The Doorway To Restoration - Derek Prince

we'll turn there with me to the 36th chapter the Prophet is he the latter part of this 36 chapter is a promise from God to restore Israel to their own land and inheritance now I am NOT speaking specifically on the theme of Israel's restoration but I have pointed out many times that God is working a work of parallel restoration for his people a national restoration of Israel the fig tree and a spiritual restoration of the church the vine as predicted in the book of Joel and there are many things in the natural restoration of Israel which are patterns and examples for the spiritual restoration of the church I have to say to you as I said to a group in the capital building where I was speaking earlier today that probably the greatest single objective proof that the Bible is an up-to-date and reliable book is the fact that God is restoring Israel to their own land if there were never any restoration of Israel we would have to take our Bibles and throw them away as worthless unreliable books because the entire Bible is committed to the fact that God will restore Israel to their own land now the fact that this is taking place should be to any intelligent person very strong evidence that the Bible is not out-of-date that it is an up-to-date reliable book which still applies to the situation in our world today now I'm going to take a principle stated here in this 36th chapter of Ezekiel concerning the national restoration of Israel and I'm going to give it an application to us in God's purposes for the church if you look in this prophecy starting at verse 24 going through verse 30 if you care to count and I wouldn't advise you to do it right now you will find that God says 17 times in those verses which is seven verses I will do certain things for the house of Israel and he states them without any qualifications he has said already in verse 22 I do not this for your sakes of house of Israel but for mine Holy Name sink in other words it's nothing in Israel which merits God's intervention but it's God's faithfulness to his promises and God's concern for the glory of his own name that moves him to intervene in this wing having said this he goes on to state 17 times what he will do for them if you like to look just briefly in verse 24 we don't need to read more than the first two verses of this passage verse 24 and 25 I will take you from among the Gentiles and will gather you out of all countries and will bring you into your own land there's three I wills in that verse the next verse verse 25 then will I sprinkle clean water upon you and ye shall be clean from all your filthiness and from all your idols will I cleanse you there are two I wills and then verse go on I think you'll find them right there are seventeen so here is the sovereign intervention of God on behalf of Israel that is not due to the merits or the deserts of Israel but is provoked by God's own faithfulness to his own covenant and promises and by God's concern for the glory of his own name now I want you to read on to verse 37 where God says thus said the Lord God I will yet for this be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it for them God has told us what he will do and he said it without qualification and yet when he comes to the close of this great prophecy he says I'm yet going to demand of the house of Israel that they inquire of me that they seek me the Hebrew word means to seek God with great earnest that they seek me with great earnestness to do this for them now this brings out a principle in God's relationship and dealings with his people and I've stated it in this sentence which it seemed to me the Holy Spirit brought to me God's predestined purpose provokes man's free response according to God's foreknowledge God says at a certain time he's going to do this for the house of Israel not because they deserve it but because he is gracious and faithful and he says precisely what he will do but he says in effect when you see me intervene on your behalf in this way when you see my promises coming into fulfillment I expect a response from you of your own free will I expect you to return to me in humility in repentance and to seek me earnestly in prayer for the fulfillment of what I have promised and what you have already seen begin to take place in other words when God begins to move in Sovereign Grace on behalf of his people fulfilling the promises of His Word and when God's people see these promises coming into fulfillment then we do not sit back and say isn't that wonderful look what God is doing this is not the response the responses God is moving on our behalf let us seek him with all our hearts that he may fulfill the good word which he has promised you see the grace of God the faithfulness of God provokes a response of man's free will to turn to God and to seek him with all honest Ness in other words the revelations the promises and the prophecies of God's Word are not an excuse for spiritual indifference and laziness but they provoke us to a new measure of spiritual earnestness and seeking God have you ever heard people talk about divine healing like the swing well I guess if it's God's he'll-he'll me you ever heard people talk like that well that's as far from being inline with the mind of God as a person could possibly be if God has stated that it's his will to heal you if he's given you the promise of healing that is not an excuse for you to sit back and say well I guess if it's God's will he's going to