Derek Prince - Knowing Him Should Be Our Supreme Ambition
This is an excerpt from: The Cross At The Center - Part 2
Let's look in Philippians 3 on this theme for a moment. Philippians 3:7-11. This is Paul's own testimony. But what things were gain to me, those I have counted loss for Christ. And he's talking about all his background in Judaism and all his inheritance as a religious Jew. But indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish that I may gain Christ. He says nothing is of any interest to me except Christ.
And be found in Him [notice this] not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ You remember what we said, there's only one basis for righteousness which is faith in Christ. the righteousness which is from God by faith, that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; if by any means I may attain to the resurrection of the dead. Paul's supreme ambition was to know Christ. He didn't write as somebody who didn't know Him but his aim was to know Him better. This is after many years of fruitful Christian service. He said I want to know the power of His resurrection. But with that goes the fellowship of His sufferings. No cross, no crown.
The cross is the way to the secret, hidden wisdom of God by which we share His glory. There's a passage, too, in Ephesians, a very brief passage. Ephesians 2:4-6: But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Where do we end up? In the heavenly places. What are we doing? On what? Sitting on what? That's right. The New English Bible says God has enthroned us together with Christ.
You see, when we come to the cross, in a certain sense, it's like entering an elevator. When you get inside the elevator you get to whatever floor you press the button for. It's the lift that takes you up. And so, once we're in Christ through the death and the crucifixion of Jesus, we're made alive with Him that's wonderful. We're resurrected with Him that's tremendous. But that's not the end. Where does the lift stop? At the throne, we're enthroned with Him. We don't get there by efforts, we get there because we're in the lift. But the doorway to the lift is the cross. When we enter through the cross we qualify for the throne. I've always been tremendously interested in the tabernacle of Moses.
There are two kinds of people, those who get excited by the tabernacle and those who don't. I'm one in the former part. I know there's some people who don't get excited. I don't hold that against you, but just let me take a brief example. If you remember the structure of the tabernacle of Moses, there were three areas and they're distinguished by the light available in each. First of all, there's the outer court where the light is natural light: the sun, the moon, the stars. Then you go inside the first veil or curtain and now you're not walking by natural light.
Paul says we walk not by sight but by faith. Passing through the veil is a step of faith. And you get into the first compartment which is called the Holy Place, and the light there is the light of a candlestick or a candle stand which is supplied by olive oil that's burning. It's the light of the inspired word of God illuminated by the Holy Scriptures. But that's not your destination.
See, stepping through the first veil is resurrection. But when you step through the second veil, that's ascension. Inside the second veil in the Holy of Holies you're on the throne. There two supreme ministries of Jesus, the king and the priest, are exercised from within the second veil. And the light there is not the light of a candle.
In fact, the exciting thing about this is if you get inside it's totally dark, there's no source of light. I just wonder how many of you would make that your destination. Just one little room, a cube with no light and just one item of furniture. Is that exciting? You see, the further you go in the Christian life the less there is to distract you. And the only people that will go through the second veil are the people that just want one thing. What's that? God. That's right It's really remarkable. But inside the second veil if you meet the conditions, there comes a light which is not natural, it's not artificial. It's what they call the shekinah, the actual presence of God supernaturally illuminating the place.
That's the secret, hidden wisdom of God. You don't have to go through the second veil. You can stop off anywhere. You can press the button of the lift and just get off at mezzanine or floor 2. There's something in me that wants to get as high as the lift will go. I really see in the lives of great men of God that there comes a place of, in a sense, loneliness when you're bereft of everything except God. But when you've got God you've got everything. Really, that's the end of Romans chapter 8 if you look at it. We're united with Christ. Colossians 3 says Christ is all and in all.
So, Paul says what do I care about the law? What do I care about my inheritance in Judaism? What do I care about everything I've lost? It doesn't matter that much to me because what I want is to be inside the second veil. I want the revelation of Jesus Christ. I don't want theology, I don't even want doctrine. I want revelation. I want a personal intimate revelation of Jesus. That's the only thing that can fully satisfy the longing of my soul. That's the way I see it.