This sermon by Derek Prince emphasizes the importance of understanding the sovereignty, majesty, and justice of God to receive biblical prophecy. It highlights God's perfect justice and the need to trust in His righteousness. The sermon delves into the story of Nebuchadnezzar's humbling and restoration, showcasing God's ultimate power and sovereignty over earthly rulers. Derek Prince stresses the significance of biblical prophecy, urging believers to engage with it despite past disappointments with false predictions. He underscores the authoritative nature of the written prophetic word of God and the necessity of heeding it as a guiding light in a dark world.

Derek Prince Ministries, proclaiming the inspired Word of God around the world. Derek Prince is an internationally recognized Bible teacher and author. Through books, audios, videos, and radio broadcasts, Derek seeks to reach the unreached and teach the untaught. In over 50 years of ministry, Derek has reached over 100 nations in more than 50 languages. And now, Derek Prince. One of the essential requirements for being able to receive biblical prophecy is a right appreciation of the sovereignty and the majesty and the justice of God. God is always just. He never makes mistakes. Everything He does is right. Some of you have been going through situations where you could be wondering whether God was making a mistake, or wasn't being unfair. But that's a wrong attitude. God is always right. And Ruth and I are going to make a proclamation as we usually do, taken from two chapters of Daniel. Daniel chapter 2 and chapter 4, which declare the sovereign majesty of God. I want to begin on that note tonight. Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and might are His, and He changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings and raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things. He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with Him. For His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or say to Him, what have you done? Those last verses were the words of Nebuchadnezzar. He went through a pretty difficult time to come to that place where he had that realization. He spent seven years like an animal out in the wild, naked. His hair grew like birds feathers, His nails like animals claws, and He fed on the grass. But at the end of seven years, God restored everything to Him that He had taken away. But He was a different man. He had learned in the school of God's discipline. And this was His testimony. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. You do according to Your will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. No one can restrain Your hand. He was the most powerful monarch on earth at that time. But He came to realize there was someone infinitely more powerful than He. It was the God of Israel. And I've sometimes asked people, and I'll just leave this with you as a thought. If by the grace of God you reach heaven, and I mean it will be by the grace of God. Whom do you think you'll be more likely to meet there? King Solomon or King Nebuchadnezzar? And I haven't an answer to that question. But it's an interesting question. Maybe you could meet both of them, but I don't know. Anyhow, that's just something. Now, we're going to come to the theme of how to approach biblical prophecy. And I want to say that amongst most Christians that I mix with, and I mix with a lot from different nationalities, different denominations, different backgrounds, there is an altogether inadequate appreciation of the importance of biblical prophecy. About one quarter of the Bible at least must be predictive prophecy. And you cannot afford to neglect or ignore one quarter of the Bible and expect to have all that God has for you. I believe in the days in which we are living, it is essential to have at least a basic understanding of the themes of biblical prophecy. And now I recognize that some of you have been turned off by so-called prophets. Who made predictions in the name of the Lord, including the exact date when the Lord was due to return. And this is not the first or the second time this has happened. It happens from time to time in the history of the church. But because of that, you've been turned off and you said, well if that's what prophecy is like, I just don't want to get involved in it. Well that's a disaster for you. Because you need an understanding of biblical prophecy. I want to quote, I'll tell you, I'll come to that later. I want to quote to you now just one verse from the second epistle of Peter, chapter 1, verse 19. Peter has been speaking about the revelation that he and two other apostles had of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration. When they saw the honor and the glory that God the Father bestowed upon Jesus. And he says in effect, that was wonderful but there's something much more important than that. And this is what he says, we also have the prophetic word made more sure, which you do will to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. So Peter says that revelation we had on the Mount of Transfiguration was wonderful, it was valid, it's recorded now in Scripture. But something that's much more certain is the prophetic word of Scripture. And when I say that I mean the written prophecies of the Bible. I'm not talking about the gift of prophesying, which I esteem, which I believe in, and which from time to time I myself exercise. But prophesying in that sense has to be judged. And it has to be judged by the