do it anyhow that is not the appropriate response the response is God if you've promised thank you I'll seek you with all my heart for the fulfillment of what you've promised this is the response that God desires when he moves in his faithfulness to fulfill the promises of His grace on behalf of his people now this applies not merely to Israel but to the church and it is the application to the church that I am now going to consider we have to ask ourselves what is God's purpose for us now I'm talking about the believers of the Church of Jesus Christ and we are leaving Israel on one side now what is it that God has revealed he will do and what is it that we see him doing at this time for the church and I say that we can take two scriptures the first is acts 2:17 where we have a sovereign declaration of what God will do for his people in the last days it says this it shall come to pass in the last days saith God that I will pour out of my spirit upon all flesh your sons and your daughters shall prophesy your young men shall see visions your old men shall dream dreams now God does not qualify this thank God he didn't say if the church is unite or if the theologians concur or if the bishops permit I will pour out of my spirit because you know it would never have happened God says no matter what happens I'm going to do this this is my Sovereign Grace this is my predestined intervention on behalf of my people I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh your sons and your daughters prophesy your young men will see visions your old men will dream dreams now when Peter made that statement on the day of Pentecost he linked it directly with the prophecy of Joel concerning the restoration of God's people in the last days acts 2:17 is actually a quotation of Joel chapter 2 verse 28 and I believe if you turn to Joel chapter 2 and look in verse 25 you'll find the key word that describes what God is doing in the outpouring of his Holy Spirit God says in general 2:25 in connection with this outpouring of the Spirit I will restore to you the years that the locust had eaten the cankerworm and the caterpillar the Palmer worm my great army which I send among you I believe the key word is restoration there is a national restoration of Israel there is a spiritual restoration of the church so God's purpose at this present time as revealed in the scripture his restoration of his people through the outpoured Spirit acts 2:17 I will pour out my spirit Joelle 2:25 I will restore all right we see this happening in the space of about two and a half years from February 1967 until sometime in 1969 the number of Roman Catholics to receive the BAPS in the Holy Spirit through one single intervention of God grew from two to more than 30,000 that's a thousand a month now that is a sovereign intervention of God that is not anything that man can take any credit for it isn't because we've got such wonderful preachers today or such wonderful Bible teachers that now we see the result no man can take the credit for that it's God's faithfulness to his word I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh some people wonder what will be the limitations of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit will the Lutheran's receive well the answer is the Lutheran's flesh praise gone they may differ from us in other respects but they certainly have flesh will the Jews received well the Jews have flesh what about the Roman Catholics well they have flesh God says all flesh every section of the human race without an exception is going to experience this last day outpouring of the holy spirit now what is our response to God's Moo God said to Israel I will take you from the heathen I will put you in your own land I will sprinkle clean water upon you and will cleanse you from all your sins and all your idols and all your filthiness body says I will yet be inquired of by the house of Israel to do it now God says concerning the church I will pour out my spirit upon every section of the church there will come a tremendous supernatural visitation but God says there's something for you people to do now we're coming to our response to the move of God's Spirit over all the earth and I want to suggest to you that God is calling his people with new emphasis to prayer and fasting did you read that word there you say fasting I say fasting but whichever way we pronounce it we spell it the same F a s T I ng you know what that means it means deliberately going without food for the sake of prayer and spiritual accomplishment and did you know that is the revealed will of God for every professing Christian I'm going to be showing you but it is particularly the will of God for us at this time of the outpouring of God's Spirit now let's take the book of Joel as the great outline of this outpouring I've often said the outline of joel is simple desolation restoration judgment basically chapter 1 is desolation chapter 2 closes with the promise of restoration chapter 3 contains the warning of judgment now let's look at what God requires of his people in order to be delivered from the desolation and to enter into the restoration I want you if you if you will to follow with me in the book of Joel Joel chapter 1 verse 14 having described in detail the desolation the desolation the Lord says this sanctify year fast call a solemn assembly gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land into the house of the Lord your God and cry unto the Lord cry unto the Lord is desperate