HomeARC ML 0936
CAESAR'S POUND OF FLESH!--By Father David DO 936 22 September 1980
1. THIS IS A RATHER SHOCKING DREAM I HAD ON MONDAY MORNING, THE 22nd OF SEPTEMBER, 1980, & which woke me up, as these specific warning dreams from the Lord always do. They really wake me up & shake me up & will hardly let me go back to sleep till I tell them, & are crystal clear in almost every detail. I was so tired & sleepy, at least I thought I was, that I simply told Maria to jot down that I'd had a dream & to remind me to tell her about the doctor. I told her a Spanish doctor, but I'm not sure it was Spain.
2. IT REMINDED ME VERY MUCH OF SPAIN--PARTICULARLY THE POORER PART OF SOUTH WESTERN & WESTERN, SEMI-DESERT SPAIN--but it could have been any semi-desert country in the World. It looked like Southwestern United States, Southwestern Spain, Mexico, the pampas of Argentina, Afghanistan or God knows where! But it's evidently a warning to some of you folks who might be tempted to do what these folks did & follow their example, & had some rather strong lessons that I gathered from it.
3. MY FIRST PICTURE WAS OF A COZY CARAVANING FAMILY OF FATHER, MOTHER & SEVERAL CHILDREN, car & caravan coming back from the interior of this rather barren primitive & backward area, which obviously was not crowded, & returning rejoicing over a new pioneer area that they felt they had discovered which was not overly worked or witnessed & was virtually virgin territory for the Family.
4. THEY WERE TELLING OTHERS ABOUT IT & ENTHUSIASTICALLY REJOICING THAT THEY HAD DISCOVERED A NEW AREA which was not overworked & to which the Family Gospel was fairly new, & everyone was thrilled with their glowing reports of this new seemingly open territory that they had recently invaded & felt they had discovered as a potential new field.
5. AND THE PICTURE I SAW WAS OF THEM DRIVING OUT OF IT, LIKE ALMOST DRIVING OUT OF THE DESERT ACROSS A SORT OF A LOW RIDGE into the more populous & more civilised part of the country where two other Family families who were also mobile with caravans were living & working. And they were inspiring them with stories of their adventures in this almost untouched backward area & thrilling to the idea of perhaps even going together to invade it with the Gospel for the Lord.
6. IT SEEMED THAT THE THREE FAMILIES, & PERHAPS OTHERS, WERE GATHERED TOGETHER IN SOME CAMP, SORT OF SWAPPING STORIES & telling tales about their missionary adventures & all excited about the possibilities of this new virgin territory which had not yet really been covered. And they were discussing the potentials & ways of invading it & how to go about it & how to make it possible.
7. IT SEEMED LIKE ONE OF THE GIRLS OF THE FAMILY WAS WRITING THE STORY TO US & DESCRIBING IT, & I WAS GETTING THESE PICTURES FROM HER NARRATION. She was telling us all about it in a letter & asking us to pray about the situation. Well, the families who were discussing invading this new territory were always faced with the problem, as usual, of support, & this first family had hit on what they thought was a very brilliant idea. Lord Jesus, help me not to forget anything. Help me to remember the details & the lessons.
8. THEY CAME UP WITH THIS SUGGESTION THAT THEY ALL TAKE A CERTAIN GOVERNMENT OFFERED MEDICAL COURSE which would qualify them for a certain form of primitive medical service such as the barefoot doctors of China; sort of like visiting nurses with a minimum of medical supplies & medical knowledge, but sufficient to try to help some of the most primitive backward peoples in caring for their basic medical needs.
9. THE GOVERNMENT WAS OFFERING THIS COURSE FREE TO THOSE WHO WOULD TAKE IT & VOLUNTEER TO GO INTO THE INTERIOR & minister to these backward primitive people & help them. And the authorities were also offering a small salary income to those who would take & complete the Course & then go & minister to these backward peoples, so that the so-called medical missionaries would have a small income for support.
