You don't often see me without Ruth. We're going to make a proclamation taken from Psalm 71. I think it begins at verse 9. The New King James Version. But at Ruth's request, we've slightly changed some of the words. Because David said, now that I'm old and gray-headed, and Ruth says, you're not gray-headed. He's not old either. So we just changed a little bit there. But the last verse is David's vision. And it's our vision too. And I trust it's yours.

I'll hope continually and will praise you yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of your righteousness and your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits. I will go in the strength of the Lord God. I will make mention of your righteousness, of yours only.

O God, you have taught me from my youth. And to this day I declare your wondrous works. Now also, when I become old and gray-headed, O God, do not forsake me until I declare your strength to this generation, your power to everyone who is to come. Amen.

Now there's a couple here that I don't know named Stuart. They've adopted a little baby. And because I was preaching about that yesterday, they've asked that I will pray over the baby. So if you will, wherever you are, bring the baby immediately at the close of this service down to the front, it'll be my privilege to pray over him.

You will recall that yesterday I spoke about two serious errors of the church which must be corrected. I believe, before we can fulfill the theme of this conference, which is to come into the fullness of God's purpose. The error that I spoke about yesterday afternoon was that the cross has been displaced from the center. And I spoke about three main effects of the cross.

First of all, it's the only basis of God's provision for us. We have no other basis on which we can come to God but the cross. Secondly, it's the basis of Satan's total defeat. Through the cross, Jesus has administered to Satan a total, eternal, irreversible defeat. And if we ever get engaged in spiritual warfare on any other basis, But the victory that Jesus has won, we will be in trouble.

And then I spoke about the third aspect of the cross, which to my way of thinking is largely ignored today, to the great loss of the church and to the great detriment of the ministry. The problem of the Galatian church. They had been bewitched. And as a result, the cross had been obscured. Paul said to them, Who has bewitched you before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed, crucified among them? Wherever the cross is obscured, witchcraft is at work.

And then I also pointed out to you that in Galatians, we have the remedy. A five-fold deliverance. Now I used to be a trainer of teachers. And one of the principles in teaching is nothing has been taught until something has been learned. So I did a lot of talking, but I don't know whether anything was learned.

So we're going to check. How many of you were here yesterday afternoon? Alright, I'm going to check you now. I want somebody to tell me what was the first deliverance from. Tell me. This present evil age. The second was from the law. That's right. There's some real students here.

The third was from self. Okay. The fourth was from the flesh. And the fifth was from the world. Alright. Something has been learned. Praise God for that.

Now, I want to deal briefly this morning with what I believe to be the second serious error. I think I did mention it, that Christ has been displaced from His headship over the church. And I believe these two errors between them account for almost all the major problems in the church today.

It will not take me, I hope, too long to bring this message, and I believe it's very suited to the communion. Because I trust at the end we'll be able in this communion to acknowledge Jesus once more as what He is. The head of all things to the church which is His body.

I want to read a few passages from the writings of Paul about this theme of the headship of Christ. Very briefly. Ephesians chapter 1 verses 22 and 23. I'm putting in the names. God put all things under Christ's feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church which is his body.

So God has given, not imposed, please note, but given Jesus as head over all things to the church. Not over some things, but over all things. The church has only one head. At the close of this age, prophecy depicts a number of abnormal creatures emerging on the scene of history with many heads. I think any creature with many heads is something that Satan has brought forth.

I don't believe God ever intended any creature to have more than one head. Certainly, the church has only one head. And he is head over all things to the church, which is his body. There's a difference, you see, because the scripture says, God put all things under his feet. But he is the head over all things to his body.

We're not under his feet. We are joined to the head. There's a great difference. And then in Ephesians 4, speaking about culmination of the church. Verse 14. That we should no longer be children tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the trickery of men in the cunning craft by which they lie in wait to deceive.

And I think that was really the burden that our brother had. And it's a very valid burden. There are people who are lying in wait to deceive us. They're not there by accident. They're waiting for us. And I'm afraid that there are many people who are being deceived.

