(Singing) I know my God has made the way for me.
I know my God has made the way for me.
KENNETH: Hello, everybody. I'm Kenneth Copeland.
Welcome to the Believer's Voice of Victory Broadcast.
Father, we thank You today. Oh, my. Oh, we're so
thrilled at the things that are happening all over this world,
and the meetings that we just came from in Nigeria. And the
things that are happening all over the continent of Africa is
just stunning. It's so wonderful. And we give You the
praise for it in Jesus' name. Amen. Glory to God. Now, I
preached in Canaanland, Nigeria, at Faith Tabernacle, pastored by
Bishop and--David and Faith Oyedepo. They began their
ministry many years ago with four people. Ha-ha-ha. Oh,
brother, and now he's having five services on Sunday, and he
seats over 50,000, plus overflow. The last Sunday count
was something like 325,000 people came to church on Sunday
morning. I was blessed to get to preach to two services, so I
only preached to 100,000. But I didn't feel slighted in the bit,
I call tell you that. And the entire thing was a Ministers'
Conference. And the pastors that were there--we had--we had over
4,000 ministers in that room, but they came from all over
Africa, all over--there are some friends I know came from India
and all over this world and pastors in there that pastored
big, huge churches, 20-, 30-, 40,000 people, and
just marvelous. I want you to be a part of it.
KENNETH: Let's open our Bibles first, once again, to
Matthew 16, our golden text for these services that I have been
privileged to minister. Are you enjoying the conference?
AUDIENCE: Yes, sir! Glory. KENNETH: There is--I've never
been to this conference, not one time, that there
was not a very special anointing to receive
insight, concept, and ideas concerning ministry, concerning
the supernatural ministry. We're not natural people. AUDIENCE:
Yes, sir. KENNETH: Have you ever heard anyone say, "Well, after
all, I'm only human." You are not only human! AUDIENCE: Yes,
sir! Praise God. KENNETH: You are the born-again human.
AUDIENCE: Yes, sir! Whoo! KENNETH: You're a God human.
AUDIENCE: Yes, sir. KENNETH: You're like Jesus. Hallelujah.
AUDIENCE: Hallelujah. Amen. KENNETH: You are not just a man.
You are not just a woman. No. You're a God-bought,
blood-bought, healed, indwelt man or woman, and you--ha-ha.
Help me, Lord. You have the seed of greatness-- AUDIENCE: Amen.
KENNETH: --inside you. Every born-again child of God can be
great in spiritual stature. AUDIENCE: Amen. KENNETH: Amen.
Thank You, Lord. Oh-oh-oh, thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord
Jesus. Amen. There's a super man living on the inside of you.
AUDIENCE: Praise God. Amen. KENNETH: And His name is Jesus.
AUDIENCE: Amen. KENNETH: Can I get an "Amen?" (Audience
"Amens") Hallelujah. Thank You, Lord. Thank You, Lord. All
right. Matthew 16, and look at the 13th Verse. "When Jesus came
into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his
disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
They said, Some say that you're John the Baptist: some, Elias;
others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets. And he said unto them,
Whom say ye that I am? Simon Peter answered and said--"
Now--ha-ha-ha. When you come to know Peter, and you come to
understand this man, you know he didn't hold up his hand and say,
"Uh, thou art the Christ, Son of the living God?" No. He said,
"Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God!" Peter got
excited. He's the one that got out of the boat. AUDIENCE: Yeah.
KENNETH: Huh? He's the one that wouldn't stay in the boat.
"Lord, if it's You, bid me, Come!" Well, what's the Lord
going to do? Say, "It's not me." (Laughter) No. He said, "Come."
I mean, Peter got out of the boat. AUDIENCE: Whoo! KENNETH:
And did you ever notice that "--beginning to sink, Jesus
stretched forth His hand and caught him." Step up here. Step
up here. Now, had you--had Peter been there, and Jesus here, He
couldn't have caught him. One more step, and he would have
been there. AUDIENCE: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. KENNETH: If he had just
said, "I'm not sinking. I'm taking one more step here."
AUDIENCE: Yes. Yes, yes, yes. KENNETH: He was that close. Just
one more step. AUDIENCE: Mm. KENNETH: Oh, come on.
Hallelujah. And that--that day that you got up, and you said,
"I don't think I can go another step," yes, you can. AUDIENCE:
Yes, sir. KENNETH: "Oh, I don't have any more money." Who cares?
