Predictive Prophecies Of The Bible (Pt 1): Derek Prince (Transcript)

I say of the Bible, because there are prophecies that are not recorded in Scripture. I believe in the gift of prophecy today. I believe there are prophets.

But there’s one extremely important difference between the prophecies of the Bible and prophecies that may be given today. And it is this: the prophecies of the Bible have already been tested.

David said that the Lord — His word is tested. And he said in Psalm 12:6: The words of the Lord are like silver, purified in a furnace of earth seven times. That’s a vivid picture. The silver is the message. The furnace is the Holy Spirit. And the earth is the human vessel. But though they’ve been given through human vessels, they’ve been so purified by the Holy Spirit’s fire, that they are totally reliable. You do not have to check the prophecies of the Bible.

But any other prophecies given today, you need to test them. You do not need to swallow them whole. I’ve often said to people, you know what to do when you eat fish. Swallow the flesh and spit out the bones. Do the same with the kind of prophecies that are going around in the church today. It’s become very fashionable to be a prophet.

As a matter of fact, it wasn’t nearly so fashionable with the real prophets. They had a pretty tough time, most of them. As a matter of fact, the truth is that even being an apostle is not really fashionable. I was preaching in Ghana on the ministry gates. And there was a several thousand mostly young African men.

And I gave the picture of the apostle. And I said, How many of you would like to be apostles? And a lot of them stood up.

I said, Wait a minute, let me give you the job description before you apply. And I read what I can’t read tonight: 1 Corinthians chapter 4, where Paul describes what it’s like to be an apostle. He said, We are the refuse and off-scouring of all things. We’re the last in the procession on our way to death.

So I said, How many of you still want the job? Well, some of them still stood up, but not so many.

So let’s be faithful to the theme of this conference, reality. Let’s be real. Let’s not use religious language and nice phrases that don’t really have the power of God and aren’t verified by the way we live. So I’m going to deal, as I said, with the predictive prophecies of the Bible. I believe this is a very neglected theme for most, what we call Charismatics, or Pentecostals, or not so much for Evangelicals. There has been a certain emphasis amongst them.

I believe many Christians are floundering. They’ve lost their way. They don’t understand what’s going on. Because they have not taken time to study the predictive prophecies of the Bible.

PREDICTIVE PROPHECY

Let me turn for a moment to Isaiah. I’m getting pleased with myself. I’ve learned to say Isaiah again. I said that for years and then I had to learn to say Isaiah when I got to America. And now I’m just getting back to Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 46 verse 9 and 10. This is the Lord speaking, the God of the Bible. And it describes something that’s unique to God and to the Bible. This is not true of any other religion, or any other so-called God.

Only God accurately predicts the future even thousands of years before it happens. And only the Bible contains those predictions. There is no other world religion that has anything to compare with it. Neither Hinduism, nor Islam, nor the New Age or whatever else. The Bible is totally unique and it reveals a unique God who foretells what will happen and reveals it through His prophets, as I said even thousands of years before it actually takes place. So these are the words of the Lord in…

Isaiah 46:9-10: ‘I am God and there is no other. I am God and there is none like Me.’ In other words I am unique. ‘Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure.’ So that’s a unique attribute of the true God. That He knows beforehand what’s going to happen. And He can declare the end from the beginning.

And in the Bible there are literally hundreds of passages in which God has done precisely that. It marks Him out as the unique God. And it marks the Bible out as a unique book without any parallel in all the other religious literature of the whole world.

I want to turn now to a particular predictive passage that deals with the theme of prophecy found in 2 Peter chapter 1 verses 16 through 19.

I’ll read the passage in a moment but let me say first that the theme of this passage is the return of Jesus Christ in power and glory. And I would suggest to you this is by far the most important theme of all prophecy at the present time is that which relates to the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the Greek of the New Testament there is a special word parousia which is used for this particular event. It means the presence or the return or the coming of the Lord. And it refers to His coming in power and glory as a king to establish His kingdom on earth.