intercessory prayer but God says unite fasting with print not privately but publicly collectively sanctify fasts set aside a time of collective fasting for God's people gather the people of God into the house of God and then cry unto the Lord and in Joel 2 verse 12 says again therefore also now set the Lord turn you even to me with all your heart and with fasting and with weeping and with mourning and then in verse 15 blow the trumpet in Zion this is the most public proclamation to God's people the blowing of the trumpet is always a sign of warning and calling God's people together blow the trumpet in Zion sanctify or set aside a fast call a solemn assembly a solemn gathering of God's people gather the people sanctify the congregation assemble the elders gather the children and those that suck the breasts verse 17 let the priests the ministers of the Lord weep between the porch and the altar while all of God's people are included notice this particular emphasis on the leaders the elders the ministers and the priests and here is one place today in a church where if a man is going to lead he'd better go ahead I talked to a man who was a spiritual leader in a certain area and he said to me very frankly he said I have to run to keep up with the people I'm supposed to be leading and this is a situation in many areas where the eager laypeople have gone ahead of their official leadership and I want to challenge every leader if you're a leader you better lead and lead means go ahead and so when this call to fasting comes forth from the Word of God there's this special emphasis on the priests the ministers and the elder this is where they have an obligation to take the initiative and to show real leadership now God says when we move on to the promise of restoration Joel 2:28 are you with me Joel 2:28 and it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh now where Joel says afterward Peter says in the last days that's permissible because the Holy Spirit gave him that application but I want to tell you that Peters in the last days does not set aside Joel's afterward so when you say afterward then you have to say after what and the answer is after you've done what God tells you to do what did God tell you to do sanctify our fans call them a shot-caller solemn assembly turn to him with all your heart with fasting and weeping and mourning and God says it shall come to pass after that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh all that we have seen hitherto of the outpouring of God's Spirit is just a little sprinkle in relationship to what God desires and has declared that he will do that God says now you have seen me move you know that this is the hour that the time has come for me to pour out my spirit now he said it's up to you to respond it's up to you to move in and unite yourself with what I'm doing that my purposes may come to complete fulfillment what are you going to do to move in prayer and fasting this is our response to the move of God's Spirit it's prayer and fasting and I want to lay particular emphasis in this study on the theme of fasting some christians imagine that fasting is out of date that it went out with the old testament or something like that nothing could be further from the truth fasting is a part of the total provision of God for his believing people and of their spiritual discipline which has never been taken out of God's plan for us let's take a look now at the theme of fasting in connection with restoration I saw some years ago out of the Word of God that fasting has a particular relationship to the work of restoration which we spoke about already God said I will restore the years which the locusts the cankerworm the palmer worm the caterpillar have eaten now the great fasting chapter of the Old Testament is Isaiah 58 we will not have time to go into it in detail but let me point out that this chapter sets forth two kinds of fast in verses three through five we have the fast which is not acceptable to God which does not move the arm of God the reason why this fast is not acceptable is that the attitudes and relationships of the people involved in it are wrong they're still resentful they're grasping they're covetous they're legalistic they're censorious and critical of others God says if you fast with that attitude and spirit don't expect me to hear you or to answer your print but then in the next part of this chapter verses 6 through 12 God outlines that kind of fast that is acceptable to him and I want you to follow with me as I read these verses I'm not going to dwell on them in detail but I would like you to notice if you came the number of promises associated with fasting that is acceptable to God I do not know any passage of the Bible which contains a more condensed list of tremendous promises than these verses that I'm going to read to you now verse 6 is not this the fast that I have chosen to loose the bands of wickedness to undo the heavy burdens and to let the oppressed go free and that you break every yoke notice the motive for fasting must be right to bring deliverance to the oppressed and I will tell you in this ministry of deliverance there are people who will never be delivered until God's people and primarily God's ministers will fast and pray there are those who need deliverance to whom it will never come unless somebody's willing to pay the price of prayer and fasting then verse 7 is it not to deal that bread to the hungry and that they'll bring the poor that are cast out to thy