Derek Prince, Rules of Engagement: Preparing for Your Role in the Spiritual Battle (aff). Minneapolis: Chosen, 2006; expanded edition 2012. 268 pages.
Derek Prince was a Bible teacher, speaker, and author. He was a British citizen born in India. He ministered in Africa and then spent the last twenty years of his life living in Jerusalem. He died in 2003 at the age of 88. Between 1993 and 2003, he wrote a series of letters that he sent to friends. After he died, many of these letters were assembled to produce this book.
I have heard much about Derek Prince through the years. Many have been greatly enriched by his writing. I was delighted to read this book and receive encouragement from his teaching.
Prince begins by claiming, “The Spirit of the Lord is moving to and fro throughout the whole earth looking for a certain type of person to serve in God’s own army—one whose heart is perfect toward God” (11). He continues, “Our basic problem as human beings is that we do not know how valuable we are . . . We need to focus more on the way God sees us than the way we see ourselves” (12). He warns, “In various forms men have established religious rules and systems of worship so complete and all-sufficient that there is no further need of God. All they have to do is keep the rules” (14).
Prince sees “the world” as a Christian’s great enemy. He defines it as “. . . all the people who have never submitted themselves to the authority of God’s appointed king—the Lord Jesus Christ” (15). I would add that it includes systems of thought and value that permeate the world and that drive unbelievers to think and act the way they do.
This book was written to equip people for spiritual battle. Speaking of Gideon, Prince notes that “For God, the question is not, ‘How many people?’ but ‘What kind of people?’” (24). In describing the taking up of our cross, Prince defines our “cross” as “the place where we choose to die. God does not impose this upon us” (31).
Prince observes, “. . . the contemporary church has little understanding of the nature of worship, mainly because we do not discern the difference between the spirit and the soul. Worship is not entertainment. That belongs to the theater, not the church. Nor is worship the same as praise. We praise God with our soul. And it is right to do so. Through our praise we have access to God’s presence. But once we are in His presence, it is through worship that we enjoy spiritual union with Him” (32). I am not sure I entirely agree with Prince’s perspective on the difference between the spirit and the soul. He sees the spirit as our born-again self, the essence of a new believer. He views the soul as encompassing our intellect, will, and emotions. He argues that the two are in conflict, and the soul must be subdued by the spirit. Though he offers scriptural support, I have never seen the soul as in conflict or as very distinct from the spirit.
Prince suggests that “Throughout man’s rebellion, however, his spirit was set aside and his soul took over. As a result, unregenerate man is controlled by three functions of the soul: the will, the intellect, and the emotions” (35). “This means there is a constant tension between the spirit and the soul” (36). Prince posits that “When Christians become earthly, they lose the vision of eternity. In many places today, the Church is an ungodly mixture. No clear line is drawn between the spiritual and the soulish, and there is, therefore, no barrier to the demonic” (38). He argues that we must be “Training our souls to stay in submission to our spirits” (40). I disagree with Prince’s approach. Scripture puts the struggle between our spirit and flesh, not our soul. The soul is the animating essence of who we are. It is the flesh and the world that wages war against our spirit, not our soul.
Prince asks a thoughtful question: “Am I prepared to receive a visit from God every morning?” (43). He observes that “Testing is a mark of God’s favor. He tests us because he wants to establish our value” (44). He notes, “Abraham was subjected to special tests because he had a special destiny” (45).
Prince observes, “I have come to see that secret faults are not secrets that we keep from other people—much less from God. They are secrets to ourselves, faults in our own character that we do not recognize” (47). He adds, “Repentance is perhaps the basic Christian doctrine least emphasized by contemporary preachers. ‘Only believe’ is a sweet-sounding message, but it is not scriptural” (48). To “commit” is a single event; to “trust” is an ongoing attitude (51). He notes that “Every test of endurance is also a test of self-control” (54). He points out that the most difficult test of all is the test of success (57). He cautions, “First, if God grants you some special miracle, that does not make you a special person; it means only that you have a special God” (66). He warns, “We must never let the world entice us into accepting its standard for success” (62).
In dealing with our “old man,” Prince claims, “God has only one solution for dealing with our old man. He does not send him to church or Sunday School. He does not teach him the Golden Rule or direct him to a class on self-improvement. God’s solution is simple and final: It is execution” (66). He adds, “We should not assume that the old man will accept passively his sentence of execution. On the contrary, he will at times struggle fiercely to regain control over us” (68).
Prince observes, “Of all the attributes of God—and there are many—the hardest for the human mind to understand is holiness because it has no parallel on earth” (73). He comments, “It is easy to question whether any person who has never been on his face before God has ever been very close to God” (74). He adds, “The most secure place I know is on my face before God.” (74). He cites John Bunyan, who said, “He that is down need fear no fall” (74). Prince suggests that “In worship, we relate to God’s holiness. In praise we relate to God’s greatness. In thanksgiving we relate to God’s goodness” (79).