Word of God. But the Word of God has not to be judged. Every word of God is pure. His words are like silver, purified in the furnace of earth seven times. That's the difference. The written prophetic word of God is totally and absolutely authoritative. And Peter says we do well to give heed to it. In other words, it's in our best interests to pay attention to it. So if we don't give heed to it, we're depriving ourselves of something extremely important in the life of each one of us. He compares it to a light shining in a dark place. I don't know how you view the world around us, but for me it is a dark place. And furthermore, it's getting darker. It's not getting brighter. We had that song that said, Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the nations of the earth. That's the condition of those outside of Christ. Darkness, gross darkness, increasing darkness. But in the midst of that darkness, God has given us a light. What is it? The prophetic word of God. And Peter says you better give heed to that, because you're going to need it. Otherwise you may be a believer, you may be saved, baptized in the Spirit, speak in tongues, and be destined for heaven. But while you're here on earth, you'll be walking in darkness. Because you have ignored the light that God has provided, the prophetic word. If you walk in darkness, it doesn't mean you won't get to heaven when you die. But it means that you'll be stumbling and groping while you're here on earth. You will not understand the things that are going on around you. And you'll be often fearful and confused, because you have ignored the provision of God, which is His prophetic word. Now I'm going to give you seven suggested principles for approaching the prophetic word of God. I didn't originally have seven, I had five, but the Lord added two more recently. And I'm not superstitious, but when I get to the number seven, I usually feel that's it. So, we'll turn first of all, oh let me point out something else very important about this prophetic word of God. Its purpose is to make us aware of the coming of the Lord as an imminent reality, as something real that's happening. Peter says you need to give heed to it till the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Now he's not talking about what's happening in the world, he's talking about what's happening in your hearts. In World War II I spent three years in the deserts of North Africa, not by choice let me say. And most of that time we lived by the sun, because we had no artificial light. When it got dark we went to bed and when it became light we got up. And so I observed things that I wouldn't be observing today. And one of the things I saw that at certain seasons of the year in the east, when the sun is due to rise, the horizon will become luminous. It will get quite light in that part of the heavens and you will think the sun is rising. But it isn't the sun, it's the morning star called Aurora. And that star at that time is so bright that for a moment you would imagine the sun is going to rise. But it isn't the sun. But one thing is sure, when Aurora rises you know for sure what's going to happen next, which is the sun is going to rise. So Peter says let this Aurora, this morning star rise in your hearts, because when it arises you'll know for sure Jesus is coming back. See God requires that every one of us live in the excited anticipation of the return of the Lord. That's how every believer should be living. In Hebrews 9 verse 28, 27 and 28 it says, It is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment. Remember you only die once. And you're not reincarnated, the next thing is judgment. I say this because we've just come through countries where Buddhism has prevailed. And they teach of course this endless cycle of reincarnation. It's a lie, it is not true. It is appointed for each of us to die once and not to be reincarnated, but to await the judgment. 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. For whom is Jesus going to appear? For those who eagerly wait for Him. So are you eagerly waiting for Him? If the morning star has risen in your heart, then you will be eagerly awaiting for Him. If not, you really don't qualify. For those are the ones for whom He will appear the second time. For those who eagerly wait for Him. Now let me deal with my seven suggested recommendations for getting the right thing, what you need, out of biblical prophecy. We'll start with the book of Deuteronomy, chapter 29 and verse 29. Which contains two great basic principles for understanding and applying prophecy. Moses was speaking to the children of Israel and he said, The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law. The first point is, there are two kinds of things. There are secret things and there are things that are revealed. There are things that God keeps secret, He has not revealed them. When I speak on this kind of theme, it often happens that somebody will come up to me and say in effect, What do you believe, pre-, mid- or post-? You know what that means? Will Jesus come at the beginning of the tribulation, the middle of the tribulation, or the end of the tribulation? I always answer, I don't know. Furthermore, I'm not embarrassed. Furthermore, in the light of what is going to happen, it may turn out that those are meaningless questions. They just won't apply. You see, I believe that the day and the time of the coming of the Lord is a secret thing. It's only known to one person in the universe, God the Father. It's