In this sermon, the speaker emphasizes the importance of finding and fulfilling the good works that God has prepared for each individual. He contrasts two different approaches taken by Christians - some pursue personal ambition and worldly success, while others seek to align themselves with God's purpose. The speaker encourages Christians to understand their worth and significance in God's eternal plan, which can help overcome low self-esteem. The message is applicable to all Christians and lack of understanding in this area can lead to frustration in their lives. The sermon is based on 1 Timothy 1:9 and 2 Timothy 1:9, highlighting the idea that God has called and saved believers according to His own purpose and grace.

This is tape number B4333. Derek Prince speaks on the subject, The Life of Faith. This message is entitled, How to Find Your Place. I believe this is a message which is important for every Christian. There are some messages from the Word of God which only concern certain people. But I believe this message, How to Find Your Place, is of the greatest importance for every Christian. And I believe that the lack of understanding about this message, often leads to great frustration in the lives of Christians. So I just trust that God will enable me to present this truth, in such a way that you'll be able to receive it, and apply it whatever way is appropriate, in your own life. I want to begin with a scripture from 2nd Timothy chapter 1 verse 9. 2nd Timothy 1 9. We have to read the last verse, the last word of verse 8, which is God. And then we go on with verse 9. God has saved us and called us with a holy calling. Not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus, before time began. So that scripture says, that if you are saved, you are also called. Let me ask you a question tonight. Ponder on it for a moment and then respond. How many of you here tonight know that you are saved? All right. Now if I were to ask, how many of you know that you are called? I doubt whether, all right, how many of you know that you are called? That's a good response. The fact of the matter is, that many many Christians, who know that they are saved, do not know that they are also called. If you are saved, you are called. You may not know it, but you are called. Because God, when God saves us, he also calls us. And Paul says, with a holy calling. It's very important to understand, that God has a calling for you, which is holy. It is something that you need to treat with the greatest reverence and respect. It is a treasure. It's more valuable than any earthly treasure that you can ever possess. I remember, when God specifically revealed his calling to me. I was saved as a soldier in the British Army in 1941. Then the army sent me to the Middle East. And I was there for the rest of my military service, four and a half years. And in due course, the army took me to the country that was then called Palestine, which is now Israel. And there, in a little, what was then a little kind of settlement, is now quite a major populated area, called Kiryat Motskin, north of Haifa. One day I was walking up and down, amidst a lot of bales of medical supplies, because I was in the medical corps. And they were storing medical supplies, ready to take them into Europe, when Europe should be liberated from the Nazis. I was just walking up and down between these bales. And the Spirit of God came on me. And I spoke very clearly and forcefully in an unknown tongue. And then God gave me, in English, the interpretation of what I'd said in the unknown tongue. This was not the first time that it had happened. I would like to say, in general, God has spoken to me this way probably over the years, several hundred times. And I cannot recall a single time that it was not absolutely accurate. I have discovered that if we will hear the voice of God and let him speak to us, he speaks with total accuracy. And this time the Lord said this to me. And he usually, but not always, speaks in what I call King James English. Which is very elegant English, much more elegant than our modern English. Also much more specific. One reason being that in King James English, Elizabethan English, we have singular and plural for you. Thou is singular, ye is plural. And sometimes it's very important to know whether it is singular or plural. It was for me in this case. God said to me, I have called thee to be a teacher of the scriptures, in truth and faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus for many. Now that was 45 years ago. And as I look back on the 45 years that have elapsed since then, I have to say every word of that has proved totally correct. And in those days I could never have had any idea of how many the many would be. I suppose today, through the grace of God, by ministry, by radio, in cassettes, and in the printed word, and in my personal ministry, reaches millions every day. I don't think that's an exaggeration. Because it reaches mainland China seven times in four dialects every 24 hours. Reaches Soviet Russia in Russian two or three times every 24 hours. It reaches much of the English speaking world in English. It also reaches Central and South America in Spanish. That's the radio. My books and cassettes are in more than 100 nations in the hands of leaders and teachers. And then there are the people that Ruth and I minister to personally. But I suppose we only see two percent of all the people who are reached by my ministry. Now if you had told me, if God had told me in 1944 that I would be reaching millions