As the elect of God, holy and beloved,
we put on tender mercies, kindness, humbleness of
mind, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another,
and forgiving one another if anyone has a
complaint against another, even as Christ forgave us,
so we also must do.
But above all these things, we put on
love, which is the bond of perfection, and
we let the peace of God rule in
our hearts, to which also we were called
in one body, and we are thankful.
And we are thankful, good sir, thank you.
We let the word of Christ dwell in
us richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing with grace in our hearts to
the Lord.
And whatever we do, in word or deed,
we do all in the name of the
Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father.
Through him, amen.
Now in a certain sense, what I want
to say in this closing message is a
follow-on from what I was talking about
last night.
And I was shocked to discover that I'd
preached for two hours.
I'm not exactly apologizing, because I couldn't have
completed what I had to say in less.
But last night I spoke about the rise
of the Antichrist, and I sought to give
you an overall biblical picture of what kind
of a person he will be, and how
he will operate, and what he will do.
I also told you that his title, one
of his three titles in the Bible, is
the wild beast.
Tonight I want to speak in that context
about another kind of being, who is the
exact opposite, the Lamb.
And if you will look at the book
of Revelation in this light, I think you
will see that it represents a war between
the Lamb of God and the wild beast.
It's interesting that the Lamb is mentioned 28
times in the book of Revelation, and the
wild beast is mentioned 35 times in the
same book.
Now in English the exact parallel is not
clear, but in the Greek of the New
Testament there's a very clear balance between these
two titles.
Because the Greek word for the Lamb is
Arion, and the Greek word for the wild
beast is Therion.
So they're exactly similar in form.
There's a kind of balance in the book
of Revelation, in the revelation of the Lamb,
and the revelation of the wild beast.
Now thinking over what I said last night,
I thought I'll try and think of a
list of epithets that describe the wild beast.
And I came up with 10, which I
will read out to you.
Cunning, deceitful, arrogant, boastful, vicious, cruel,
treacherous, murderous, despotic, despotic and dominating.
I think I'll read the list again, because
I think we need to know what kind
of a person we're involved with.
Cunning, deceitful, arrogant, boastful, vicious, cruel, treacherous,
murderous, despotic and dominating.
And I think it's a little interesting that
Yenker has come out with his book.
If I can remember the three titles, they
are, no first of all, is it dominating?
Yes that's domination, intimidation and control.
Is that right?
All right let's get it right.
Manipulation, domination and control.
You know what spirit that is?
It's the spirit of the wild beast.
Now he wasn't writing his book, I haven't
read it, but he wasn't writing his book
about the future.
He's writing that book about situations and people
that we confront in daily life.
And furthermore, many of them are inside the
church and not a few of them are
in the ministry.
I say this because I want you to
understand that we are in the midst of
a conflict between two spiritual forces.
The spirit of the wild beast and the
spirit of the lamb.
And my personal opinion, I believe the Lord
has made this clear to me, is that
now is the time when we are making
our decisions.
And if we allow ourselves to be controlled
by the spirit of the wild beast now,
when he is actually manifested, we will come
under him.
It will be too late then to say,
no I don't want that.
I hope you can understand what I'm saying.
If I'm correct, we today by our attitudes
and the way we live and the way
we relate, are determining our destiny.
Because the the world is going to be
confronted with just a simple choice between the
lamb and the wild beast.
And everybody who is not under the lamb
will be under the wild beast.
And if you're under the lamb, you'll manifest
the spirit of the lamb now.
And if you're manifesting the spirit of the
wild beast now, when he appears you'll be
one of his victims.
You cannot change then.
That's why the way we live now in
this end time is so critical.
And that's why I believe it's so important
we understand the issues.
One thing I've learned about the devil, and
I think David Pawson says the same thing,
is what he hates most is to be
exposed.
And what I'm seeking to do in the
light of scripture is to expose him.
And I know he doesn't like me.
However I'll get on without his favor.
In Revelation 17 verses 12 through 14, this
war that I'm speaking about is actually described.
Without, I can't go back into what I
taught last night about the ten horns etc.
You just have to start from that.
Revelation 17 verse 12 and following, And the
ten horns which you saw are ten kings,
who have received no kingdom as yet, but
they receive authority for one hour as kings
with the beast.
These are of one mind, and they will
give their power and authority to the beast.
These will make war with the Lamb, and
the Lamb will overcome them.
For he is Lord of lords and King
of kings, and those who are with him
are called, chosen, and faithful.
So there is a clear statement of the
war.
This war is really one main theme of
the book of Revelation.
There is a war between the beast and
those who are associated with him, and the
Lamb.
Who is the Lamb?
Jesus, that's right.
And you notice the kind of people that
are with the Lamb.
Did you see that?
Those who are with him have three descriptions.
They're called, they're chosen, and they're faithful.
You see Jesus said many are called, but
few are chosen.
A lot of people are invited, and they
may accept the invitation, but they don't fulfill
the requirements.
So they're not chosen.
This is true of missionary calling.
Multitudes of people are called, but they're never
chosen, because they don't meet the conditions.