10. SO THE FAMILIES WERE TALKING ABOUT IT & THRILLED WITH THE IDEA & THEY WERE ALL EXCITED that this government sort of medical-missionary program would enable them to invade this territory & pioneer it & have a minimum, guaranteed support from the government. It seemed like this girl was narrating the story to me in her letter, although I was seeing the pictures at the same time. So according to my dream, the three families entered the program & entered the Course.
11. THE FIRST FAMILY OF PIONEERS STARTING IT FIRST OF ALL--SOMETHING LIKE TWO OR THREE MONTHS EARLIER THAN THE OTHERS--& therefore completed it first & had set off joyfully across this ridge-like border from the populous civilised part of the country into the open barren desert, or semi-desert, of the more sparsely-populated area which seemed far more primitive & backward & the people much more, well, you might almost say savage-like.
12. THERE'S SO MANY PLACES IT REMINDED ME OF, AS I SAY: THE BACKWOODS OF SPAIN OR MEXICO OR SOME SOUTH AMERICAN COUNTRY OR MIDEAST. It could have fit a lot of places, & perhaps it was a lesson from the Lord to you that it could be true in many areas of the World. But the point was that there was this temptation of the government, something to get support to help them to enter this primitive area, & the missionaries were rejoicing over this possibility & potentiality.
13. THE PEOPLE OF THIS AREA SEEMED TO BE EXTREMELY FANATICALLY RELIGIOUS, of some religion which seemed to control their lives, as well as very backward in education, civilisation & so on. But the first family who had gone in & explored the area had come out with glowing stories that they thought there were tremendous possibilities of pioneering it for the first time by the Family.
14. SO HAVING FINISHED THEIR GOVERNMENT COURSE, A RATHER BASIC MEDICAL COURSE IN MEDICATIONS & FIRST-AID & all that sort of thing, & with their little government stipend--financial subsidy--they set off across the border bidding the others farewell:--Happily, joyfully & excitedly driving off with a car & caravan & family in the distance, never to be seen again!
15. AND THIS GIRL IN HER LETTER WAS TELLING US HOW THAT THE OTHER FAMILIES WHO WERE ALSO TAKING THE COURSE & PREPARING TO FOLLOW THEM, AWAITED TO HEAR FROM THEM.--They waited & waited & waited & there was no word whatsoever, no word came. They gave it lots of time because it was a primitive area & the government services there were not too certain, such as the post, but after a month or two of waiting for word, they began to become greatly concerned about them.
16. AND SINCE THESE PIONEERS WERE ON A GOVERNMENT PROGRAM BENEFITING FROM THE GOVERNMENT SUBSIDY TO SUPPORT THEIR MEDICAL WORK, the other families who were involved in the same program & preparing to minister to the same country went to the authorities & reported that the first family had not been seen nor heard from for some months now & they were greatly concerned about them. Apparently the government officials were convinced that it was a serious situation & that they had better try to locate them & see what had become of them.
17. SO THEY SENT INVESTIGATORS & SEARCH PARTIES BUT THEY WERE NOWHERE TO BE FOUND. They searched & searched for many days until finally they suddenly came upon the dead body of the father lying in a desolate spot in the desert with his neck broken & stripped of virtually everything that was valuable including his clothing, & had been there for some time, according to the condition of the body. But the car & caravan & mother & children were nowhere to be seen, & according to the dream or story, never seen again.
18. THE PRIMITIVE INHABITANTS HAD APPARENTLY RESENTED THIS INTRUSION OF THESE FOREIGNERS, & being already fanatically religious in another religion, had more than one reason to resent them. They were not only hated foreigners--citizens of hated rich countries--but also of another resented & hated religion; and also had obviously quite a few valuable possessions, car, trailer, clothing & so on.
19. THERE ARE SOME AREAS IN THE WORLD, BELOVED, WHERE THEY ARE SO POOR THEY WOULD EVEN, AS I SAID BEFORE, KILL YOU FOR YOUR BOOTS! So the rest of the family had completely disappeared, along with the car & trailer & all their lovely goods, mother & children, & only the father was found. The others had not been found, & it seemed the authorities were not giving much hope that they would be.
