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PERSECUTION JEWELS!--No.13!       DO 2912       Comp.2/94

       PERSECUTION PSALMS!

       Psalm 33!
       1. (PSALM 33, Verse 6 and 7:) "By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of His mouth. He gathereth the waters of the sea together as an heap: He layeth up the depth in storehouses." How could our enemies think they can squelch us when the Lord is behind us? I was reading some beautiful prophecies about how the Lord is going to use us and deliver us, and how silly and foolish it is for these wicked people to think they're going to get the victory over us. And thank the Lord, He is beginning to deliver!
       2. (Verse 8:) "Let all the Earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the World stand in awe of Him." Boy, they sure don't nowadays.
       3. (Verses 9-14:) "For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought; He maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom He hath chosen for His Own inheritance. The Lord looketh from Heaven; He beholdeth all the sons of men. From the place of His habitation He looketh upon all the inhabitants of the Earth." It shows you He's up There--"His habitation!" Of course, He's also in our hearts, thank the Lord, by His Spirit.
       4. (Verse 15-22:) "He fashioneth their hearts alike; He considereth all their works. There is no king saved by the multitude of an host: a mighty man is not delivered by much strength. A horse is a vain thing for safety: neither shall he deliver any by his great strength. Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear Him, upon them that hope in His mercy. To deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the Lord: He is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in Him, because we have trusted in His holy name. Let Thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, according as we hope in Thee." Praise the Lord! Thank You Lord!

       Psalm 34!
       5. (Psalm 34, Intro:) "A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away, and he departed." That was when David acted like he was crazy to save his life. (See 1Sam.21:10-15.) Abimelech was a king of the Philistines. He's called Achish in other places, but that's the same fellow. (To the birds:) What do you think about that?--King David acting like he was crazy so his captors would release him? (Birds chirping in answer.)
       6. (Verse 1-10:) "I will bless the Lord at all times: His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto Him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The Angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear Him, and delivereth them. O taste and see that the Lord is good: blessed is the man that trusteth in Him. O fear the Lord, ye His saints: for there is no want (lack) to them that fear Him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing."
       7. (Verse 11:) "Come, ye children, hearken unto Me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord." Amen, that's what I've tried to do. Who would have ever dreamed that we would have lawyers, sociologists and others all over the World trying to decipher us and study us? We are really a peculiar people! The Lord said, "My people are a peculiar people!"--1Pet.2:9. We've got governments and sociologists and lawyers and theologians and psychologists all studying us, and I've been amused to read some of their analyses.
       8. (Verse 12-16:) "What man is he that desireth life, and loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace and pursue it. The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open unto their cry. The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the Earth." Hallelujah! Do it, Lord! Do it!
       9. (Verse 17-18:) "The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." Amen, Lord, You can make governments ignore what these evildoers tell them to do against us.
       10. (Verse 19-21:) "Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth all his bones: not one of them is broken. Evil shall slay the wicked: and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate. The Lord redeemeth the soul of His servants: and none of them that trust in Him shall be desolate." Praise the Lord!

