HomeARC ML 2318
UNNATURAL DISASTERS AND CHURCHIANITY! 6/85 DO 2318
TIME SPENT SHARPENING THE SCYTHE IS NOT TIME WASTED!
1. We're all very busy, we all have a lot to do, so why do you think we should stop & take time out for class, hours of every week that we could be doing a lot of other work for the Lord? Somebody might ask, "Dad, how come we're taking all this time to study all this Bible Prophecy again when we could be busy doing all this work we've gotta get done before it happens?--Or we could be busy out postering, litnessing, witnessing & soul-winning!--Getting more souls saved out there, busy in the harvest field, out there reaping instead of sitting here in the barn studying these prophecies again! Wouldn't it be better to spend all this time getting all these projects done & all of our evangelisation of the World done & worry about this when it happens?" What do you think? (Fam: No! We really need it, the Lord's showing you a lot of new things!)
2. Sitting in the barn or in the field sharpening the scythe is not time wasted!--Sitting in the barn sharpening the scythe with which you're going to reap, which is sort of your mind & your knowledge of the Word & the power of His Spirit, sharpening the scythe. Because you're going to be a better witness, more knowledgeable, better able to explain these things to people in a more convincing manner with better documentation & references & a sure knowledge of the Word. "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth!"--2Tim.2:15.
3. So it makes you a better witness, that's the main idea! It's going to improve your witnessing or your knowledge in the days when many shall come to you wanting to know as they see these things happening. They're already doing that, running up to the people out postering wanting to know, "What is that? What's going to happen? What's it all about?" We're getting reports that the Posters are the best witnessing tools they have ever had & winning souls faster than anything they've ever used! The people just take one look at the picture of Heaven & want to go There! We've got a few warning ones too about where they don't want to go! So if we can't love'm into Heaven we'll try to scare'm into Heaven!
4. But if it were not for those beautiful pictures actually depicting the scenes with the explanatory Story on the back, it would be a little difficult to visualise & a little difficult to show the people. Posters are sort of like salesmen's samples of the product! "Here is what I've got to sell. Here is what I'm trying to sell--knowledge of the Future!" That's our product! And we're some of the few people on Earth who know anything about it & can foretell the Future, because we know it, we've studied God's Word & we see it right here in the Bible! Amen?
5. So the more we know about it, the better we know it & the more accurate we are in our interpretation & explanation & forecasting of these events, the more convinced they're going to be, especially when the events start happening. They're going to come running to us! I believe they're going to come running to us by the hundreds, maybe the thousands! "We heard, we saw, we read in your Poster, is this it?" Or even if they never see us again, they've got the Poster & they'll know, "Ah! This is what it pictures, this is what they told me about, this is it!"
6. So it's important that we know particularly the details of the soon-coming events & be able to recognise these events & understand the order in which they're going to happen, the time periods & the characteristics of these events, what they're going to look like, who you're going to see, when, where, etc.
7. When Jesus' disciples asked Him, "When is the End going to be? What is going to be the sign of Thy coming?", He went into quite a bit of detail to try to explain to them & prepare them for what was coming. He told them a whole long list of events which would be signs of the times & the days, all the things that were going to happen for the next 2,000 years before He came--earthquakes, pestilences, wars & rumours of wars, strife & all kinds of things. He said, "But the end is not yet!"--That's not the end.--Although it may feel like it, sound like it & look like it sometimes when you hear of some of these terrible catastrophes, etc., that I call unnatural disasters!
UNNATURAL DISASTERS--JUDGEMENTS OF GOD BY THE DEVIL!
8. The World calls them "natural" disasters, but they're not natural, they're very unnatural! They're not the way God intended for things to be or for the World to be with all these earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, huge storms & floods & terrible things that happen. God didn't plan the Earth that way & plan its climate, etc., to be that way. Sometimes I believe as my Father did about storms, etc., that they are executed by the Devil! He used to quote the Scripture to back it up, that the Devil is called "The prince of the power of the air."--Eph.2:2.
9. The Devil is like God's law enforcement man, almost like a police force or the prosecuting attorney. A country or a city has a police force which will usually only attack you if you do wrong.--I mean that's the ideal, for punishment, for wrong-doing. Now that may be a shocking conception to some people, but I've mentioned it before, that the Devil is like the Prosecuting Attorney. (See Nos. 73A & 1439.) He's the Accuser of the Saints! There it is, clear as anything!--Rev.12:10.