20. THEY FELT THAT THE NATIVES HAD STOLEN ALL THESE GOODS & PERHAPS NOT ONLY KIDNAPPED THE MOTHER & CHILDREN BUT POSSIBLY ENSLAVED THEM, as some primitive tribes will do & have been known to do with foreigners or whites--or the "white devils" as they used to be called by some savage native tribes. This was a very common practice in some of the early days of the explorers & pioneers & missionaries, that they not always kill them but frequently would enslave them.
21. THIS WAS DONE BY THE AMERICAN INDIANS IN THE INVASION OF THEIR LAND BY THE WHITES. Wives & children were captured & reared as Indians until they could only vaguely even remember their former civilised life. It is said that in some areas of the World the Gypsies used to kidnap children & train them up as Gypsies, particularly girls, for use in their support; or sell them on a more or less underground slave market as white girl slaves for sex houses, like criminals do.
22. THIS BUSINESS OF KIDNAPPING WOMEN & CHILDREN, THEREFORE, IS A QUITE EARLY PRACTICE. The Arabs used to do it, make forays onto the Southern coast of Europe across the sea seeking both wealth & women & child captives for slaves back in North Africa. They also raided the Black communities of Africa doing the same thing.
23. SO IT'S NOT AT ALL UNIQUE OR NEW OR UNHEARD OF THAT THE WHITE INVADERS HAVE BEEN BOTH MASSACRED & CAPTURED.--Some massacred & some captured & used as slaves by the more primitive crueler savage peoples. So this is what the government seemed to estimate had become the fate of the rest of the family of this poor man who was slain; that the tribes people had made off with all their things & the woman & children, & that it was unlikely that they were going to be able to find them,
24. BECAUSE THESE INTERIOR PEOPLES EVEN RESENTED THE GOVERNMENT OF THE NATION IN WHICH THEY LIVED & WERE TOTALLY UNCOOPERATIVE WITH THE POWERS THAT BE & were continuously causing trouble, & certainly would not cooperate in the effort to try to find these people. So the girl was writing & telling us the sad tale & asking us for prayer, that if possible, this mother & children could possibly be saved & found & recovered.
25. AT THE SAME TIME, THE OTHER FAMILIES WHO WERE TRAINING FOR THE SAME PROGRAM WERE DISCUSSING WHY THIS HAPPENED & what were the particular causes of it & the reasons for it. And they came up with the same answers: That these backward primitive peoples of the interior of this wilder desert country, these tribesmen, very bitterly resented both the government & foreigners & peoples of another religion, & therefore had not hesitated to attack this caravan & family & kill the father & confiscate the goods & capture the women & children for their own use.
26. AND THE LESSON WHICH SEEMED TO COME OUT OF IT WAS THAT WHEN THE ORIGINAL FAMILY WHO FIRST EXPLORED THE TERRITORY CAME BACK WITH SUCH GLOWING REPORTS of its possibilities of being newly invaded, & untouched heretofore by the Family, that they'd been somewhat tempted by this government training & financing program to do something which otherwise they might not have tried to do.
27. THE GOVERNMENT PROGRAM WITH ITS PROMISE OF FINANCIAL SUPPORT HAD BEEN A STRONG TEMPTATION to go into that area which otherwise they might not have been able to do, & also that it was somewhat of a compromise that they were going in there to try to please the government & minister medically & divide their time between the physical needs & the spiritual needs of the people--which seemed quite reasonable in a way.
28. AND YET WHEN WE ACCEPT THE HELP OF THE SYSTEM TO DO THE LORD'S WORK, IT SEEMS LIKE IT ALMOST ALWAYS REQUIRES SOME KIND OF COMPROMISE--some kind of lowering the standard, sacrificing of principles & muzzling of the Message.--Certain restrictions on our activities & what we can & cannot do, & what the government approves of & does not approve of, & what they will permit us to do on their money & what they frown upon in ways of witnessing activities & conversions of the natives & so on.
29. IT SEEMS THAT WHENEVER WE'VE EVER GONE TO THE GOVERNMENT FOR HELP, IT'S ALWAYS COST TOO MUCH. I know that in our early days, time & again, some of our leaders, such as Jethro & so on--& not only he, but others who followed him in other countries--insisted on getting incorporated or organised or associated; some kind of official name or corporation which could then apply to the government for some kind of government help or subsidies or grants or discounts or tax benefits, etc., & it seldom helped. It always caused much more trouble than it was worth, because there were too many compromises that had to be made.