And what Peter is saying is when we told you believers about this, we weren’t telling you some fable that we’ve worked up some cleverly devised story. But we are speaking from eyewitness experience. Because he said ‘we saw on the Mount of Transfiguration what He will be like when He comes back in power and glory.’ And you remember His countenance shone as the sun and His raiment was as bright as a light. (Matthew 17:2)

And then the God the Father spoke out of a cloud, said ‘This is My beloved Son, hear Him.’ (Matthew 17:5)

So Peter is referring to that event, but he goes on to say there is something even more reliable than our personal eyewitness testimony and that is the prophecies of the Bible. Now listen:

2 Peter 1:16-19: ‘For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,’ Or you could say the coming in power of the Lord — ‘but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.’ We actually saw Him in His glory.

‘For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.’ That’s the Mount of Transfiguration. You can find this described in Matthew chapter 17 the opening verses and in the other two Gospels: Mark and Luke.

So Peter is saying we actually had a preview of what it’d be like when Jesus comes back in glory.

But this is very important, he said there is one other testimony which is even more reliable and that is the testimony of the prophetic Word of God. Always the ultimate and most reliable source of truth is the Word of God. The testimony of eyewitnesses is impressive but it never supersedes the testimony of the prophetic Scriptures.

In 1 Corinthians 15 when Paul is talking about the resurrection. First of all, he says: ‘Jesus died according to the Scriptures. He was buried according to the Scriptures. He rose again the third day.’ The Scriptures are the primary testimony. Then he lists a whole series of eyewitnesses who actually saw Jesus after He was risen from the dead. But bear in mind the ultimate authority for any truth is the Scriptures, the Word of God.

And so he goes on to say now in verse 19: ‘We also have the prophetic Word made more sure which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.’ So he says you’ve heard our testimony but it’s more important that you give heed to the prophetic Word of God which takes precedence over all human testimony.

And he says: you do well to give heed to it. That’s the theme of what I want to communicate to you. It’s in your best interest to heed the prophetic Scriptures. If you don’t heed them, you’ll be in a dark place without a light. Because it’s the prophetic Scriptures that are a light in a dark place. And as a child of God you shouldn’t be without the light. God has provided the light for you through the prophetic Scriptures. But if you don’t study them, if you don’t read them, if you’re not familiar with what they say, you’ll be in the dark when you should be in the light.

And a person who’s in the dark doesn’t know where he’s going. He ends up in all sorts of situations he would never have chosen. And that’s precisely true of Christians who ignore the prophetic Word of God. They will end up in places they never wanted to be in. Because they didn’t have the light to show them where they were going and the dangers that they needed to avoid.

Now Peter says: we have the prophetic Word made more sure.

And I want to raise this question: How was the prophetic Word made more sure for the Apostles? And my answer is this. The prophetic Word became more sure when they saw the prophecies of the Old Testament actually being fulfilled before their eyes in the life of Jesus. They believed already. But it became more sure when they saw fulfillment after fulfillment after fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies in the life of Jesus.

And I also want to point out that every one of these prophecies which we’re going to look at in a moment was literally fulfilled. As far as I can find there is no evidence in the New Testament of Old Testament prophecies that were spiritually fulfilled or metaphorically fulfilled. They’re fulfilled literally.

I was a philosopher before I became a preacher which some of you may detect in me occasionally. And I object to the use of the word literally. Because it suggests something which isn’t real. Listen where’s Don? Don are you literally married? You see what I’m saying? I’m suggesting there’s a way of being married without being married. That’s nonsense. It’s very dangerous.

What about another question? Do you literally pay your taxes? You see the danger of that question? Some people would say well I pay my taxes metaphorically. But I don’t actually part with any money. And it’s just the same to talk about prophecies being metaphorically or not literally fulfilled. It means they don’t mean what they say.

And all the prophecies that I’ve discovered in the New Testament from the Old Testament fulfilled in the New were fulfilled absolutely literally. In fact, I would almost say in some cases horrifyingly literal.