What is the remedy? The remedy is the next verse. But speaking the truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ. Notice again, all things. He is the head over all things.

And the purpose of God is that we may grow up into him as our head in all things. There's nothing left out of his headship. And the safe path, the middle road which Bob was talking about, that is growing up into him in all things. Growing up under his headship.

Growing up under his headship means being properly connected to Jesus. Every member of the body has a divine right for direct access to the head. Don't rely on some other relationship. Don't rely on your relationship to a pastor. Husbands, don't rely on the fact that your wife is a believer or vice versa.

Every true believer has to have a direct relationship with the head. We've spoken here about problems that some of us have been through. I was talking to some brothers yesterday and I said, this is a conference of those who have escaped. I think those of us who have escaped would agree that really, in a sense, the root problem was people got detached from their personal relationship to Jesus as head.

And you just cannot afford to let that happen. So you see how important this theme of headship is. Now I want to speak about the implications of Jesus being head over all things to the church.

And I want to take a couple of other passages where Paul speaks about headship. So that we can get an understanding of what headship implies in Scripture. The first is in Ephesians 5 verses 23 and 24. Now this is good advice for all husbands. And I don't want to minimize that.

But it also contains a picture of the relationship of headship. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church, and he is the Savior of the body. So, Christ is the head of the church, and in a parallel way, the husband is the head of the wife.

Relax, wives, I'm not going to be teaching on that. But it's still true whether I teach it or not. Verse 24, Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, So let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.

So the relationship of headship on the other end implies a relationship of subjection. The wife, believe it or not, is subject to her husband. And the church is subject to Jesus as head. And it says in everything. You'll notice all these passages that we've read all emphasize in all things. In everything.

There's nothing left out. Now I want to talk about what a head does. And I'm no doctor. I'm a nursing orderly class too, if you want to know what my medical qualifications are. But I'm a little bit rusty because I finished all that in 1946.

I suggest to you there are four functions of a head. In the human body, in the spiritual realm. Number one, the head receives input from every member. And every member has a right to communicate directly with the head.

Number two, the head makes decisions. Number three, the head initiates action, sets things in motion. And incidentally, the decisions the head makes should be in the interests of the whole body.

Let me say you're hanging on by your fingers from a tenth floor window. And there's a man coming with one of these long ladders to rescue you. And your fingers are saying to your head, I just can't stand this pain any longer. I want to let go.

And the head says, I'm not making that decision. Because if you let go, we all go. You see? So the head makes decisions in the interests of the whole body, not in just in answer to an appeal for one particular member.

Alright. The fourth thing the head does, I believe, is give ongoing direction. If there's one key word, it's the word initiate. I believe all initiative should come from the head.

Now, Paul said, God, the Father, is the head of Jesus. Turning it the other way, Jesus is in subjection to the Father as his head. Let's look briefly at the relationship between Jesus and the Father.

And I believe we'll see a perfect pattern of headship. And I want to suggest to you that Jesus never took the initiative. It's a most striking fact. I'll only look at two or three passages, but you can read the whole account of his life.

Never once did he take the initiative out of the hand of the Father.

Here is the cleaned-up version of the sermon transcription:

Answered and said to them, "Most assuredly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself or from Himself, but what He sees the Father do, for whatever the Father does, the Son also does in the same manner." But the Son never does anything from Himself. He never initiates anything. He only receives the direction, the pattern of the Father and follows that.

And then in verse 30 of the same chapter, Jesus says, "I can of Myself or from Myself do nothing. Nothing. Nothing." As I hear from the Father, I judge. And my judgment is righteous because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

So Jesus said, "I never make a judgment of myself. I never sum up a situation or respond to a person from myself. I always wait to find the Father's attitude."

How many of you would agree that we get into a lot of trouble by making hasty decisions? And I'm one of them. My own nature is, here's a problem, I'll tell you what to do.

Bob was talking about reactions. And here is one typical reaction. Somebody comes and says, "Brother Prince, I need prayer, I've got arthritis." I say, "That's a demon." But I haven't heard from God. I may do that person great harm, it may not be a demon.