every day, I think I would have had to say it just couldn't happen. Because in those days they didn't have the means of communication. Radio was not yet fully developed. There were no tape recorders and there was no television. And in general communication was very limited. But God knew in advance what it would be. And so he declared to me then the central thrust of my ministry. Which is to be a teacher of the scriptures. Everything else in my ministry has been built on that foundation of teaching the scriptures. And I have, God has given me other ministries. I have a ministry of healing, ministry of delivering people from evil spirits and so on. But everything is based on the teaching of the Word of God. And if I ever get away from teaching God's Word, I get into trouble. Actually you probably heard the saying, a duck in water. When I'm teaching the Bible I'm like a duck in water. I mean I'm absolutely free, I'm in my element. But you take a duck out of water and put it on land and it looks very clumsy. And that's how I am if I ever get out of the scope of my ministry. And I give you this as an example. Because it's true in some measure for every Christian. In your ministry, in your calling, you're like a duck in water. When you get out of your calling, if you're not in your calling, you're like a duck on land. A duck waddles on land, it's clumsy. You look at it and wonder how it could ever get around. But once it gets onto the water, it's altogether different. And that's how it is, that's why it's so important. For every one of us to know the area in which we are called. Another thing that I would bring out in those words that God spoke to me. He said in truth and faith and love. And that again has proved progressive. Before I was saved I was a philosopher, I was a logician, I was a reasoner. So the first thing that I grasped in the scripture was truth. And I sought to find the truth and fit the truth together. And see what I would call the intellectual framework. But people used to tell me I was very hard to approach. I was distant. I just presented truth and let people help themselves. And also truth really can sometimes frustrate you. If you can't receive it with faith. Because you can see what you could be, but you can't appropriate it. So God led me into a place where I could minister in faith. And I could minister faith to the people to whom I ministered truth. So that they were then able by faith to apprehend and apply the truth. But that wasn't the end. Because the end, the end of the commandment. As it says in 1st Timothy chapter 1, 5, 6 is love. And basically I have learned that we really cannot help people in the Christian life. Unless we love them. If you don't love people you can't really do much for them. And I have to give God the glory that gradually. He has melted my somewhat austere, military, British exterior. And today I really love people. I love you people. I look at you with the love of God. I long for the best for every one of you. Whether I've ever known you personally or not. My desire is that you should be all that you can be in Christ. So I just give that as an example of the faithfulness of God in respect of calling. Now you don't have probably the same calling that I do. But you have a specific calling from God. And you will never be really satisfied. You'll never be a duck in water until you're in your calling. There are many, many different callings. Going back to 1st Timothy chapter 1 verse 9. We find it's even more exciting. It says God has saved us and called us with a holy calling. I want to emphasize that your calling is holy. Once I realized what God had called me to be. I made up my mind that I by his grace would be the best teacher of the scriptures that I could be. Not comparing myself with any other teacher. And for well over 40 years my life has been shaped. By my desire to be able to teach the scriptures the best that I can. One of the things that I have done is discipline my mind. I am very, very careful what I let into my mind. Basically I hardly ever read anything unless I feel God wants me to read it. Before I was saved I read hundreds of books in various languages. But I'm not that way now. I very seldom look at a newspaper. If I want to find out what's going on in the world. My wife and I Ruth and I have made up our minds. The best way is to buy a weekly news magazine. I don't want to advertise anyone particularly on television. But there are two or three magazines. You see if you try to find the news by watching television. You waste a whole lot of time. I don't know whether you have commercial television here. You've got to sit through a lot of advertisements. And a lot of news that's absolutely unimportant one week later. You might just as well have never heard it. I don't want to waste time. For me time is extremely precious. And so I try to store my mind only with the things. That will enable me to teach the Bible with clarity. If I have one ambition it's to be clear. And sometimes I've worked at it for years. There are truths in the Bible that were very confusing to me years ago. But I have plowed away at it, worked at it, whittled it down. Until in most cases now what I teach I'm able to teach. With simplicity and with clarity. My aim is not to confuse people. Sometimes at the end of a sermon somebody will come to me and say. Brother Prince that was a deep message. And I say Lord what did I do wrong now? I don't have any aim to be profound in the usual sense of the word. My aim is to be simple. People have said sometimes about