house when thou seest the naked that they'll cover him and that they'll hide not thyself from thine own flesh this must be accompanied by an attitude of genuine practical charity towards those who are in need some evangelicals are so evangelical that they have forgotten that the gospel includes loving our neighbor as ourselves and that this is a very practical form of love which God requires God sends if your motives are right your attitudes and relationships are right then I'll tell you about the fast that I've chosen and I've I'll tell you what it will do for you now verse 8 then shall thy light break forth as the morning and thine health shall spring forth speedily thy righteousness shall go before thee the glory of the Lord shall be thy reward or shall gather the up notice verse 8 and notice the promise is there very close to that is the promise of Malachi the fourth chapter unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings and this is a promise that relates to the same period of time that we're dealing with to us who fear God's name the Sun of righteousness is now arising with healing in his wings now notice the essence of the promise of verse eight it is light righteousness and healing the two great things that Jesus the son of righteousness came to bring our stated righteousness and healing righteousness for the soul healing for the body God promises when we begin to fast and seek Him in the right way and with the right motives then we'll come light righteousness and healing verse two the great promise is answered prayer verse nine the second verse of the promises Isaiah 58 nine then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer thou shalt cry and he shall say Here I am God will be right at your elbow to answer your prayer immediately at your disposal then God goes on again to warn against the wrong attitudes that can spoil this he says in the second half verse 9 if thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke the putting forth of the finger and speaking vanity I will sum those out in three phrases the yolk is legalism the putting forth of the finger is criticism and speaking vanity is insincerity if you give up legalism criticism of others and in sincerity then God says I'm ready to hear and then again he emphasizes the need for practical charity verse 10 if thou draw out I sold to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul now comes the next great series of promises then shall thy light rise in obscurity and thy darkness be as the noonday light will take the place of darkness and the Lord shall guide thee continually and satisfy thy soul in drought and make fat thy bones and thou shalt be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not you know when I read verse 11 I want to know how to get that I don't know how you feel about that but when I read that series of promises there's something in me says Lord show me the way then and the way there is stated in verse 6 is not this the fast that I have chosen and we could sum up that promise in guidance direction positive clear assurance of God's presence and leading in every situation and no matter how dry it may be roundabout you'll have a fountain in your soul that's what it says thy soul shall be like a watered garden and like a spring of water whose waters fail not at the present time in Florida we have a drought and you can surely pick out the people who water their garden from those who don't I'll tell you the difference is tremendous and the people that meet God's conditions even when everybody else is dry and withered and parched all around them will be like a watered garden and then we come to the promise that culminates these promises of God and here it is in verse 12 it's the promise of restoration they that be of thee shall build the old waste places you know there's a lot of old waste places in the church did you know that that need to be rebuilt and thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations you know I made a brief study of the men that really moved God and man in the history of the church who laid the foundation of many generations whose ministry extended beyond their own little circle in their own age and I'm convinced that every one of them practiced fasting I cannot find a single exception John Knox Calvin Luther Wesley Finney you take the great modern evangelist who's naming unto all of us every one of those men on their own testimony has practiced fasting if you want to lay the foundation of many generations this is what goes with it and then we come to the last promise and thou shall be called the repairer of the breach the restorer of paths to dwell in there's many many breaches in God's people's inheritance that need to be built up God said in Ezekiel the 22nd chapter I looked for a man among them that would make up the hedge and stand in the gap before me and I found none the prayer of interest intercessory fasting is making up and standing in the gang it makes you a repairer of the breach now let's look at the men and the woman who would associate it with the great process of restoration recorded in the Old Testament there's one great pattern of restoration recorded in Old Testament history it's the restoration of God's people from captivity in Babylon to the city of Jerusalem to their own land and the record of the rebuilding of God's Temple in Jerusalem now if you take the historical books that relate to this particular phase of the history of God's people if you take them in order