EXAMPLES OF OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECIES FULFILLED IN THE LIFE OF JESUS:

I’ll give you a list of eleven Old Testament prophecies that were fulfilled in the life of Jesus according to the New Testament. And I’ll point out to you. And you can see for yourself, how very literal the fulfillment of every one of them was. I’ll give you the Old Testament scripture. I won’t give the New Testament. Because I trust most of you are sufficiently familiar with the record of the New Testament.

First of all number one: Jesus was born of a virgin. (Matt. 1:22–23) And it was a literal virgin. Not a metaphorical virgin. If there is such a thing. If she hadn’t been a real virgin, our salvation would not be damaged. If she’d been merely metaphorically a virgin, Jesus couldn’t have been our Savior. Isaiah 7:14 tells us that.

Second, He was born in Bethlehem. (Micah 5:2) (Luke 2:4–6) It was a very literal Bethlehem. The word Bethlehem in Hebrew means house of bread. You could spiritualize that as much as you like. But it wasn’t spiritualized. It was an actual village in an actual country where He was actually born.

Number three: He was called out of Egypt. (Matt. 2:14–15) The Old Testament prophecy is Hosea 11:1. Jesus as a small boy was literally in Egypt. He was literally called out of Egypt. And it was literally Egypt. It would be very easy to spiritualize Egypt. Many people do it. And it’s legitimate in a way to take Egypt as a type of this world. But the New Testament doesn’t do that.

Number four: He taught in parables. Psalm 78:1-2. And it was literal parables. Real parables.

Number five: He healed the sick. He literally healed people who were literally sick. Is that right? How very disappointing it would be if He merely metaphorically healed the sick. If I’m sick I don’t want to be metaphorically healed. I want to be literally healed. The Old Testament Scriptures — some of them are found in Isaiah 29:18–19; Isaiah 35:4–6 and Isaiah 61:1.

Number six: He entered Jerusalem on a donkey. The Old Testament Scripture is Zechariah 9:9. And it was a literal donkey. Very literal.

Number seven: He was flogged and abused. Old Testament Scripture: Isaiah 50:5-6. And it was horribly literal what they did to Jesus. Not metaphorical.

Number eight: His hands and feet were pierced. Psalm 22:16. And again I would have to say it was horribly literal. There was no metaphor about it.

Number nine: His garments were divided. Psalm 22:18. And the Gospels record how they actually divided His four garments and cast lots for the seamless robe.

Number 10: He was killed and buried. Isaiah 53:8-9. And it’s remarkable because it says there: they made His grave with the wicked and with the rich in His death. But in the Hebrew the word wicked is plural. The word rich is singular. He was taken down for burial with two criminals. But he was buried in the tomb of one rich man. Can you see how totally accurate the Scripture is?

And number 11: He rose on the third day. The Scripture that I have is Hosea 6:2. How important it is that He literally rose. It’s a well known fact that there are bishops in the Anglican Church who deny the literal resurrection. If there’s no literal resurrection, there’s no forgiveness of sin, there’s no gift of everlasting life. Can you see how tremendously important it is that we don’t make things allegorical that are said in the plain simple meaning of words.

Now I want to go back to 2 Peter chapter 1 for a moment and take up one more theme. He says in verse 19.

2 Peter 1:19: ‘We also have the prophetic Word made more sure which you do well to heed as a light that shines in the dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.’ That is the most beautiful picture if I can convey it to you.

In World War II, I served with the British Army in the deserts of Egypt and Libya for three years. And I saw something there which you can see also in other parts of the Middle East. But for the most part we slept out on the sand. We had no artificial light. We went to bed when the sun set and we got up when the sun rose, which is not what I do today.

And so I saw a certain phenomenon that happens at the time of the sunrise in the deserts of the Middle East. Not all the year. But at certain times of the year there is a star or rather a planet called Aurora which means dawn, which rises immediately before the sun. And it is an amazingly luminous star. And when it comes up, it lightens the whole horizon. And one would easily think the sun is rising. But it isn’t the sun. It’s that star.