not known to the sun. It's not known to the angels. It's a secret thing. Now anybody who claims to be able to reveal that secret thing is a false prophet. By his own lips he has identified himself. But you see, if people don't understand biblical prophecy, they'll be taken in. It's been tragic how many charismatics have been fooled by a prediction that Jesus was coming back in, what was it, October 28th or 29th. I think it was going to be October 28th the first time, and when it didn't happen then he said he got his dates wrong and it was October the 29th. And I was appalled by the number of serious Christians who actually began to believe that. Had they known the prophetic scriptures, they would have known it was a lie. Because it's one of the secret things. And one of the temptations we have to resist in interpreting biblical prophecy is trying to get God to reveal the secret things. Because if God keeps a thing secret, it's a waste of time trying to find it out. And I think much of biblical interpretation, or interpretation of biblical prophecy, has focused on trying to get to know secret things. And the result is frustration, confusion, disappointment. Because when God keeps a secret, believe me, there's no one can find his secret. Then it says there are revealed things. There, thank God, there are revealed things. But it says about them that we may do them. The purpose of biblical prophecy is not to make you wiser than your neighbors. Or to be able to say, well now we know what's coming next. The purpose of biblical prophecy is to give you things to do. And my experience with God is this. If you obey what he reveals, he reveals something more. If you don't obey what he reveals, he doesn't reveal any more. Why should he? He says, carry on, do what I've told you and I'll show you the next thing. Now in 1958, if you can believe that people were alive as long ago as that. I was in East Africa in the west of Kenya. Principal of a Bible college, of a teacher training college for African teachers. And I took my little car and drove seven miles into this main city there, Kisumu. I was taking my car into the garage or the service station to have it serviced. And I had a list of things that I needed to do in the town. And I felt myself very busy. And as I walked out of the service station, having handed over the car. I felt God said to me, not only does your car need service, you need service too. And I saw that I desperately needed oiling and greasing. And so I gave up my whole program, walked about ten minutes down to the shore of Lake Victoria Nianza. Which is the second largest inland lake in the world. And a very beautiful place. And at that time, very tranquil. I sat down on a bench under some great overarching trees, pulled out of my pocket, my pocket New Testament. And flipped it open. And I hadn't, wasn't looking for anything. But I opened it Matthew 24 14, which is you'll be hearing again in due course. Which says this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations. And then the end will come. And God made it clear to me at that point. He said this is priority number one for my people. Well I was in a ministry as principal of a teacher training college. And my primary aim was to win my students to the Lord. So I was not by any means backslidden. In fact I believe I was in the will of God. And hardly ever any student left that college in five years that was not saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit. Very, very few. So I wasn't wasting my time. But I felt the Lord had spoken to me. There was something more important. So I said to him, well Lord, if I'm not yet fully identified with your primary purpose, I want to be. Will you arrange it? And I think it took 20 years for the Lord to bring me to the point where it was arranged. Because in 1978, which was the year I married Ruth, I began a totally new phase of my ministry. I didn't know I was beginning it. I just did what God told me. God told me, I believe, to start a radio ministry. I had never been interested in that kind of ministry. But I started because God told me to start. On eight stations in the United States, in the English language, with a budget of $8,000 a month. And we really had no idea where the money would come from. That same radio program is now translated into nine other languages. And is virtually heard all around the world every day. It's in four languages of China. And is broadcast at least once every 24 hours into China. It's in Russian. It's in Spanish. It's in Arabic. It's in Tongan. It's now being put into Samoan. Mongolian, thank you. It's the first actual positive message of the gospel that's ever been presented to the people of Mongolia. Now that has happened from 1978 until the present time. Which is how many years? Sixteen years, about, seventeen years. I had no idea. I never thought that program would ever get outside of the United States. Or be in any other language but English. But God did it, you see. He was beginning to develop in me this primary purpose of God. This gospel of the kingdom shall be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all the nations. And then the end will come. When will it come? When the church has done its job. Since then Ruth and I have been privileged to minister in very large Bible teaching conferences in all sorts of improbable places. Moscow to start with. And then Alma-Ata. Most of you don't even know where Alma-Ata is. But it's the main city of Kazakhstan. Which is one of the southern provinces