Now Jesus taught a way to get rid of strife. He said, “If you
have something against your brother, go to him and try to settle
it.” He didn’t say to tell everyone else about it! He said to go
directly to that person. He gives us three opportunities to
bridge the gap: alone, with another brother and then before the
whole church (see Matthew 18:15-17). Jesus ended His teaching
by explaining the power of agreement, “That if two of you
shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it
shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew
18:19). There is a way to live in the Body of Christ in a magnitude
of power which absolutely and totally defeats Satan. You
have to resist him, and your resistance will work through this
power of agreement and the power of the love of God.
Have you ever wondered about someone who gets turned
on to God and then everything around him falls apart? I have
seen men who looked as though they were doing fine until they
got saved and turned on to the Word, and then problems came
from every direction. It seemed that they were better off before
they got saved. I thought, “Why does it seem that Satan has
such an inroad anytime he wants it?” Then I realized it’s
because the least discussed, least taught, least functioned area
in the Body of Christ in any denomination is the revelation of
God’s love and how to operate together without strife. We have
heard some people preach around the fringes, “We’ve got to
love one another,” but everyone waits on the other person to
do it.
The love of God is not a feeling. Somehow we have put
compassion and feelings in one capsule. When the Bible says
Jesus was moved by compassion, we traditionally assume He
was moved by a feeling of compassion. Then we wait for some
kind of feeling to move us before we do anything. So people
pray for a “burden to win souls” or a “burden to pray.” Actually,
they are praying for some sort of feeling. They want God to
kick them in the pants and make them do what they know they
should do. Jesus was not moved by a feeling of compassion; He
was moved by compassion Himself. God is love.
Love commanded, “Go into all the world and preach the
gospel to every creature.” That is enough. I heard one wellknown
evangelist say, “My calling is Mark 16:15-20, the Great
Commission. I didn’t get a great revelation. I just read it, decided
to do it, and God honored it.”
Being led by God is being led by His Word. The feelings are
real and they will come; but if you are waiting for the feeling
first, then you will never get anything from God. You will
always be led by ordinary human impulses until you begin to
act on God’s Word and do it simply because He said it.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
Strife is a lack of love and 1 Corinthians 13 shows what will
happen without this love.
“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and
have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.”
Your speaking in tongues will be of no use without love.
You’ll just be a noisemaker!
“And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all
mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I
could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.”
Prophecy will do no good if you don’t operate in love. You can’t
gripe, complain and bad-mouth people, then stand up and say,
“Thus saith the Lord….” Unless you operate in love, your
understanding of God’s wisdom and the mysteries of redemption
will be of no value. Though you have faith to move mountains,
it won’t work without love. Now you can see why strife is
Satan’s number one tool. No matter how strongly you operate
in spiritual things, if he can get you into strife and hamper the
love of God in your life, then he’s got you! He knows where to
strike first!
“And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though
I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me
nothing.” Without love, your giving will be of no profit at all,
even if you gave your own body.
“Love suffereth long, and is kind; love envieth not; love
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly,
seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all
things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Love never faileth.” LOVE NEVER FAILS! When you operate in
love, all these things—giving, faith, spiritual gifts—will work
for you. Praise the Lord!
Although you may not agree with someone over certain issues,
find out on what you can agree with them. Love them and pray for
them; don’t criticize and backbite. You don’t have to associate with
someone to pray for them. You can avoid them, get the strife
out of your life, and still remain in a position to pray for them.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
We have discussed the importance of keeping strife out of
your life. Let’s see how this enters into your financial affairs. In
Luke 6:27-34, Jesus is teaching about some of these things.
But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do
good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse
you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. And
unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek offer also
the other; and him that taketh away thy cloak forbid
not to take thy coat also. Give to every man that asketh
of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them
not again. And as ye would that men should do to you,
do ye also to them likewise. For if ye love them which
love you, what thank have ye? for sinners also love
those that love them. And if ye do good to them which
do good to you, what thank have ye? for sinners also do
even the same. And if ye lend to them of whom ye hope
to receive, what thank have ye? for sinners also lend to
sinners, to receive as much again.
Jesus is teaching His disciples how to stay out of strife. This
is not a Christian doctrine or creed. It is designed to keep you
connected with the power of God, so you can live an overcoming
life. Love stops the work and the effect of strife by building
a protective shield around you. This shield, the shield of faith,
keeps Satan from having access to what you do, what you think
and what you are. First John 4:8 states that God is love. As a
believer, you are born of God; therefore, you are born of love.
Consequently, 1 John 5:18 says, “He that is begotten of God
keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” As long
as you keep yourself from strife, then Satan can’t touch you.
What did Paul write to Timothy about strife? In 2 Timothy
2:24-26, he said that the servant of the Lord must not strive but
minister to those that oppose him, so that God will forgive
them and they may recover themselves from the snare of the
devil, who takes them captive at his will. People in strife can be
taken captive by Satan at his will!
Strife is a worldly luxury believers cannot afford! Yet, we
invite it into our own homes without realizing it. You will do
and say things at home that you wouldn’t think of anywhere
else. Would you lie to your own family? Would you steal from
them? Of course not! Then why would you allow strife in your
home? This is the one place where heaven should be manifest.