       Psalm 35!
       11. (Psalm 35, Verse 1:) "Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me." Hallelujah! He sure has, the Lord's really doing things! We're waiting to hear the latest from France. Our Family were let out, but the case is apparently still open and they're not allowed to leave the country. In Argentina, the same. Although they were all released, some court decisions are still pending because our enemies aren't satisfied with the Appeals Court decision, they're trying to take it up to the Supreme Court! So we've got some powerful enemies, but we've got a much more powerful God!
       12. "Plead my cause, O Lord, with them that strive with me: fight against them that fight against me." Amen! Praise the Lord! Plead our cause, Lord, fight them!--And He has. So far we've won all our court cases. Despite our innocence, it's amazing that we've won them all, considering how strong the System and our enemies are.
       13. (Verse 2-3:) "Take hold of shield and buckler, and stand up for mine help. Draw out also the spear, and stop the way against them that persecute me: say unto my soul, I am thy salvation." We can sure appreciate these Psalms more than ever now, and understand their meaning so much better. (Verse 4:) "Let them be confounded and put to shame that seek after my soul: let them be turned back and brought to confusion that devise my hurt." This is a very good chapter for the present!
       14. (Verse 5:) "Let them be as chaff before the wind: and let the Angel of the Lord chase them!" Hallelujah! Talk about a chase! In movies nowadays they have all these car chases. I'll tell you, when someone is being chased by an Angel--just forget it!--They might as well quit and give up! All these verses are just wonderful! Every verse is for us tonight. And I hear you folks have been having special prayer for the court cases in the mornings too. (Family: Yes.) That's good!
       15. (Verse 7-8:) "For without cause have they hid for me their net in a pit, which without cause they have digged for my soul. Let destruction come upon him at unawares: and let his net that he hath hid catch himself: into that very destruction let him fall." Boy, you can see how the Lord is doing it!
       16. (Verse 9-10:) "And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord: it shall rejoice in His salvation. All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto Thee, which deliverest the poor from him that is too strong for him, yea, the poor and the needy from him that spoileth him?"
       17. (Verse 11-12:) "False witnesses did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not. They rewarded me evil for good to the spoiling of my soul." Boy, that sure pictures our evil enemies!
       18. (Verse 13-14:) "But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer returned into mine own bosom. I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother." David is saying, "I have prayed for them, and now look what they're doing to me in my trouble."
       19. (Verse 15:) "But in mine adversity they rejoiced, and gathered themselves together: yea, the abjects gathered themselves together against me, and I knew it not; they did tear me, and ceased not." That sure is a good picture of those fighting against us, isn't it?--A bad picture, I should say, of how bad they really are. I was good to them, but look what they're doing to me. We didn't wish them any harm. We came to preach them the Gospel, to be good to them and to save them. They turn around and condemn us and give us lots of trouble when all we were trying to do is help them.
       20. (Verse 16-18:) "With hypocritical mockers in feasts, they gnashed upon me with their teeth. Lord, how long wilt Thou look on? Rescue my soul from their destructions, my darling from the lions. I will give Thee thanks in the great congregation: I will praise Thee among much people." Amen. We'll just pray to the Lord, and they're the ones that are going to be sorry.
       21. (Verse 19:) "Let not them that are mine enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: neither let them wink with the eye that hate me without a cause." David must've had lots of enemies. (Verse 20:) "For they speak not peace; but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land." Yes, we weren't bothering anybody. (Verse 21:) "Yea, they opened their mouth wide against me, and said, Aha, aha, our eye hath seen it." That's just exactly the way they act towards us.
       22. (Verse 22-25:) "This Thou hast seen, O Lord: keep not silence: O Lord, be not far from me. Stir up Thyself, and awake to my judgement, even unto my cause, my God and my Lord. Judge me, O Lord, my God, according to Thy righteousness; and let them not rejoice over me. Let them not say in their hearts, Ah, so would we have it: let them not say, We have swallowed him up." That's what they thought they'd done, but thank God, He delivered us.
       23. (Verse 26:) "Let them be ashamed and brought to confusion together that rejoice at mine hurt: let them be clothed with shame and dishonour that magnify themselves against me." Let it be so, Lord. (Verse 27:) "Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the Lord be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of His servant."
       24. They had a big celebration at the Heritage Home in Argentina after they were all released, and many of their friends came and rejoiced with them at the great things the Lord had done in delivering them and publishing His Message. It was a tremendous victory just to get back in their Home and start furnishing it again, as the police had apparently stripped the place after they had carted the Family Members off to jail. Isn't that terrible?--That was no doubt with the permission or even the encouragement of the authorities. They deliberately stripped our Homes of TVs, VCRs, computers, everything of any value at all. Lord, may all those things they stole be a curse to them! May they have nothing but trouble with them, and may they know they're cursed because they stole them from us.
       25. (Verse: 28:) "And my tongue shall speak of Thy righteousness and of Thy praise all the day long." Amen! Thank You Jesus! Praise the Lord! Bless all of our loved ones everywhere! Bless all of our lawyers. Thank You for deliverance and for how You have kept all these wonderful promises. Thank You for giving us the victory over our enemies! Thank You Jesus! Amen. Praise the Lord!