10. When criminals go to court they are accused by the prosecuting attorney for the state. He brings up the charges & the evidence & accuses them of their crimes & holds up the law & tells the Judge, "Look, here's the law they broke, they need to be punished! Sock it to'm!" The Judge is like God, see? And the Prosecuting Attorney is the accuser. In this case the Devil is the Accuser of the Saints, not the criminals, but he is also the accuser of criminals. In our case, we are Saints, not criminals. But he is given the authority & the right to accuse, & if it's a correct judgement & accusation, even the right to be not only the accuser but the executioner of judgement on those who break God's Laws & who are in rebellion against the Lord.
11. So over years of experience & testimony of the Word & experience of others & some of the beliefs of people I respect & who know the Lord, like my Mother & Father, I've come to pretty well believe that too, that the Devil is the prince of the power of the air, & sometimes when it comes to these earthquakes & volcanic eruptions he seems to be prince of the power of the deep too! He lets all Hell break out & come loose! These terrible unnatural disasters, there's nothing natural about them! They're very unnatural, contrary to God's usual laws of nature or that which is natural. That which is natural, according to the nature God has created, is beautiful, wonderful, perfect, peaceful, marvellous! There wasn't even any rain, much less any storms before the Flood!
12. So they're very unnatural disasters, & more & more as I see & read & hear about them, especially the people that they're striking, I'm more inclined to think that they are the judgements of God executed by the Devil! You say, "Now how is that possible that God could allow the Devil to do such things?" Well, if the people deserve the punishment, why not? The Devil loves to destroy, he loves to create chaos & confusion, & if the people deserve it, why not let him? That's what they've asked for, really, by their behaviour & by their rebellion against God & defiance of His laws & breaking of His commandments & persecuting of His people & causing horrible things to happen to little children & all, cultures & societies which even persecute children & make their lives miserable, with wars & famines & things like that too.
13. I can't help but think those people must have deserved it! There must be some reason for it or God wouldn't have let it happen! Because He has promised peace & prosperity & rain & blessing upon His children & those who are good & try to keep His commandments, even if they don't know His Word & don't know Him. He speaks of them as those who are without the law, who knew not their Master's Will. He said there are those there that even try to do right & try to do good, knowing the difference between right & wrong.--Rom.2:14.
14. And then if people just stubbornly & rebelliously & with great meanness do things which are evil & wrong & wicked which harm others, even harm little children & helpless women & old folks & things like that like they're doing in Lebanon & everywhere around the World, why shouldn't God let the Devil let loose all Hell on Earth to sock it to'm? The Devil's cruel people, the Devil's own children are always attacking the good & the innocent and destroying those who are trying to do good.
15. Well, one thing that God doesn't like & will usually stop is when the Devil starts accusing God's Own saints & starts persecuting God's people. The Lord may allow it for a little while to accomplish His purpose, to drive'm out of a country that doesn't deserve to hear any more, to get'm out of the way of their persecutors & to save & spare them so they'll go someplace more fruitful & more receptive, & also to get them out of the way so He can judge their enemies!
16. So I'm fully convinced that the Devil is working for the Lord! I always like to make that shocking statement because it really wakes people up! Even though they may not know it, he's carrying out a lot of the judgements of God on the wicked. Now if God would even tell Satan that he could test a Saint like Job with all the afflictions he tested Job with, why shouldn't He tell Satan, "Okay, go ahead & sock it to that country! Go ahead & sock it to that person for being so bad!" If He even let Satan test Job for being so good, why shouldn't He let Satan annihilate whole populations for being so bad?--Right? And I believe that's what happens in a lot of these things!
17. I don't think those tornadoes just accidentally hit all those houses & flattened towns & even socked it to some churches. I don't think He let those islands of Bangladesh be completely almost washed away because they were so good & such good people, there must have been something wrong somewhere or God would have protected them & kept them from the Devil's devices! I believe it.