They don't fulfill the requirements.
But after being chosen, there's one more requirement,
which is to be faithful.
And so if we are to be in
the the army of the Lamb, we have
to fulfill those three requirements.
Called, chosen, and faithful.
And I'm probably, I've been a Christian probably
longer than most of you here.
We talk a lot about the problems of
young Christians.
I want to tell you they're nothing compared
with the problem of old Christians.
Don't imagine it gets easier.
It doesn't.
It gets more complicated and more demanding the
further you go.
The pressures increase, but you your strength should
increase to be able to meet the pressures.
Now in John chapter one we have the
Lamb very beautifully introduced by the man sent
to introduce Him, who was John the Baptist.
And in John 1 verse 29 through 34
we have this divine introduction.
The next day John saw Jesus coming toward
him and said, behold the Lamb of God
who takes away the sin of the world.
This is He of whom I said, after
me comes a man who is preferred before
me, for he was before me.
I did not know him, but that he
should be revealed to Israel.
Therefore I came baptizing with water.
And John bore witness saying, I saw the
Spirit, that's the Holy Spirit, descending from heaven
like a dove, and he remained upon him.
I did not know him, but he who
sent me to baptize with water said to
me, upon whom you see the Spirit descending
and remaining on him, this is he who
baptizes with the Holy Spirit.
And I have seen and testified that this
is the Son of God.
It's interesting in that critical passage which introduces
Jesus.
There are two creatures of the animal world
that are used to symbolize spiritual truth.
There's a bird, the dove, and there's an
animal, the lamb.
And the scripture says the dove descended on
the lamb and remained on him.
You see the Holy Spirit was looking for
one person who would fulfill the qualifications.
He wasn't looking for a lion, he wasn't
looking for a tiger, he wasn't looking for
an elephant, he was looking for a lamb.
And that is the only nature on which
the Spirit of God will descend and remain
on him.
And you cannot receive the Holy Spirit as
a believer unless there is in you the
nature of Jesus through the rebirth.
And he will descend on that nature.
He'll not descend on you because of what
you are in your own nature, but he'll
descend on the new nature in you that
comes through the new birth, the nature of
Jesus.
But the very important qualification concerning Jesus as
the Messiah was that the Spirit would descend
on him and remain on him.
Now this is the critical test.
It is relatively easy to receive the Holy
Spirit today.
It's preached and taught and testified to.
And I have seen thousands of people receive
the Holy Spirit.
I've seen the dove come down upon them.
But of those I would say relatively few
had the dove remaining on them.
Because he will only remain where the Spirit
of the Lamb prevails.
And I'm not, I have to be careful
what I say.
But I could exemplify various men, ministries, and
movements upon which the dove descended.
But he did not remain.
And he is not there today.
And you and I need to ask ourselves,
sure we were baptized in the Holy Spirit.
In my case it was 51 years ago.
The question is not what happened 51 years
ago.
The question is what is my relationship to
the dove today?
Has he remained on me through 51 years?
Now you don't have to answer that question
for me.
That's my question.
But you have to answer it for yourself.
People come to me and they say brother
Prince in 1982 I was baptized in the
Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues.
I say fine but we're living in 1992.
What's happened in the intervening 10 years?
Is he still remaining on you?
And I have to say it is tragic
the number of instances in which the Holy
Spirit descended but did not remain.
Because the people involved did not cultivate and
manifest the nature of the Lamb.
Now I have to be careful what I
say because I don't want in any way
to attack other ministries.
But I suggest that when you are confronted
with a ministry that makes claims on you.
You should ask yourself is the dove remaining
on them?
Are they manifesting the nature of the Lamb?
I'll Between the two world wars God gave
to Britain two of the most outstanding evangelists
that this century has witnessed.
They were brothers in the flesh George Jeffreys
and Stephen Jeffreys.
And I know people who knew them who
were in their meetings who've told me personally.
I don't think there's been another evangelist in
this century with a greater or more powerful
ministry than George Jeffreys.
In those days Pentecost was a kind of
derided little sect and few people were willing
to pay the price to follow.
But when George Jeffreys preached he filled the
Royal Albert Hall with 9,000 people without
any effort.
And as he walked down the aisles to
the platform as he came level with each
row of seats the power of God came
on every person in those rows.
George and Stephen were brothers.
Both had powerful ministry.
But they quarreled.
Not merely were they brothers in the spirit
but they were actually brothers in the flesh.
Yet they quarreled.
They felled out.
They could not work together.
George Jeffreys was the founder of the Elim
movement.
But the people through whom I came to
the Lord actually were present when they heard
George Jeffreys say I'll crush Elim.
Because he had broken away from his own
movement.
What is that?
It's a tragedy that grieves the heart of
God more than we can ever understand.
One of the things about Pentecost and charismatic
movement is we focus on power.
I believe in power.
Power is exciting.
But there are things that are more important
than power.
Holiness is one and love is another.
And we need to ask ourselves is the
dove remaining on me?
Am I manifesting cultivating the nature of the
lamb?
