1-TheFirstMile

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You cant gothe extra mileuntil youvegone the first.

D E R E K P R I N C E

STUDYNOTES

INCLUDED


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You cant Go the extra mileuntil youve gone...

Te

FirstMile

by DEREK PRINCE


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HE FIRS MILE

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture references are taken from

the New King James Version (NKJV) 1979, 1982, 1984 by

Tomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked [NIV] are taken from the Holy

Bible, New International Version 1973, 1978, 1984 by the

International Bible Society. Used by permission.

1988 Derek Prince MinistriesInternational.

Tis edition 2010 Derek Prince MinistriesUnited Kingdom

ISBN 978-1-901144-50-5

Printed in the United Kingdom.

Derek Prince Ministries

Kingsfield

Baldock

United Kingdom

SG7 6AN

www.dpmuk.org


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T H E F I R S T M I L E

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Going the extra mileis only possible afer we have gone...

Te

FirstMileAnd whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.

:

Jesus here depicts a situation in which law, or social custom,

gives a man the right to compel another to walk a mile

together with him. Speaking to His disciples, Jesus says, in

effect: I this should happen to you, do not merely walk one

mile with such a man, walk two miles with him. Go twice as

ar as he has a right to demand o you. We may say that the

first mile represents duty, the extra mile represents love. Love

reely does twice as much as duty can demand.

Tese words o Jesus have given rise to the expression

going the extra mile. However, they carry with them a

simple, logical implication which is ofen overlooked. Many

Christians speak and act as though the exercise o love

automatically releases them rom normal personal and social

duties. But the truth is just the opposite. You can only go the

extra mile afer you have gone the first. Te expression o lovecan only begin afer the demands o duty have first been met.


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Te same principle is expressed by Paul in ::

Owe no man anything except to love one another. Here again,

the order is important. Te negative requirement comes first:

Owe no man anything.Tis covers all our legal and ethical

obligations. We must first ulfil all these, then we can move on

to the positive requirement, to love one another. Christian

love is inconsistent with the ailure to ulfil our legal and

ethical duties. We might paraphrase this by saying: Genuinelove first makes sure that all its debts are paid.

Sloppy Agape

Many Christians have a wrong concept o biblical love. Love

o this kind is not a sentimental attitude expressed in religious

clichs or honey-sweet phrases. Someone has characterized

this unscriptural countereit o love as sloppy agape.

Te apostle John warns us against this: Let us not love in

word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth :.

rue biblical love is expressed primarily in acts, not

in words.

In the book o Ruth we find a pointed contrast in the

behaviour o Naomis two daughters-in-law: Ten they

lifed up their voices and wept again; and Orpah kissed her

mother-in-law, but Ruth clung to her :. Orpah

exhibited the outward expression o lovea kiss; but Ruth

loved in deedshe stood by her mother-in-law in her need.

In my hour o crisis I am not so much interested in who willkiss me. I want to know who will stand by me.


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Te book o Proverbs also has a warning concerning this:

Open rebuke is better than love careully concealed. Faithul are

the wounds o a riend, but the kisses o an enemy are deceitul

:. Countereit love will flatter us with sweet

words when things are going well but betray us in the

hour o need. Genuine love will tell us the truth and,

i necessary, rebuke us, although at the time it may

actually wound us. But love o this kind will not

betray us later.

It is not without significance that Judas actually

betrayed Jesus to His enemies by a kiss. Jesus Himsel

commented on this: Judas, are you betraying the Son o

Man with a kiss? :. Te outward expression o

love, without the corresponding actions, is betrayal.

In : Paul describes the only way that we

can grow to Christian maturity: But, speaking the truth

in love, [we] may grow up in all things into Him who is the

headChrist.Any love that does not speak the truth is a

countereit. Any ellowship o lasting value must be based on

mutual honesty.

But i we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have

ellowship with one another :. rue ellowship is

possible only in the light. We cannot have ellowship in the

dark. Te apostle John makes two simple, but proound,

statements about the nature o God: God is light

:; and God is love :, . Gods love can never be

separated rom Gods light. Gods love does not operate inthe dark.


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Love Covers, Not Covers UpTe apostle Peter tells us that love will cover a multitude o

sins :. Here again, there is much misunderstanding

among Christians. Peter sayscover, but he does not say

cover up. Peter is not talking about the custom prevalent in

many Christian groups o sweeping sin under the rug and

then pretending that it never happened and everything is

all right.

Christian love covers sin in the same way that God

covers sin. First, sin must be brought out into the light.

It must be acknowledged, conessed, repented o. I

necessary, restitution must be made. Only afer that can sin

be covered with true biblical orgiveness.