18. A lot of times we are tempted to question the Lord, "Why me, Lord? Why did You let me get sick? Why did You let it happen to me?" Well, He allows that just like He did Job, to test your faith & to test your love, which actually strengthens your faith & your love & causes you to love & believe in God no matter what, not doubt no matter what happens. As Job finally said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!"--Job 13:15. And when he finally said that, he got the victory. The Devil gave up & saw he couldn't make him quit even if he killed him.--Although the Lord had told him he couldn't take Job's life, but Job didn't know that. And the Devil certainly didn't tell him that, the Devil tried to make him think he was killing him!
19. Finally his wife told him, "Why don't you just curse God & die, you miserable man!" Just think, he even lost the love & respect of his own wife. He lost all his children, lost all his wealth, lost his health & lost his wife! She said, "So why don't you just curse God & die & get out of the way!" She probably wished he'd hurry up & die so she could marry some better man. He said, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him!"
20. But if God will allow that to happen & will allow Satan to tempt & test even His Own Saints, surely He will allow the Devil to wreak judgements & slaughter & horrors & unnatural catastrophes & disasters upon the wicked & the rebels & those that hate Him & defy Him & disobey Him!--Even His Own people who are rebellious & defy & disobey Him, those who claim to be His people, & He's done that for thousands of years with the Jews.
CHURCHIANITY--DOCTRINE OF DEVILS!
21. And now He's doing that with the Christians, because they're rebelling & defying Him & disobeying Him & doing things they were not told to do, like building great cathedrals and churches & saying you should just go to church on Sunday & that's it, & not doing things they were told to do, like getting out & evangelising the World & telling everybody about the Good News of His Love!
22. The church is defying, disobeying & rebelling against His commandments, ignoring them!--Almost unconscious & asleep & lethargic! "Oh well, why should I bother?" And the preachers, the shepherds, have misled the flocks, deceitfully telling them that all they have to do is build a nice church building & go to church & that's it! What a devilish, fiendish, dastardly doctrine of devils to sidetrack even the Christians, even born-again Christians, saved Christians, even Spirit-filled Christians who do nothing for the Lord except build buildings & attend them!
23. What a horrible deceit! What a horrible delusion! We used to call that big huge barn of a building in Anaheim the Anaheim Delusion Center! I've forgotten the real name, I think it was called Anaheim Christian Center or something like that. Such a delusion! All they did was build this big building & attend it, have pretty musical Gospel entertainments, Gospel shows, Gospel actors, Gospel theatre. They'd go there & sit & do nothing & just have the preacher & the musicians & the actors do it all.
24. You don't realise the horror of it until you face it & compare it with the reality of God's Will that you & I are doing & that our witnesses are doing on the streets & door-to-door & store-to-store & soul-winning & witnessing & Postering & litnessing & tapenessing & all the rest!--When you realise how they're sacrificing & suffering & working hard to try to reach people with God's Love & get'm saved to go to Heaven, & the wonderful results wherever they go, in any land in the World, souls saved, eternal souls for Heaven forever!
25. Compare that wonderful picture with the picture of the church people sitting in their big expensive costly million-Dollar buildings on soft comfortable cushioned pews with air conditioning & pipe organs & all that expensive folderol that has nothing to do with evangelising the World whatsoever, in fact is robbing the mission field of missionaries, robbing the unsaved heathen of the Gospel! It's damnable! God damn those churches that do that sort of thing! God damn & judge the Christians who allow that sort of thing & only do that sort of thing instead of getting out & witnessing the Love of Christ & saving the lost! It's a damnable doctrine of devils & a damnable practice of Satan!--Churchianity!
26. It's virtually the greatest deceit the Devil ever perpetrated on the church, churches, church people & supposed Christians, all of them! Look at the churches, packed out on Sunday mornings to overflowing--for what? To do what? The preacher or the priest gets up there & preaches some little ditty sermonette about this or that doctrine or even political situation, takes the offering & says, "Help the building fund" & blah blah. Seldom in all those churches did I ever hear much about witnessing or going out & telling others about Jesus & trying to save souls!
27. About the only thing the average Christian has been taught in witnessing is to tell'm to come to church, invite folks to church! That's their only form of witnessing! "Get more people to come to church so we can have a bigger congregation & have more people & more offering & be more proud of ourselves that we've got the biggest congregation in town, the most beautiful building, the highest-paid preacher with the fanciest parsonage, who drives the best car!" This is the kind of thing they promote.