30. IT SEEMED THAT WHENEVER WE TRIED TO PLAY BALL WITH THE SYSTEM & COMPROMISE WITH THE GOVERNMENT, IT ALWAYS COST TOO MUCH & THERE WERE ALWAYS RESTRICTIONS. There were filings & reportings that had to be made of every penny of finances & every operation & activity, & so much was required by the government in return for its minimal financial help--& sometimes little or no help at all--that it was hardly worth it!
31. IN FACT, SOMETIMES AFTER REVEALING ALL OF THESE [DELETED] OPERATIONS OF A FAMILY UNIT OR ORGANISATION which had tried to organise or incorporate or associate to try to get the financial benefits from the government--reduced taxes or certain government allowances, food stamps or tax exemptions--even after finding out just about everything they could about this section of the Family, the government turned down the application & still kept all the information! They did this in Texas with Jethro after trying to comply with them as a religious school or college & educational institution under a government program of tax exemption & other benefits.
32. AFTER TRYING TO COMPLY WITH THEIR EVERY WHIM & EVERY REQUIREMENT & EVERY DETAIL & almost impossible-to-meet insistence on certain schedules & curriculums & educational standards & teaching credentials of the teachers & professors & all this sort of thing, & after having revealed the inside of the financial structure & finances & all kinds of things & filing all kinds of papers & applications & statements & descriptions & finance reports & everything else,
33. THE GOVERNMENT TURNED AROUND & PRACTICALLY SPIT IN OUR FACE & STILL DENIED THE BENEFITS & TAX EXEMPTIONS & STATUS which was being sought for benefits from the System! You don't get anything from the System for nothing! Let me tell you, they make you pay for it through the nose & become their slaves! "The borrower is servant to the lender" (Prov.22:7), & in this case the government is not giving you any free gifts!
34. IT IS ONLY LENDING FOR A LITTLE WHILE WHAT IT'LL TAKE BACK IF IT SUITS ITS WHIMS & PURPOSES, & will then press you to the floor with penalties, back taxes, withdrawal of benefits & all kinds of things if you haven't complied or if you made one little misstep or mistake or haven't revealed all to suit their fancy. They want more & more & more, & they're rapacious in their desire to devour all the information about you they can, & then turn on you & rend you!
35. LIKE JESUS SAID, "CAST YE NOT YOUR PEARLS BEFORE SWINE, neither give thou that which is holy unto the dogs, lest they trample them under their feet & turn again & rend you!" (Mt.7:6.)--And this kind of information is holy to the Lord & the Family. As far as we're concerned, it's sacred, & it's none of their business!
36. THE PEARLS THAT WE TRY TO GIVE THEM IN THE WAY OF TRUTH OR INFORMATION ABOUT THE FAMILY OR OUR ACTIVITIES ARE SIMPLY SCORNED & RIDICULED & WE'RE MADE FOOLS OF!--And we are fools for doing it, because the Lord reproved it in the Scripture & said that you were just "casting your pearls to swine"--[EDITED: "the ACs"]--"& that which is holy unto the dogs," the Christ-rejecting Gentiles!
37. BECAUSE THEY WILL ONLY TRAMPLE THEM UNDER THEIR FEET, ONCE THEY GET AHOLD OF THEM, & USE THEM AGAINST YOU TO TURN & REND YOU & TEAR YOU & DESTROY YOU!--Which they have tried to do in a number of areas where our people have made the mistake of trying to get too many benefits from the government & government tax exemption & government beneficence & food stamps or special grants of surplus foods & all kinds of various government benefits that the government hands out a few crumbs for, in return for its enslavement & pure slavery to the System! So this was a strong impression that I had:
38. THIS WAS A SHOCKING EXPERIENCE TO TEACH A BITTER LESSON THAT IT SELDOM PAYS TO SELL YOUR SOUL TO THE COMPANY STORE!--They will only make you a slave, their slave! In this case the government really is the master, & they will make you a government slave to crawl & beg for the little crumbs that they may hand you in return for your slavery to their System & their rules & their conditions & their requirements for your incorporation or association or tax exemption or whatever it is that you're trying to get out of the government.
