therefore we speak. And then the apostle Paul said, "Yes, we have believed and therefore, have we spoken". All of these, these principles of faith towards God.
Then the doctrine of baptisms. Well, of course, baptism of water. In fact, let's go to Romans six three. First verse says, "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid. How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein? No, ye not that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ" baptized into the body of Christ. That's a baptism, right? Baptized into Christ. "We're baptized into His death. Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death that like as Christ was raised up from the dead, by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For we have been planted together in the likeness of His death. We also in the likeness of His resurrection". So there's water baptism right there. There's two baptisms. Huh? Well, what about the baptism of the Spirit? That's three baptisms. There are three right there and we had just started good. Baptisms. All of them are very sacred. They are fundamental teachings of Jesus. Glory to God. And right in the middle of it laying on of hands, the laying on of hands.
Now let's just take some time here and look up some scriptures. Mark, five 23. This is Bible college isn't it? So we just take our time here and study through this. Mark chapter five 23rd verse. The 22nd verse, "Behold there cometh one of the rulers of the synagogue Jarius by name, and when he saw him, he fell at his feet. Besought him greatly saying my little daughter lives at the point of death. I pray Thee come, come lay thy hands on her that she may be healed and she shall live". Well that was his faith talking. Amen. Okay. Mark six five. "This is in his own hometown. And He could there do no mighty work. Save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk". Look that up. It was people with minor ailments "and healed them. And he marveled because of their unbelief. And he went around about the villages teaching". Well, that's the cure for unbelief is teaching. Amen.
But you notice when nothing else, I meant what you, they didn't believe anything He said. But the laying on of hands was where He went and He did get some results. He did get some results. I mentioned that last week, but I wanted to, to bring this to your attention. That's why He did that. This is a principle teaching of His. He did a lot of it. A lot of it. Now Mark six five, Mark, eight 24. Let's look at the 22nd verse. "He comes to Bethsaida and they bring a blind man under him and besought him to touch him". Now, they already had this pretty well figured out. Something happens when He touches somebody. In other words, put your hands on Him. And so "He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of town". Why did He do that? Why did He lead him out of town? Well, they wanted Him to touch him all right. But He had to get him out of there. There was so much unbelief in that place. He got him out of town.
Now let me suggest something to you, particularly pastors. Well, and the rest of you. But if you're preaching in someone else's church, don't just all of a sudden, just lay hands on anybody that they ask you to. Particularly, if you already sense the fact there's a lot of unbelief in this church and they probably don't believe in this. That they accept it as a tradition, but don't have any faith in the laying on of hands. Maybe you shouldn't do that right quick. Maybe you should say, well, all right, but let me pray here and prepare myself for it. Don't just, you know, stick your hands on somebody just for them. You will get a lot more results in Walmart. Yeah. I've laid hands on people, and so has Gloria just in a lot of places. But they're hungry and they need it and they want it now. Amen. What I'm saying is this, this is a sacred teaching. This is very precious in the sight of God. There are laying on of hands ceremonies that are proper, but a time when you separate someone into and onto an office of calling, onto or an ordination service and that's good, you should lay your hands and expect something to change. Laying hands on ministries of helps. Absolutely. Glory to God. But expect something to change.
Well, Brother Copeland, I don't feel anything when I lay hands on somebody. Well what are you supposed to feel? Huh? What are you expecting to feel? Well, I'd like to feel some heat or something. Well, that's because we've heard testimonies of Brother Hagin. But now listen, you have to transport that back to 1950. Things were changing in this nation. Oral Roberts had a manifestation of power in his right hand until the point where it would hurt. And wouldn't leave. He would not do anything until that manifestation moved there. Now, Richard Roberts, his dad laid hands on him and now he has the same thing on his hand and it's in his left arm because he's left handed. He has that same manifestation.
Now I have never had that physical kind of manifestation, but now think about it. That was back in the fifties and people needed that kind of thing back then. Then they didn't know anything and they were full of Pentecostal tradition. Most people would say, God, hurry up and get the Pentecostals out of the line and get the Baptists and the sinners in here where we can get somebody healed. Because those are already baptized in the Spirit should be believing God, they should be the ones laying on hands instead of getting hands laid on. Now there's nothing wrong with it, don't misunderstand me. And it is for us. Amen. It is absolutely for us. But there has to be a level of faith in that operation. It is a principle doctrine. It is a sacred doctrine in the name of Jesus. It's a sacred thing, hallelujah.
And so we should be doing this very cautiously, very carefully and expecting something to happen. But I don't judge what happened by the fact that they fell down or not, because you go back some years and one of our meetings and Gloria was laying hands on people. So he just walked up there and got in the floor. And so, get up. Why did you do that? He said, I thought that's what we were supposed to do. No. Well, he just pushed him. Well, what if I did? That's none of your business. That's Jesus' business and mine. So don't be judging me because I pushed somebody. If that's bad, I'm going to get in trouble, you're going to get in trouble judging me a whole lot worse than I get in trouble because I pushed somebody. Come on now. Amen.
I remember when that first manifested in this ministry, we're in Omaha, Nebraska. And we were in the large meeting room and they just had a little small podium that they had put up there for us and we're out of time. My goodness. Anyway, it hit, people were stacking up out there and once one fellow, it hit him and I was looking right at him and turned around and looked at him and he went down like this and there was a stack of people there and the Lord turned him around sideways and laid him down in an empty spot. I saw it.