me that when I teach. They think well why didn't I ever know that. Of course it's obvious. That's my aim. I would like everybody to go out of a meeting saying. Well what he said was absolutely obvious. That's I have no higher ambition than that. So I've disciplined myself. Let me give you an example from athletics. Any athlete today that wants to compete in the world olympics. Has got to discipline himself or herself. Such an athlete has to be very careful about what they eat. About the way they spend the time. The exercise they take. The things they read. They've got to build up a positive attitude in their minds. They've got to go into that competition believing they can succeed. I was a very close friend in my early years. With one of the most famous ballerinas of our century. Anybody knows about the ballet. Her name is Margot Fontey. I was a close friend of hers when she was an unknown dancer. And I consider her to be the most successful ballerina of this century. That's up in my judgment. But I'm not surprised. Because I know how seriously she took her dancing. There were other ballerinas in the same company that perhaps had the same ability. But they didn't have the same dedication. Now I'm not encouraging you to go into the ballet. But what I'm trying to show you is. If you want to succeed you've got to discipline yourself. You've got to order your priorities. You've got to eliminate a lot of things out of your life. Which are non-essential. So it's a holy calling. I wonder if you understand that. I mean it's not to be played with. It's not to be bartered for anything else. It's holy. And then Paul goes on here in 1 Timothy 1 verse 9. Has called us 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 time began. That's an exciting statement. Before anything was ever created. Before God ever set time in motion. He knew what he was going to do. He knew you would be born. He knew you would become a believer. And he had a plan for your life. I tell people you are not an accident looking for somewhere to happen. There's a divine plan and purpose for every believer. Which didn't start in time. It started before creation. God foreknew us. The scripture says he predestined us. He, that means he arranged the course that our life was to take. And he had a specific plan and purpose for every one of us. And then it says it was not according to our works. It's not according to what we can do. It's not according necessarily to what we've been trained to do. I think I can illustrate this from my own case. I was an only child. I never had brothers or sisters. Girls were a very strange race to me. I didn't understand them. I mean I had girlfriends but that's different. You can have a girlfriend without understanding girls. And you know I was intellectually very successful. So you'd think God would have me to be a professor in some college or something like that. When I discovered my calling I married a lady who had a children's home. With eight girls in it. And I became a father to eight girls in one day. You couldn't think of anybody less naturally qualified for that position than me. See basically God tends to put us in a position for which we're not qualified. That's not always true. The reason being he doesn't want us to rely on our own ability. It's not according to our works. But it's according to his grace. You think of some of the most successful servants of God throughout the centuries. They've been weak people. Often people with few qualifications. Who've been put in places of danger and difficulty. You wouldn't ever imagine that they would succeed. But you see the thing about grace is this. Grace cannot be earned. You'll never achieve grace by working for it. Works and grace are mutually exclusive. And I explain it this way. Grace begins where human ability ends. If you can do it by yourself why should God give you his grace. But when you come to the place where God wants you to do something and you can't do it. Then you have to depend on his grace. And that's what God wants us to do. So let me read that verse again. I didn't intend to spend more than about two minutes on it. But anyhow here we are. God has saved us and called us with a holy calling. Not according to our works. But according to his own purpose and grace. Which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. If you can just begin to grasp that. It'll give you a sense of being important. Not that you become conceited. But that you realize you're part of a tremendous plan. Which God conceived before he created anything. One of the greatest problems with people in the world today. Is low self-esteem. They don't think they're worth much. And I would have to say a person with low self-esteem. Is unlikely to make the best of life. And I believe that a Christian should never have that problem. Let me explain two reasons. First the one I've given. If you're a Christian you're part of an eternal plan. You have a special job. You have a special calling. One that nobody else has. You have a responsibility that no one else can carry out. And then secondly you know how to find out how much you're worth. I'll tell you. Suppose as a matter of fact right now. My wife and I are in the middle of selling a house. And let's say we were told. Which we were when we bought it. That it was worth 55,000 U.S. dollars. When we tried to sell it. We discovered nobody would pay 55,000 U.S. dollars for it. So we are happy to get 50. Now what's the house worth? It's worth what someone will pay for it. You can put any price tag you like on