If I just stay quiet for a few moments, God would tell me. She needs to forgive her husband. Or her parents. Or whatever.

Because of my background, I'm used to making decisions by reason. Now, God's decisions are never unreasonable. Never. But they're on a higher level than our reason can achieve by itself.

So if you want to make right decisions, follow the pattern of Jesus. Don't ever make a decision from yourself. Always wait. And if you're rightly connected with the head, He'll give you His decision.

And then one more passage in John 14: verse 10. Jesus is speaking to his disciples. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me?

The words that I speak to you, I do not speak on My own authority. This version says, "why it fools around with that, I don't know." Because it's the same phrase, from myself. I do not speak the words from myself. They don't proceed from Me. I am not the initiator.

But the Father who dwells in me does His work. If you analyze that, Jesus says, every word I speak comes from the Father. Everything I do is the Father dwelling in me doing it.

So you cannot find a single place anywhere that Jesus took the initiative. That's the meaning of being under headship.

Personally, I believe this can revolutionize your life, your church, and the church. If we could bet back to giving Jesus His headship.

John Wimber came to Britain a few years ago. With a message. I wasn't present but it was reported to me. He said, "This is the message of Jesus. I want my church back." I think that's perfectly right.

We have taken the Jesus church away from Him. And he says, now I want it back. You've been fooling around with it long enough. You've made a mess. Give me back my position and I'll put things in order.

Let me just give you some statements. My thesis is this, that God only completes what He begins. If He doesn't begin something, you can't expect Him to complete it.

I'll give you three scriptures. First of all, Revelation 21: verse 6. He, that's the Lord, said to me, "It is done." I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. You know Alpha and Omega, the first and the last letter of the Greek alphabet. I am the A and the Z.

I am the beginning and the end. But if He's not the A, he won't be the Z. If he's not the beginning, he won't be the end. He's not committed to end anything that he doesn't begin.

And then in Hebrews 12: verse 2. Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. The alternative reading in this Bible is the originator and perfecter of our faith. You cannot separate them.

What he originates, he will perfect. But if he doesn't originate it, don't expect him to perfect it.

And then in Philippians chapter 1: verse 6, Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.

What can you be confident of? That if He began it, he will complete it. But if you didn't begin it, don't try to persuade him to complete it.

Ruth and I pray that regularly for our ministry. Because our ministry has taken a course we never planned, we never anticipated. It just took off.

But we're happy because we know we didn't initiate it. So we can say to God, being confident that because you began it, you'll complete it.

I mean, I have total confidence in God, I have to say, at the moment concerning that. Provided we don't mess it up. Provided we don't take the initiative out of His hands and start to do something clever ourselves.

We've done some clever things on the advice of clever people. And they were disastrous. Financially, we were going down the tube at about $25,000 a month. On good advice. Then we did something silly. We decided to stop selling things and start giving them away. On whose advice? God's advice.

After that, the whole thing changed. I am, I honestly can say, I am frightened of starting anything of myself. I'm not sure I'm always successful, but my sincere aim is to let God initiate everything. Because I really have confidence. If he initiates it, he'll see it through.

How much has God really initiated? First of all, in your individual life. Are you doing things that God initiated? See, that's exactly what Bob was saying last night.

Don't let somebody tell you what to do unless they have authority to do that. Find out what God has for you to do. And God is really, He's original. He never does the same thing exactly twice. They tell me that no two snowflakes are ever alike. God never makes anyone a carbon copy of somebody else.

Don't model yourself on your favorite preacher or whoever it may be. Let God initiate.

So, I want to ask you that question again. Stop and think for a moment. Think over the things you're involved in in the moment. Did God really initiate them? Or are you just doing things out of habit or because somebody told you to or because everybody else does it that way?

Secondly, how much has God really initiated in your home, husbands? How much does God initiate? How much that goes on in your home is the result of God's initiative?

You've probably heard the story about the man who said, when my wife and I got married 22 years ago, we agreed that I would make the major decisions and she would make the minor decisions. Up till now, we've never had any major decisions.

