BVOV Magazine 2013 - present

What did Jesus do when He looked up and saw that man being lowered through a hole in the ceiling? He simply looked at the man (with a big smile on His face, I’m sure) and said, “Your sins are forgiven!” Then He turned to the people in the crowd who were wondering whether He had the authority to do that and said: “What reason ye in your hearts? Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? But that ye may know that the Son of man hath power upon earth to forgive sins, (he said unto the sick of the palsy,) I say unto thee, Arise, and take up thy couch, and go into thine house. And immediately he rose up before them, and took up that whereon he lay, and departed to his own house, glorifying God” (verses 22-25). Not Just a Bolt Out of Heaven A lot of Christians read about that miracle and think it happened because some invisible bolt of divine power came out of heaven that day. They think God just picked that man out of the crowd and sovereignly decided to heal him. But according to the Bible, anyone at the meeting could have been healed that day. If they’d believed and acted on The WORD they were hearing, everyone there could have received just like the man with the palsy did, because Luke 5:17 says, “the power of the Lord was present to heal them.” Where was that power? It was on the inside of Jesus. It was flowing out from within Him because God was in Him. “Yeah, but Brother Copeland, that was Jesus!” I know it. But He said Himself that we, as believers, can operate the same way. He declared to His disciples before He went to the Cross, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12). That’s how the apostles in the early Church were able to do so many amazing things! It is why, as Acts 5 says: “By the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders wrought among the people.... Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them. There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed every one” (verses 12, 15-16). “Yeah, but Brother Copeland, once again you have to remember those were the apostles. They were special!” Certainly they were, but that’s not why the miracles happened. They happened through faith in the Name of Jesus (Acts 3:16). They happened because the apostles were doing what Jesus had taught them to do and—just as in Jesus’ earthly ministry—the power of the Father was doing the works. * * * continues on next page * * * ********** ADVERTISEMENT ********** Word Explosion September 21-23 // Columbia, S.C. When we gather, FAITH ERUPTS. Speakers: Kenneth Copeland George Pearsons Creflo Dollar Bill Winston Chaplain A.L. Downing, Retired HEALING SCHOOL Friday 9 A.M. FREE Admission Register now kcm.org/wx // #WX17 Schedule is subject to change without notice. ********************************************* 8 : BVOV

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