       Psalm 36!
       26. (Psalm 36, Verse 1-6:) "The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good. He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil. Thy mercy, O Lord, is in the heavens; and Thy faithfulness reacheth unto the clouds. Thy righteousness is like the great mountains; Thy judgements are a great deep: O Lord, Thou preservest man and beast." Thank You Lord! His righteousness is like the mountains and His judgements are the deep sea.
       27. (Verse 7-8:) "How excellent is Thy lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Thy wings. They shall be abundantly satisfied with the fatness of Thy house; and Thou shalt make them drink of the river of Thy pleasures." He's talking about His children--us. Thank the Lord!
       28. (Verse 9-11:) "For with Thee is the fountain of life: in Thy light shall we see light. O continue Thy lovingkindness unto them that know Thee; and Thy righteousness to the upright in heart. Let not the foot of pride come against me, and let not the hand of the wicked remove me." Their attacks on us are out of pride! Jealousy! It says in the New Testament that their attacks on Jesus and the Apostles were because of envy. (See Mat.27:18; Mark 15:10; Acts 13:45; 17:5.) They're jealous because we're having such success, while the Catholic church is having such failure. They can't even get enough priests for their schools or churches, much less parishioners.
       29. (Verse 12:) "There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise." Hallelujah! Amen, Lord, do it! Thank You Lord!

       Psalm 37!
       30. Psalm 37--read this for yourself in the Bible! This Psalm is packed full of promises! Thank You Lord for all these promises!
       31. (Dad's comment on Verse 32:) "The wicked watcheth the righteous, and seeketh to slay him." There's a war going on! The wicked don't even know why they hate you. I've been reading how some of our acquaintances think we should compromise and tone down our writings. Can you imagine me "toning down"? (Everybody laughs!) I don't know why I should tone down. We don't want to be like the System! They're trying to persuade us to be like the System, and that's the last thing in the World we want to do! The worldly System is our enemy!
       32. As we thank Him together: Thank You Jesus for this day and for our home so fair. Help us, Lord, to do some good and keep us in Thy care, and bless our loved ones everywhere.--And we are everywhere! Bless those who are preparing for trials and facing these little annoyances of the System trying to make us like themselves, which is the last thing in the World we want to do! That's what we're all about, is being different! (Family: Amen!) But some folks want us to change our ways and compromise with the System. They say, "You're so revolutionary they don't even understand you." Well, we've known that for a long time. They can't understand us because they're not spiritually minded.--Rom.8:6-8; 1Cor.2:14.
       33. Goodness gracious, we're just little nobodies, yet we're beginning to stir up the nations and stir up the Enemy! I never dreamed that we'd be stirring up so much trouble! We've got court cases all over the World. Well, it's really our enemies who are stirring up the trouble. We stirred them up, and let me tell you, that did it! Just like the Lord uses the Devil, He uses our enemies as a tool to help us get out the Message.