And I have to say the nature of
the lamb is absolutely contrary to contemporary culture.
I doubt whether there's ever been an age
in which culture has been so totally opposite
to the nature of the lamb.
I was asking myself how could I briefly
depict from scripture the nature of the lamb?
And I felt God directed me to the
Sermon on the Mount.
To Matthew chapter 5 the well-known Beatitudes.
The eight persons or people of whom Jesus
said blessed.
And you know as a preacher I meet
scores of Christians who are seeking God's blessing.
But I meet relatively few who realize that
they have to meet certain conditions.
And if you meet the conditions you don't
have to seek the blessing.
The blessing will seek you.
Moses said to Israel he said if you
fulfill these commandments the blessing of God will
come upon you and overtake you.
When I find people simply pursuing blessing I
have grave doubts about their relationship to the
Lord.
Blessing can become a kind of idol.
So let me just briefly go through the
Beatitudes with you.
Somebody in our house put up on the
wall on the mirror the words Beatitudes.
In other words attitudes of what you be.
It's a good way to think about them.
They are Beatitudes.
And we got so used to them most
of us through going to church that we
don't realize they were extremely controversial.
Jesus called people blessed who in the natural
and in the world order would be the
last people to be considered blessed.
He overturned all popular opinion about blessedness.
And he came to proclaim the kingdom of
the Father.
And this really is the charter of the
kingdom.
The sermon on the mount.
And what he was saying in effect is
the citizens of the kingdom are people who
behave like this.
In other words if we want to be
citizens of the kingdom this is the behavior
that is required of us.
So let's just read them and not dwell
on them too long.
Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs
is the kingdom of heaven.
Now very few people think it's blessed to
be poor.
It was a startling statement.
Now he did not speak about I would
say financial poverty.
But he spoke about spiritual poverty.
There are two things in which God is
said to be rich in the New Testament.
Rich in mercy and rich in grace.
And the poor in spirit are those who
realize how much they desperately need the mercy
and the grace of God.
They are not rich in their own esteem.
The Greek word used means beggars.
Let me ask this.
Are you spiritually a beggar?
Or are you rather satisfied with yourself?
And do you feel you've come a long
way and you're doing pretty well and you
belong to a good church and your church
is somewhat better than most of the others.
That is not poverty of the spirit.
There are two churches in Revelation which are
an interesting contrast.
They're the last two listed and I believe
each of them is a kind of type
of a church at the end of the
age.
First of all we'll turn to Revelation 3
verses 15 and following.
This is the church of the Laodiceans.
Now loosely interpreted the word Laodicea means people's
rights.
The Greek word for people is laos.
Dikki is a right.
So this is the church of the people
who are claiming their rights.
And Jesus says some of the most amazing
things.
I've read these words and pondered on them.
He says what he said to every one
of the seven churches.
I know your works.
I know what you're doing.
That you are neither cold nor hot.
I could wish you were cold or hot.
Jesus said anything but lukewarm please.
It comes to my mind that good many
years ago.
I mean probably 25 years ago.
I was invited to preach in a church
in Canada.
I didn't really normally expect such an invitation.
But they told me that before I came
they prayed that I would bring them the
word of the Lord.
You know what I preached about?
The church of Laodicea.
And they couldn't believe that was the word
of the Lord.
Now I had no prejudice, no preconception.
I simply gave them what I believed the
Lord had given me.
But they were incapable of believing that the
description of the church of the Laodiceans could
possibly apply to them.
Listen to this description.
So then because you are lukewarm and neither
cold nor hot I will spew you or
vomit you out of my mouth.
Because you say I am rich, have become
wealthy, and have need of nothing.
And do not know that you are wretched,
miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
I counsel you to buy from me gold
refined in the fire that you may be
rich.
That's faith that's been tested.
And white garments that you may be clothed.
That the shame of your nakedness may not
be revealed.
And anoint your eyes with eye salve that
you may see.
Could you conceive it possible that people would
be wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked.
And not even know it.
But that's the condition of the Laodicean church.
They had a totally false sense of values.
Because apparently they were financially prosperous.
They considered themselves to be spiritual.
Does that correspond to anything that we hear
taught today?
I think it's probably one of the main
problems of the American church.
Then we look back to the other end
time church as I understand it.
Philadelphia.
Philadelphia means brotherly love.
And to that church Jesus said these things,
verse 7, says he who is holy, he
who is true, he who has the key
of David, he who opens and no one
shuts, and shuts and no one opens.
I know your works.
And brothers and sisters bear in mind that
Jesus knows your works.
He knows what you're doing.
He doesn't merely listen to what you tell
him.
But he knows what you do.
I know your works.
See I have set before you an open
door and no one can shut it.
For you have a little strength, have kept
my word and have not denied my name.
Really in a way their great strength was
they had a little strength.
They could not rely on their own strength.
They had to rely on God's faithfulness.
I trust I can say this in the
right way.
I believe that is true of our ministry.
We have a little strength.
We're a relatively small ministry.
But we have kept God's word.
We have not denied his name.