28. Look how little they're doing of what they're supposed to be doing!--Almost nothing compared with the missionary in the foreign field struggling along even to be fed & housed & clothed & manage to have enough strength left to preach the Gospel & go out amongst the dirty, filthy, disease-ridden heathen! When you look at the sacrifices of our missionaries, any missionaries, real genuine true Christian missionaries who are really burdened to save souls & save the lost, when you look at the sacrifices they make, how they have left home & country & people & gone into far-away strange lands of strange tongues & strange people & strange cultures & had to try to live & survive there as well as preach the Gospel, when you think of the sacrifice & the suffering & the hard work the missionaries do, obeying the commandment of the Lord to "go into all the World & preach the Gospel to every creature," & you compare a missionary with a church member, it's almost like comparing Heaven with Hell!
29. The church members are sitting there in ease & luxury & comfort doing nothing except standing up, sitting down, standing up, sitting down, singing a pious little hymn or two, reciting the Apostle's Creed, listening to a little sermonette & going out & patting themselves on the back, "I've done my little duty for God for the week now, I've actually stood this thing for a whole hour Sunday morning. Now I can go out & live like the Devil the rest of the time!"--And that's what most of them do!
30. When you compare the difference between a missionary, a genuine, sincere, Bible-believing, Gospel-preaching missionary of the Gospel with the average church member sitting in his church doing nothing--& only an hour or so a week at that--I'll tell you, the church members really suffer by comparison!
31. Don't you think God deplores that sort of thing? Don't you think He abhors that sort of thing? In fact, He said, "I would you were hot"--on-fire for the Lord like missionaries--"or cold"--a dead, cold, unsaved Worldling who doesn't even know anything about the Lord, there's more hope for them.--Rev.3:15.--Certainly hope for the hot missionary! There's even more hope for the cold, dead, unsaved heathen who don't know the Lord & don't know what's right or what to do or anything about God or His Will or His commandments. There's more hope for him than there is for the lukewarm Christians sitting in their God-damned buildings doing nothing, that make God so sick they make Him throw up!
32. And every now & then He gets so sick He throws them up or He throws in a few tornadoes or a few floods or a volcanic eruption or an earthquake or an economic collapse or a war, all kinds of horrors that God allows to happen to even those who claim to be His Own people & His Own children. And then they ask the Lord, "Why? Why me? What have we done to deserve this?" The people in Malachi said, "Wherein have we robbed Thee? Wherein have we done these things?"--Mal.3:8. God's Word says they were so hard, He said, "Were they ashamed? No, they could not even blush!"--Jer.8:12.--So hard, so seared in their consciences as with a hot iron that they couldn't even see the difference any more.--1Tim.4:2.
33. They're hardened in their hearts, darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God & past feeling!--Eph. 4:18, 19a. If you ask me, that is the average condition of the average church member that I have seen all my life, with the exception of a few who were on fire for God, & usually they got to the mission field or somewhere to serve the Lord. The rest are sitting there on their comfortable pews like dummies, like zombies, like the dead!--Paralysed, blind leaders of the blind leading into God's ditch of judgement before long!--Mat.15:14. Just like dummies, bumps on those polished logs doing nothing.
34. Can anybody quote that whole Scripture? "Darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God & past feeling!" You ought to dig it out & memorise it some time.--Horrible! And Christians are so dead & so dumb & their brain so numb & paralysed from being deceived for so many years by their leaders & preachers & their doctrines that that is all there is to Christianity & all there is to their religion, just building churches & going to them on Sunday! Imagine! How horrible!
35. Can you see the heinousness of that crime against humanity, against the poor unsaved souls of the World who otherwise would hear the Gospel & get saved! If the church had really kept on doing what it was supposed to be doing, they could have had the whole World saved long ago & perhaps brought the End sooner. The Lord had to wait 2,000 years for the church to do the job & they haven't done it yet! They're still sitting in their church buildings singing hymns to each other, preaching the Gospel to each other, enjoying the fellowship of the Lord just with each other. Sometimes I doubt if the Lord's even there!