of the former Soviet Empire. This year, God willing, we're going to be in Turkey. We live for that. That's our purpose in life. But it didn't all happen in a day. God had to work it out gradually. But I want to tell you this. If I had not, to the best of my ability, obeyed what God showed me from Matthew 24, 14, I doubt whether God would have ever shown me anything else. Revelation is conditioned upon obedience. Would you like to say that with me? Revelation is conditional upon obedience. You don't obey, God won't show you anything more. The devil may show you a great deal, but not God. So that's two, first and second purposes, principles. Number one, there are secret things and revealed things. Trying to find out the secret things is a waste of time. Number two, God reveals things that we may do them. And if we don't do them, He will not reveal any more to us. Now the next principle is that many prophecies are given for a specific time and situation. And until we come to that time and situation, we will not be able to understand the prophecy. So in Jeremiah chapter 30, verses 3 through 7, we have a specific prophecy concerning the restoration of Israel to their own land. And let me say my observation is most of the prophecies of the end time assume the presence of Israel as a nation in their own land. In other words, they could not be fulfilled until the state of Israel was restored. This is the prophecy. And let me say that a dear brother in the Lord whom I respect, some good many years ago made a statement. He said the restoration of the state of Israel could not be from God. Because if it were from God it would have produced peace. I have to say, he could not have said that if he'd been familiar with prophecy. Because prophecy says exactly the opposite. These are the words. For behold the days are coming, says the Lord, that I will bring back from captivity or from exile my people Israel and Judah, says the Lord. And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers and they shall possess it. Now anybody who has a small acquaintance with the Bible knows where the land is that God gave to the fathers of Israel. There's only one land that answers to that description. It's a little strip of territory at the east end of the Mediterranean. Then we go on. Now these are the words that the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah. For thus says the Lord, we have heard a voice of trembling, of fear and not of peace. Notice that, not of peace. Ask now and see whether a male is ever in labor with child. So why do I see every male with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor and all faces turned pale? Alas, for that day is great, so that none is like it. And it is the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it. So far from predicting peace when Israel are restored to their territory. The Bible warns us there will be a time of tribulation and anguish without parallel in Jewish history. And when you consider Jewish history, that's a startling statement. And concerning it the Lord says, not he will be saved from it, but he will be saved out of it. And that applies to a lot of other situations in our lives. God doesn't always save us from things, but he saves us out of things. He lets us get into them and then he saves us out of them. And then at the end of that chapter there's a little sort of P.S. In the last verse, verse 24. In the latter days you will consider it. In other words, you really won't have any use for this prophecy until the time of the end. In fact, it won't have much meaning for you. But I'll tell you as far as I'm concerned it is exceedingly meaningful today. Because we live in Jerusalem and we see it all happening in front of our eyes. So remember, there are a lot of prophecies that you won't understand until the appropriate moment. And then, one main purpose of biblical prophecy is to guide us in what we do and what we don't do. It becomes directive. And people who don't know biblical prophecy are liable to be praying and trying to do things which will never come to pass. Because God has said they will never happen. And if God has said something will never happen, it's a waste of time to pray that it will happen or to try to make it happen. Now I'll give you a little example from Matthew 24. And we'll be returning to Matthew 24 in the next two sessions. Let me say this in case I forget to say it then. If you want to receive as much as possible from my next two sessions, read Matthew chapter 24 and chapter 25. And when you've read them, read them again. Because we're going to deal with them in detail, verse by verse. But I'm just preempting that by going to two verses that apply to the situation after the Jews had been returned to their land. It says in Matthew 24, 19 and 20. But woe to those who are pregnant and to those with nursing babies in those days. And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. So you would be inclined in that situation to say, God don't make, let us have to flee. God says that's a useless prayer. You're going to have to flee. Pray within those parameters. Pray that though you may have to flee, it will not be in winter. Why? Because it will be very tough in winter, especially for pregnant women or women with nursing babies. And pray that it may not be on the Sabbath. Now why would you pray that it may not be on the Sabbath? That has no meaning at all unless there's a Jewish state. I'm just preempting that by going to two verses It says in Matthew 24, 19 and 20.