of time not the order in which they occur in the scriptures they are Daniel Ezra Nehemiah and Esther and it was a tremendous revelation to me when I realized one day that every one of those persons after whom those books are named was a person who had practiced fasting and God showed me again there's a very close relationship between fasting and restoration as indicated in Isaiah 58 verse 12 you turn to Daniel the ninth chapter we have another wonderful illustration of this truth that God's promises when we see them coming into fulfillment are not an excuse for laziness but a provocation to prayer such as we've never prayed before now Daniel was in the captivity in Babylon but he was a student of the scriptures of his day and in Daniel 9 verses 2 & 3 Daniel 9 2 & 3 he says this in the first year of his reign I Daniel understood by books that is from the scriptures the number of the years where of the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah the Prophet that he would accomplish 70 years in the desolations of Jerusalem Daniel was a student and a historian and he knew that the 70 years of captivity were just about due to run out he realized it from the study of Scripture the prophet the 25th chapter and elsewhere in Jeremiah now what did Daniel do look at the next verse I sent my face unto the Lord God to seek by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes Daniel did not adopt the attitude well God's going to restore us isn't that wonderful I guess we'll soon be back he saw what God was seeking to do he saw what God had committed himself to do and he said God I'm in this with you count me in I'll give myself to prayer and fasting as I never have done before until I see the fulfillment of your promise in experience and that's the pattern for us when God says in the last days I will pour out of my spirit I will restore to you the years which the locust and the cankerworm the Palmer worm and the caterpillar have eaten when we see God beginning to move we should react like Daniel set our face with prayer and fasting for the fulfillment of what God has shown he wishes to do God's promise is not an excuse for inactivity it's a provocation to prayer and then we read in Ezra you go back in your Bible but forward in time the book of Ezra the eighth chapter Azra was leading a party of returning exiles from Babylon to the city of Jerusalem they came to the point where they were about to take a journey of several months through country that was infested by brigands and hostile tribes they had with them their wives and their children and what was even more important to Orthodox Jews they had with them all the sacred vessels of the temple which were being sent back to the temple from Babylon now they face the prospect of taking this journey of some months through this area that was extremely dangerous and the question arose how were they to ensure the protection of their wives and their children and these sacred vessels of the temple and ezra says in the verses were going to read in a moment he said I could have asked from the king a band of soldiers and horsemen but I was ashamed too because I told the king that our God is the true and living God and he looks after those that serve Him you see one thing about testifying to people is you begin to have to live up to your testimony this is one good reason for testifying so Ezra it made this bold testimony to the king of Persia our God looks after his servants and now they were facing this journey and he said I can't go back to the king and say would you give us a band of soldiers and horsemen because I've told the King our God is equal to any situation any danger any emergency he'll always take care of those that said what are we going to do Ezra was faced with the choice between two ways of doing things the carnal and the spiritual the carnal would be the band of soldiers in horsemen but it shut himself off from that by his testimony to the king he was only left with one alternative the spiritual what formed that the spiritual take prayer and fasting now I'll read these three verses Ezra 8 21 22 23 then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of a harbour that we might afflict ourselves before our God to seek of him a right way for us and for our little ones and for all our substance and that means the gold vessels of the temple for I was ashamed to require of the king a band of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy in the way because we had spoken unto the king saying the hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek him but his power and his wrath is against all them that forsake him I couldn't go back to the king and spoil my testimony so we had to have another way to ensure safety that's the spiritual way the prayer and fasting wing so it says in verse 23 we fasted and besought our God for this and he was entreated of us he heard our prayer and the power of prayer and fasting bound every robber every brigand every hostile tribesman every kind of epidemic and disease that waited for them along the way they came through in peace and in safety without losing a single member of their party and having preserved these beautiful vessels of gold and silver what was the means they used their spiritual means and I want to point out to you this lesson that runs all through scripture if you win the victory in the spiritual realm you have won the victory period everything else will work out from the spiritual realm this is one of the great