       Psalm 38!--David's Lament!
       34. (Psalm 38, Verse 1-4:) "O Lord, rebuke me not in Thy wrath: neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure. For Thine arrows stick fast in me, and Thy hand presseth me sore. There is no soundness in my flesh because of Thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones because of my sin. For mine iniquities are gone over mine head: as an heavy burden they are too heavy for me." That's the way I feel sometimes about all the big ruckus being made over us. We were trying to go about our business of winning souls quietly and privately and without stirring up a fuss, but the Lord wouldn't let us!
       35. (Verse 5-6:) "My wounds stink and are corrupt because of my foolishness. I am troubled; I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long." David is lamenting the horrible disease that his sins resulted in.--Remorseful over the past and having a difficult time with the present. (Verse 7-8:) "For my loins are filled with a loathsome disease: and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am feeble and sore broken: I have roared by reason of the disquietness of my heart."
       36. (Verse 9:) "Lord, all my desire is before Thee; and my groaning is not hid from Thee." Praise the Lord! Thank You Lord! My desire, Lord, is to win all these cases, and put our enemies to shame, and You've been doing it! Thank You Jesus!
       37. (Verse 10-11:) "My heart panteth, my strength faileth me: as for the light of mine eyes, it also is gone from me. My lovers and my friends stand aloof from my sore; and my kinsmen stand afar off." He must've had a pretty bad disease. (Verse 12:) "They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long." Boy oh boy, I'll tell you, the man of God really has enemies!
       38. (Verse 13-14:) "But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs." I never realised we were so important! We're probably one of the smallest religious bodies in the World, but we've made one of the biggest stirs! Imagine, a tiny group like ours with court cases in country after country, and all these lawyers. Goodness gracious! (Family: Newspaper and magazine articles, radio and television spots.) The Lord really used us to raise a stir.
       39. (Verse 15-16:) "For in Thee, O Lord, do I hope: Thou wilt hear, O Lord my God. For I said, Hear me, lest otherwise they should rejoice over me: when my foot slippeth, they magnify themselves against me." Sometimes I think, "Lord, if I hadn't been so radical and revolutionary and talked so much about sex and had such revolutionary radical doctrines, maybe I could've saved us a lot of trouble." (Fam: But if you weren't so radical and revolutionary...) We wouldn't have attracted so much attention! (Fam: Yes! And we wouldn't be a Family!) So apparently that's what the Lord wants to do. (Fam: The radical Biblical doctrines are what won us. We didn't want the church, we wanted something new and different!--Something that worked!)
       40. My Grandfather was also a radical, a mover and a changer. He went to South Africa as a war correspondent to report on the Boer War, took pictures and came back with the reports. He was always doing something crazy. He was at war with the Catholic Church. He also used to conduct tours of Egypt. He worked with the famous Thomas Cook of the Thomas Cook Travel Agency, and he guided some of the original Cook's tours. He got paid to do that and got all of his expenses free, and then he capitalised on it by writing books about it that he sold and made money on. He could think of more ways of making money! He even ran a hotel at one of the first great World's Fairs in St. Louis in 1904. He figured, "People are going to come to see the Fair and they'll need a place to stay," so he took over management of a hotel and had it packed out all through the World's Fair. He also wrote 16 books. I don't see how he had time to do all that!
       41. (Verse 17:) "For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me." I felt like that in the early days of all this persecution, before it became clear that the Lord was allowing it in order to publicise us and our Message. We are the Endtime prophets, warning the World of its doom, and if we didn't get into situations like these raids and court cases, it would be hard for people to believe that things are as bad as they are. We haven't heard that our vindication has made any big sensation in the U.S.A., even though most of those persecuted were originally Americans. You'd have thought that our victories in France and Argentina would be top news in the U.S., but they're just ignoring it. It shows you who controls the media. They don't want a big to-do made about it. They don't want their sins exposed, some of their big flops.
       42. (Verse 18-19:) "For I will declare mine iniquity; I will be sorry for my sin. But mine enemies are lively, and they are strong: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied." At the same time this persecution against us has multiplied our friends, and some outstanding psychologists, sociologists, theologians and lawyers are trying to explain us to the rest of the World. I just can hardly imagine it, that I've got these important people trying to explain me and all my doctrines to the World! God knows I never in this World expected to be so famous. I always felt like nobody. And maybe that's one reason the Lord could use me, because I knew it was all the Lord.
       43. (Verse 20:) "They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is." They are our enemies just because we're good. They don't have to have a reason. The Lord said, "They hated Me without a cause."--John 15:25. That's the way my sister Virginia was, she just hated me with a vengeance for no reason.
       44. So these people don't need a reason, you're good and that's the reason they're after you! They're of the Devil, you're of the Lord, so of course there's plenty of reason right there. Whew! We've been living in these countries causing nobody any trouble as far as we knew, lying low and being as quiet and unobtrusive and underground as we could. But they go after us and try to smear us all over the World!
       45. (Verse 21-22:) "Forsake me not, O Lord: O my God, be not far from me. Make haste to help me, O Lord my salvation." Thank You, Lord, for all these wonderful Scriptures You've given us. Thank You for giving us great victory out of seeming defeat!