36. --Like that story about Sam the old Negro sitting out on the church step. He was sitting out there feeling sorry for himself because they wouldn't let him come into that particular all-White church, they didn't want any old Negro bums in there. So the Lord said to him, "Well, don't worry about that, Sam, I've been trying to get into that church for 25 years & they haven't let Me in yet!" Their prayers don't go any higher than the ceiling, I doubt if they go that high! All that rigmarole, all that wasted time, all that wasted money, all that wasted effort, wasted buildings, wasted everything!
37. We at least found church buildings useful for about one thing when we used to have our camper. We'd sometimes drive into a church yard over night & hope that the janitor would open the church the next morning so we could use the toilet. Very handy! Church yards are nice places to park & toilets were handy! Camping is always a problem, you need water & you need toilets, & we found churches were quite useful for that sort of thing. I must say that most of them looked a little oddly at us, the preacher or the janitor next morning would look a little peculiar & knock at the door & say, "What are you doing here?"
38. If they'd turn those church yards into campgrounds it would be more useful! About all they turn the church yards into are cemeteries to bury dead people, when some of the people inside need to be buried, they're so dead! Horrible!
39. No wonder God wreaks His judgements upon not only the evil & the wicked, but upon what to Him must seem almost the most wicked of all, those claiming to be His Own people, claiming to be Christians, claiming to be His temples & church buildings who know Him not & don't do His Will & disobey Him, defy Him, rebel against Him & let the unsaved go to Hell & do nothing about it!
40. We all are living in a house that's on fire in the basement! But the Christians are doing nothing to tell the World, "It's on fire, get off, get out!" They're sitting there in their churches singing hymns to each other! Horrible! Terrible! I just can't describe it bad enough! When you think how much money they waste on those buildings & those preachers & those services & all the rest of their folderol, 95% of their money goes to that & they give a nickel to the missionary, 5 cents to the missionary who's out there slaving away, suffering in strange cultures & climates & diseases with antagonistic evil demon-possessed people, suffering all kinds of hardships to try to show God's Love, to preach the Gospel & save people from Hell & from other religions just as bad, if not worse, than so-called Christianity!
41. When you compare the rich, satisfied Christians with the poor ignorant heathen, you can understand why those lukewarm Christians make God sick at His stomach! He says, "I'll vomit you up, I'll throw you up, I'll spew you out of My mouth!" They make God sicker than the cold, darkened, unenlightened heathen! "I would you were hot or cold, but because you're lukewarm I will spew you out of My mouth!"
42. No wonder God lets judgements & catastrophes & disasters befall the people who claim to be His Own people. The Lord said to some, "How say ye unto Me, 'Lord, Lord' & do not the things that I ask?" And He turned around & finally said to them, "Depart from Me, ye workers of iniquity, I know you not!"--Mat. 7:21-23. They said, "But Lord, Lord, haven't I done this in Thy name & done that in Thy name & done so-&-so in Thy Name? Aren't we Thy people?" Doesn't that sound like a lot of so-called Christians & church people? Some day He's going to say, "Depart from Me, ye workers of iniquity!"--Iniquity in building those God-damned buildings, iniquity in only promoting church services & bringing in the offering for their support, iniquity by not obeying & going out into all the World & preaching the Gospel to every creature! Iniquity! "You workers of iniquity, depart from Me into everlasting fire & darkness!"--Most of them even unsaved & don't even know the Lord!
43. But the horrible part is that the people who are actually saved & know the Lord, are even Pentecostal, filled with the Spirit, etc., still ape the same things & the same practices & the same methods & the same churchianity & church worship & go-to-church-on-Sunday kind of religion & do no more than the unsaved kind of Christians! They make God so sick at His stomach, He'll spew them out of His mouth!
44. The saddest, most pitiful people are those that actually know Him, & therefore they have no excuse for not knowing His Will, no excuse for not obeying the Lord & getting out & evangelising the World & going into all the World & preaching the Gospel to every creature! No excuse for it! They know Him!--Know His healing, know His Spirit, know His Salvation, know His Word, good Christians like you & I have known for many years. They haven't the faintest idea of obeying the Lord & getting out & going into all the World & preaching the Gospel.
45. They say, "Well, that's what we pay the preacher for! That's what we pay the missionary for! We can't do that, we don't know how to be preachers of the Gospel!" 50 years in church, 30 years in church, 25 years in church & they still don't know the Gospel enough to preach it? My God, they ought to know those sermons by heart by this time! You don't even have to know a sermon to preach the Gospel, all you have to know is John 3:16: "For God so loved the World that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life!"