lessons of the Bible the spiritual determines everything in this nation if we by prayer and fasting win the victory in the spiritual realm the social the economic the political will all fall into line this is the truth of Scripture that's why the Bible is such a relevant book because everybody's seeking some answer to the political social and economic problems I want to tell you for us who are children of God the answer is the spiritual win the battle in the spiritual realm of a Washington DC and stand back and watch the economic the political and the social fall into line this is the teaching of the word of God let's look on the next man in this process of restoration Nehemiah after whom the next book of the Bible is named Nehemiah heard from some of his brethren in niihama 1 verse 3 they brought this news back from the captivity of the returned captivity the remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down the gates there are burned with fire and it says when Nehemiah heard these words it came to pass that I sat down and wept and mourned certain days and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven I wept mourned fasted prayed now we do not have time to go into the detail but you read the book the way was opened ferny might return rebuild the wall and he had full provision and authority given him by the king what changed that whole situation political military economic the prayer and the fasting of nehemiah and then we turn onto the book of Esther which is the next book in the order of the books of the Bible and we come to the greatest single crisis in the history of the Jewish nation that has ever confronted them because at that time so far as I'm able to determine all the Jews in the world lived within the bounds of the Persian Empire which extended from India to Ethiopia 127 Promises provinces and hey man the enemy of the Jews had gained access to the king and obtained a decree by which on a certain day that 13th day of the month adar all the Jews in the provinces of the king of Persia were to be exterminated and I want you to know that this was a spiritual conflict the book of Esther has given rise to the Jewish festival of Purim which you're probably familiar with and poutine means lots it's the Hebrew word for loss and the festival is called that because Haman the enemy of the Jews cast lots for a whole year to find the right day on which to exterminate the Jews the fact that he cast Lots indicates that he treated it as a spiritual matter in other words he was seeking supernatural direction and it says he has wise men or magicians who advised him very much like some of the politicians in Washington DC at the present time realizing that they need more than natural wisdom they'll turn to a fortune teller and a clairvoyant and a woman inspired by Satan for counsel and Haman was the pattern of this he went beyond the natural into the Satanic supernatural to procure the destruction of God's people the Jews so you see that really we aren't having just a political issue it is a spiritual battle and that's exactly what it is in Washington DC today it is a spiritual battle between the forces of light and the forces of darkness the power of the holy spirit and the power of Satan and both have their agents and representatives right on the spot and so the answer to the supernatural power of Satan invoked by Haman was the supernatural power of God invoked by Esther when Esther heard the news without going into details she said to her uncle Mordecai she said gather together the Jews and notice friends as I was saying to the people in the Capitol this morning when God's people are threatened with a crisis we have to gather together if we stay on our own each a little Baptist or a little Methodist or a little presbyterian we'll be cut off on our own and I tell people if you're going to be imprisoned for being a Christian it isn't going to seem too important to you then whether you're imprisoned for being a Methodists or Baptists so you better get together before that day come God's people in an emergency always have to gather together Esther said to Mordecai gather together the Jews fast and pray three days and three nights 72 hours neither eat nor drink I and my maidens we were fast and pray like what then she said I will go into the king and she had told Mordecai if I go into the king and he has not sent for me the sentence is dead unless he stretches out the golden scepter as a sign that he's received me the fourth day Esther put on a royal apparel went into the Kings Court and the scripture says she found favor in the eyes of the king he stretched out the golden scepter and said what will you Queen Esther the situation was changed without going into detail the extermination of God's people was transformed into their greatest and most glorious success in the annals of the Persian Empire what changed the whole situation militarily politically the prayer and fasting of Esther and her maidens and the Jews in the Capitol City what will change the situation for us today exactly the same God has shown us what to do the question is are we willing to do it there's no question about what the do the question is are you willing to do it let's look on just a little we have a few moments left you won't say what good does fasting do well I'll tell you if God calls you too fast you have an obligation to fast whether you know what good it does or not when you're thirsty you drink water you don't know everything the water does inside