       Government Judges and Waco Trial!
       46. Judges are usually not so interested in reading all the material submitted in a case, but prefer to see live witnesses. They've done their tour of duty studying for law, and to pass the Bar Exam and manage to get in the courts, and they're strictly political jobs anyhow. Even in the U.S. the judges on the local scene are put in place by vote, they're elected. The local judges in Dade County, Florida, were elected. They all had to run for office. But when it comes to the Federal judges, they are all appointed.
       47. That shows the dictatorial control of the U.S. government over the whole legal system, they have their own judges. Imagine this business of having a Federal judge try the Waco case. Like somebody said, "They put a fox in charge of the hen coop!" The first thing that judge told all the lawyers was, "Remember, it is not the Federal government that is on trial."--To make sure the lawyers for the Davidians didn't start going after the Federal government. But most of the legal experts figure the government's going to be on trial anyhow, because in defending the defendants, they can't help but accuse the Federal government.
       48. All the disasters that have been happening lately in the U.S.--the cold weather and the earthquake in California and everything else--are almost like tricks of the Devil to take attention off of the Waco case. It would be in the headlines if it hadn't been for all those big catastrophes. But that will wane. They can't go on talking about an earthquake and a freeze forever, and they think the trial's going to go on for at least three months.
       49. The Davidians have 16 lawyers on their team and most of them are giving their services for free. It shows you that they must figure they're going to win, because most lawyers don't like to donate their services and then get clobbered and lose the case and get a bad reputation. Usually when you have a whole bunch of lawyers eager to donate their services, it's because they figure they're going to win.--Like in ours! Thank the Lord!
       50. (Fam: Do the judges have to be lawyers before they can be judges?) Oh goodness, yes! They're usually outstanding lawyers or they couldn't win an election or attract the attention of the U.S. government. The U.S. government knows it's going to be involved in a lot of cases which are brought to trial, so it appoints its own lawyers to be the judges. What a racket! They appoint the judges that are going to judge their cases. (Fam: No wonder there's such a problem with the justice system.)
       51. In nearly all those countries where we've had trouble, the judges were government judges, appointed to protect the government and to do whatever the government wants them to do, including raiding us! I'll tell you, the System is a racket. What a dirty business the U.S. has been in during all of its wars and activities!

       U.S. Government Finds Ways to Imprison Its Enemies !
       52. The U.S. government always tries to get its enemies in prison. Take Gerald L.K. Smith for instance. He fought against Roosevelt's plan of the U.S. getting involved in World War II, blaming it on the Jews. Well, you know where he wound up?--In prison. They always try to get their enemies on some kind of charge that has nothing to do with the real reason they're after them, but they get them.
       53. Tom Anderson published a little {\ul \i Farmer's Magazine} that we used to get in Texas many years ago, and he was getting strong on how the government was trying to control everything with its farm policies. He got to where he said, "Who owns your car? Your name is on the title, but who really owns it?--The party who tells you what you can do with it." He said, "Who owns your house? Your name's on the title, but who tells you what you can do with it, how you can build it and what kind of zoning laws it must comply with? Who is the owner?--The one whose name is on the title, or the one who tells you what to do with it and how you can do it?" etc.!
       54. He got so into preaching against the U.S. government and its meddling in farm policies and prices and everything else, they finally got him! The last I heard he was in jail. They seem to get most of these guys on taxes. That's one big job of the IRS, to act as "hit man" for the U.S. government, and it seems that's how they got LaRouche (an American political activist who was imprisoned for five years, now paroled). That's also how they got Reverend Moon of the Unification Church. They started investigating him and his past. He must've made a slip-up somewhere, and sure enough, they got him and put him in prison for awhile. It's like the Roman Empire! The persecution isn't any different than it was in the days of the Early Christians.

