Kenneth Copeland - Love Is the Greatest Gift
— Here it is Friday already. Praise God. The second full week of January, 2022, praise God. Thank You Father, for the blessing of the Lord, we give You all the praise and the honor concerning it. Now then, when we closed yesterday, we brought our attention to the fruit of the Spirit, which is born into the human spirit at the time you accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life. And we know from the fifth chapter of I Corinthians that at that time, in fact, let's just look over there right quick. We're going to go to the 12th chapter I Corinthians. Let's back up to the fifth because all of this is in one letter together. No, I'm telling you wrong. It's in II Corinthians five. Let's look over there. II Corinthians chapter five, verse 17. Are you there? "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away. That old nature passed away. And behold all things have become new and all things are of God who has reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation to know that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them and has committed unto them the word of reconciliation". So I mean, it all happened right there and that's when the fruit of the Spirit came alive in you, because you are a new creature. Old things passed away and you were born of the Spirit. Amen? Now that 21st verse, "for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him". We were made right with God in him. Amen. And all things became new and all things are of God who is love. So that's when the fruit of the Spirit that starts out with love was there. Now we go to I Corinthians and the gifts of the Spirit. Now these are manifested of the Holy Spirit in one's life. Now these operate from the anointing of the Spirit. Jesus said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me fo, he has anointed me to preach". The Spirit was always in him because he's born of the Spirit in the first place. But in order to qualify for ministry, he had to be anointed of the Spirit of God had to come upon him. Now thank God, on the day of Pentecost, that same Holy Spirit came on them for service. And this is true today, that the Spirit of God comes on a Christian person. And then you yield yourself completely to him, to the point of giving him your tongue. And that's when you walk through the gate of the supernatural. I mean that changed Gloria and our lives forever. And we still didn't know anything, but that changed everything. Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I would not have your ignorant. Now I want to read this from the Classic Amplified for the sake of time. Now there are distinctive varieties and distributions of endowments, gifts, extraordinary powers, distinguishing certain Christians due to the power of divine grace operating in their souls by the Holy Spirit. And they vary. But the Holy Spirit remains the same. Isn't that clear? The gifts vary, but it is a manifestation of the Spirit. So he remains the same.
— Different gifts, same Spirit.
— Yes. There are distinctive varieties of service administration, but it's same Lord who is served. There are distinctive varieties of operation of working to accomplish things, but it is the same God who inspires and energizes them all. But to each one is given the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, the evidence, spiritual illumination of the Spirit, for good and profit. To one is given in and through the Holy Spirit the power to speak a message of wisdom. Now the King James says a word of wisdom. It's not the whole wisdom of God. It's a word of wisdom, concerning his knowledge of the future. Word of wisdom concerning future things. Now people think that that's what all prophecy is. No, but it comes, it's prophetic in its utterance. Amen. A word of knowledge. That is a word of his knowledge concerning the present. Now that gift has worked in me more than any others. It worked before I ever really started teaching. It would work. I remember we were in a prayer group one time in Pittsburgh, and that's when we went to see Kathryn Kuhlman the first time. And in this prayer group, they would have people sit on the hot seat and you'd pray and I'd lay hands on them and just start praying. And they'd say, "How'd you know that"? Well, I didn't know. I would was praying. I was actually praying. See, I didn't know it was a word of knowledge, but of course it was. It was a word of God's knowledge concerning this person's body or situation. And sometimes it would, I had it happen. I've had it to happen in restaurants. And that one has worked in me more than word of wisdom, but the word of wisdom has functioned. And you come on down to, and then express a word of knowledge and understanding according to the same Holy Spirit, to another wonder working faith by the same Holy Spirit. To another extra ordinary powers of healing by one Spirit. To another working of miracles. To another prophetic insight. And so forth, all, and to another various kinds of unknown tongues, to another ability to interpret such tongues. People have mistook and they said, "Tongues will pass away". No tongues didn't pass away. It was talking about the spiritual gift of tongues, ministering in tongues. So people that have not really studied the scripture far enough to know that think, well, tongues has passed away. It's not for anybody. No, no, no. Go back and read the day of Pentecost. It's for all as long and for as our generation shall last. Of course, Jesus was the gift to the world. This Holy Spirit is the gift to the church and all of his manifestations are available. It started by getting the languages back that we lost at Babel. Now we got that back supernaturally and we can pray in a supernatural language and build ourselves up. Now all of those, to each one is given the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, the evidence, the spiritual illumination of the Spirit for good and profit. That's important, for good and profit. Now I want to read on down here for a little bit.
