Biblical Prophecy

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This is Today With Derek Prince. The internationally recognized Bible teacher and author presents to you Keys to Successful Living.

Yesterday Derek Prince began his new topic ‘At the End of Time.’ He explained how this temporary world as we know it is not out home and helped us focus on what the Bible considers ultimate reality, that which is spiritual, invisible and eternal. Today he’ll outline the importance of biblical prophecy in several ways, including how Old Testament prophecies concerning Jesus were literally fulfilled. Be sure to listen at the end of today’s broadcast for our address and this week’s special offer.

Derek Prince:

I next want to point out to you that it’s very important that we have a basic understanding of biblical prophecy. Unfortunately, so many people have been turned off by false, flashy, shallow interpretations of prophecy and they’ve really lost confidence. Well, don’t let that happen to you. Don’t let the misuse of something good turn you away from something good. For instance, in my lifetime, which has been quite lengthy, I’ve seen all the gifts of the Spirit misused at one time or another. But that has not caused me to despise the gifts of the Spirit; it just makes me more careful as to how I use them. The same is true of biblical prophecy. We need it. Without it, I’ll show you, we’re stumbling in the dark. We need to be careful how we apply it.

Now I’m going to turn to 2 Peter chapter 1:19, 20, 21:

“We also have the prophetic word made more sure . . .”

The ‘prophetic word’ is the prophecies of the Bible, the written prophecies. We’re not talking about the gift of prophesying now, although that’s got its place in our lives, but I’m talking about the written prophecies of the Bible, the written Word made more sure:

“. . . which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place.”

Notice that. You cannot afford to despise the prophetic Scriptures because Peter says you do well to give heed to pay attention to them because they’re a light shining in a dark place. The world in which we live today is undoubtedly a dark place. Furthermore, it’s getting darker. We need a light that will guide us through the darkness. The light that God’s provided is the prophetic revelation of Scripture.

Now, you can be wonderfully saved and a good Christian but be walking in the dark because you haven’t used and availed yourself of the light of prophecy. If you walk in the dark you’ll stumble over things you needn’t run into and you won’t really know where you’re going, you won’t really understand what’s happening all around you. That’s through failure to apprehend the truth of the prophetic word. It is extremely important.

“And then Peter says we need to give heed to it:
. . . until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.”

That’s not the coming of Jesus. This is an inner, subjective, personal experience where the morning star that immediately precedes the rise of the sun shines in our hearts. And you know what it does? It tells us Jesus is coming back. And we get excited.

Dear brothers and sisters, if you’ve never been excited about the return of the Lord it hasn’t meant much to you. It’s the only hope for humanity. Nothing else can ever meet all the desperate needs of the human race. People talk about this as pie in the sky. I don’t believe it. I believe it’s totally realistic. In fact, I believe it’s utterly unrealistic to expect politicians to solve the problems of humanity. They’ve been trying a long time and it seems to me the mess is worse than it used to be. I think it’s unrealistic to expect a human solution to the problems of humanity. That is the teaching of humanism but humanism is an anti-Christian force which is at work in most world governments today.

So we need prophecy. All right? Have I convinced you of that? Peter goes on to say it doesn’t originate with men but it comes from God.

Now let me quickly give you two keys to understanding biblical prophecy. The problem with me in this is if I get into it I find it hard to get out of it. But in Deuteronomy 29:29 Moses said to the children of Israel:

“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.”

So Moses said there are two kinds of things, the secret things and the things that are revealed. He says the secret things belong to God, nobody can understand them. The things that are revealed are for us to act on. I think the main reason why people mess up the study of prophecy is they’re trying to understand the secret things and at the same time they’re not obeying the things that are revealed.

When I speak on prophecy almost always somebody comes up to me afterwards and says, ‘Pre-, mid- or post-?’ Do you know what that means? Pre-tribulation, mid-tribulation, post-. Do you know what I answer? I don’t know. I’m not ashamed. Furthermore, I don’t believe anybody knows. I don’t believe even Jesus knows because it says that day and that hour no one knows, not even the Son, only the Father. So if I don’t know something that Jesus doesn’t know, it doesn’t embarrass me. See? The problem is people wanting to know things that can’t be known. And do you know what the motivation behind that is? Pride. That’s the most dangerous of all motivations. If we have revealed truth and obey it, God will give us more. If we don’t obey it, He won’t give us any more. You say, ‘God, please show me next.’ He says, ‘You haven’t acted on what I’ve already shown you. Why should I show you any more?’

So that’s the key to the effective use of biblical prophecy. Get to know the things that God wants us to understand and don’t bother God about the things that He doesn’t want us to understand. And secondly, whatever God reveals to you, obey it, act on it. In my opinion, one clear revelation of biblical prophecy is contained in Matthew 24:14:

“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.”