       Stolen Goods!
       55. Thank the Lord He's answering prayer and He has released our people in Argentina as we have asked. Now we've got to ask the Lord to help us win the court cases, or have them dismissed altogether, and put our enemies to shame for having attacked us. The Lord's going to make them sorry they ever attacked us. Actually, these attacks on us by our enemies have won us a lot of friends and people sticking up for us. I'll tell you, I bet our enemies wish they'd never done that! It's caused them more trouble than good, and they've gotten nothing out of it. The only people that got anything out of it were the police who robbed our Homes and stole everything! They practically stripped those Homes.
       56. I understand the police even took furniture! I say the police, because the police are the only ones that could've done it! They're the ones who went in there, cleaned our houses out, and then locked them up and posted a guard so that we couldn't get back in. When they released some of our people from jail they had no place to go. But thank the Lord, friends took them in and the Lord took care of them, and now they're finally opening our Homes again. Praise the Lord!

       Letter to Pearl and the B.I. Team!
(This is a letter that was sent to Pearl and others involved in her court case:)
       57. (From Mama:) We're especially praying for you during these trying times of our enemies barraging you with this attempt at vicious legal deprogramming, with all of the worst material that could possibly be thrown at you hour after hour, day after day. It cannot help but affect you.--And if you don't stay very close to the Lord and in the Word, you'll not be armed with anything to counteract it. As you well know, there is much more to come. Everybody and everything and every subject and every location will be attacked until they make the Family out to be the worst, the most evil, the most damaging place to be in the whole World!
       58. Our backsliders usually relate lurid accounts of life in the Family that directly contradict the accounts of those who are still within the Family, and even some who are not. It reminds me of how almost everything in life can be seen in more than one way.--If one's attitude and heart are not right and are evil, then everything looks evil. For example, Mene didn't conclude she was "abused" until she was told that after she left the Family, upon entering Bible college. Other ex-members who are now detractors also claim that they didn't think they were abused or confused while they were in the Family.--They don't usually come up with such claims until after they've been in contact with professional deprogrammers, anti-cult psychiatrists, etc.
       59. It's a little like Dad has said how even Heaven, as wonderful as it is, would be criticised, condemned and murmured against by some people if they were allowed to go there. Everything is coloured by your heart and your attitudes. And what for some people is a beautiful experience, for others is just the opposite. Almost everything in life is interpreted differently by different people--from the very smallest inconsequential details, to the greatest principles. What is a delightfully fragrant perfume to one woman may be a complete turn-off to another. What is received as an act of love by one person may be looked upon as an act of lust by another, depending upon their attitude. (Luke 6:45 and Mat.6:22,23.)
       60. There are also the sacrifices which this kind of a life for the Lord demands.--The discipline and the suffering that Jesus promises to those who follow Him closely. And, unlike the things mentioned above, these things don't look good to any of us. When they come along, we cringe and try to avoid them. Some accept them, knowing that it will please Him Who hath called us to be soldiers and will fit us for the life to come, but others turn away, like the rich young ruler, too attracted to the things of this life to be able to see the glories of the Next.
       61. Christians through the ages have often resisted the strong call for obedience and sacrifice given in the Bible. They haven't liked the "spare the rod and spoil the child" principle in training up their children, nor the idea of giving up your life to save another, nor Jesus' proclamation that, "He that forsaketh not all that he hath, cannot be My disciple."--Luk.14:33. Obviously, many of those who heard Jesus "went back and walked no longer with Him," unable to take His "hard sayings."--Jn.6:60,66. He couldn't even tell His disciples many things, because, He said, "they were unable to bear them."--Jn.16:12.