— Where are you starting?
— I'm here in the King James now still in the 12th chapter of I Corinthians. So now we come down and he talks about this just all the way through this whole 12th chapter. Verse 26, whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it. Isn't that interesting? One member be honored, all the members rejoice...
— One body.
— With it. We're one body. And that's what love does. And I remember, just get blessed financially beyond measure. And you're sitting there with, "Dear Lord, I ain't got enough to pay my rent". But think about what they got. Glory to God. And like a very good friend of our, Marcus Bishop, he's down in Florida. And he said he was in a cafeteria one time and he was in the line way back there. And he was thinking about this and he thought, hey, what am I upset for? The line's moving. And he said, yeah, the line's moving, glory to God. They got blessed, but the line's moving. I'm here. I'm in here somewhere. I'm going to get blessed, too. The line's moving, and I'm part of the line. Glory to God.
— Look at verse 27.
— Yes.
— See how big that is.
— Now you are one body of Christ and members in particular, and God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers. After that, miracles and the gifts of healings, helps and governments, diversities of tongues. Are all apostles? No. Are all prophets? No. Are all teachers? No. Are all workers of miracles? No. Have all gifts of healings? No. Do all speak with tongues? Now see that's where they... Well do all speak with? Well, no, not all. No. He said do all minister in tongues? He's talking about these same ministry gifts. Of course, they all talk in tongues. The apostle Paul said, "I talk in tongue more and all of you put together".
— Here's the thing that's so big in 27. It says, now you are the body of Christ. Not next week. Not last week.
— But now.
— Now, it's now.
— So you're the body of the anointed one.
— That's right.
— Praise God. That's good. But then he doesn't stop. Verse 31, covet earnestly the best gifts. Someone asked my spiritual father, Oral Roberts, "Which is the best gift"? Now if you take them chronologically, then wisdom of God's wisdom is magnificent. That's what made Solomon so wealthy. He asked for the wisdom instead of wealth. And I wondered how he was going to answer that. They said, "Brother Roberts," and they weren't antagonistic about it all, "which is the best gift"? He said, "The one you need at the time".
— Yeah, amen.
— He said, "If you need healing, then, this person, you need the working of miracles and the gifts of healings". But he said, "Then a word of wisdom, of course". But he said, "That sick person first of all needs to be well. Then they need the wisdom of how to stay well or maybe what got them sick in the first place".
— You know what? We've so viewed this like this gift of healing or this gift that I might, that word covet in that setting has always kind of stuck out to me like we're not supposed to covet. I didn't understand that. But we've always looked at this as though it's my gift of healing. But we have to go back to understand that word covet. It says a spiritual gift, it is given to each of us so we can help each other. That's why it says covet. You're not supposed to covet your neighbor's house, but you can covet your neighbor's gift because it's given to me.
— Yes.
— What's in you is for me, what's in you is for me.
— That great desire.
— And we've missed that unification of the body. That's big, because what happens in our compromise is because we're missing something, so we try to do it ourself. And God's put all these things in the body.
— Here it is.
— Does that hit y'all like it does me?