From time to time, we are brought into contact with Christiangroups who have only one themelove. Experience has

convinced me that in such groups there is either doctrinal

error or unconessed sinor both. Love is used as a cover-

up.I sin is the problem, it is usually ound in the lives o the

leaders o the group. I we begin to get below the surace and

lay bare the problem, we are immediately headed off with

the accusation, Now, brother, youre not being loving! Let

it be emphasized once again: rue biblical love is expressed

primarily in acts, not in words.

Let us return to the parable o the first and second mile

the relationship between love and duty. We have seen that

true love begins only afer we have ulfilled our legal and

ethical obligations. Conversely, love that does not ulfil these

obligations is a countereit. Tere are innumerable ways inwhich this principle applies to daily Christian living. In what


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In reality, in that particular situation, missions was the church

idol. Te members sacrificed to their idol, while blatantly

ailing to ulfil their own obligations at home. Sometimes it

is much easier to be occupied with a missions field than to

demonstrate the validity o our aith among our neighbours.

Te eyes o a ool are on the ends o the earth

:

Alcoholics or Charismatics?

I once ound mysel in the position o being landlord

over a number o houses adjacent to each other. In one

o these houses, I had as tenants a couple who made

no proession o being Christians and who were, in act,

alcoholics. Tey paid their rent regularly and kept theproperty in good condition. During their tenancy, a lady

in one o the adjacent houses was suddenly bereaved o her

husband. Te first person to show practical sympathy was

the alcoholic lady. She came over the next morning with a

cheque or $375.

In due course, this alcoholic couple moved out and

new tenants moved ina amily who was active in

charismatic circles. Tis amily made quite extensive

purchases or themselves, but rarely paid their rent

on time. Tey so ailed to care or their children and

the property that some o the neighbours complained to

me and threatened to take the matter to the city authorities.

One day I ound mysel reflecting over this situation. SupposeI mysel were not a Christian and someone were to ask


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spiritual development. Where this oundation is not laid, true

Christian love can never come into operation.

Te first thing we must add to aith is virtue. Tis latter

word could be translated excellence or efficiency. How

ew Christians seem to realize that efficiency is a necessary

Christian virtue! On the other hand, the Bible has not one

good word to say about laziness or oolishness. In act,

both are more severely condemned, and more deadly intheir consequences, than drunkenness.

For five years in East Arica, I was in charge o a college

or training teachers or Arican schools. During their

training, many o our students came to know Christ and

were also baptized in the Holy Spirit. I discovered that

once they had become Christians, they expected me

to show them special avourto be less exacting inmy judgment o their written tests or their practical

teaching. I had to explain to them that it

was just the other way round.

Now that you are a Christian, I would say, you have all sorts

o resources that you did not have beore. You have Gods

peace in your heart, and the power o prayer and o the Holy

Spirit to call upon. I you could pass your tests or succeed in

your teaching without these resources, you should be twice as

successul now that you are a Christian. I do not expect less

o you, but more. And God does the same!

Te same principle applies in every field o activity in which a

Christian serves and earns his living. A Christian may serve

as a teacher, a doctor, a nurse, a waitress, a technician, or ajanitor. No matter what the field, a Christian should always


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excel in his service. He should be more aithul, more reliable,

more efficient than the non-Christian.

I have observed that the Lord never calls a person out o ailure

in a secular job or proession to ull time spiritual ministry. A

person must always prove himsel in his secular employment

beore God will ever commit enlarged spiritual responsibility

to him. Faithulness begins in the small and the secular; then

it is more ully worked out in the great and the spiritual. Jesusvery firmly establishes this principle in Luke:

Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted

with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will

also be dishonest with much. So i you have not been

trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you

with true riches?

: []

Family Obligations Come First

In Paul deals systematically with the

obligations o Christians toward the members o their own

amilies. In this connection he says,

But i anyone does not provide or his own, and especially

or those o his household, he has denied the aith and is

worse than an unbeliever

:

In each amily the primary obligation or provision normally

rests upon the ather. Tis includes much more than the mereprovisions o ood, clothing and money. In :


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parents had served many years as missionaries in Arica:

Our parents sure loved the Aricans, but they didnt love us!

Te verdict o Scripture on a parent who ails in these primary

obligations is thathe has denied the aith and is worse than

an unbeliever :.

Does a man who is worse than an unbeliever have any

business preaching the Gospel?

Writing to (charismatic) Christians at Corinth, Paul

says: Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the

aith. Prove yourselves :. Many ous need to heed this warning today. Beore we use

religious clichs about going the extra mile,let us

make sure that we have really gone the first mile.

Beore we make a large display o love, let us makesure that all our debts have been paid.


