Derek Prince - God Reveals Things So That We May Do Them
This excerpt is from: How to Approach Biblical Prophecy
Then it says there are revealed things. Thank God there are revealed things. But it says about them "that we may do them." The purpos 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. 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."[/b]
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 the principal of a teacher training college for African teachers. I took my little car and drove seven miles into the main city there, Kisumu. I was taking my car in to the garage or the service station to have it serviced. I had a list of things that I needed to do in the town. I felt myself very busy. 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." I saw that I desperately needed oiling and greasing. So I gave up my whole program walked about ten minutes down to the shore of Lake Victoria Neanza 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, over-arching trees pulled out of my pocket my pocket New Testament and flipped it open. I wasn’t looking for anything but I opened at Matthew 24:14 which 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." 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. 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?" I think it took twenty 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. 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 twenty-four 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 the first actual positive message of the gospel that’s ever been presented to the people of Mongolia.
That has happened from 1978 until the present time which is sixteen 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. 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.
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 conditional upon obedience. Would you like to say that with me? "Revelation is conditional upon obedience." If you don’t obey God He won’t show you anything more. The devil may show you a great deal, but not God. So, that’s the first and second 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. If we don’t do them He will not reveal any more to us.