And he has set before us a door
so amazingly wide that we can hardly believe
it.
In 1979 I started a radio program in
the United States on eight stations with a
budget of eight thousand dollars a month and
we didn't know where the money would come
from.
And I had no thought that that radio
broadcast would ever go outside the United States.
And I didn't do anything to plan it.
I didn't do anything to arrange it.
But that radio broadcast is now in 10
languages.
Four main Chinese dialects.
Russian, Spanish, help me, Arabic, Mongolian, Tongan
and it's we're working on Indonesian.
And I suppose every day it's more than
possible that millions of people are exposed to
that radio broadcast.
That's a great door.
But the Lord opened it.
We didn't even ask him to open it.
We didn't, it didn't occur to us that
that would happen.
And that's only a part of our ministry.
Does the brother here from Burundi, where is
he?
Not here.
Gone anyhow.
He just came up to me and thanked
me.
He said we have been receiving your teaching
material regularly for years and we've given it
out to hundreds of people.
Now on our list of what we call
our global outreach program, we have about 1700
full-time workers in 120 nations who receive
free our Bible teaching material.
And my books or part of my books
or some of my literature has been translated
into about 50 languages.
Our video Bible school, which consists of 29
hours of teaching by me on video, is
now translated into all the main languages of
Eastern Europe, except Polish.
It's in Russian, Hungarian, Czech, Serbian, Romanian,
Albanian and others.
German, thank you.
Now I don't say that to boast.
But if I preach something that didn't apply,
why should you listen to my words?
What I want to say is, it works.
God means what he says.
And my main prayer is not that we'll
get so many million dollars.
It's that we'll be faithful to God's word
and not deny his name.
After that, God takes care of the consequences.
But I believe really that these two churches
represent in a way the two main thrusts
of what is happening in the spiritual realm
in the church today.
There are many, many churches like Laodicea and
there are those that are like Philadelphia.
And I think we need to ask ourselves,
what am I involved in?
What am I giving my time and my
finance to?
Is it some little self-perpetuating group of
people who meet weekly on Sunday mornings and
when they separate they say, God bless you
brother, see you next Sunday.
That doesn't interest me.
And one thing I find difficult is a
congregation that consists of people of all of
the same color and the same social status.
I'm really not happy.
I like a good mixture.
Different colors, different social levels, different languages.
That's where I'm happy.
In 1963, God thrust me into the ministry
of deliverance.
Some of you've seen some of the things
I do.
I didn't plan that.
But a dear Pentecostal sister who used to
play the piano in our Sunday morning services
in Seattle, Washington threw a demonic fit right
in front of the platform.
And at that moment I was preaching on
this theme, no matter what the devil does,
God has the last word.
And I saw I had either to prove
it or to stop preaching it.
And I called my first wife forward and
we, with two other persons, cast the demon
out of that woman in front of the
congregation.
Now they were Pentecostals.
But when the demon went out, they were
pale.
I mean they looked as if they'd seen
a ghost.
They had never seen anything like it in
their lives.
And without my intending it, I got plunged
into this.
I didn't seek it.
If I'd been given an option, I'd have
chosen something much more romantic.
But something happened.
That girl was wonderfully delivered.
It took about two hours in the pastor's
office on Sunday morning.
About half the time she was tearing her
clothes off, which is not the normal procedure
for the pastor's office on Sunday morning.
She never came back to that congregation.
And I realized she was ashamed to be
seen by those people.
And that faced me personally with a challenge.
I said, what am I supposed to be
pastoring?
Is this a middle-class social club that
meets on Sunday mornings?
Or is it a place where those with
desperate needs can come and find help?
And I made an important decision.
I said, for me, I'll go for the
people with needs.
Whether it's respectable.
Whether they behave nicely in church.
Whether we have dignified services.
All of those are secondary.
Let's be real.
The theme of this conference is reality.
And what I'm talking to telling you tonight
is reality.
Amen.
I thank you.
I thank God for brother Mahesh.
He's been one of those that has been
in the battle with us.
And he's been on the battle on his
own too.
But we, in a way, started together.
And we've come a long way.
Not because we're great.
But because we have a little strength.
We've kept God's word.
And we've not denied his name.
So what kind of congregation do you want
to belong to?
What kind of activity do you want to
be involved in?
Let's go back to the Beatitudes very quickly.
The next one is, blessed are those who
mourn.
For they shall be comforted.
Now nobody considers it normally a blessing to
mourn.
But Jesus said, that's the ones that get
blessed.
The ones that are sorry.
The ones that grieve.
The ones that humble themselves.
The ones that empathize with the grief of
others.
They will be comforted.
The next one, blessed are the meek.
For they shall inherit the earth.
Meekness is very little spoken of today.
In fact the word is almost dropped out
of contemporary usage.
But it's still a very real thing.
The meek do not appropriate the earth.
They do not dominate the earth.
They inherit the earth.
That's a test of faith.
Are you willing to let God allot you
your inheritance?
Without grabbing for it?
Without fighting for it?
It's a decision.