Go another step. Hallelujah. "But I'm so tired." Ah, get up
and take another step. Hallelujah. Amen. AUDIENCE:
Amen. KENNETH: Quit crying about it and get up and do it.
AUDIENCE: Yes! Amen. KENNETH: You still love me? (Audience
Agrees) All right. Hallelujah. Thank You, Lord. Now, "Whom do
the men say that I am?" And Peter said, "Thou are the
Christ, You are the anointed One, the Son of the living God.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed are you, Simon
Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto
thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my
church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
On the rock of revelation knowledge, Jesus has built and
is building His church. That's what makes it built to last. Now
turn to the 127th Psalm with me this morning. Psalm 127. Thank
You, Lord. This is an amazing statement: "Except the Lord
build the house, they labor in vain that build it." Now,
notice, they built the house, but it was a vain house. It
didn't say that they couldn't build the house. They built the
house. I've seen ministries that people built, and they don't
last. The thing that is void when people build a ministry, a
people personality, church gains, religious ideas that
build a ministry, you will not see the supernatural. AUDIENCE:
Yes, yes, yes. KENNETH: A Holy Spirit-led pastor, a Holy
Spirit-led shepherd is a shepherd that divinely knows
where the green pastures are for the flock. The shepherd that is
led by the Spirit of God knows where the still waters are where
the flock can rest. The shepherd that is led of the Spirit and
walks by faith and lives the life of the love of God, no
wolf, no demon, can get hold of that flock and destroy it. We're
supernatural people. When the Lord builds the house, you have
signs and wonders and gifts of healings and miracles and
special faith, you have discerning of spirits, you have
the word of knowledge, word of wisdom, tongues, and
interpretations of tongues. Glory to God. AUDIENCE:
Hallelujah. KENNETH: You have people that pray. Bishop,
talking about prayer this morning, all Christian failure
is a prayer failure. It's not a faith failure, it's a prayer
failure. Amen. Of course, if you're a failure at prayer, you
will be a failure at faith. Amen. I mean, that's just the
way it is. Now, here's another thing I want you to notice, "It
is vain," or worthless, "for you to rise up early--" Now, I used
to read that first part of that sentence and just stop there,
ha-ha-ha, because I didn't like to get up early. "It is vain for
you to raise up early, and sit up late, to eat the bread of
sorrow." Now, the word translated "sorrow" here is
"toil," hard, toiling work. Amen. If you're building a
ministry on toil and hard work, it will fail. Now, we work.
Amen. "You don't work, you don't eat." Amen. Isn't that what the
Scripture said? But if you're building your ministry on hard
work instead of prayer, you're building your ministry on
toiling at the ministry instead of resting in Jesus in His
ministry, the house will collapse. I was in a city a
number of years ago, and I was invited to the home of one of
the pastors of one of the largest church in the city. And
he didn't much like the Word of faith. He--it--you know,
"Believe it in your heart and say it with your mouth" and all
that, he didn't like that much. And--but he was nice about it,
you know. But he--and he wanted--at the--I had dinner
with him and his wife and Gloria and me and one of my partners
and his wife. And he had asked me some questions. And, you
know, you have that sense and feeling, "I'm just not quite
wanted here." Ha-ha-ha. Amen. I know you've been there, you
know, where the fellow shakes hands with you, and instead of
shaking hands, he goes--you know, drop it like it's hot.
Ha-ha-ha. And it was a pleasant evening, but it wasn't just
running over with joy. And so the evening was over, and we
were walking out for the door of his home. Suddenly, he just
dropped to his knees right in front of me. It took me back for
a moment. I wasn't expecting this to happen. He just dropped
to his knees, and he caught my hand and put it on my--on his
head. AUDIENCE: Ha-ha-ha. Glory be to God. KENNETH: My, he began
to weep. And he said, "Oh, pray for me, Preacher." He said,
"I've substituted hard work for prayer and faith, and I'm
failing." AUDIENCE: Aww. KENNETH: Now, he had a big
church, so where is he failing? He's failing in his spirit,
failing in his heart. He's not pleasing God, and he's not
pleasing himself, and he's not pleasing anybody. And he knows
it. And he already knew what the problem was. Listen to what he
said, "I traded hard work for prayer and faith." Now, that's
what upset him about the Word of faith message, because he wasn't
doing it, and he knew it. And every time he heard it, it put
him under conviction. AUDIENCE: Yes, sir. KENNETH: It should
have because he was in that category right there, getting up
early, staying up late, worrying, toiling in your mind,
feeding on the bread of sorrow. My, what a terrible, terrible
existence. That's not what our loving Father had planned for
you. That's not what He planned for your congregation because,
I'm telling you right now, if you're toiling and you're
worrying and full of fear, guess what? So are the people in your
ministry-- AUDIENCE: Ahh. KENNETH: --because they are an
image and picture and offspring of you. (Audience Agrees) Amen.