The home is the strongest institution God built. He didn’t build
a church for Adam, He built a family!
Jesus taught in Luke 6:35-38, “But love ye your enemies, and
do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall
be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest…Be ye therefore
merciful, as your Father also is merciful. Judge not, and ye
shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned:
forgive, and ye shall be forgiven: Give, and it shall be given unto
you.” Jesus was teaching about an existence free from strife,
absolute protection from strife in all areas of life. Then He introduced
the cardinal principle of prosperity, which is GIVE. Your
giving will not work properly until you follow these other rules.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
There are businessmen who have given great sums of
money but don’t know how to receive from God. Maybe you
know how to believe God for a return but don’t know how to
receive a gift. Maybe all you know to do is work! God has men
all over this world. If each one gave you a nickel, you would
have enough for the rest of your life.
There are men today being called by God into the ministry
of finance. The Word refers to the ministries of helps and
governments (see 1 Corinthians 12:28). These are men called
to govern and finance and handle this aspect of ministries.
There are very few men actually in the ministry of financing
God’s work with everything else in a secondary position. Most
people put their businesses first and God second. The ministry
of helps is the least developed ministry in the New Testament,
but it is as valid a ministry as preaching the gospel.
When you want to invest money in the stock market, for
whom do you look? A stockbroker, someone who knows the
stock market. When you want to invest money into the gospel,
for whom do you look? A preacher. Well, this is not altogether
correct. The preacher ought to know less about the finances of
the gospel than anyone. It’s his job to know about the Word.
That’s what he’s called to do. He gets before God, meditates in
the Word, and then ministers to the needs of the Body of
Christ. These men called into the ministries of helps and governments
are the ones who should know how and where to
invest in the gospel. This leaves the minister free to concentrate
completely on his calling.
Mark 4:30-33 says, “Whereunto shall we liken the kingdom of
God? or with what comparison shall we compare it? It is like a grain
of mustard seed, which, when it is sown in the earth, is less than all
the seeds that be in the earth: But when it is sown, it groweth up, and
becometh greater than all herbs, and shooteth out great branches; so
that the fowls of the air may lodge under the shadow of it. And with
many such parables spake he the word unto them.”
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
Throughout Mark 4, Jesus is teaching on the Word of God.
In verse 21, He says, “Is a candle brought to be put under a bushel,
or under a bed? and not to be set on a candlestick?” The candle
represents God’s Word. Psalm 119:130 tells us that the entrance
of His Word brings light. Some say we aren’t supposed to understand
the Bible, but would God send His Word and then hide it
under a bushel? Jesus says, “For there is nothing hid, which shall
not be manifested; neither was any thing kept secret, but that it
should come abroad” (Mark 4:22). The Apostle Paul said that the
secrets which the prophets wrote in the Scriptures are now manifest
and given to us by His Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 2:9-10). All
of this is speaking about the Word of God.
Mark 4:23-25 says, “If any man have ears to hear, let him
hear. And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that
hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given:
and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he
hath.” What does this have to do with the Word of God? God
has provided every single thing necessary to make you a success
in this world and in the world to come. He has provided a
Savior to break the bond between Satan and mankind—the
Lord Jesus Christ. He bore the stripes, the spear, the thorns, the
sin, the death, and was raised from the dead to everlasting life.
God has provided all of this in Him.
Let’s read this again. “Take heed what ye hear: with what
measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that
hear shall more be given. For he that hath, to him shall be given:
and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he
hath.” The man who does not have a covenant with God, the
man outside the covenants of promise as in Ephesians 2:12, is
without hope and without God in the world. If you are without
a covenant, if you do not have the Word of God functioning
and operating in your life, then even what little you do have
will be taken away by Satan. If you are without God in the
world, no matter what you do, somewhere down the line Satan
will take it from you. He is a thief and a killer out to destroy
everything you have. There’s no question about it. Satan has
been around a long time and you haven’t! He has about a
6,000-year head start. But, brother, when you get into the Word
of God and get filled with the Holy Ghost, then you have an
eternal advantage over Satan because the Spirit of God was
around long before Satan came into being! The advantage is
ours when we are operating on the New Testament because it
provides the knowledge needed to govern Satan. Everything
comes back to the Word of God. Even people who are born
again and filled with the Holy Spirit will be robbed if they don’t
know what the Word says about healing and prosperity. If they
don’t know their covenant with God, Satan will take what little
they do have. Determine now to be one who will hear. Jesus has
promised that more will be given you (verse 25).
Let’s continue now in Mark 4:26, “And he said, So is the
kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed into the ground; And
should sleep, and rise night and day, and the seed should spring
and grow up, he knoweth not how. For the earth bringeth forth
fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn
in the ear. But when the fruit is brought forth, immediately he
putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come.” It doesn’t do
any good to sow the seed for prosperity and then not reap the
harvest. It’s ignorance for a man to tithe and give, then block
the grace of God by saying, “I couldn’t ask God to give me anything.”
If somebody tried to give to a person doing that, he
wouldn’t allow it because of pride. There is no reality in planting
the seeds of tithing and giving if you’re not going to allow
God to bless you through it. You plant the seed, then harvest
the crop.
Kenneth Copeland Ministries