The next one, blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness.
For they shall be filled.
Again, especially in the Middle East, that's an
absurd statement.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst.
There were plenty of hungry people and some
thirsty people.
But they did not consider themselves blessed.
It was a paradox.
But Jesus said, blessed are those who hunger
and thirst for righteousness.
I meet lots of people hungering and thirsting
for healing, for deliverance.
But I meet comparatively few who are really
hungering and thirsting for righteousness.
In the church that we attend in Jerusalem
on a Sunday morning service, just a couple
of months ago, there was a visiting speaker
who preached on this text.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for
righteousness.
And it was a good sermon, well constructed,
good illustrations.
And he was, he went into a great
deal of detail about what it really means
to be thirsty.
And I listened and I thought that's all
right.
But I wasn't moved.
Then we went into a period of worship.
And in the middle of that the worship
leader said, God is here right now.
If you have any request, bring it to
him.
I had premeditated nothing.
I didn't have anything in my mind.
But without even planning it, I blurted out
to the Lord, Lord all I want is
more of you.
And I want to tell you, I got
it.
I got so much I was embarrassed.
I thought I'll upset the service.
Let me recommend that to you.
You can't do it out of your own
initiative.
But if God prompts you, why don't you
say that.
All I want is more of you.
Then the next one is blessed are the
merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.
One thing has always helped me in my
walk with the Lord.
I've always seen that I need the Lord's
mercy.
I have never been a day in my
life that I was not aware that I
need the mercy of the Lord.
So, but I'm not by nature a very
merciful person.
But I said I have to be merciful.
Mercy, I need it desperately.
I was impressed by the words of the
Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 7 verse 25.
We don't need to turn there.
But he said about a certain question.
I give my opinion as one who has
obtained mercy of the Lord to be found
faithful.
And it must have been a good 20
years ago.
I was struck by the fact that we
are not able to be faithful by our
own will or by our own efforts.
It's only through the mercy of the Lord
that we can be faithful.
And I continually remind myself of that.
Then it says blessed are the pure in
heart for they shall see God.
Now that's not necessarily so paradoxical.
But remember that without holiness no one will
see the Lord.
And holiness I think is purity of heart.
It's not keeping a little set of religious
rules.
It's having a heart that's pure.
This past Passover season in Israel where they
celebrate the Passover.
Pretty, almost everybody is involved in some way.
I was thinking about the fact that the
Jewish people had to purge out all old
leaven.
And I thought to myself that applies to
me.
And God brought it to my attention that
I had a lot of things in my
mind that went back even to the time
before I was saved.
Phrases that I would use, images that came
to my mind, incidents that had taken place,
a kind of language that's used by unsaved
people.
And various kinds of fears and anxiety.
And I realized they were all old leaven.
And I took a stand to purge them
out of my life.
Now I am not free from those pressures.
But every time they come I say I've
purged you out.
I am not taking you back.
I suggest to you that many of you
should consider whether there's old leaven in your
thinking, in your attitudes, in your reactions.
Blessed are the pure in heart for they
shall see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be
called sons of God.
Wonderful thing to be a peacemaker.
The final beatitude, blessed are those who are
persecuted for righteousness' sake.
Do you consider that a blessing?
Jesus said to his disciples, blessed are you
when they revile and persecute you and say
all kinds of evil against you falsely for
my sake.
Rejoice and be exceedingly glad for great is
your reward in heaven for so they persecuted
the prophets who were before you.
So when people criticize you, gossip about you,
tell lies about you.
Do you rejoice and are you exceedingly glad?
Because that's the appropriate reaction.
So those are just little pictures of what
I believe it is to have the nature
of the Lamb.
It's an incomplete study.
But let me close this particular section with
one glorious fact.
In this war it's the Lamb who wins.
That's contrary to all natural expectation.
Because all the power apparently is on the
other side.
Everything in a sense is a raid against
the people who want to live for God.
But we are more than conquerors through him
who loved us.
I love the passage in Revelation chapter five
where John had, he saw the Lamb.
I'd like to read the first seven verses
of Revelation five.
And I saw in the right hand of
him who sat on the throne a scroll
written inside and on the back sealed with
seven seals.
Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with
a loud voice who is worthy to open
the scroll and to loose its seals.
So there was a tremendous demonstration of strength,
a strong angel with a loud voice.
And no one in heaven or on the
earth or under the earth was able to
open the scroll or to look at it.
So I wept much because no one was
found worthy to open the scroll or to
look at it.
But one of the elders said to me
do not weep.
Behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah,
the root of David, has prevailed to open
the scroll and its seven seals.
And John turned to look and I'm sure
he expected to see a very powerful, glorious,
majestic, awe-inspiring lion.
And what did he see?
Something quite different.
And I looked and in the midst of
the throne and of the four living creatures
and in the midst of the elders stood
a lamb as though it had been slain.
Having seven horns and seven eyes which are
the seven spirits of God sent out into
all the earth.
Then he, the lamb came and took the
scroll out of the right hand of him
who sat on the throne.