But one thing you know, when you see Aurora rise, you know the next thing that’s going to happen. Which is what? The sun is going to rise. And that’s the star that Peter talks about. So he says: if you give heed to biblical prophecy about the return of the Lord, something will happen in your heart: The morning star will arise. And it will illuminate your heart and will give you a sure unshakable conviction that the next great event that’s going to take place is what? The coming of Jesus. That’s one of the main purposes of these prophecies, is to make the coming of Jesus so real and so vivid that we never lose sight of it, that we’re never motivated by anything contrary to it.

I’ve known the Lord now 51 years. It’s amazing that He’s kept me that length of time. And since I was saved. I’ve believed the Scriptures. I never had any doubt. The moment I was saved, I knew the Bible is the Word of God. And I’ve always believed in the second coming of Jesus as a doctrine of the Bible. Never at any time have I doubted that doctrine.

But I’ve come to learn that that is not sufficient. It’s not sufficient just to believe a doctrine. What God wants you to have is the morning star in your heart. He wants you to live in the sure unshakable assurance that Jesus is coming back. And He wants you to live in the expectation of His return. He wants you to be excited about it. Not just say well this is one of the doctrines of the Bible.

In Hebrews 9:27-28, it says this: ‘And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.’

To whom will He appear when He comes the second time? To those who eagerly wait for Him.

I want to ask you this question: Will that include you? Are you really eagerly waiting for the coming of the Lord? I’m not talking about believing a doctrine. I’m talking about something in your heart that motivates you, that excites you, that thrills you.

I have a dear friend who’s a preacher and we’ve known one another for 30 years. And he’s a little bit different from me. He’s a little more informal in his expression. But he said one thing once that always stuck with me. He said when the Lord comes back, He will expect to hear more from His bride than nice to have you back.

So are you excited? Be honest with yourself. Because God can change you. One of the reasons you’re here in this camp is to be changed. And if you don’t have that excited anticipation, there is a way that you can get it.

I’ve learned this: If I don’t read the Bible every day and meditate in it and ponder it, these glorious truths become kind of remote. I still think they’re doctrines, I accept them but they’re not motivating the way I live. Anybody who believes in the return of the Lord Jesus should be motivated to live a life that’s appropriate to that belief.

First Epistle of John chapter 3. This is another of our proclamations. But I’ll leave Ruth sitting where she is. The first three verses of 1st John chapter 3.

1 John 3:1-13: ‘Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! (and we are) Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.’ Now you can say Amen to that.

But there’s a mark of those who really believe it. And it’s given in the next verse. ‘And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure.’ So don’t tell us that you hope for the coming of the Lord, unless you are purifying yourself. Unless you’re seeking day by day to be better prepared, to live a life that’s more holy and more glorifying to God.

Because you can have the doctrinal belief but you don’t have the evidence in your life. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure. And God has only got one standard of purity. That’s Jesus.

So I’m going to ask you again. Are you really purifying yourself? Are you speaking day by day to draw closer to the Lord to live in a way that is pleasing to Him, to give glory to Him, to give Him priority in your life.

I used to say for years, even as a philosopher: If God is willing to take a place in our lives, there is only one place we can logically give Him. And that is the first place. If Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth is willing to dwell in us, we cannot offer Him the spare bedroom. We have to give Him the place of honour. We have to acknowledge His worthiness.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF TRUE PROPHECY

I want to say just a word about the general characteristics of biblical prophecy. Because there is so much confusion about prophecy in the church today. And I want to say I believe in the gifts of prophecy. The Lord gave it to me in 1942. When I was in the military ambulance on my way up to the Battle of El Alamein, I didn’t know what was happening but I heard these words come out of my mouth. And I realised I was prophesying.

And many wonderful things in my life have been shaped by prophecy. But let me tell you I never accept prophecy until I have checked it. And if I’m the one who’s given the prophecy, I’m the one who checks it most carefully. I never go by a prophecy until I’ve satisfied myself: It really came by the Holy Spirit.

