Kenneth Copeland - How To Continue Through Old Age
Proverbs chapter four. Yes, we'll take our medicine to begin with today. Proverbs chapter four. And we're right here in this book of Proverbs, looking at the 20th verse. My son attend to my words, incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them, my sayings, my Word, my sayings. And did you get that? Attend to my words, my sayings. This book are His sayings. Yes. Amen. This book, these are God's sayings. Let them not depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of thine heart for they are life under those that find them and health to all their flesh.
A very, very close friend of mine, he's in heaven now. He was my AME, my aircraft medical examiner. And Jim Edmar, Dr. Jim Edmar. And he was my examiner for years until he retired. And I remember Tracy, I keep talking to Tracy because he flies. And I checked him out in his first Beechcraft Bonanza. And we were just very close. He called me, he said, "Kenneth, I need your help". I said, "Well, yeah, Jim Ed, what is it"? Well, he said, "My wife's been diagnosed with brain tumor. I need you to come pray for her". I said, "Yes, sir. I'm your man. Where do you want me"? He said, "I want you to come to the hospital". And he told me just exactly what time to be there and what to do. He said, "I want you to anoint her with oil just before she goes into the operating room". I said, "I'll do it".
And he and I went back into this empty room and both of us just started praying in the spirit. That's the kind of doctor you want. That's the kind of doctor you want. We're praying in the spirit. Now I anointed her with oil. I mean, she was all already, little woozy at that time, anointed her with oil and prayed over her. And her husband was right there. And I just stood there and prayed. And the Spirit was just precious that day. And they rolled her in there. So we just went back and this, just a waiting room in there. And a little while the doctor came in there and he had this concern look on his face. And I looked at Dr. Mar's face and he didn't like the looks of it either. And he said, "Dr. Mar..." Now they were good friends, the two doctors, "When I got in there, there was a dent in her brain where that tumor had been, but it's gone".
It's God. This stuff works. Faith in God works. Why? Because we submitted to His sayings in James chapter five. Faith in the name, not in the oil, in the name. The oil represents the Holy Spirit. The oil represents the name. It's very proper to anoint with oil. Praise God. It's shouting time in this room. Somebody needed to hear that somewhere. There's a brain situation that's been fixed now, because God's no respecter of persons. Amen. Glory be to God. Now then, notice this. Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues, the forces that the... Of life inside you, put away from you a froward mouth. My cross references, frowardness of mouth and perverseness. Put that perverted mouth away from you or you're going to foul up this whole thing. That's part to the diligence. Watch what you say about it. Watch what you say about it.
I got so tickled at Gloria. I used to really enjoy going to the cafeteria to eat. I just, I don't know. I don't care anything about going, sitting down to somebody's table need. I'd rather eat at home anyway, but... And like she said, I like my entree on my own tray. She didn't care anything about going the cafeteria, but I like to go to the cafeteria. And so we'd start off, I'd say, "Gloria, where do you want to have lunch? Oh, I don't care, anywhere". And she said, "She knew good. Well, if she didn't say something, I'm going to go to the cafeteria". And so I'd say, "You sure now? Okay". I said, "Okay, here we go". So I'd just head for Luby's. Wasn't all that far from the house, head right over there. We'd drive up in there, she said, "Do we have to eat here"? I said, "Gloria, you should have said something". She can tell it better than I can. And she said, "Okay". And she said, "Okay, yes, I should have said something". But she said the thing that worries me, "I'm getting like him". She said, "I've gotten to where I like to go to the cafeteria too".
Oh, glory to God. You live together long enough, you get like one another. Well, I'll be like her just as much as I possibly can. Glory to God. Let your eyes look right on. Let your eyelids look straight before you. Now wait a minute. You better ponder the path of your feet and let all your ways be established, turn not to the right hand nor to the left. Remove your foot from evil, that'll get you healed. That's the prescription. And you take it. Charles Capps and Gloria both said, "You take it three times a day". There are no bad side effects. And if you need two double the dose. Just double all of that. Amen. So now you have the prescription for life and health and it... I suggest that you write it down. Wouldn't it be neat if you just put it on a bottle and sit it right there by your nightstand and read it every night before you go to bed. Hallelujah. Not a bad idea. I never thought of that before. That's your prescription. Put it in the system. The medicine does you no good sitting on the cabinet. The medicine does no good with the book in the living room and you in the bed. Amen. Put it in the system.
Now put up Proverbs 3:2 from the Classic Amplified for us please. Thank You, Lord. Thank You Jesus. For the length of days and years of a life worth living and tranquility inward and outward. This is talking about the commandments of the Lord. Continuing through old age until death. These shall they add to you. The Word of the Lord, the commandments of God. Now put that up again please. Let's look at that again. For length of days and years of a life worth living, a life full of sickness and disease can get to the part where it's not worth living. And people get to that place where they give up and die before they should. And tranquility, peace, shalom, nothing missing, nothing broken. Inward and outward, and continuing through old age until death. These shall they add to you.