— In the Amplified, it says just exactly what you said. Earnestly desire and zealously cultivate the greatest and best gifts and graces, higher gifts and choicest graces. Yet I will show you a still more excellent way, one that is far better. And the highest of them all. If I speak with the tongue of men and even angels, but have not loved, the reasoning and so forth, I'm only a noisy gong. But wait a minute. What if you are walking in love? You need to read it like that. I speak with the tongue of men and even angels and I have love, so I am not a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have prophetic powers, the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose, understand all the secrets and mysteries and possess all knowledge, sufficient faith that can remove mountains, and I'm adding this in there according to Mark 11:23, and if I have faith to move mountains and have not love, God's love in me, I'm nothing, a useless nobody. But I'm walking in love. That's not me. Amen. But you need to do judge yourself on a regular basis. Oh. But listen to this. Now Gloria can quote these because she studied the Amplified first. Now Oral Roberts said this and he wrote a book concerning it. And then we heard him discuss it and talked to him about it. Jesus first called him into the healing ministry. He said, "If you want to know my son more intimately than anybody, then you read Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and the book of Acts three times in 30 days on your knees". Gloria did that with the Amplified. Well it's longer. She did it. But now listen to this. Now this is from the Classic Amplified. And in charity. Now I'm convinced that the old English writers use the word charity on purpose because this charity is a giving love. The Greek word is agape and it means the love of God. Agape literally means that I love unconditionally. The love of God. God is just love. He is love. That's just what he does. That's who he is. And he loves you whether you like it or not. It's unconditional. And that's the kind of love that Gloria had for me and still does. And that's just what swept me into the Kingdom of God.
— You were worth it.
— Oh, appreciate that, girl. Thank you. Now let's see what that says. Charity suffers long and is kind. Charity envies not, charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up. But listen to this. Love endures long and is patient...
— And kind.
— And kind. Now wait a minute. Patience, long-suffering is one of the fruit of the Spirit. Love, joy, peace...
— Patience.
— Long-suffering is patience. What is that? Endurance. It didn't mean, well, I just have to put up with it. No, no, no. That word in the Greek language is endurance. Love endures long. And you see it right here. Love endures long and is patient and kind. Love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy. Love is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. It is not conceded, arrogant, inflated with pride. It is not rude, unmannerly and does not act unbecomingly. Love, God's love in us, does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking. It is not touchy or fretful or resentful. It takes no account of the evil done to it, pays no attention to a suffered wrong. Uh oh, ooh. But you have to deal with this in your own life.
— When you pay attention to a suffered wrong, you're the one that's miserable.
— That's right.
— So I can understand this.
— Well, and it does not rejoice in injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices even when right and truth prevail. Love bears up under anything and everything that comes. It is ever ready to believe the best of every person. Its hopes are fadeless in all circumstances. It endures everything without weakening. Love never fails. Oh.
— Love never fails.
— Love never fails, never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end. As for prophecy, the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose, it will be fulfilled and pass away. As for tongues, they talking about the ministry of tongues now. As for tongues, they'll be destroyed and cease. As for knowledge, it will pass away. Well, hey, if tongues pass away, knowledge is going to pass away. Has knowledge passed away yet? Of course not. So they will be destroyed and cease. As for knowledge, it will pass away. It will lose its value and be superseded by truth. When I was a child, I talked like a child. I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. Then I have become a man. I'm done with childless ways and have put them aside. I put them aside. For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim, blurred reflection of reality. Well, let me go back to that because the Lord taught me something that I had to do this in order to renew my mind to it and to confess it and go back and read this and read this and read this. And I began to do this. Love endures long. Okay. I endure long, I'm patient and I'm kind. I never am envious or boil over with jealousy. I'm not boastful or vainglorious. I don't display myself haughtily. I'm not conceited and arrogant, inflated with pride. I'm not rude, unmannerly. I remember years and years ago, our meetings, we'd stay two or three weeks and work up to 500. And we went to a Jimmy Swaggart meeting. And this was before I met Jimmy. I didn't know him personally. We walked in there and I'm telling you that place was packed. It was packed out. And all of a sudden I knew it when it came up, I mean that spirit of jealousy came up inside me that I didn't have that kind of a crowd. And I knew what, da, da, da. And I had to fight that thing. I had to go back to that very chapter right there to put that off me. It was a spirit of jealousy. And then later the Lord started talking to me about going on the radio. And I did not want to do that because I mean, we were traveling all over the place. I didn't have any place to make radio broadcast. And the Lord kept dealing with me about it. And as one of my partners said, "I'm going to buy some time and you're going to have to go on it". And I said, "Well, the Lord, you just have to talk to me through a burning bush". And Jimmy Swaggart called me and he hollered at me. "Why ain't you on the radio"? And the Lord said, "There's your burning bush. What else you going to do"? And he said, "I'm going to help you. I'm going to start you out with my best station so you don't have to build up and so your radio broadcast will start off successful". What if I'd have been so jealous of him... And we're out of time. Come on, Jeremy.