Bears testimony to Jesus (Rev. 19:10)

You see there’s a beautiful Scripture in Revelation 19 verse 10. Just the last part of the verse. It says, ‘the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’ In other words, all true prophecy bears testimony to Jesus. He’s the theme of all prophecy from Genesis 3:15 right to the end of the book of Revelation. And anything that doesn’t bear testimony to Jesus should be questioned. If it puts anything else in the place which is reserved for Jesus, if it directs our attention in any other area but to Jesus, it doesn’t hem the mark of biblical prophecy. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. He’s the theme of all prophecy.

The Holy Spirit glorifies Jesus (John 16:14)

And then in John 16 verse 14, Jesus said about the coming of the Holy Spirit: He will glorify Me. The Holy Spirit has one supreme purpose: To glorify Jesus. If you want the Spirit of God to rest on a meeting, whether it’s worship or preaching or whatever, if you will make it your sincere aim to glorify Jesus, the Holy Spirit will be happy to join you. But He’s not interested in glorifying anybody else but Jesus.

And when we find ourselves in a situation of prophecy or ministry of some kind, where the attention is diverted to a human personality, you can be sure at that point the Holy Spirit has backed off. It may have begun in the Spirit but it’s not continuing in the Spirit. That’s one of the surest tests of the work of the Holy Spirit is this: Does it glorify Jesus? He’ll never glorify anybody else. Because no one else deserves the glory.

Primary focus at this time: Return of Christ (2 Pet. 1:16)

And then as I’ve pointed out already. In the words of 2 Peter: the primary focus of all prophecy in this particular period is the return of the Lord. God wants to keep us continually mindful of Jesus coming back.

Let me give you just one other simple picture of prophecy. You can consider prophecy as a map of future events. Now if you have a map, say a map of a city, it doesn’t show you everything. Generally speaking if it’s a map of a city it won’t show you the colour of the houses. Normally not even the height of the houses. It won’t show you the names of the people who live in the houses. But it will show you enough for the purpose for which the map was made, which was to get you to where you want to go.

And biblical prophecy is like a map. It doesn’t show you everything. And maybe it will not show you the things that you are interested in. But it will show you, if you’re careful, enough to get you to the right destination. That’s its purpose.

What is the destination? Well that’s right. I say eternal life. To escape from hell.

How many of you believe that hell is real? Praise God. I thank God that He saved me from hell. If I’d had my desserts I would have been in hell long ago. I can’t claim justice. All I can plead for is mercy. Hell was where I should have been. I’ve no doubt about that. I think of a friend of mine who was a salesman — a commercial salesman in the United States. He was also a preacher. And he was making his living selling something. And he had to drive around from place to place. And he exceeded the speed limit three times.

So the sheriff who was the person in America that’s responsible for dealing with that sort of thing. The sheriff summoned him to his office. And he was afraid he was going to lose his driving license. And if he lost his driving license he lost his means of support. So he prepared what to say. And he walked into the sheriff’s office and he said, ‘Sir, I’m not asking for justice. I’m asking for mercy.’

And the sheriff said, ‘No one ever said that to me before.’ And he let him keep his driving license.

Well I thought about that scores of times. Lord I am not asking for justice. I’m asking for mercy. Can you agree with that? Are you happy you’re not going to get justice?

The Bible says the wages of sin is death. The just reward of sin is death. If you want justice brother, you can have it. In fact you will have it. Whether you want it or not. But the gift of God — the free grace gift — the unmerited undeserved, unearned gift of God is eternal life. Don’t ask for justice.

I heard a man say once all I want is justice. And I thought, oh if you only knew what you were saying.

TWO REASONS WE NEED A MAP:

Now let me suggest to you two reasons it’s good to have a map. Two reasons — two ways in which a map can help us.