39. THEY WILL DEMAND THE POUND OF FLESH, THE Nth DEGREE OF SERVITUDE BEFORE YOU'LL GET IT, & even then after having revealed your [DELETED] organisational structure & finances, they'll sneer & spit in your face & deny you the very government System benefits that you were seeking, & turn & rend you & try to destroy you!
40. SO OFTEN THE SYSTEM IS RUN & LED & INFLUENCED BY OUR ENEMIES, as was even the Roman Government of Jerusalem. The governor, Pilate, was led around by the nose by the religionists of the city--the High Priests & the Scribes & the Pharisees--& he was afraid not to do whatever these [EDITED: "religionists"] told them to do.
41. WE HAVE FOUND THIS SINCE OUR EARLIEST BEGINNINGS THAT THE RELIGIOUS WHORE RULES OVER THE BESTIAL GOVERNMENT! The church or religion rules the Romans, & the government has to do whatever the religionists say, or they will betray the local officials to higher ones & will accuse them of treachery or perfidy or failure to implement the law, & all kinds of things if the local officials don't agree to do their dirty work for them, such as crucify Jesus!
42. THIS HAS ALWAYS BEEN OUR EXPERIENCE FROM THE VERY EARLIEST DAYS OF THE FAMILY, that once we invaded a territory & had thoroughly saturated it with our doctrine & reaped a harvest of their young people, the Systemites became incensed & stirred up!--And they were almost always the religionists, of course, the very good law-abiding, upstanding, well-off, wealthy citizens of the city.
43. THEY WOULD GO TO THE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS, ELECTED BY THEM & CHOSEN BY THEM TO DO THEIR WILL, & COMPLAIN & DEMAND SATISFACTION & demand that we either be jailed or thrown out of town or punished or forbidden to witness or forbidden to do whatever we were doing. And if the government said it was beyond the pale of their law & they couldn't do anything, we weren't breaking their laws, then the citizenry vigilantes of some of the Systemites & religions would gang up together to take the law into their own hands--such as the deprogrammers & kidnappers like that devil Ted Patrick!
44. TED PATRICK & OTHERS WOULD BE THE LAW IN THEMSELVES & TAKE THE LAW INTO THEIR OWN HANDS & kidnap our young people & unlawfully imprison them!--Criminally kidnap them, cruelly torture them mentally & spiritually & even otherwise, & try to strip them of their faith & keep them from the Family!--Deprogram them & completely get them to deny their faith & the Family & drop out of the Family & forsake the Lord & His children!
45. SO WE FOUND THAT GOVERNMENT BENEFITS USUALLY ARE JUST TOO HIGH-PRICED! They demand a price which is far beyond their worth & often causes more trouble than good, & endangers the Family. We've had many areas where this was done, where associations or corporations were formed, or incorporation or organisations or names of some kind, to get certain government benefits & status & recognition & legality & tax exemption & so on.
46. BUT IN ALMOST EVERY CASE IT HAS CAUSED US ALL KINDS OF TROUBLE--MORE TROUBLE THAN IT WAS REALLY WORTH. [DELETED] So that when they finally persuaded the government to crack down on us, they were able to go through these official legal channels that we had opened to the Family through the government.
47. MANY OF THESE GOVERNMENT SUBSIDIES, TAX EXEMPTIONS, BENEFITS, SURPLUS FOOD, FREE FOOD STAMPS & all kinds of other social security benefits & medical benefits can be received sometimes privately as individuals[DELETED].--Particularly welfare benefits such as food stamps & medical aid & family aid for fatherless children & so on.
48. THIS IS POSSIBLE FOR SMALL FAMILIES & WIDOWS & ORPHANS, ETC., OR UNEMPLOYED FATHERS WITH FAMILIES. It is possible to take advantage of some of these government benefits privately & individually, but then of course you always have to reveal everything about yourself & your family: --Why you're unemployed, where have you been for the last ten years, what have you been doing, have you paid your taxes, did you pay your Social Security taxes & blah blah blah blah blah!
