Derek Prince - We Can Remind God of What Is On His Calendar
This is an excerpt from: Israel and the Church: Parallel Restoration
Now I want to apply the same principles to the church, the true church. I want to suggest something which may shock some of you, basically I believe the church has been out of its spiritual inheritance in Christ for just about the same length of time as Israel has been out of their geographical inheritance. One point that I want to develop is there’s a very close parallel between the restoration of Israel and the restoration of the church. Actually, Israel, if you might say it, is in the natural, the church is in the spiritual. So it’s easier to see things in the natural. To see them in the spiritual you have to have spiritual discernment or insight. Basically I want to suggest to you that the restoration of the church to its spiritual inheritance in Christ has preceded parallel step by step with the restoration of Israel to their inheritance. Viewed this way, history has a meaning and the developments that have taken place this century all fit in to God’s eternal plan.
If you were to choose a date for the restoration of the church, and I mean, this is somewhat arbitrary, I believe the restoration of the church can only take place through the supernatural presence and power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the agent of restoration. So, if you just want to choose a date, you could take January 1, 1900, because at that time in a Bible school in Kansas a young woman in the school went to the heads of the school and said, «Please pray for me, I want to receive the Holy Spirit the same way they received it in the book of Acts».
The heads of the Bible school didn’t believe in that but to accommodate her they prayed for her, and she received it. She began to speak in tongues. And that, in a sense, was a breakthrough. Then in 1904 there was what has been called the Azuza Street outpouring in Los Angeles. Then it preceded parallel. We’re looking at a parallel process of restoration of Israel on the one hand, the church on the other. In Psalm 102 the psalmist had a prophetic revelation, I believe, of this period. Psalm 102 begins with the psalmist in a mood of deep despair. He feels totally set aside, he feels life isn’t worth living and he’s in deep misery. Then he does something which is very advisable for people who are suffering from depression, and if you are in that condition I want to suggest this to you. He looks away from himself to the Lord, and when he does that there’s a complete change of emphasis and tone. He says in verse 12 of Psalm 102 «But you, O Lord, shall endure forever, and the remembrance of your name to all generations. You will arise and have mercy on Zion…»
Now Zion is primarily Jerusalem and the Jewish people. But I think it is legitimate to give it also a secondary spiritual application to the true church, not to «the» church, but the true church. In Hebrews 12 it says that in the heavenly Jerusalem, the heavenly Zion, is the assembly of the church who are enrolled in heaven. So, if you’ll follow with me along that understanding then we’re talking about a time when God will arise and have mercy on his covenant peoples. Then the psalmist continues: «…for the time to favor her, yes, the set time has come». This is prophetic preview but it refers, I believe, to the period in which we are living. The word «set time» in Hebrew is moev which is the word used for all the set festivals of Israel like the Passover, Shavuot, Yom Kippur and so on.
So, as I understand it, God has a prophetic calendar and there is a set time on His calendar where the restoration of His people becomes His number one priority. We talk about being intercessors. In Isaiah 62 the prophet speaks about those who are set on the walls of Jerusalem to pray night and day for Jerusalem. Many, many years ago, I’m embarrassed to think how long ago, but I’ll tell you it was 1946, the then Secretary of the Hebrew University was kind enough to give me some personal, private lessons in Hebrew. Because of that I soon learned that the Hebrew word for a secretary is maskir. Maskir actually means someone who reminds. I realise we have an Israeli here tonight. And I am saying this with all due deference to him.
So, a secretary is someone who reminds. In other words, she keeps her boss' calendar and she reminds the boss, «The foreman of the works is coming tomorrow morning at ten, and remember the next day is your wife’s birthday, remember to buy her some flowers». That’s the kind of job of a secretary. And so, God says in Isaiah 62, «I have set maskirim [secretaries] on the wall of Jerusalem who will not give me any peace, day or night, until I restore Jerusalem». I want to challenge those of you who are called to intercession. Remember, your job is to remind your boss of what’s on His calendar! You point to Psalm 102 13 and you say: «For the set time to favor Zion has come…»
And in that verse there are two words, mercy and favor. What I want to point out to you is neither mercy nor favor can ever be earned. Anything you can earn is not mercy and not favor. So what God is doing for His people is not what we have earned, it proceeds out of God’s favor which in the New Testament is usually translated grace. So what we’re talking about is the grace of God. It’s not something we have deserved, it’s not something we can deserve, it’s something that God has decided to do. You see, that’s what really matters. Let me tell you, in the spiritual life the key to success is to find out what God has decided to do and do it with Him. Don’t try to get God to change His plans because He won’t. You can go ahead with your own plans but they won’t work. The only plan that will work is God’s plan.
I’m reminded of the fact that this past September Ruth and I were ministering in a very interesting church in the center of London called Kensington Temple. It’s an unusual church, it has 5,000 members, which is a large church for Britain at the present time. And one of the unusual things about it is 57% of the members are Africans. You see, the center of London is a mixing pot of all nations and you’ll see probably more people with black or brown skin than you’ll see with «white» skins. Most of us really don’t have white skins. I spent five years in East Africa training them to be teachers and they used to call themselves black and me white. I said, actually, you’d have to look a long way for anywhere in my body that really is white. But let’s accept the title.
Anyhow, Ruth and I were ministering and it was a glorious time because it was like being back in Africa. I mean, people got excited, they enjoyed their salvation. They weren’t behaving in a typically British way. In the middle of it on the platform Ruth came over to me and she said, «I believe I have a word from the Lord». I said, «Okay by me, but talk to the pastor». She went and talked to the pastor, the pastor said okay and she went ahead. She started with a most dramatic and authoritative statement. I’ve never heard her speak with such authority. It was God speaking and He said this, «I have decided to visit London». Glory to God!
I lived seven years of my life in London, it was probably the hardest place I’ve ever ministered in. But God has decided to visit London. I just share that with you because you need to know it. If God visits London the whole world will feel the impact because London touches every nation on earth. I just use that as an illustration of how important it is to find out what God has decided to do and do it with Him. Jesus is the head of the church and one of the functions of the head is to take the initiative. In the true church the initiative always proceeds from Jesus. When people initiate things on their own they never work. The only thing that works is that which Jesus has initiated. One of our continuing and ongoing prayers for Ruth and me is, «Lord, let us be in what you have initiated, let us not initiate anything of ourselves». We have proved in experience over the past dozen years that it works.