But now, most important of all, this is where I'm really going. How much has God initiated in the church at this time? How much that the church is doing is really the result of God's initiative. In your own church, wherever you come from.

But beyond that, in the whole church of Jesus Christ in the United States, is God taking the initiative? Or are we doing something else?

Let me just suggest a few common hindrances. First of all, habit. Just, we always do things because we've always done it that way. Years ago I was a student at Eton College, which you know is that sort of snobbish, ritzy boarding school, just the other side of the Thames from Windsor Castle.

And I mean an American. This is before World War II. People didn't cross the Atlantic so freely in those days. I mean Americans, I mean I just met one or two in my life.

And he said, can you imagine it? He said, say, why do the students roll their pants? Well, I mean to say, we don't call trousers pants, you understand? Pants are the things we wear under our trousers. Well, what was the answer?

I mean, in those days, everybody had turn-ups to their trousers. Why did the students roll their pants? The answer is because the students always had rolled their pants. Why do you need any other reason?

In England, if it's not been going on for 200 years, it's an upstart. It's like the United States. All right, pass that by.

But frankly, a habit is not a bad thing. If we didn't do some things by habit, I mean, our minds would just... I don't think when I turn on the ignition key in the car, I do it by habit.

The movements that I make with the gear shift and all that, they're all habit. And it's a good habit, provided you start right.

Some people start it with bad habits and they never check them. But a lot of things we do by habit we shouldn't be doing. Habit enshrined in the church is called tradition. And I think you'll agree that one of the things Jesus had the most trouble with was tradition.

Now I'm not saying all traditions are bad. But we need to check. The fact that we've been doing it that way for the past 50 years is not a good reason for going on doing it. Let's check and see what the results have been.

And then another serious problem is fear. Fear of man. Fear of the unfamiliar. Well, we've always done it this way. I wouldn't know how to do it another way.

Fear of being dependent. If we move out of this, I've got no rules to go by. I'll have to depend on God. What a crisis.

Frankly, we don't like to be dependent, most of us. And then, I'd just like to close with this thought.

I think I've mentioned, I don't know why, but when I start to think about Kenya, my mind always goes back there, because it was a very important and valuable part of my life.

And I love the people of Kenya. And I'm proud of Kenya. I don't have time to tell you. But in 1960, a group of us met and prayed for the future of Kenya. And we prayed a prayer that is still being answered today.

Kenya is different from almost every other new nation on the African continent. And I am so proud to think that that came out of prayer, prayed in 1960.

If you want the story, it's in a book of mine called Shaving History Through Prayer and Fasting. I received a letter from a student, the one that had the vision, that told us what Satan was trying to do to Kenya. Just about what? One year ago, sweetheart, wasn't it?

And he enclosed... newspaper cuttings from the secular newspapers celebrating the 25th anniversary of Kenya's status.

And every paper said, God has been good to Kenya. That's an answer to prayer.

See, don't ever give up on a situation. If you find the mind of God, you can change that situation by your prayers.

Anyhow, when I was there, we were training teachers for intermediate and primary schools. And one of the things they had to teach was the Bible. And our aim was that they wouldn't just teach a story, but they'd teach a story with a spiritual application.

So, we would give them specimen lessons. This is the story. This is the application.

Incidentally, this is just by the way, but later on one of our students was teaching the story of Ananias and Sapphira. And he had the spiritual application written on the blackboard.

And as I walked in I thought, well he's got the right idea, but he doesn't know how to express it. Because he said, lice can kill.

Anyhow, I was teaching the story of Samuel sending Saul to destroy the Amalekites. You know, he didn't finish the job off. He spared Agag the king and the best of the sheep and the oxen.

And then he said to Saul, to Samuel, blessed be the Lord your God, I've obeyed the word of the Lord.

And Samuel said, well if you've obeyed the word of the Lord, what is that lowing of the oxen and bleating of the sheep that I hear? Dead oxen and dead sheep don't bleat.

Some people come to you like that and they say, I've done everything God says, but you can hear the sheep and the oxen. So anyhow.

Samuel said, God's going to take the kingdom away from you, etc.