Prince suggests that “Until the number of redeemed is complete, God waits with amazing patience” (95). He later writes, “The Christian life is not a life of struggle; it is a life of yielding” (102). He suggests that there are three coordinates of truth: Jesus, scripture, and the Holy Spirit (108). When these three align, you know you are in God’s will. He states, “It is one thing to be led by the Spirit; it is another thing to move and operate in the power of the Spirit” (121). Prince comes from a Pentecostal background, which is evident in some of what he shares. He served for a time in Kenya preparing ministers, and he claims to have witnessed two people being raised from the dead (128). He also purports that he healed many people in the power of God. He claims he healed people whose legs were not the same length, adjusting one leg by as much as two inches (128).
Prince includes an extended discussion on angels and Satan in the context of spiritual warfare. At times, he seems to take a verse too literally and develops an unusual theology. Based on 1 Corinthians 11:10, Prince notes that “Paul takes it for granted that when Christians meet to worship, angels will also be present and will participate” (163). He accepts the common understanding that Isaiah 14:12-15 describes the fall of Satan/Lucifer who took one-third of heaven’s angels down with him (164-171). But several statements Prince makes appear to go beyond what the Bible clearly states. For example, based on Colossians 1:16, Prince argues that Paul outlines four levels of spiritual beings: thrones, dominions, principalities, and powers (173). This interpretation stretches the text too far. It is more likely that Paul is simply describing all forms of power found on earth and heaven and claiming that Christ is above them all. Paul was certainly not trying to describe the four ranks of angels in heaven!
Prince also makes an odd observation based on Paul’s claim to have been taken to the third heaven. Prince argues that if the first heaven is the stars and space that we can see in the sky, and the third heaven is where God resides, then “I believe this intermediate heaven is the location of Satan’s kingdom” (174). He goes on to claim that “To reach the throne of God in heaven, our prayers must pass through a Satanic kingdom in the heavenly places” (175). He concludes, “Our prayers, therefore, need to be enforced by praise and thanksgiving. This serves as a ‘booster rocket’ to carry them up to the throne of God” (175).
This interpretation is simply incorrect. To conclude that there is a middle “heaven” in which Satan dwells based on Paul’s obscure statement is stretching scripture far too thin. Picturing the heavens with a Middle Ages understanding that the third heaven stretches beyond the skies and space is to misunderstand that heaven is a spiritual place inhabited by spiritual beings. It is not at the end of our physical universe. Claiming that our prayers must first pass through a realm controlled by Satan and must therefore be strengthened to avoid interference reads far more into scripture than was intended.
Prince notes that “. . . when we become Christians, we are automatically involved in a vast spiritual war that spans both heaven and earth” (185). He cautions that “Anything in our life that is superfluous or self-indulgent will be outside the protection of the shield” (188). God will not protect those areas of our life controlled by our flesh.
On prayer, he suggests, “We may fairly call it our ICBM—our intercontinental ballistic missile. Focused prayer, directed by the Holy Spirit, can reach across continents and oceans and strike with unerring accuracy any target assigned to it” (191). He observes that “In many parts of the world today Satan has built up obstacles to the Gospel that resist all normal evangelistic methods” (192). Prince suggests that Satan’s rebellion tested those angels loyal to God. Again, much of Satan’s story is obscured in Scripture, and one must be careful in drawing conclusions about him and how he fell from heaven.
Prince notes that “Antisemitism is the longest, deepest hatred of human history” (219). He claims that before Christ’s return, the Jews must be gathered back to Israel and Jerusalem (224). He notes, “First, Almighty God has made an irrevocable commitment to establish the Jews as His people forever” (230). Prince spent the last twenty years of his life living in Jerusalem, and he was personally committed to Israel. However, it seems at times that Prince takes many things in scripture literally that are not necessarily intended to be understood that way. Clearly, God is concerned about those who are “grafted” into Israel who accept his Messiah. God is not committed to propping up a secular state of Israel simply because it contains cultural or ethnic Jews. I am also uncertain what he means by the Jews being gathered back to Jerusalem. He was writing in the twenty-first century, long after Israel had become a nation again. I think it is unwise to suggest that Christ could not return today because something in the nation of Israel is not yet in place.
Finally, Prince comments, “The Bible never says that God will not make us humble” (256). Certainly, the Bible says God will humble us, though that may be different than saying he will make us humble. Prince concludes, “Christianity is primarily about right relationships, not right doctrine” (256). He may be right, but that does not mean correct doctrine is unimportant.
I had heard about Derek Prince from many people who had been blessed by his teaching through the years. I did find some great teaching in this book. But I also found some statements that seem to stretch scripture beyond what it intended to say. He studied at Eton and Cambridge, but I do not know what his hermeneutical training was. This book is a mixed bag. It contains some great and encouraging teaching as well as statements that are conjecture based on some obscure or unclear verses. He is perhaps too confident of his assumptions at times.
Overall, it is an encouraging read. Just be alert when he moves from clear biblical teaching to his musings on what some of those verses could mean.
Rating: 2