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SUDY NOES:

In this study we will do as Paul wrote in :and attempt to examine ourselves.Derek Prince suggests:

beore we use religious clichs about going the extra mile,let

us make sure that we have really gone the first mile.Beore we

make a large display o love, let us make sure that all our debts

have been paid.

1 Duty& IntegrityTe first mile represents our dutieseven the ones you would

rather orget. Tese range anywhere rom personal, physicaland financial to legal, ethical, environmental and personal

commitments. Choose one or more o these topics and

write a list o all the basic duties in your lie or this area.

Prayerully go through the list and ask God to show you i

there are duties you dont ulfil. Be honest with yoursel. Are

you exercising sloppy agape in any areas? Remember, the

outward expression o love, without the corresponding actions

is betrayal.

2 Intothe LightRead the scripture :-.

Tere may be a sin issue in your lie that has been raised in

this study, that you are beginning to resolve though the five


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basic steps: Acknowledge; Coness; Repent/urn Away; Make

Restitution; and Receive Forgiveness. Write out : ona small card and carry it around with you, to memorise and

proclaim it.

But i we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have

ellowship with one another, and the blood o Jesus, his Son,

purifies us rom all sin.

:

3 Whats Lurkingin the Shadows? : tells us that Behold, You desire truth in the

inward parts, and in the hidden part You will make me to know

wisdom.Whats more important, to have God as the God o

our lives, or to have Him God o just a portion?

Sometimes weve overlooked our duties simply through

ignorance, sometimes knowingly. Whether they are minor

things or not, they require the same lie-changing decisions.

From one o the topics mentioned in study point 1, and your

knowledge o the Bible, prayerully consider what needs

to change, and ask or Gods help to do so. Remember this

process is progressive and we need to be asking the Lord or

revelation or all areas o our lives.

Te path o the righteous is like the first gleam o dawn,

shining ever brighter till the ull light o day.

:


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4 Orderly SpiritualDevelopmentIn :- the Bible lists seven steps or our spiritual

development. Go through the ollowing seven steps:

virtue, knowledge, sel-control, perseverance, godliness,

brotherly kindness, love, and gauge your personal growth.

I.e. Virtue - are you efficient?

Remember, Faithulness begins in the small and the secular;

then it is more ully worked out in the great and the spiritual.

For i these things are yours and abound, you will be

neither barren nor unruitul in the knowledge o our Lord

Jesus Christ.

:

PRAY

Remember, God is always with us, in every situation and He

helps us in our weakness. Pray or the ability to make the

needed steps or change in your lie o any areas that God is

revealing enabling you to progress rom the first mile o duty

to the second mile o love.

Study Notes compiled by the staff at Derek Prince Ministries.

All rights reserved.


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About the AuthorDerek Prince (19152003) was born in India o Britishparents. He was educated as a scholar o Greek and Latin

at Eton College and Kings College, Cambridge, in England.

Upon graduation, he held a ellowship (equivalent to a

proessorship) in Ancient and Modern Philosophy at Kings

College. Prince also studied Hebrew, Aramaic, and modern

languages at Cambridge and the Hebrew University in

Jerusalem. As a student, he was a philosopher and sel-

proclaimed agnostic.

While in the British Medical Corps during World War II,

Prince began to study the Bible as a philosophical work.

Converted through a powerul encounter with Jesus Christ,

he was baptized in the Holy Spirit a ew days later. Out o this

encounter, he ormed two conclusions: first, that Jesus Christis alive; second, that the Bible is a true, relevant, up-to-date

book. Tese conclusions altered the whole course o his lie,

which he then devoted to studying and teaching the Bible as

the Word o God.

Discharged rom the army in Jerusalem in 1945, he married

Lydia Christensen, ounder o a childrens home there. Upon

their marriage, he immediately became ather to Lydias eight

adopted daughterssix Jewish, one Palestinian Arab, and

one English. ogether, the amily saw the rebirth o the state

o Israel in 1948. In the late 1950s, they adopted another

daughter while Prince was serving as principal o a teacher

training college in Kenya.

In 1963, the Princes immigrated to the United States andpastored a church in Seattle. In 1973, Prince became one


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o the ounders o Intercessors or America. His book

Shaping History through Prayer and Fasting has awakened

Christians around the world to their responsibility to pray or

their governments.

Many consider underground translations o the book as

instrumental in the all o communist regimes in the USSR,

East Germany, and Czechoslovakia. Lydia Prince died in 1975,

and Prince married Ruth Baker (a single mother to three

adopted children) in 1978. He met his second wie, like his

first wie, while she was serving the Lord in Jerusalem. Ruth

died in December 1998 in Jerusalem, where they had lived

since 1981.