your physical system but you still drink water and God has told us to fast and I've found you know the way to get understanding it's obedience I never understood what water baptism meant until I was baptized then I found out the people who say I'll wait to understand and then I'll do it usually never understand God gives revelation to obedience and the way of increased light is the way of increased obedience you've received a measure of light the next step is shown you if you take it you'll step into greater light if you refuse it the light is withheld but still the Word of God does show many basic principles related to fasting I've just outlined four of them here self denial self hambling right priorities and dependence upon God let's look at them briefly jesus said in Matthew 16:24 if any man will come after me let him what's the first thing deny himself now fasting is denying your old rebellious ego your stomach says I want and you say to your stomach you don't dictate you know what to deny is in one simple word it's to say no and to deny yourself is to say no to that old ego in you that has been used to running you and telling you what to do I like the way Don Bosch and puts it when he learnt the truth of fasting he said now I tell my stomach when to eat my stomach doesn't tell me most Christians are run from the stomach you know that and there has to be a time when we are set ourselves inside of that stomach know you're crying out for food shoot habit hunger you let an hour pass and you find that the hunger will go without eating you know that because it was habit hunger you get hungry at certain times regardless of whether you need food Jesus says the step to following him the first step deny yourself Paul says in 1st Corinthians 9 25 through 27 I keep my body under and bring it into subjection lest after that I have preached to others i myself should be a castaway he said those that strive for mastery in athletic contests are temperate self-control in all things how much more should we be who are striving for spiritual mastery in the spiritual athletic contests you know well that an athletics professional is careful about what he eats how he sleeps even his mental attitudes vitally affect his prospects of success how much more with us as Christians do we have to be sure that we've brought our body under control God told me in the Year 1961 I didn't mean to say this but he said if you want to go forward there are two conditions he said the first condition is all progress is by faith if you're not willing to go forward in faith you cannot go forward the second thing he said to me was this if you're going to fulfill the ministry that I have for you you will need a strong healthy body and you're putting on too much weight you better see to that that's exactly how God spoke to me and believe me in the years that have since elapsed I've come to see that I do need a strong healthy body I'll tell you one thing standing up here and pray is a real physical task it's not a little thing and I do everything in my power to keep myself spiritually mentally and physically fit for the one thing that matters more to me than anything else which is fulfilling God's calling on my life then again fasting is self humbling you remember what it says in 2nd Corinthians 7:14 we spoke about that in our last study how many of you remember what 2nd chronicles 7:14 Scents anybody I never forget it now there's somebody if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves what's the first step humble yourself how do you humble yourself you read these two Psalms I'll just give you the reference 35 1369 10 they're both Psalms of David do you know what he said in each of them he said I humbled my soul with fasting there is a way to humble yourself some people say God make me humble that's not a scriptural prayer God says humble yourself you read it every place in the Bible where God speaks about humble he says humble yourself God can humiliate you and he might have to but the only person who can make you humble is you yourself and one way to do it is to humble your soul with fasting bring that all rebellious ego under say no you don't the Spirit is control not the soul not the flesh the spirit I'm run from above not from beneath that's what happened when man fell in the garden he was run from beneath by his appetites and he renounced the leadership of the Holy Spirit from above now Redemption reverses the relationship the redeemed believe I must learn to be run from a bomb not from beneath it asserts right priorities you know what Jesus said in Matthew 6:33 seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness lots of people are seeking God's kingdom 2nd 3rd or 4th and the promises do not apply we have to have our priorities right and fasting is a way of giving right priority to the spiritual asserting its preeminence and then fasting demonstrates our dependence upon God we're going to study ii ii chronicles chapter 20 a little further in our next study but I'll point out to you that in a critical situation Jehoshaphat did two things it says in verse three he proclaimed a fast in verse 12 he prayed and he said O Lord we don't know what to do we have no might against this great army that's invading us but our eyes are upon you and that's what fasting tells God God I don't have the answer I can't do it I'm looking to you it acknowledges dependence upon God and it leads to divine intervention innumerable illustrations can be provided from Scripture