46. That's all you have to know to go out & preach the Gospel to the whole World to every creature! Of course, it helps to know a few other things too like Bible Prophecy, that gets them interested & helps them want to escape some of those things & go to Heaven. But at least you know the Gospel & can preach it. That's all you need. You don't need all those sermons. They say, "Oh, I'm no preacher, I don't know how to preach! Oh, I wouldn't know what to do on the mission field, I wouldn't know the first thing! Besides, how would I earn a living? I mean, how would I survive?" They have no idea about how to trust the Lord or even how to raise support or try to beg for money for people to support'm. Most faith missionaries have to be beggars--beg for food, beg for housing, beg for clothing, beg for support! And if they can't beg it out of the rich people back in the home field, they have to beg it out of the poor people that they're ministering to! Think of it!
47. I think it's a terrible reproach on missionaries from rich countries who have to live off of the poor heathen to whom they're ministering! But God will help them survive even if they have to do that, & He'll certainly bless the heathen for it. But He'll certainly curse the church people & the Christians back home & the families back home who refused to help their child on the mission field! Think of the sins they've got on their hearts & minds & consciences & souls! No wonder God's going to let them suffer! No wonder God's going to let them go through horrible economic crash & wars & all kinds of horrors!--Because they deserve it!
48. They didn't do a thing God told them to do! They didn't get out & evangelise the World. They just sat there on those wooden benches like wooden bumps & did nothing except go to church on Sunday, build the church & then go to it on Sunday & sit there in agony to hear sermons & can't wait till the thing is over to get out so they can go fishing, swimming or hiking or have fun, or go back home & sleep or watch television.--Go back home to a big Sunday afternoon dinner, a big feast, while all the poor people of the World are starving both physically & spiritually! They say, "That's not my responsibility, I don't know anything about it, I'm not there, I can't help'm"--& they don't care either! Horrible! Pitiful!
49. Pardon me for getting on that subject, but when I do, I can't do the subject justice! I'm like the old guy that spilled his cart full of apples! He was so disgusted he couldn't even cuss. He was notorious for his cussing, but he just sat there in silence. They asked him, "How come you're not cussin' like you usually do?" He said, "I can't do the subject justice!"
50. That's the way I feel about churches & church people & the churches' lack of activity, lack of zeal, lack of obedience, their total lack of doing anything, except for a few churches & very few people & very few Christians who are missionary-minded & do support missionaries, like the little church I came out of & the churches we came from who were very missionary-minded & tried to do their best to at least support the missionaries, a few of their members who were willing to go. But the vast majority of them, about 95 to 97 or 98% of them didn't go. They were doing well if they even gave enough to the missionaries to go. Pitiful!
51. No wonder God allows horrible unnatural disasters, no doubt engineered by His executioner the Devil to destroy some of those people & destroy their wealth & their homes & their churches that they worshipped. They're not houses of the Lord, they have nothing to do with what the Lord told His people to do. How could they be a house of the Lord? I've seen signs over the pulpit & over the front door of the churches: "This is the House of the Lord."
52. There's no church building on God's Earth that is the house of the Lord! You are the house of the Lord! "Ye are the temple of the Holy Ghost!"--1Cor.3:16. No church building is the House of the Lord. It may be filled with the houses of the Lord--if the congregation know the Lord & have His Spirit--but the building's not the House of the Lord. They live an Old Testament type of Jewish religion, still building temples & calling them the House of the Lord. Even the Lord decried that! He said, "How can you build Me a house? Even the Universe can't contain Me! The Heaven of Heavens can't contain Me!" He even told David that & Solomon that! (See 1Chr.17:4,5b; 1Kg.8:27; 2Chr.6:18; Acts 7:49) But they insisted! They wanted to have temples like the heathen, they wanted to have temples like other religions.
53. Just like they insisted on a king! They weren't satisfied with just God as their King & the Prophet as His mouthpiece, they had to have a king! They wanted to be like other people & have a king & have glory & big armies & taxes & temples & priests & ceremonies & rigmaroles. They weren't satisfied with just the Lord. They weren't building houses for the Lord, they were building houses for themselves to sit in & enjoy their entertainments & to make themselves feel good that they were worshipping God.