Until a ew years beore his own death in 2003 at the age o

eighty-eight, Prince persisted in the ministry God had called

him to as he travelled the world, imparting Gods revealed

truth, praying or the sick and afflicted, and sharing his

prophetic insights into world events in the light o Scripture.

Internationally recognized as a Bible scholar and spiritual

patriarch, Derek Prince established a teaching ministry that

spanned six continents and more than sixty years. He is the

author o more than fify books, six hundred audio teachings,

and one hundred video teachings, many o which have

been translated and published in more than one hundredlanguages. He pioneered teaching on such ground-breaking

themes as generational curses, the biblical significance o

Israel, and demonology.

Princes radio program, which began in 1979, has been

translated into more than a dozen languages and continues

to touch lives. Dereks main gif o explaining the Bible

and its teaching in a clear and simple way has helped


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build a oundation o aith in millions o lives. His

nondenominational, nonsectarian approach has made

his teaching equally relevant and helpul to people rom

all racial and religious backgrounds, and his teaching is

estimated to have reached more than hal the globe.

In 2002, he said, It is my desireand I believe the Lords

desirethat this ministry continue the work, which God

began through me over sixty years ago, until Jesus returns.

Derek Prince Ministries International continues to reach

out to believers in over 140 countries with Dereks teaching,

ulfilling the mandate to keep on until Jesus returns. Tis

is accomplished through the outreaches o more than

thirty Derek Prince offices around the world, including

primary work in Australia, Canada, China, France,

Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Russia,

South Arica, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and theUnited States. For current inormation about these and

other worldwide locations, visit www.dpmuk.org.


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DPM-ASIA/PACIFICPO Box 2029, Christchurch 8140

NEW ZEALAND

Ph: +64 3 366 4443

Email: [email protected]

www.derekprince.co.nz

DPM-AUSRALIA

1st Floor, 134 Pendle Way

Pendle Hill, New South Wales 2145

AUSRALIA

Ph: +61 2 9688 4488


www.derekprince.com.au

DPM-CANADA

P.O. Box 8354

Haliax, N.S. B3K 5M1, CANADA

Ph: +1 902 443 9577

E-mail: [email protected]

www.derekprince.org

DPM-FRANCE

Route dOupia, BP 31

34210 Olonzac, FRANCE

Ph: +33-468-91-38-72


www.dpm.net

DPM-GERMANY

Schwarzauer Str. 56

D-83308 rostberg, GERMANY

Ph: +49-8621-64146


www.ibl-dpm.net

DPM-NEHERLANDS

Gaasterland 2

1948 RG Beverwijk

NEHERLANDS

Ph: +31-251-255-044


DPM-NORWAY

P. O. Box 129 Loddeord

5881 Bergen, NORWAY

Ph: +47-5593-4322

E-mail: [email protected]

www.derekprince.no

DPM-SOUH AFRICAPO Box 33367

Glenstantia 0010

Pretoria

SOUH AFRICA

Ph: +27 12 348 9537


DPM-SWIZERLAND

Alpenblickstrasse 8CH-8934 Knonau

SWIZERLAND

Ph: +41-044-768-2506


DPM-UNIED KINGDOM

Kingsfield, Hadrian Way

Baldock, SG7 6AN,

UNIED KINGDOM

Ph: +44-1462-492100


www.dpmuk.org

DPM-USA

P. O. Box 19501

Charlotte

NC 28219-9501, USA

Ph: +704-357-3556


DEREK PRINCE MINISTRIES

International Offices


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ISBN 978-1-901144-50-5

And, whoever compels you to goone mile, go with him two. :

In Jesus day, a Roman soldier could compel you to carry his

belongings one mile o his journey. Tats a lot to ask. But Jesus

took this one step urther by telling His disciples that they should

be willing to not only go the first mile, but to also go a second mile!

In this call to a higher standard o excellence, Derek Princepoints out that:

Love covers, not covers up

Eciency is a Christian virtue

Family Obligations come rst

In todays self-serving society, a willingness to go the extra mile has

never been more needed. Read Te First Mile and commit yoursel

to a lie o integrity.

DEREK PRINCE (1915-2003), was educated at Eton

and Cambridge where he later held a fellowship

in Philosophy. Whilst serving in the British Army

during World War II, he experienced a lie-changing

encounter with Jesus Christ. He then devoted his life

to the Bible and became internationally recognized

as a leading Bible teacher. Dereks main gif is explaining the Bible

in a clear and simple way and his books include Foundations for

Christian Living, Tey Shall Expel Demons andBlessing or Curse:

You Can Choose.

Derek Prince Ministries-UK

Kingsfield, Hadrian Way

Baldock, SG76AN, UKwww.dpmuk.org

Product Code EB78

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