Now I was teaching this story and I had the spiritual lesson in my mind. And so I got up at a certain point with the chalk in my hand and I said, now I'll tell you the spiritual application.

And as I walked to the blackboard, God said to me, I'll tell you the spiritual application of this story.

And by the time I got to the blackboard, I had it. It was very simple. Incomplete obedience is disobedience. You realize that? You can do 90% of what God tells you to do and say, I've obeyed God. God says, no, you're disobedient.

Incomplete obedience is disobedience. So how about you? Where are you at?

God has spoken to you. How much have you done? Are there still some sheep and some oxen making a noise in the background?

One thing I've observed is that, we've been talking a lot about witchcraft, and I've been forced to study witchcraft.

And we're not going to go into the whole thing, but one of the things that witchcraft does is play with you. It's like, here you are, you're a man of God, you're called to serve the Lord, and you're really full of zeal.

But there's an invisible leash attached to you, held by witchcraft. And witchcraft says, go ahead, go on, get busy, preach, do this, do that.

But when you get a certain distance, the leash is jerked and you're back. You see, witchcraft really doesn't object to you doing quite a lot, provided you don't do the thing that really matters.

So how many of you this morning, I've got a leash attached to you, an invisible leash. And you really know what God is directing you to do. And you've started off and you've been busy and you've been active.

But whenever you get to the point of really breaking loose and being totally committed to God, that invisible leash is jerked and you're frustrated. Is that right?

I'm going to close now. I want to leave Bob plenty of time for the rest of the... But I just would like to help you.

One of the things God said to me, I'll say it very briefly. I'd been traveling across Canada for a whole year preaching. And at the end God said to me, I didn't call you to deliver religious lectures.

Whenever you preach on anything practical, I always want you to give my people an opportunity to respond practically.

And I've always tried to do that.

So I could just sit down and say, well, I've presented what I believe to be God's message. But I want to deal with the people who have that invisible leash.

You, particularly men, but not necessarily only men, you are struggling. Let me give you a little, just one experience and I'll close.

It's an illustration. When I finished in Kenya after five years with my first wife Lydia, we went back to Denmark, which was her native country.

And we were there over Christmas.

And those of you, if any of you know the Danes, when the Danes celebrate Christmas, they take it seriously. Not from a spiritual point of view, but from the point of view of eating, there is nothing left out.

And we've been staying with Lydia's sister who ran a guest house, a hotel.

And so, just after Christmas, I don't know whether it was before or after the New Year, I felt like I've got to break loose and touch God again.

So I went out. On the top of a cliff overlooking what the Danes called the West Sea and the British called the North Sea.

It was a very windy day, but it was not raining. I could see the sea maybe a hundred feet below, and there was nothing there but seagulls.

And I got into touch with the Lord, and He began to speak to me, not audibly, but very specifically.

And He said, now you are this and this and this. You're the principal of a college. You've done this and you've done that.

He kind of catalogued my achievements, if you could call them that.

And then he said, and you're the member of a denomination and you have a pension scheme.

And then he said, are you satisfied or do you want to go further?

And I was shocked because I was quite convinced there was no further to go. I mean, I spoke in tongues. I prayed for the sick.

So what more was there? But when God said that, I knew there must be something more.

So I thought it over and I said, give me time. I'm not ready with my answer. I need to think this over. Because I saw God was in earnest.

So about three days later, I got back on the same clifftop and got in touch with God.

I said, God, I'm ready with my answer.

And I said, I'm not satisfied.

And when I said, I'm not satisfied, I realized for the first time how dissatisfied I really was. You see, many ministers are dissatisfied, but they try to convince themselves, this is all there is. This is the way it's always been done. This is the way the denomination does it.

So that's it. But inwardly, they're deeply dissatisfied. And probably, unless God brings them to the moment of truth, they won't even recognize it.

So I said, no, I'm not satisfied. And then I always blush to think what I said next. I said, if there is anything further, I want to go further.

And God had an immediate answer, very practical. He said, well, there are two conditions. First of all, all progress in the Christian life is by faith. If you're not willing to go forward in faith, you cannot go forward.