That's just inescapable. You can't get away from that. And it
won't last. So "Except they that build the house--the Lord build
the house, they labor in vain that build it." Getting up early
is in vain. Sitting up late is in vain, lying awake at night
worrying and sorrowing. Ha. And you're lying there, "Let's see.
What is the answer to that?" And you're searching your mind
instead of sleeping, instead of resting, searching your mind. My
brother and sister, the answers to ministry don't come from the
mind. AUDIENCE: Hallelujah. KENNETH: They come from the Holy
Spirit revealing knowledge to your spirit. That is the rock
upon which Jesus has built His church. But you're lying there
questioning. Ha-ha. You're like a person standing in front of a
file drawer, and you open the drawer, look at every file, then
you take it--take them all out, put them on the floor, put them
back one at a time. It isn't in there. Do you realize that? That
file you're looking for isn't in that drawer. So it is in vain
for you to keep digging in the same drawer. AUDIENCE: Amen.
KENNETH: That's a vain action. And about the 50th time you've
been through that drawer, your lightning-fast mind should
realize it isn't in there! Ha-ha. It's not there. So where
am I going to find it out? In the Spirit. Thank God for
praying in tongues. AUDIENCE: Ah! Hallelujah. KENNETH: "A man
that speaks in an unknown tongue," meaning unknown to
you-- AUDIENCE: Yes, sir. KENNETH: "--speaks not unto men,
but unto God: howbeit in the spirit he speaketh mysteries."
AUDIENCE: Mysteries. KENNETH: The Greek text literally says,
"divine secrets." Well, who are they secrets from? The devil!
It's not hidden from you, it's hidden for you. "Well, if it's a
mystery, then how am I supposed to find out what it is?" Well,
you just continue reading in the I Corinthians 14 and it'll tell
you. "I will pray with my spirit, and I will pray with my
understanding." There it is. "I will sing with the spirit, and I
will sing with the understanding also." Now, here it is, "Let him
pray also that he interpret." What does that mean? Well,
you're praying in the Spirit. Your mind is unfruitful. But if
you pray, "Lord, reveal to me what I'm praying in the Spirit,
then my mind can be fruitful." Huh? Now, don't forget Mark
11:24. "Therefore," Jesus said, "I say unto you, What soever
thing you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them,
and you shall have them--" As long as your praying in a
language you can understand. No. That last part wasn't in there.
It didn't say, "As long as you're praying in a--" He just
said, "When you pray, believe that you receive them." (Praying
in the Spirit) Thank You, Father. And I pray also that I
interpret, and, according to Mark 11:24, I receive what I
prayed in the Spirit. I receive the interpretation. I receive
that mystery while it's still a mystery. It's my mystery. It
belongs to me. It had to be good because the Spirit of love gave
it to me. AUDIENCE: Yes. Amen. KENNETH: Huh? (Audience Agrees)
This is when you have faith in the love. Oh, yeah, He loves me.
AUDIENCE: He loves me. KENNETH: Say, "God loves me." AUDIENCE:
God loves me. KENNETH: God loves Kenneth. AUDIENCE: God loves me.
God loves Kenneth. KENNETH: Ha-ha-ha-ha. I got the joy again
this morning. Glory to God. Amen. While I'm praying in the
Spirit, I believe I receive in the Spirit. This is where the
answers are. This is where your strength is. Because you pray in
the Spirit, you edify yourself, building yourself up on your
most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost. Right? What does
"edify" mean? Well, that Greek word means to build, to charge.
If you were a Greek-speaking person, and you said, "I need to
charge the battery in my car," he would use that word
translated "edify," to charge up, to build up. So what do you
do when you build up a building, or you build up the battery in
your car? You're building up your spirit man, the real you.
And the Scripture says, "The strong spirit of a man will
sustain him in times of trouble and bodily pains." So
how do you get a strong spirit? You spend time
in the Word. You spend time at prayer both in
your understanding, but most of all in the Spirit.
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