First of all, it can keep us from trying to get to a destination that isn’t on the map. You say well how could that happen to a Christian? Well it happens to a lot of Christians. A lot of Christians are busy with a destination that isn’t on the map. You can search the Bible you can’t find it. For instance, there are people who are teaching that the business of the church is to take the world over for God. And when Jesus comes back we’ll just hand in the world and say here you are. Friends that isn’t on the map.

If that’s what you’re trying for, you’re trying for something you’ll never achieve. Because the Bible doesn’t indicate that. In fact, if you come back tomorrow night I’ll show you just how much the opposite is indicated in the Bible.

Let me say this right now: The last thing before Jesus comes back is the Great Tribulation. We don’t want to be responsible for that, do we? So let’s not aim for something that isn’t on the map.

Then another reason for the map is to show you the right way to get to the right place. And keep you from taking the wrong route. Now Ruth and I came in a car here yesterday from Bromley. And we had a map but we didn’t — the man who was driving the car didn’t make the right use of the map. And we went miles around. I never realised how difficult more than was to get to till yesterday.

But he didn’t use the map right. Now you say what kind of wrong route could you suggest? Well let me suggest one: Hoping to get into heaven without any problems, without any suffering, without any difficulties. That route isn’t on the map.

Jesus said, ‘Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it.’ (Matthew 7:14) Surprising how seldom that Scripture is preached on today. Difficult is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it. They don’t make the right use of the map, you see.

And Paul and Barnabas said to their new converts in Acts 14:22, “We must through much tribulation enter the kingdom of God.” So if you’re going a route that says no tribulation, no problems, no difficulties, no temptations, I just want to warn you, you won’t get into the kingdom of God. It’s not the way.

Let me say two final things by way of warning and I hope by way of help. I think the people who make it most difficult for some of us to really study biblical prophecy is the people who know it all. You know they can tell you what’s going to happen next, who the Antichrist will be, and everything but they’re always wrong.

And the strange thing is when they’re wrong, they usually don’t bother to tell you that they were wrong. There was a man in the United States who was prophesying that Jesus would come back some date in September 1988. And I mean he had a tremendous following. He sold millions of copies of his books. Oh Jesus didn’t come back. Do I need to tell you that? So he said he got the date wrong; it should have been 1989. And He didn’t come back in 1989.

You know what people discovered afterwards? All the time he was teaching this, he was using finance to build up a tremendous ministry base. Why would he need that if Jesus was coming back? I mean I’ve met people who turned me off. Because they were so sure about everything.

We must distinguish “secret” from “revealed” (Deut. 29:29)

Well let me give you this familiar Scripture. Familiar to us at any rate. Deuteronomy 29:29.

Deuteronomy 29:29. That’s easy to remember isn’t it? “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.”

So there are two kinds of things: Secret things and things that are revealed. There are a whole lot of things we’d like to know but God doesn’t reveal them. They’re secret. And we waste our time trying to find out the secret things. Because if God’s going to keep them secret, none of us are going to break God’s secret.

But the problem is for instance if I teach on certain themes, almost invariably the first person that comes up to me afterwards will say this, if you can understand this language: pre, mid or post. You know what that means? Is He coming before the tribulation, in the middle of the tribulation, at the end of it? Do you know what I answer? I don’t know. And it doesn’t embarrass me the least.

As a matter of fact, I’m not convinced that in the light of what’s going to happen those questions will actually make sense at all. But as far as I’m concerned that’s a secret thing.

Jesus said ‘You don’t know the day or the hour that the Son of Man is coming.’ (Matthew 25:13) So Jesus said you don’t know it. It’s a waste of time trying to know it. You’re no smarter than Jesus.

But what about the things that are revealed? Why are they revealed? And Moses tells us that we may do them. See I find the people who are interested in the secret things aren’t doing the things that are revealed. He agrees with me. I’m glad to have people behind agreeing with me.

You see I’ll give you a simple example and I’ll come back to it tomorrow.

The disciples said to Jesus, ‘What will be the sign of Your coming?’