       62. So when those who have committed themselves to a life of discipleship and have started down that path decide that the demands are too great, it is only natural that they should then speak hatefully against those requirements, to try to justify their decision to go back. And the whole World is all too eager to agree with them, as they have long ago rejected the Truth of God's Word and turned so greatly against it that they not only view it as inconsequential and even ridiculous, old-fashioned and not applicable to today's World, but they even brand the principles and instruction of God's Word as inappropriate, injurious or even downright immoral. However, God's Word says, "Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil, that put darkness for light and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter."--Isa.5:20.
       63. Then there is the whole area of actual mistakes that former Family leaders have made, things that were done that were unwise, immature and unloving, that you can be sure that these backsliders will play to the hilt. Every single mistake that anyone in the Family has ever made will be portrayed in great colour and detail. But don't forget to constantly remind yourself that the Family has been comprised of thousands upon thousands of people over the years, all of whom were imperfect, all of whom made mistakes, all of whom could not be controlled by anyone at the top but were free moral agents, and who interpreted things in their own ways and acted upon their own interpretations.
       64. The "accusers of the Saints" are only interested in pointing to the "buttons off the vest," and not all the wonderful, positive attributes of the Family, whose value is inestimable and which makes the problems or mistakes of Family members seem infinitesimal when seen in the proper perspective and through God's eyes--Who, unlike our detractors, doesn't condemn or criticise us for past mistakes, but instead encourages us to "sin no more" and get on with the great job that He has for us to do, which is much more important to Him than our weaknesses, frailties and failings. After all, imperfect human beings are the only ones He has to do the job, He didn't make any other kind.
       65. The problem is, when you're hearing only from the enemies, you don't get any comparison between the bad and the good, all you hear is the bad. This is only a forum for the problems and the mistakes and the grievances, where they are put under a microscope and magnified into gigantic proportions. Moreover, the problems and the wrongs and the grievances that these people recount, even though some are genuine, are evaluated and critiqued and interpreted with evil, bitter intent, misinterpreted and distorted with vengeful, hateful spirits bent on revenge and destruction.
       66. You'll have to continually remind yourself under this vicious, diabolical barrage, that even the "truth" included in their testimonies is not truth, because it has been subjected to their bitter, hateful interpretation and distortion.
       67. Also keep in mind that "the Devil is a liar and the father of lies," and his "expertise" is a whole range of untruth--not only outright lies, but deception, evasion, innuendo, insinuation, misinterpretation and distortion. So don't let him or his cohorts get through to you. Refuse to accept what he is trying to do to you--the doubts he is trying to fill your mind with. Hang on to the Word as though your life depended upon it, for it does.
       68. Remember that even Jesus, Who was perfect and the most loving Man Who ever lived, had associates and contacts who, though they knew Him well, were bent on destroying Him through whatever means they had at their disposal--through lies, through misinterpretations, through distortions of His actions and message. What was good and Godly and beautiful and pure to His friends was evil and Satanic and ugly and impure to His enemies. The Bible says, "Unto the pure all things are pure, but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled."--Titus 1:15.
       69. Don't ever get into thinking, "Well, if we hadn't done this and we hadn't done that, or if we hadn't had this doctrine, or if we hadn't made that mistake, we wouldn't be in this big mess." Remember that Jesus never made any mistakes, never did anything wrong, never was unwise or unloving.--Yet He was subjected to the same censure, the same criticism, the same vitriolic attacks. He was tempted in all points as we are. So look unto Him, the Author and Finisher of your faith, Who endured the Cross, despising the shame and is now in Heaven with His Father, as you too will be some day when this life's battle is over and you can receive your reward for having fought a good fight and for having kept the faith.
       70. We love you so much and are proud of you, our frontline soldiers, who are strong in His power and His might and who have put on the whole armour of God, that you may withstand these attacks of the Evil One. May you continue to be strengthened in the inner man and go from strength to strength, not fearing their faces, nor the darkness around you.--But seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, and keeping your eyes on His face and your hand in His hand.--With much love, prayers and admiration, Mama, for Dad and Mama.