Secondly, he said, if you are to fulfill the ministry that I have for you, and this was 29 years ago. If you are 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.

I'm so glad for that. Because I think those of you here in the healing meeting the other night will realize it takes a strong, healthy body.

And I had no vision of what was lying ahead at that time.

I just have to say, that decision, if there is anything further, I want to go further,

Here is the cleaned-up version of the sermon transcription:

Board, listen. I want to tell you something from experience. The Lord is a lot more generous than most church boards. So, what about you? And I'm talking specifically to men, but I'm not excluding the ladies. But men are so slow, you know. Wives, you can give your husbands a little prod if necessary. But you really aren't satisfied. The truth of the matter is.

And every time you begin to move out into something that could really fulfill you, that leash is jerked. Just when you're getting to the point. So, this morning, we would like to pray for you. I say we; I'm going to invite Bob because I know his heart towards these things.

And when you've got Bob Mumford and Derek Prince praying for you, what more could you ask? Please take that off the tape. Come on, Bob. Now, men be men. That's biblical. You really realize you're not free, you're not fulfilled, you've got some leash that's attached to you.

But this morning you want to tell God, "I'm not satisfied, I want to go further." Would you stand up wherever you are? Men only to start. Look at that; my goodness. Isn't that something?

Now, what we're going to do, I didn't plan this and I didn't warn Bob, we're going to come against witchcraft. Now, ladies, if you're in that category too, we'll give you an opportunity to stand.

But I think you should be glad, ladies, that men have stood. Because they are so difficult to get moving. Amen.

Now, expect something to happen. I mean, not some manifestation, but expect something to change in your life.

Lord Jesus Christ, we acknowledge you to be head over all things to the church which is your body. And this morning we want to put you back in your place as head over our individual lives, over our families, over our churches, and over the church.

And Lord, you have seen these men who've responded, who've said, "I'm not satisfied. I want to go further." But there's something binding me, holding me back. Lord, I believe that something in many cases is witchcraft. And so in the name of Jesus, we agree together. We take dominion over that power of witchcraft.

We rebuke it in the name of Jesus. And we command you to release these men that have stood in the name of Jesus. Your claims are cancelled by the cross. Let these men be released. Lord Jesus Christ, stretch out your mighty hand and lay it upon them and release them and anoint them and bring them into the ministry that you have for them, we pray.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

And all the people said, Amen.

Now, begin to praise the Lord. Thank you. Bob, if you've got a word you say. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.

I'm going to leave you here. While we're still standing here, let me just show you a picture that I saw as Derek was praying.

Witchcraft carries with it a kind of enchantment. And I saw even that pension scheme, which is a very real thing. There's a slavery to security, especially in this nation. And we're not talking about any reckless thing, but I saw a picture of something playing the flute-like, and it's coming up out of the basket.

It's an enchantment. It's something that has a controlling factor. The controlling factor is the enchantment. And there is a practical lordship. To say Jesus is Lord means that he is in command.

And when that thing broke off of you, I think it was financial and emotional or even sexual, whatever, enchantment. A kind of an enchantment that somehow paralyzes that courageous choice or the decision to make that step into whatever it is that God is speaking to you. Not rash. Not something out of whack, but very carefully working through the decisions.

Remember this principle. God deals with us, not what we are, but what we want to be.

How many of you could see God dealing with Derek not by what he was, but by what he wanted to be? If there is anything more? Doesn't that bless you?

Because we think, well, this is the ultimate. Little did he know there was a global ministry that was to impact a nation and continents.

And here it is.

And I could believe with Derek that there are men and women here that God could raise up to effect businesses and companies and churches and nations and cities. That God has something in mind for you beyond anything that you could conceive. Not in frustration, but in careful obedience as the Lord leads us.

Now we're going to sing just one chorus. David, would you come? Or whoever David's here, we're going now. If you need to go to the bathroom or please don't move if you don't have to, we're going right into this thing. But if you need to go, would you just do it while we sing one chorus?

We're standing right in our place and then we're going to move right from this. Can we do it?