You see that's absolutely contrary to the way
we think naturally.
And it's totally contrary to our contemporary culture.
Because the most powerful being in heaven was
a slain lamb.
What is God saying?
Let's look at it this way.
Jesus gave up his life, died and was
buried.
He did not bring himself back to life.
The Father raised him from the dead by
the power of the Holy Spirit.
Are you willing to take the same pathway?
To die and stay dead till God raises
you back to life.
Because when you're raised back to life in
that way, it's a different life.
That's the overcoming life.
That's the life of the kingdom.
It's the life of the lamb.
And then all heaven proclaimed the worthiness of
the lamb.
And it says in the same chapter verses
11 and 12.
Then I looked and I heard the voice
of many angels around the throne, the living
creatures and the elders.
And the number of them was ten thousand
times ten thousand, which is ten million.
And thousands of thousands, which is millions.
Saying with a loud voice, worthy is the
lamb who was slain to receive power and
riches and wisdom and strength and honor and
glory and blessing.
What's the way to the throne?
The way of the cross and the tomb.
And resurrection by the will of God, not
by our own efforts.
Why are so many Christians struggling in their
own strength?
Because they've never experienced death.
They've never been willing to let go and
let God.
They've never experienced God's resurrection power in their
lives.
I'm not talking about the baptism of the
Holy Spirit, that's wonderful.
But I'm talking about a level of living,
where we can say it is not I
who live, but Christ who lives in me.
And the life I now live in the
flesh.
I live by the faith of the Son
of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me.
I think it would be good for a
moment, if we were just to say that
simple statement.
As the expression of our hearts gratitude and
appreciation, worthy is the lamb, worthy is the
lamb.
Again, worthy is the lamb.
Once more, worthy is the lamb.
He will be the center of heaven throughout
all eternity.
And all the mighty angels and the archangels
and the seraphim and the cherubim will all
bow down and worship that slain lamb of
God.
What a lesson, what a picture.
I come back to that thought.
There are two super spiritual powers at work
amongst humanity today.
The spirit of the lamb, the spirit of
the wild beast.
The spirit of the wild beast is a
spirit that grabs, dominates, controls, manipulates and gets
everything under its power.
It's the spirit that prevails in the political
world.
It's the spirit that prevails in the business
world.
Which spirit prevails with you and me, the
wild beast or the lamb?
And I don't believe there's anything between the
two.
I don't believe humanity is going to have
any other option.
They're going to have precisely the same choice
that God gave to Israel.
Do you want Jesus or do you want
Barabbas?
And at that moment we will have made
our choice.
If we have been living under the power
of the spirit of the wild beast, we
will not be able to change.
I believe that power is taking humanity over
already in the invisible realm.
And when the Antichrist is manifested, he will
already have his followers.
And I'm not speaking to you as different
from myself.
I am continually concerned in my own mind
to be sure that I will not come
out on the side of the Antichrist.
This is not a theory.
It's for me a very real practical issue.
Now I have one more thing to say
and I wasn't sure whether I should say
it.
I told the people who I had lunch
with that if I preach this, unless it's
in the anointing of the Holy Spirit, it's
totally in vain.
But I want to talk to you for
a moment about revival.
In a practical sense revival in Great Britain.
In 1953 when I was pastoring a very
small congregation in Bayswater, London.
One night I woke up about 2 a
.m. which seems to be a time that
God wakes me up.
And God spoke to me audibly.
That's the only ever time I've heard his
voice audible.
And I'm not meaning that that's necessarily more
authoritative than any other.
But it was unique for me.
And he didn't make any introduction.
He just made certain statements.
And the first statement was this.
There shall be a great revival in the
United States and Great Britain.
Now I was not the least bit interested
in the United States in those days.
It was before the days of jet travel
and we had very little money.
And as far as we were concerned the
United States was a remote country.
Then the Lord spoke to me about my
own ministry briefly.
And I don't ever feel free to say
what he said.
But he closed with these words.
But the condition is obedience in small things
and in great things.
For the small things are as great as
the great thing.
And I went to the Bible and I
studied it.
And I saw that almost everywhere in the
Bible when it speaks about small and great.
It always puts small before great.
I also have read a certain amount about
revival.
And I observed that one condition that God's
people always have to fulfill is obedience.
And sometimes it's doing things that seem very
silly or unrelated to the issue of revival.
And here I am 39 years later.
I have never forgotten what God said.
I've always believed it was God who said
it.
And I in a sense have been waiting
to see when it would come to pass.
Here I am 77 years old and I
have the impression I will not be taken
by the Lord until I've seen it.
That's my personal subjective opinion.
And I am deeply concerned for my own
country Britain.
As I said I think last night there's
no one here more British than I am.
I was interviewed by the UCB people last
night after the meeting.
And they said to me do you think
about, what do you think about Britain?
Is there a possibility of revival?
And I said yes I believe there is.
And I used a little example which has
become very vivid to me.
When I was in South Africa some years
back.
Somebody there told me about an area of
South Africa that's called Namaqualand.
If there's a South African here you probably
know where it is.