       The Sensitive Subject of Change!
       71. (From Mama:) The whole subject of change is a rather sensitive one in our court cases and with outsiders, and they can "get you" coming or going. If you prove that you have changed, do change and are willing to change your methods and policies, then they can say that you're unstable; they don't know what you're going to do next, and maybe you'll change back to what you used to be like. If you try to prove how stable and consistent you are and that you don't change excessively, then they'll try to say that there are a lot of things in the Family that you need to change and therefore they can't expect you to change.
       72. On any subject they attack us on, they can approach it from whichever side we're not on, and make anything look bad. So let's just keep on doing and saying what the Lord wants, and He will help us look good to those who want and need the truth about us.--His good will shine through the darkness of their lies. Praise the Lord!
       73. Someone told us that they're trying to find out if we can be found to be willing to change, and not just for the purpose of putting on a good face to the public! Goodness gracious, I don't know of anyone who loves change more than Dad! We all know that he is constantly changing things, and his changes are always for a purpose and for the better. If one thing doesn't work, he'll immediately try something else, and if that doesn't work, he will have another idea. All someone has to do to see that we change constantly is read our lit!--Read our GNs, read our FSMs, read our LNFs.
       74. Some of these theologians have a funny idea of God! I guess they take the verse, "I am the Lord, I change not," and broaden that to not only mean that He doesn't change, but that He never changes anything else either!--And they certainly don't think God ever changes His mind, although it is all through the Bible that He has and does change His mind. It's funny how they can claim to be such "experts" in theology, yet they don't even believe the simple truths of the Bible, and make up their own complicated reasons for why things are the way they are.
       75. These theologians need to realise that not only is change one of our tenets or doctrines, but so is simplicity. As far as change, almost everything in the Word indicates the need for change: "Pressing toward the mark for the prize," "running the race that is set before us," "fighting the good fight of faith." All of these action words signify movement and change. And as far as simplicity is concerned, the Bible says, "Except you become as a little child, you can in no wise enter the Kingdom of Heaven," and "without faith it is impossible to please Him." Faith comes from the heart and bypasses the mind. Too bad they just don't present us like this, instead of trying to make us so complicated. It almost distorts the true picture of us.
       76. We need to pray quite fervently for this theologian who is writing a book about us, that the Lord will punch through all of his confusion and that he'll hear from the Lord and the Lord will help him to get the right answers.--For our sake and God's sake. He is going to be viewed as the "expert" on our doctrines and beliefs because he has read so much of our literature, visited so many Homes, is such an expert in theological matters and can speak the "language." So whatever he writes is going to forever "brand" us with the church system rules. It will be a real miracle if he gets it straight, but that's what we need to pray for. At least let's pray that he might be able to, in some cases, state that he doesn't really understand everything himself, rather than making some kind of dogmatic inaccurate statement.
       77. We also need to pray for all our friends who will be testifying about us in court! God bless them! It's no small thing to be willing to be a witness for us in these court cases, so we should ask the Lord to really bless them for it. Let's pray for these dear folks, that their health will remain good, that their spirits will remain high, that their hearts will be drawn closer to us, that their knowledge of us will become clearer, and their interpretations of our complexities will be correct.
       78. The Lord said in prophecy, "My witnesses are like My candles that shall be lit by your prayers. Your prayers are like the matches that light their candles. Ye must uphold them in prayer, for My witnesses will give light to the room. It is then that the judge and jury will see the Truth. When they see the light, they will see the Truth and know and understand. For My Light is much stronger than the darkness of your enemies, and their darkness cannot comprehend it. In that time the darkness shall not stand against My Light."

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family

       

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family