54. How can you be worshipping God when you're not obeying Him? How can you say you love the Lord when you do not the things that He asks? How can you say you love the Lord when you don't love your neighbour as yourself?--Not even your next door neighbour, much less the neighbours clear off in foreign countries! Well, you folks do because you're here in a foreign country serving the Lord. GBY!
55. Our folks throughout the World are such shining examples of what real Christians ought to be like & are like, & what real Christianity is supposed to be like! They are such shining examples & so different, they look like the difference between day & night compared to the other Christians stuck in those churches, in those boxes, keeping the Gospel to themselves, wasting all that money doing nothing!
56. No wonder God's going to bless you! No wonder God's going to reward you! No wonder He's going to give you shining crowns of light! No wonder you're going to shine like the stars!--Because you love Jesus, & you showed that you love Jesus by doing what He told you to do, "to love others & tell them about Me & My Love so they can be saved & go to that Heavenly City!" That's how you prove you love Jesus! That's how you show you love Jesus!
FEED MY SHEEP!
57. Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Lovest thou Me?" And Simon said what? (Fam: "Yea, Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee!") He asked him three times & finally Peter said, "Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee!" In other words, "Why do You keep asking me that? You know I love You." The Lord answered the same thing again: "Feed My sheep! Feed My sheep!"--Jn.21:15-17.
58. I was asking the Lord over the last few days as we're finishing the Posters, "Lord, what more can I do to feed Thy sheep? What shall I do now, Lord?" And I got the same answer, "Feed My sheep! Feed My sheep!" There are still lots of sheep out there that need to be fed, still lots of sheep out there that are hungry for Love, hungry for the Gospel, hungry for the Truth, hungry for the Future, hungry for knowledge of what it's all about, still lots of sheep out there that haven't been reached yet!--Not just the Christians, not just ourselves, not just our own Family, but He's got millions of sheep out there that He wants to know the Gospel & wants to be saved & wants us to do something about it.
59. Don't you want to go? Wouldn't you like to go? Don't nod your head unless you mean it! Don't be like those church people! Do you really want to go? (Fam: Yes!) Hallelujah! I believe it! With you I believe it, because you've already gone, you've already done it! You know what it's like to go out on the street & try to witness & litness & go door-to-door, etc. Nearly all of you have done it, except some of our children who have always lived in Selah Units.
A RELIGION OF DON'TS!
60. Well, at least I delivered my soul! I was just thinking about some of those disasters & how some of them definitely are judgements, not only on the wicked, but quite often on God's Own people for their sins of lethargy & uselessness & slothfulness & doing nothing about the main job that God has given the church to do, & that's to evangelise the World, go into all the World & preach the Gospel to every creature! And most of them, those church people sitting in their churches on Sunday morning, aren't even preaching the Gospel to their next-door neighbours!
61. You wouldn't even know some of them were Christians if it weren't for the fact that they don't smoke or they say they don't go to bars or they don't go to dances or they don't play cards. A neighbour invites them over for a card game, "No, no, I don't play cards!"--Invites them to a dance or a party, "I don't do those things!"--Invited them in our old days to go to a movie--"Oh, I wouldn't think of contaminating myself by going to one of those picture shows, movies, house of the Devil!"
62. Some of their churches were just as much houses of the Devil & instruments of the Devil to keep them off the foreign field, to keep them from going out witnessing & serving the Lord!--Thinking themselves so good, priding themselves that that was their witness. That's what they were taught, that that was their witness, that their neighbour saw them going to church on Sunday carrying their Bibles advertising their Christianity.--And the fact that they didn't smoke or drink or play cards or dance or go to movies.
63. One Holiness man told us all the things he didn't do. I've got to give dear Mama Eve credit, she said to him, "Your religion seems to consist of all the things you don't do!"--Typical Holiness-type church people. Even some of the most formal religionists like Catholics, etc., even their religion consists of some of the things they don't do or won't do, & of course most of all, of the one thing they must do, & that's go to church!--Or then for sure they're not Christians, they're really lost then, terrible!
64. I guess this must be something that God wants somebody to know! God knows you here don't need it! Maybe somebody out there that's going to read it is the one that needs it.
Copyright (c) 1997 by The Family
