Kenneth Copeland - Let the Goodness of God Flow Through You
Hello, I'm Kenneth Copeland. This is the Believer's Voice of Victory Broadcast. This is Friday, and this is Kenneth Copeland Bible College. Would you give the Lord a praise and a thanksgiving? Glory be to God, hallelujah. Thank You, Lord Jesus. And for two weeks, we've been talking about the goodness of God. He is so good. That's the reason the Principal doctrines of Christ, His principle doctrine, His principle teachings get to help people. To help people. Always to help people. And the Fundamental Doctrine of Christ: Repentance from Dead Work, Faith Towards God, Doctrine of Baptisms, that's interesting, the Laying on of Hands, Resurrection of the Dead, More than One Resurrection, and that, oh, that is a wonderful study in itself, and Eternal Judgment.
And so, that's a magnificent study. People have an idea that judgment's just bad, just bad. No, it isn't all bad. He judged Jesus, and the scripture gives us the right to judge ourselves when we receive communion. Oh yeah, 1 Corinthians 11. "We judge ourselves, lest we be judged". And then, "Judge not". Don't be judging. "Lest you be judged". Oh yeah, it's good stuff. But we've been studying, particularly the fundamental, very sacred Doctrine of Christ, which is the Laying on of Hands. Now, there are laying on of hands ceremonies, which and supposedly receive the Holy Spirit, and traditional churches and so forth. Now, it depends on the person that's receiving it, because in most cases, it is just simply a formality. And you know what the Word says about that? "Those denying the power there are, get out of there". But don't stay there. "You mean I should get in another church"?
What did I just say? "Well, my momma was in that church". Well, so what? Your grandma and all the rest of them might've been in that church. But if they're denying the power, get. "Well, can I"? No, don't argue with the Word of God. Pray for them, and find out where you are supposed to be in church. Don't just pick one because it's close to the house, or because it's some advantage to your job. That's crazy. That happens a lot. Be in a good church. God called them to be in a good church. Family's doing well. And then get offered a job somewhere a long ways away, and go take that job, and then try to hunt a church. That's backwards. You find the church that God calls you to, and your job will be there. Your job will be there, if that's where you're called to be in church and raise your family. Yeah, amen. Because that's the way grace works.
Now. Excuse me. Talking about the Laying on of Hands. There are several things that we need to look at here. Look at the 13th chapter of Luke's gospel. I'll tell you, there's something about this incident here that thrills me. I just... And it's something small. You'll miss it if you're not really looking at the goodness of God. In the 10th verse, excuse me. "He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath". What was He doing? He was teaching. He did a lot of that. Why? Faith had to come before He could do anything. That's the reason in His own hometown, He could do nothing, because they didn't believe anything He said. They were all for it until He said, "Today, the scripture fulfilled". "You mean today, you're telling me you're the Messiah? I don't believe it. We know you. You were raised here, right here in this town". So He left town, moved His headquarters to Capernaum. Not just for that reason. Read it for yourself. It was prophesied that He would go there. Of course it was. Amen.
So now, notice this. "He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath, and behold, there was a woman which had a spirit of infirmity 18 years". 18 years bowed over, could in no wise lift up herself. Listen to it, listen to it. "When He saw her". When He saw her. What's the first thing that hit Him? She ought not be in that condition. When He saw it, nobody asked Him, He just saw her. The goodness of God, He just saw her. And He said, "Why"? And this applies to you and me, when you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior. "When He saw her, He called her to Him and said unto her, 'Woman, thou art loosed from thine infirmity'". Oh really? She's still bowed over. "You're loosed from your infirmity".
Nothing has happened yet, but He laid His hands on her. That's when the power went in to her. When He said it, when He said it, He declared it to her. He believed it in His heart, and said it with His mouth. But He had to lay His hands on her for the contact and transmission of that power. It had to be transmitted. And that transmission occurred through His hands. And of course, they griped about it. But now notice what happened. "And immediately she was made straight, and glorified God. And the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation, because Jesus healed on the Sabbath day. And said under the people, 'There are six days in which...'" Well, now, wait a minute, she'd been there 18 years, and nothing happened. Verse 16, "Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound lo these 18 years be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath day"?
And if you be Christ, then are you Abraham's seed and heirs, according to the same promise. And you ought to be loose today. You ought to be free today. You ought to be loose today, and people in your congregation ought to be loose. But there some of them that it's never going to happen until you lay your hands on them, and give that power an opportunity to flow. I learned that from Kenneth E. Hagin, my mentor in faith. I learned that from Oral Roberts. He laid his hands on over 2 million people. He laid his hands on so many people, it tore up his shoulders. He had to be operator on. "Oh, Brother Copeland, I don't understand that. The Lord used him to heal all those people. How come he had to be operated on"? Healing is not a reward. That was his business to do that, and he needed help. His shoulders were so torn up from doing this, over 2 million, he still lived to be over 90 years old. Glory to God.
Now understand that. Healing is not a reward. You're a minister of the gospel. I'm a minister of the gospel. I have to believe for my healing, you have to believe for yours, just like the people to whom you minister. And that's what I told you earlier this week. I got in trouble because I wasn't believing for healing for my own body. I was spending time in the Word, studying it to preach it. That's the reason I had so much faith to preach it, and so little faith to receive it. It was not developed. I had developed preaching faith. I had developed laying on of hands faith. But I had not developed my own faith to receive healing in my own body. And I did not rest. I violated the basic principles of God, and broke my body down and wore it down. And thank God, now, today, I'm healed. I had to get back in line with the Principle Doctrines of Christ, His principle teachings. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord Jesus.
