As I was reading to my wife yesterday an article from the Teaching Legacy of that most noble of preachers,Derek Prince – ‘The Provision is in the Promises’, (you can read it here); the Holy Spirit quickened my understanding to something I want to take a few moments to share with you.
The passage of scripture which Prince used to provide the basis for his teaching was 2 Peter 1 v 2-4 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power has given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
I have meditated and preached on these verses many times during the last 20 years but I never cease to be amazed at how the Holy Spirit continually opens up new avenues of revelation about familiar verses, especially when we may think that we may have wrung every last drop of truth out of them, [Romans 11:33 O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgements, and his ways past finding out!].
Here is the revelation:-
The Lord Jesus taught His disciples that it is impossible to serve God and Mammon [Matthew 6:24]. That being the case we as the Body of Christ need to learn how to serve God efficiently and with integrity in a world which runs on the Mammon system.
If money is the currency of the world, what is the currency of the Kingdom? I believe that the bible teaches us that it is the New Testament promises of God.
On every banknote issued by the Bank of England are written these words, “I promise to pay the bearer on demand the sum of” and then is printed the amount – which of course varies depending on the denomination. The notes are signed – ‘The Governor and Comp [Company] of the Bank of England’. Once upon a time there used to exist gold in the bank vault whose value was sufficient to cover the total of all monies issued through bank notes; regrettably this is no longer the case and so their promissory notes are only as good as the integrity and resources of the issuer.
As I meditated on the passage of scripture from 2 Peter earlier I began to understand that as Christian Believers it’s not about us not bowing down and serving the Mammon system, though that is of course important, but rather serving God, and in order to do that we need to obtain and operate the currency of Heaven.
2 Peter 1:3 states – Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
Peter is writing by the Spirit to fellow Believers and telling them that the currency of the Kingdom of God is the New Testament promises of God. I purposely highlight the New Testament promises because they have superseded those of the Old Testament as we can note from reading Hebrews 8:13. In that he says, A new covenant, he has made the first old. Now that which decays and waxes old is ready to vanish away. also Hebrews 8:6 But now has he [Jesus] obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.
Britain until recent times embraced Godly and honourable banking principles, it is therefore not surprising that the Bank of England at its inception understood that for its bank notes to be universally accepted in trade they needed to have a promissory undertaking backed by the resources to fulfil their obligations, how much more can the promises of God be used as currency.
To finalise this post with an example of the practical outworking of this duel currency system let me provide my understanding of what happened when Jesus sent out the disciples in Luke chapter 9 v 1-6. He gave them authority to do the works of the Kingdom of God but He also told them that they were not to take wordly currency with them ie. a staff, a bag, food, money or extra clothing. He told them that they were to stay in the houses which they entered. When they returned he asked them if they had lacked anything when He sent them out[Luke 22:35], their reply was ‘nothing’. The currency of the Kingdom came with the assignment and the authority. Derek Prince described God the Father as the only Source and the Lord Jesus as the only Channel to that Source. In the same way that the Saviour took His instructions from His Father in Heaven, we need to do the same if we are to see both the provision for our lives and fruit from our lives.