Matthew 24:14. And Jesus gave them a specific answer. One clear definite answer. We’ll go into this in detail. He said, ‘this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.’ That’s a specific answer to a specific question.

When will the end come? When this gospel of the kingdom has been preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations.

So now you’ve heard that. But if you’re not doing it, don’t expect to hear anymore from God. Because obedience releases revelation, disobedience cuts it off. I know lots of Christians who believe that passage but they’re not doing anything about it.

I want to say for Ruth and myself we live for that. I don’t want to go into a lot of details but we are reaching more than 120 nations with the Word of God. We have a radio program in 10 languages that reaches every continent. I don’t claim to be specially gifted. I just seek to obey what God tells me to do.

But if you hear the prophetic word and don’t obey it you will hear no more. Or rather you may hear but it’ll be false. Because the pathway to deception is to refuse revelation. I didn’t plan to say that but I’m going to say it again. The pathway to deception is to refuse revelation.

And I could give you lists of people who are on that pathway because what God revealed didn’t suit them. It didn’t fit in with their private plans or it didn’t fit in with their special theology. And you remember what Peter said the prophetic word is a light in a dark place. You reject it, turn from it and you end in the dark. I’m not saying you’re not saved. That’s between you and God.

But I am saying you’re going to have a lot of unnecessary problems. You’re going to walk into a lot of situations you shouldn’t be in. You’re going to be confused and fearful when you don’t need to be.

Jesus: the prophet like Moses (Deut. 18:18–19)

I’m going to say one more passage and this is preparing for tomorrow, hopefully. Deuteronomy 18:18-19, the words of Moses to Israel.

Deuteronomy 18:18-19: ‘I will raise up for them a Prophet like you (that’s like Moses) from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.’ Now the New Testament writers are in total agreement that prophet was who? Jesus, that’s right.

So we know from the New Testament the person who fulfilled that prophecy was Jesus. And He’s the only prophet of whom God would say that He shall speak all that I command Him.

And then he goes on to say: ‘It shall be that whosoever will not hear My words, which He speaks in My name, I will require it of him.’ Brothers and sisters, to ignore the prophetic teaching of Jesus is very dangerous. Because if you will not hear it, God says He’s going to require it of you. That’ll be a very hard interview when you’re alone with God and He says, ‘Why didn’t you listen to the prophetic teaching of My Son?’ What excuse will you give?

There is no valid excuse. That’s all I have to say for tonight, except one thing. I want to ask you a question. Be honest with yourself.

Are you at this moment eagerly and joyfully anticipating the return of Jesus? I’ll say it again. Are you at this moment eagerly and joyfully anticipating the return of Jesus? Because if not, the morning star hasn’t risen in your heart. And you are headed for trouble.

So, if you have been able to receive what I’ve said tonight, and you really want to be in the will of God, and you want to be obedient to Scripture, and you recognize that your hard attitude towards the return of Jesus is not what it should be, but you’d like to change. Or rather, you’d like God to change you, we on the platform would like to pray for you, specifically on that issue. That in the course of the next six days, you will be changed in that respect, that when this camp is over, you leave with a shining, excited anticipation that Jesus is coming back.

Now if you’d like us to pray for you, if you make a decision that you want that, because God won’t force it on you. But that’s what you want. That’s how you want to live. Let me tell you this, I’ve moved amongst many, many different kinds of Christians in many countries. But I discover when Ruth and I are amongst people who are excitedly anticipating the return of Jesus, we are in fellowship with them immediately. There are no barriers.

And there are the most wonderful people all around the earth from many different nationalities who have this one thing in common: they’re longing for the return of Jesus. And let me tell you if you’re not, I think God is going to let things happen in the world and in your life that make you appreciate how much you should have been longing.

For Further Reading:

At The End Of Time: Derek Prince (Full Transcript)

The New Creation (Part 1): Derek Prince Sermon (Transcript)

True And False Church (Part 1): Derek Prince Sermon (Transcript)

“I Will Shake All Things” – Part 2: The Church – Derek Prince (Transcript)

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