something you want to sell. But it's worth what someone will pay. No more. Now you are worth what God was willing to pay for you. What did he pay for you? He redeemed you with what? The precious blood of Jesus Christ. Something that is infinitely valuable. Something on which you can put no price tag. And if you can grasp that fact. That God was willing to pay the blood of his son to redeem you. You'll never feel. You'll never have a problem with self-worth again. Because you're worth what God was willing to pay for you. You see that? Let's look in Ephesians chapter 2. I'm sure you didn't see that. Because I look at your faces. And you got a kind of look of surprise on your face. Well try to digest it. Try to absorb it. Meditate on it. Read it over and over again. Until it becomes real to you. You see God's word is a mirror. And if you want to know what you're really like inside. You have to look in the mirror. The first time you look in the mirror it's horrible. You discover you're a sinner. You're defiled. Your garments are horribly unclean. But if you're wise and you act on what God shows you. You repent and trust Jesus for salvation. You're cleansed. You're washed. You're sanctified. God takes away your filthy garments. And clothes you with a garment of salvation. And a robe of righteousness. And next time you look in the mirror. You're astonished. You don't see the old. You don't ever see that old person. You see somebody quite different. You change, transformed. Wearing a garment of salvation. And a spotless robe of righteousness. But that's only the beginning. Because God intends to go on changing you. I didn't intend to look at this scripture. But look for a moment in 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18. If I remember rightly. Yes 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 verse 18. That we all with unveiled face. Beholding as in a mirror. What's the mirror? The Word of God. The glory of the Lord are being transformed. Into the same image from glory to glory. Just as by the Spirit of the Lord. You see if you want the Spirit of the Lord to transform you. You've got to keep looking in the mirror. If you look away from the mirror. The Spirit of God no longer works on you. He only works on you when you're looking in the mirror. But if you go on looking in the mirror. And yielding to the Spirit of God. You see glory. That's for you. And you think that's wonderful. The next time you look. You've been moved from glory to glory. It's progressing. Understand? The problem with most Christians. Who have a low sense of self-worth is. They don't spend enough time looking in the mirror. They spend a lot of time looking in the physical mirror. And they're not always satisfied with what they see. But they don't spend time looking in the spiritual mirror. Which is very satisfying. If you yield to the Spirit of God. And really there are no limits. We are continually being transformed. From glory to glory to glory to glory. Indefinitely. All right. Now let's turn to Ephesians 2. Verses 8 through 10. Which was the passage that Ruth and I proclaimed. For by grace we have been saved through faith. That not of ourselves it is the gift of God. I understand that to mean we didn't get the faith. God gave us the faith. He gave us the faith to be saved. I know when I was confronted with the gospel. I realized two things. I couldn't understand the gospel. And I couldn't believe it. I wanted to understand and I wanted to believe. But God brought me to a place. Where when I did understand and I did believe. I realized God had given me the understanding. God had given me the faith. I had nothing to boast of. It didn't proceed out of myself. It was given me by God's grace. And then it says. We are God's workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus. For good works which God prepared beforehand. That we should walk in them. That's a wonderful scripture. It doesn't fully come out in the English translation. But the word that's translated workmanship. In Greek is poiema. And it's the word from which we get the English word poem. So we're God's poem. We're not just something he manufactured. But we're his creative masterpiece. Created in Christ Jesus. And then what it really blesses me. When I meditate on this is. When God wanted to show the universe. What he could create. To display his creative ability. To the whole universe. And all of it had been created by him. Just to prove what he could do. He went to the scrap heap for his material. And that's where he found you and me. On the scrap heap. Is that right? At least I know where I was. And God said you want to see how I can do with scrap material. This is going to be the crown of all my creative genius. It's the church of Jesus Christ. The bride of Jesus Christ. That's what we are. We're his poem. We're his creative masterpiece. And we're created in Christ Jesus. For good works which God prepared beforehand. That we should walk in them. That brings out the same truth as 1st Timothy 1.9. We don't have to decide what we're going to do. We don't have to fashion a career for ourselves. We have to find out. What are the good works which God prepared beforehand. For us to walk in. You see I've seen Christians take two different courses. Some of them they're saved. But they're personally ambitious. And they want to make something of themselves in this world. So they go about the ordinary way. They get education and so on. They work hard at it. And they become something. But it probably isn't what God intended them to be.