49. THEY ALWAYS DEMAND THE POUND OF FLESH FOR EVERY OUNCE OF BENEFITS THAT THEY'RE GOING TO GIVE YOU! You're not going to get it scot free without revealing something & without bowing down to the powers that be & grovelling & crawling & begging for it & being humiliated & disgraced; even exposed, as Judas was when he tried to get something out of the System; they demanded betrayal! As we've said before, there's no way to go back without paying for it. We gave you the "DDDB," I believe:
50. BACKSLIDING & BETRAYAL ALWAYS BEGINS WITH DOUBTS, THEN DISOBEDIENCE, THEN DENIAL & FINALLY BETRAYAL. (See Letter No.759.) So it's virtually impossible to get anything out of the System in the way of their dole or crumbs that they're willing to hand you, without almost selling your soul to them & your freedom & your privacy & sacrificing your principles in some way, allowing them to restrict your activities & to investigate all of your interior operations [DELETED], etc.
51. -- PARTICULARLY IF YOU APPLY FOR SOME KIND OF GOVERNMENT RECOGNITION OF AN ORGANISATION or association or corporation or whatever, & tax benefits & that sort of thing as a charitable institution or organisation of some kind, or a charity or whatever they call it. They've got scores of names for groups to whom the government gives handouts for their enslavement & their control & the compromises & bowing downs that they demand in return.
52. SO YOU CAN'T DO BUSINESS WITH THE DEVIL!--YOU CANNOT COMPROMISE WITH THE VERY SYSTEM WHICH YOUR MESSAGE INFURIATES & which your methods anger & which your very way of living offends & which is controlled by your enemies & will be used against you [DELETED]!
53. ALL OF THIS WILL ONLY BE USED AGAINST YOU IN THE LONG RUN, AS IT WAS AGAINST JESUS BY HIS ENEMIES THROUGH THE BETRAYAL OF ONE OF HIS OWN DISCIPLES. Jesus never tried to organise any kind of organisation, association or corporation to be recognised & accepted by the System to gain any financial or tax benefits or other special handouts from the governments. He refused to fit into their System or comply with their rules--except the basic laws--& even some of those religious laws He defied, such as some of His activities on the Sabbath.
54. THEN OF COURSE HIS RELIGIOUS ENEMIES BEGAN TO ACCUSE HIM OF TRAITOROUS & TREASONABLE ACTIVITIES AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT, lying to the government that He was anti-Roman & against Caesar & therefore was a traitor to the government & should be stopped & punished--& they finally virtually persuaded the government that this was possibly so.
55. AND EVEN THOUGH THE GOVERNMENT COULD FIND NO FAULT IN HIM IN THEIR COURT, THE RELIGIONISTS FOUND PLENTY OF FAULT & accused Him of all kinds of irreligious activities. And their power was so strong & their influence so great on the government itself as the true powers that be, that they finally persuaded the government to crucify Him--which they did at the behest of the religious leaders.
56. AND THEY'LL DO THE SAME TO YOU IF YOU TRY TO GET TOO MANY FAVOURS FROM THE GOVERNMENT in return for whatever they want to know about you & your activities & your Family & your Message & methods & finances & whatnot. So according to our experience, it just hasn't proved worth the trouble--the dangers & the problems involved in getting government recognition & benefits.
57. -- NOT THAT WE OPERATE ILLEGALLY NOR ARE BREAKING ANY LAWS OR DOING ANYTHING UNLAWFUL, but simply that you don't get any special benefits from the government--special recognition, special tax-exemption, special grants of foods or financial assistance--without some kind of compromise: Some kind of [DELETED] restrictions on your activities & limitations on your Message.
58. YOU JUST REALLY PAY FOR IT, & YOU PAY FOR IT THROUGH THE NOSE A LOT MORE THAN IT'S WORTH!--And it seemed to me that this dream was a real warning that you may pay for it, the ultimate price of even your life, if you try to compromise to receive government benefits which enable you perhaps to go into an area that otherwise you would not have been able to invade or take advantage of.