Now then, Acts chapter 5. We need to get on with this. I need to get all of this in before the end of the day. Acts 5:12, verse 11, "Great fear came upon all the church, and upon them many as heard these things, and by the hands of the apostles, were many signs and wonders wrought among the people". Do you remember right there in the first church, when the power of God fell on them? And they didn't just jump out talking about their problems and all of that? They went down through verses of scripture about your power, your creative power, and all of that. And many signs and wonders by the hands of your holy child, Jesus. And they prayed, "Send us of all these workings". And you just look right over, just look right over the other side, and "Many signs and wonders and healings were done by the hands of the apostles". The hands. The hands.
Brother Hagin had a terminology that is good. He said, "I call that laying empty hands on empty heads. Just traditional laying on of hands. No reason to it, it's just because it's in the book. We just do". This is a sacred thing. "I'd rather not lay hands on them at all. Or, we know that this is a tradition of the church, and we respect it. And we honor it highly, because we honor the master". Now that's a different thing altogether. And it didn't take me two seconds to say that. But when the leadership doesn't even know that, or doesn't care about that, something else takes precedent over it. Then it's just a formality, and doesn't mean anything. And well, I've said enough about that.
Now then, Acts 19:6. And the book of Acts is not the acts of the Holy Spirit. It is the acts of the apostles. It is the acts of the Holy Spirit, because there's more than the apostles in here. "What do you mean, Brother Copeland? What about Ananias"? He was not an apostle. And God called him to go and lay hands on Saul of Tarsus, who just got knocked off his horse. He was blind. Now he wasn't blind with sickness and disease. It was that light. But he had to be led around. He was blind. Ananias went in there and said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus appeared to me in a vision". And said for me to do what? "Come lay my hands on you, that you might be healed and filled with the spirit". All over the New Testament. "And He laid hands on them, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit".
You remember those Baptists that came to Ephesus? Huh? Said, "We didn't know there'd be a Holy Spirit. We just went by the baptism of John". So here's a bunch of Baptists. And so, what happened? The apostle Paul laid his hands on them, and they were filled with the spirit and spoke in tongues. Praise God. Glory be to God. Laid hands. Okay. Now then, glory to God. Acts 19:6. I'm going to read that again. I didn't read it yet, so this is good. "When Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied, and spoke boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the Kingdom of God". And then, that 10th verse, "This continued by the space of two years, so that all that dwelt in Asia heard the Word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks, God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul".
He wrought special, now it doesn't say that Paul felt anything. It doesn't say that he had a burning sensation. It doesn't say that the people fell over. I expect they did, but it doesn't say they had this warm glow. No. He laid his hands on them, and it worked, because he had faith in it, and they had faith in it. Praise God.
Now then, Acts chapter 28, the last chapter of the book of Acts. There is no ending to the book of Acts. It has no close. It's continuing. We're in it today. Now, you know what happened. The apostle Paul is headed to Rome, and that little ship got into a hurricane. And it's just going all over place. Two weeks he got in that thing and couldn't get out of it. And the Spirit, and an angel stood by him. What was happening? He reminded him, the angel reminded him of the plan. "You must go to Rome". So the plan was bigger than the storm. It always is. If you know the plan of God and the will of God, you can stand on it every time. Like that little boy we talked about last week, "I don't know about all that, but I know I'm supposed to be healed today". Glory to God. Yeah. "I'm supposed to be healed. I'm supposed to prosper". Yeah. Amen.
So now he's on this island, and the 28th, in the eighth verse, "It came to pass that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and a bloody flux or dysentery, to whom Paul entered in and prayed and laid his hands on him, and healed him. So when this was done, others also, which had diseases in the island came and were healed". Well do you think that is the only one he laid hands on? I don't think so. Because that was the process. That's what they saw. That's what they got. They had faith in that. Amen. Say amen, somebody. "He laid hands on them". Glory to God. Now. Thank You, Lord Jesus.
Turn back with me to the 4th chapter of the book of Acts. "And there was this man over 40 years old, and a miracle of healing was showed, and being let go, they went to their own company, and they got beat up for it". And so forth and so on, you know the story. Verse 25, "Who by the mouth of thy servant, David has said, 'Why did the heathen rage?'" And so forth and so on. Verse 27, "I have a truth against thy holy child, Jesus, whom thou hast anointed". And verse 28, "For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. And now Lord behold, their threatenings, and grant under thy servants that with all boldness, they may speak thy word by stretching forth thine hand".
Now, listen, "Stretching forth your hand". They're talking to God. They didn't bring up the problem first, and cry, "Oh God, oh God". No. They went to the Word first and praised Him first. "And stretching forth thine hand to heal, that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy Holy Child, Jesus. And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spoke the Word of God with boldness, and the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul". Praise God. I said, praise God. Amen. Thank You, Lord.
Let's go to the 33rd verse. "And with great power, gave the apostles witness of resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ, and great grace was upon them all". And what did they do? Look at chapter five, verse 12. "And by the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people. They were all with one accord on Solomon's porch". There it is again. By the hands, by the hands, by the hands. Glory to God. Thank You, Lord Jesus.
Now all of you that are graduating... how much time do I have, Tim? Okay. All my graduaters, you can come up here right now. We just got a couple of minutes, let's do it. In the name of Jesus, Glory be to God. In the name. Let me tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to stand right here. Get over here, and just walk by in front of me. Just get over here, and just... Get over there, and just walk by me. Just walk by me. In the name. Move this back up. Move that back up. Thank You, Jesus. And if we go over there while we're doing this, God loves you. And I love you. And Jesus is Lord.