Continuing through not young age, continuing through old age until death. That's divine health, peace and tranquility. A life worth living, continuing through old age, until death and dying is the easiest thing you ever did in all of your life. You don't have to be sick to die. Brother Hagin had an experience with this, with grandma Jeffcoat. And she had preached for many years and she was dying with cancer. And he started to pray for her. And she said, "No, no, no, no, no Brother Hagin. Let me alone. Let me alone. Let me die. This thing, killing me on, let me die". He said, "No, I'm not going to do it". He said, "I'm going to get you healed. And then you can die if you want to, but don't die like this".
And he just wouldn't let her go. He just kept on, and kept on, and kept on, and kept on, and kept on, and kept on, and kept on. And she got healed of that cancer. She began to gain weight. And so he and Oretha stopped by to see grandma one time, and her daughter said, "No, she's not here, said she's out in a meeting". He said, "How old is she"? She says, "90 years old, drove her own car". I think it's right at 90 or something like that when she finally did decide the times come and she said, "I'm going home". Praise God. And this went and sat down and left. Now I had the same experience. And since it's public knowledge, I can tell you. Morris Cerullo, who's in heaven now and I'm miss. Glory to God. And powerful, a powerful evangelist of God. And he had a place on his shin that just kept getting worse and worse. And it was some kind of virus and the front part of his skin just began to open up and they couldn't get it to close.
Well, I was preaching in his meeting in San Diego and went up to his room, he called me up there and wanted me to lay hands on him over that. And so I anointed him with oil, laid hands over him, prayed, according to James five. And all of a sudden, it just rose up on the inside of me. I said, "Are you finished"? He looked at me. I said, "Is it time for you to go home"? He looked over there at his wife Teresa. So rather than letting him say anything else, I said, "Let Jesus heal you. And then you can go home if you want to". He turned back around and looked at me again and looked at her again. And she was sitting over there smiling. And I knew this is what he had been saying all the time. Just let me get out of here this thing won't heal. He said, "Okay". He sent me a video tape standing out in front of his airplane.
And what was it? A week, two later that thing had completely healed up and he headed back overseas. And when the time come and he said it, he said, "I'm going home". And he said, "I'm done. I'm through. I've finished my course. And I'm leaving". His wife tried to talk him in to staying. I tried to talk him into staying. He said, "No". And he just went home and died. Glory to God. Are you listening to me? Die by faith. Open your Bibles to the book of Hebrews. The second chapter of Hebrews. Hebrews chapter two, the book of Hebrews, so much of the Bible revolves around this book. And I was with David Barton, doing television one day and my Bible was there on the table to the book of Hebrews.
Can you get a shot that he said, "Where do you get a white highlighter"? He caught me off guard at first. I said, "A what"? He said "A white highlighter". I said, "David, I only highlight the good part". Anyway and this whole first page of Hebrews is yellow. This second chapter, let's come down to verse nine. But we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor that He, by the grace of God should taste death for every man. Then you come over and keep reading. Verse 14, for as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also himself like took part of the same that through death, He might destroy him that had the power of death. He doesn't have it anymore. That is the devil, and deliver them through who fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
We talked about that a little bit last night, fear of death. It's not right. Jesus has destroyed it. One translation said, "Paralyzed him". Another translation says, "Brought him to naught". That's zero. He defeated him in hell. Amen. Then He was raised out of hell from the dead. Amen. Now, turn then to 2nd Timothy 1. See, we're just taking our medicine. 2nd Timothy. Thank You, Lord. The ninth verse, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling. We're called with a holy calling. Not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. But is now made manifest by the appearing of our savior, Jesus Christ, who abolished death, and has brought life and our immortality to life through the gospel. Hallelujah. He's abolished death. I said dying is the easiest thing you ever did in your life. By grace, all men, that He tasted death for all men. Taste.
So you can't taste it when you die. You can't smell it when you die because you don't die. It's just your body. It's your tent. Your flesh to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Or to be absent from the body is to go to hell. Hell is real. Hell is real. Jesus went there and suffered for all men. He suffered more than any man will ever suffer ever. He bore our sins in His own body. He bore our sicknesses in His own body. He was put to sickness, put to grief by God. It pleased Him to make Him sick. He didn't get sick. He was made to be sick. He was made to be sin with our sin. He was made to be sick with our sicknesses. Oh, you see it? You and I never committed any righteousness. He never committed any sin. He took our sin so that we could have His righteousness and He was made to be sin so that we could be made the righteousness of God in Him.