59. IF IN ORDER TO GET TO DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO YOU HAVE TO SEEK GOVERNMENT HELP OR AID & THEIR FINANCES & ABIDE BY THEIR RULES, IT MAY COST YOU MORE THAN YOU REALISED!--And even possibly cost you your life or freedom, as it cost this poor missionary his life & his family & all of his Worldly possessions in going into an area which obviously was not safe & only made possible through the government. (Maria: And which you warned against in "Go to the Cities"! [EDITED: "See No.927."])--Yes!
60. AND AGAINST WHICH WE HAVE ALREADY WARNED YOU CONSIDERABLY, SAYING TO STAY OUT OF THESE BACKWARD, BACKWOODS, PRIMITIVE AREAS of fanatically religious & savage tribes, & stick to the cities in your preaching. You may be able to live in the country in your caravan, but to really preach the Gospel & reach the most people who are the most broad-minded, liberal & more likely to believe it, & with the mentality to receive it & understand it, you should go to where they are, & that is where they congregate--in the cities!
61. IN THE CITIES IS WHERE YOU CAN REACH THE MASSES & THE MILLIONS INSTEAD OF A FEW SAVAGE ABORIGINAL NATIVES out in the jungles or desert somewhere who are apt to slit your throat for your handbag or use a machete & decapitate you for your boots!--Or break your neck for your car & trailer & family, as they did to this poor fellow! It just isn't worth it!
62. IT ISN'T WORTH DEFYING THE ADVICE WE HAVE GIVEN YOU NOT TO GO TO SUCH FANATICAL, PRIMITIVE, SAVAGE AREAS WITH SO FEW PEOPLE ANYHOW, & particularly on any kind of government help which will only consume your time in their government activities & will compromise your Message & principles & restrict your methods.
63. BUT RATHER, AS THE LORD ONCE TOLD US, "GO IN THE NAME OF THE LORD!"--As He told Moses. Moses asked, "Who shall I say hath sent me?"--Just say, "I AM hath sent thee!" (Ex.3:13,14.)--In other words, the Lord sent us.--And when we started that, that's what started the Family! It was a very peculiar recommendation, very peculiar reference. When we went to churches we just said that God sent us, the Lord sent us!
64. WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY DENOMINATIONAL TIES NOR ORGANISATION, NO GOVERNMENTAL RECOGNITION, NO CORPORATION & NO ASSOCIATION, NO NOTHING BUT OUR LITTLE FAMILY!--And we're still a Family to this very day! You don't normally have to get incorporated to be a family. You don't usually have to apply for government recognition to be a family. You don't usually have to demand government benefits & subsidies & crumbs & pittances in order to be a family. A family is a family, & pretty independent usually, so it's not worth the price!
65. WHATEVER BENEFITS YOU GET FROM THE GOVERNMENT, YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR IT WITH YOUR HEAD OR YOUR FREEDOM--even as the Apostle Paul finally did for going to the wrong place to preach the Gospel, back in the Temple. He was saved by the Romans, but it finally cost him his head! He was rescued from his enemies the Jews by Roman soldiers, but in appealing to Caesar for help it cost him two years' imprisonment & finally decapitation, as he didn't get all the help he needed & they never really set him free.
66. HIS APPEAL TO CAESAR, OR THE GOVERNMENT, BROUGHT ACTUALLY, LITERALLY AN END TO HIS MINISTRY! So watch out that you don't try appealing to Caesar, & find out that it's going to cost you so much!--Because Caesar's going to demand your pound of flesh & your life & freedom & put an end to your ministry & your witnessing & perhaps cost you even your life.
67. PERHAPS YOU RECALL SHAKESPEARE'S "MERCHANT OF VENICE" in which the Jewish loan shark, Shylock, took a promise of a nobleman's pound of flesh as security for a loan!--If the noble couldn't pay back the money, the noble was to give him a pound of his own flesh in return!--And the Jew took him to court over it! Don't endanger yours for Caesar's uncertain compromising questionable benefits! Trust the Lord!--Jesus never fails! GBAKY!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