They said this is a very desert area.
Very little grows on it.
And it can stay that way for five
or six or more years.
But at rare intervals it rains heavily in
Namaqualand.
And when the rain falls there's the most
gorgeous display of flowers you could see anywhere
in the world.
The reason is the seeds had lain dormant
beneath the soil.
But because of the dryness they didn't germinate.
But when the rain fell all those dormant
seeds suddenly burst forth into glorious life.
Now I believe Britain is like Namaqualand.
It is dry and barren.
But under the surface there are seeds of
biblical truth.
This nation as far as I understand it
over its long history has had more exposure
to the truth of the Bible than any
other nation on earth.
And the seeds are still there.
And once the rain falls we'll be astonished
at what comes out.
That's my belief.
That's my vision.
Now I want to say we need to
distinguish between revival and evangelism.
A lot of people talk about revival as
if it was evangelism.
Now I believe passionately in evangelism.
But when we talk about revival that's not
what we are talking about.
Because revival means bringing back to life something
that has died.
Evangelism is presenting the truth to people who've
never had life.
Revival is bringing back to life people who've
had life and died.
Evangelism affects the unconverted.
Revival affects the church.
And because the church is the body of
Christ and Christ is Lord.
Ultimately God will not do anything redemptively that
he does not do through the body.
He will never bypass the body of his
Son.
So it depends on the church.
In the great Welsh revival which is so
well known.
Evan Roberts used to use this little slogan.
Bend the church and bow the world.
And I believe that's totally true.
If the church will bend the world will
bow.
But if the church will not bend God
has no other way to reach the world.
I believe the destiny of this nation depends
on us.
We cannot evade our responsibility.
Let me suggest two ways in which revival
will change the church.
Very simple.
First of all Ephesians 1 22 and 23
says God gave Jesus to be head over
all things to the church which is his
body.
Doesn't say God imposed Jesus on the church.
Says God gave Jesus to the church to
be head.
And as I understand the function of the
head is to make the decisions and take
the initiative.
And I would suggest to you that there
is very little in the church today in
which Jesus is permitted to make the decisions
and take the initiative.
The initiative has been taken out of his
hand.
And it's in the hand of human groups,
committees and others.
Boards.
I'm naughty.
I mean I've repented of this because our
ministry has a board.
But as a young creature I used to
be against boards.
And I once said after all the New
Testament does say that there is a use
for boards.
Because when Paul and his companions were shipwrecked
on the island of Malta they got to
shore.
Some on boards and some on pieces of
the ship.
Well I've repented of that wrong attitude.
But boards are not Jesus Christ.
In that little book that I've just made
available.
The destiny of Israel and the church.
I wrote a sentence which arrested me.
I thought did I write that?
And in essence what I said is this.
God only endorses and blesses that which he
himself has initiated.
And I observed the things which God has
initiated they flourish.
They move.
They grow.
They have life and power.
And you understand it's the height of a
presumption for us in the church to take
the initiative out of the hands of Jesus
Christ.
But really there is very little serious attempt
to find out what he's planned.
Now there are groups that do it.
I could name some but I think I
won't.
Because it would be create problems for them
for one thing.
But I believe there has to be a
revolution.
If that's going to have a revival.
In which Jesus truly becomes head over all
things to the church.
We have we Ruth and I are members
of a church.
So is Mahesh in Fort Lauderdale called Good
News Church.
So when you have GNC it can stand
for Good News Crusade or Good News Church.
And about a year and half ago I
preached on this issue of the headship of
Jesus.
And it was one of those occasions when
I stepped beyond what I planned.
And I said to the church and particularly
to the three men in leadership.
You have to decide who's head.
Are you willing to let Jesus in and
really make the decisions and form the plans.
And next week in the bulletin they put
come on in Lord Jesus.
Now I wouldn't say by any means he's
totally head.
But I believe they are moving in the
right direction.
The other area which will be affected by
revival is the bride.
The church's bride.
I mean there are many other areas but
that's the one I want to mention.
In Revelation 19 verses 6 7 & 8
it says, And I heard as it were
the voice of a great multitude as the
sound of many waters and as the sound
of mighty thundering saying Alleluia for the Lord
God omnipotent reigns.
Let us be glad and rejoice and give
him glory for the marriage of the Lamb
has come and his wife or bride has
made herself ready.
Would you notice that the bride has to
have made herself ready.
Do we today see a church diligently making
herself ready.
In most places there's very little evidence of
that.
And this is how she made herself ready.
To her it was granted to be arrayed
in fine linen clean and bright.
For the fine linen is the righteous acts
of the Saints.
So the material that we will wear for
our wedding dress is our righteous acts.
There are no righteous acts, no material.
I hope I don't sound flippant but I
think the contemporary church has probably just got
enough for a bikini.
That's not suitable for a wedding.
We have got to produce the righteous acts
appropriate to our profession of faith.
One righteous act that we've spoken about many
times is proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom
in all nations.
If we don't do that we cannot expect
to have the kind of clothing that's appropriate
to the wedding.