to prove that when God's people meet his conditions along these lines God answers with intervention on their behalf now let's look at fasting in the New Testament bringing it right down to Christian discipline first of all fasting was taught specifically by Jesus Matthew 6 16 to 18 is in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount and almost everybody agrees that's for all believers jesus said when ye fast be not as the hypocrites and then he said when thou fastest jesus did not say if did he if he had said if he would have left open the possibility that you might or might not fast but he said when and when he said when thou fastest he took it for granted that you would fast he uses exactly the same language in this passage in Matthew 6 about three things giving arms praying and fasting eat case it's when not it how many of you believe it's a Christian duty to give up how many of you believe it's a Christian duty to pray well how many of you believe it must be a Christian duty to fuss all right you're witnesses against yourselves from now on it's on exactly the same plane some people say well jesus said don't fast in public well he's used exactly the same words about prayer and fasting if he meant never fast in public then he meant never pray in public so stop your prayer meetings to see people just take that as an easy way out that's all it is it's an excuse for not doing something that's painful to the flesh that's the only thing mark 2:18 the Pharisees and the disciples of John and the public came to him and said why do the Pharisees fast the disciples of John fast your disciples don't fast jesus answered and said the children of the bride chamber cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them but the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them and then shall they fast in those days now this is how I understand this parable the children of the bride chamber are the disciples the bridegroom is the Lord Jesus Christ while the bridegroom was personally present on earth the disciples did not fast but Jesus said the time would come when the bridegroom would be taken from them and in those days they would fast now we ask ourselves is the bridegroom now physically present with us or is he absent and are we waiting for his return my answer is were waiting for his return he has been taken from us and in those days we will fast if we are disciples and if we're not we lack one mark of discipleship now let's look at the practice a moment in closing Matthew 4:1 to 2 Jesus practiced fasting he not merely preached it he practiced it acts 13:5 prophets and teachers in the church at Antioch fasted and waited upon God publicly and together God spoke to them and said send out Barnabas and soul they fasted and prayed the second time and sent them out acts 14:23 Saul and Barnabas on that first missionary journey when they came to the groups of converts that they left behind and established them into churches it says in every church they prayed with fasting note every one of those New Testament churches was brought into being by public prayer and fasting in other words every congregation knew that when you earnestly need to seek God the way to do it is with prayer and fasting and then you study the personal testimony the Apostle Paul you can find it in 2nd Corinthians 6 verses 4 and 5 and chapter 11 verse 27 we will not turn there but Paul said that he approved himself in all things a minister of Christ and one of the things by which he approved himself a minister of Christ was by fastings often Paul was often in fasting the leaders of the early congregations practiced fasting publicly and when their congregations were brought into being with the appointment of elders it was understood that it was done with public prayer and fasting by the whole congregation this is the pattern of the New Testament it's the pattern of Jesus and it's the precepts of Jesus and the principle runs through the entire Bible the call of God through the Prophet Joel today is turn you to me with all your heart with weeping and with fasting and with mourning and it shall come to pass afterward I will pour out of my spirit this is the place where we are in God's program for his people let's close with prayer your Lord I'm grateful for the grace that you gave me this day to bring this message to your people and I pray Lord that your Holy Spirit will bear testimony in each heart and mind that receives this message that is the truth of your word and the call of the Spirit Lord let us turn aside from secondary thing fix our priorities right help us each one of us to bear our individual responsibility to turn to thee at this time in renewed earnestness and zeal confidence and faith with prayer and fasting until that last great deluge of the Spirit is precipitated upon all flame Lord give us grace to be humble and to be obedient in this respect we pray for your glory in Jesus name and all the people say

Channel: Derek Prince

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Keywords: bible study about prophetic times, the doorway to restoration, derek prince sermons, believe in the bible, bible study about end times, endtime prophecy, israel bible study, israel in the bible vs israel today, israel in the new testament, israel in the time of jesus, sermon about end times, sermon about prophetic times, bible study on prophetic times, Prophetic times bible study

Id: PPprOxh62dk

Length: 54min 16sec (3256 seconds)

Published: Tue Apr 16 2013