So 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. Whose job is that? Ours. I’m glad you said that. If we’re not working on that, if we’re not obeying that revelation, why should God tell us any more? But you begin to work on that revelation, you begin to devote yourself in whatever way is appropriate to getting the gospel of the kingdom out to all nations, you’d be surprised what God will show you next. But if you haven’t acted on that why should He show you any more? He won’t.

We’re going to come back to a picture of the close of this age. I’m going to make certain general statements about the kind of things that will be going on as this age comes to a close. I believe we’re very near the close of the age—that’s my personal opinion. I don’t want to set dates but I could believe that within the next fifty years everything that’s written in the book will have happened. I’m not saying it will, I’m saying I could believe it could.

I want to take certain features of the close of the age. I’ll give you three significant Scriptures. Isaiah chapter 60:1–2. What I want to say is as the age comes to a close, righteousness and wickedness will both be on the increase. Righteousness will flourish and so will wickedness. Light will shine and there will be great darkness. We’ve got to get adjusted to this antithesis between these two things of light and darkness, righteousness and wickedness. In Isaiah 60:1–3 the Lord is speaking to His people and He says:

“Arise, shine, for your light has come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples, but the Lord will arise over you and His glory will be seen upon you. The nations shall come to your light and kings to the brightness of your rising.”

That’s a promise for God’s people at the close of the age. The glory of God will shine upon us and in the midst of the dense darkness that is surrounding us on all sides that is covering all nations, those who have a heart for truth will come out of the darkness to the people of God to seek the light. But don’t expect the darkness to end. It will continue and it will grow deeper. But, the light will get brighter. There’s one wonderful fact about light and darkness which goes right back to the creation. Wherever light meets darkness, who wins? Light, that’s right. Just bear that in mind. We win if we’re the light. Then the parable of the wheat and the tares. I won’t go into that reading from it because time is running out but the parable is about a farmer who sowed good seed in his field and then in the night an enemy came and sowed tares, weeds, that apparently looked like wheat but there’s just one thing, they don’t have any fruit, they don’t produce anything that’s worth having. The workers in the field said, ‘Shall we go and pull up the tares?’ The farmer said, ‘No, because when you try to pull up the tares you may pull up some of the wheat. Let them both grow together to harvest.’ And then in interpreting the Scripture Jesus says the harvest is the end of the age. He says at the end of the age the angels will come forth and sever the wicked from among the righteous. The wicked will be bound up in bundles and cast into the fire, the righteous will shine as sons in the kingdom of their Father. But bear in mind that right up to the close of the age the wheat and the tares will be growing up side by side.

That’s not speaking about the pagan world, this is speaking about professing Christendom because that’s what it’s talking about. In that situation both wheat and tares will grow side by side. If you want to be sure you’re wheat and not tares, check on the fruit that you’re producing because that’s the difference.

The church is not going to be fully purified until the end of the age. And then we’re not going to do it. I’m glad I don’t have to do it. The angels are going to do that.

And then in Revelation 22, right near the end of the Scripture, a word from Jesus Himself. Revelation 22:10–12:

“He [the angel that brought the revelation] said to me, ‘Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. He who is unrighteous, let him be unrighteous still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still.’”

That’s a remarkable statement since it comes from God. God is saying, in effect, if you want to be unrighteous, go on, you don’t have long, live it up. If you want to be filthy, be still more filthy. But if you’re righteous be still more righteous, if you’re holy be still more holy. Because this is the parting of the ways.

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In tomorrow’s message Derek Prince will continue his theme ‘At The End Time,’ by showing us from Scripture the condition of the earth before Christ’s return and the task of the church at that time. This message is available on audiocassette No. RC4167 and also on video. Our special offer this week is the book Prayers and Proclamations which include Scriptures which Derek and Ruth say have upheld us while under pressure, strengthened us when weak, brought us healing when sick, and guidance when perplexed. Above all they have enabled us to build up our faith.

To receive your copy of ‘At the End of Time’ write today and include a contribution of $5.00 or more for audiocassette RC4167 or $14.95 for the video teaching. Include a gift of any amount for the book Prayers and Proclamations. Derek Prince also welcomes your letters and prayer requests. Our mailing address is Derek Prince Ministries, Box 19501, Charlotte, North Carolina 28219. That’s Derek Prince Ministries, Box 19501, Charlotte, North Carolina 28219. You may also call us at 1-800-448-3261. That number again is 1-800-448- 3261.In Canada write to Derek Prince Ministries, Box 8354, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3K 5M, and please give us the call letters of this station when you write.

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