As I understand it when you believe in
Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.
His righteousness is imputed to you.
That's imputed righteousness.
But what it talks about here is outworked
righteousness.
Righteous acts.
So your righteousness imputed has to be expressed
in righteousness outworked.
I want to say one more thing about
the Lamb and clothes.
To me this is frightening.
I have no intention deliberately to frighten you.
But I think that way sometimes we need
to be frightened.
Years ago after a deliverance service a lady
came up to me and said brother Prince
you scare me.
And I said I think maybe you need
to be scared.
This personally frightens me.
It's the last verses of Revelation chapter 6.
It's interesting to me because Ruth and I
read Revelation through two or three times.
And we didn't really get any great understanding.
But now I find without seeking it I'm
just preaching out of Revelation.
You see if you take God's Word in
you don't have to do a lot of
reasoning.
Sooner or later it'll come out.
So I'm going to read Revelation chapter 6
verses 12 through 17.
And this is my closing passage.
I looked when he opened the sixth seal
and behold there was a great earthquake.
The sun became black as sackcloth of hair
and the moon became like blood.
And the stars of heaven fell to the
earth as a fig tree drops its late
figs when it is shaken by a mighty
wind.
Then the sky receded as a scroll when
it is rolled up.
And every mountain and island was moved out
of its place.
That is a major earthquake.
I believe it's going to be the close
of the age.
And the kings of the earth, the great
men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty
men, every slave and every free man hid
themselves in the caves and in the rocks
of the mountains.
And said to the mountains and rocks fall
on us and hide us from the face
of him who sits on the throne.
And from the wrath of the Lamb for
the great day of his wrath has come.
And who is able to stand.
How many of you have ever seen an
angry lamb?
I don't believe there ever has been such
a thing.
It's totally contrary to the nature of a
lamb.
But in this climax of history the people
who've rejected God's mercy will have a revelation
of an open heaven.
And through it they will look on the
most terrible and frightening sight that ever confronted
human eyes.
The wrath of the Lamb.
Because when God's mercy and patience have finally
been exhausted.
Then there will be a revelation of Jesus
such as no one has ever seen.
The wrath of the Lamb.
And as I understand it people would gladly
be crushed under rocks or mountains.
Rather than have to face this terrible spectacle
of the wrath of the Lamb.
I don't really have more to say.
I know that it's not orthodox to end
a message like that.
I just want to say one thing which
is connected with Revival and is not unconnected
with what I've been saying.
Don Double wrote to me before we came
to this camp.
And he said I've been praying about next
year's camp in Melbourne.
And he said the only word I get
is invite Derrick Prince.
And normally I don't make hasty commitments.
But when I got that letter I felt
I have to say yes.
And I've said yes.
God willing Ruth and I will be here
again this time next year.
And I somehow have an impression that it's
got something to do with Revival in Britain.
You see it'll be precisely 40 years from
1953 when the Lord spoke to me.
And I have a sense of anticipation.
A sense of excitement.
But let's remember that Revival doesn't come till
we meet God's conditions.
God is sovereign.
But his sovereignty expresses itself in causing us
to meet his conditions.
A lot of people are prophesying Revival.
I'm not sure that that helps.
Because people may have the attitude well Revival
is coming we don't need to do much
about it.
I don't see it that way.
I believe that Revival will come when God's
people meet his conditions.
And I'd like to suggest to you those
of you who are involved with Good News
Crusade and come to these camps.
That we really take time to seek God
and find out what is his plan for
1993.
I have a feeling it's going to be
different.
I had the impression this year I must
teach on the end times.
Because if God's people are ignorant of that
they cannot respond intelligently to God's program.
But next year I don't know what I'll
be teaching.
But I believe in some way it will
deal with what we have to do and
to be if we really want Revival.
And if you're going to be here and
we're going to be here I ask you
to prepare your hearts to keep this matter
before God in prayer.
Because nothing else can save this nation from
disaster.
But a sovereign revival of the church by
the power of the Holy Spirit.
A revival that will bring back holiness and
righteousness and the fear of the Lord and
fruitfulness.
As I've said I believe in evangelism.
But the end purpose of evangelism is to
bring sinners into the church.
And what kind of church are we going
to bring them into.
I don't want to dwell on this.
But in 1954 the first time Billy Graham
came to Haringey.
I served as a counselor in that crusade.
And I counseled 22 people and I kept
a record of each one.
And we were required to follow them up,
to phone, to write, to do everything.
And I did it as well as I
could do.
But at the end of it all I
was forced to the conclusion that probably there
were only two people out of the 22
who had remained really committed Christians.
And it so happened they both joined my
congregation.
I didn't ask them.
I didn't want them.
But I don't believe they would have survived
if they hadn't been brought under the teaching
of the Word of God.
And so you see we can be as
energetic and active as we please in revival.
But what are we going to bring the
sinners into.
At that time in London some rather cynical
Christian said it doesn't make sense to put
a live chick under a dead hen.
The first thing we need to do is
get the hen alive.
Then the chick will survive.
Is that true?
Amen.