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THE HELMET!--A Final Warning to Backsliders! DFO1058 26/9/81
--By Father David
1. THIS IS "THE HELMET DREAM", SEPTEMBER 26, 1981, & I WAS A BIG HANDSOME KNIGHT IN BEAUTIFUL SHINING SILVER ARMOUR! I was in the armourer shop having the armour fitted on & already had it all over me, clear up to my neck, & they were about to fit on the helmet. Do you know what an armourer shop is? In the old days they had a special shop where they made the armour, & they had to make it fit the man, just like clothes.
2. THEY WERE GOING TO FIT THE HELMET ON NOW & IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL GOLD & SILVER HELMET, all pretty decorations, you know, inlaid with gold & silver, & it was really beautiful like the Bible says about "apples of gold in pictures of silver" it was so beautiful! (Pr.25:11.) He had this pretty girl assistant there & this great big huge rough table that he worked on, & she had this little sort of a rag & it was all folded up about that big & thick.
3. SHE LAID IT DOWN ON THE TABLE & SAID, "NOW PUT YOUR FOREHEAD DOWN ON THIS RAG," & I didn't know what they were doing! So I laid my forehead down on the rag just like that & I'll tell you the rest of the story later! (Maria: Daddy!) (Kids: No, please tell us some more!) Well, I don't know what it means yet, so I can't tell you the end. (Maria: That's all right, Daddy.) (David: That's all right, Daddy, that's all right!) What a funny dream! I didn't know what they were doing, I was supposed to be fitting on my helmet, but I bowed my head & laid it down on the table sort of like when you're praying.
4. AND JUST THEN I FELT A REAL SHARP KIND OF A PIN PRICK, & I raised up & said, "What is that?!" He had this sort of an awl like an ice pick in his land, & a hammer, & he'd just tapped quick like that right here on my head! And I said, "What is that?!" He said, "That's for the attachment." I said, "Attachment for what?" He said, "For the helmet!" I said, "What in the World do I have to have an attachment for the helmet for?" And he said, "Oh my goodness, you great big soldiers & tough guys & knights in armour come in here & you make such a big fuss about a little thing like a hole in the head to keep from losing your helmet!"
5. ISN'T THAT A FUNNY DREAM? DOESN'T DADDY HAVE THE FUNNIEST DREAMS? I haven't prayed enough yet to find out what it means, but when I get the secret it means I'll let you know. But you know what helmets are, they're like salvation! And I guess God wants to make your salvation permanent so you don't lose your helmet, you don't lose your salvation!--Ha!
6. SOMETIMES IT COSTS A LITTLE SOMETHING, MAYBE LIKE A LITTLE HOLE IN THE HEAD TO ATTACH IT PERMANENTLY, & I guess that's what it means! When you get saved, you've got to be willing to be saved forever, right? (David: Yes!) Get your helmet of salvation forever & wear it forever so you never lose it.
7. I GUESS SOME PEOPLE MAKE A FUSS ABOUT IT, MAYBE THEY DON'T BELIEVE IN HAVING IT ALL THE TIME & they want to take it off & on like some of the Holiness people. They think you can lose it, that you can have it & then you can lose it & then you get it again, take it off & on! But we believe in permanent salvation, right? Once we're saved we're saved forever, even if it costs a little hole in the head for the attachment! (Maria: That would make a good Komix!) Isn't that funny? OK. Let's pray for the children:
8. AMEN, PTL! LORD BLESS & KEEP THEM SAFELY AS THEY GO. Give them a good time, good exercise, good play, fresh air & sunshine here by Thy beautiful creation, & all these wonderful things You made out there for all kinds of reasons, Lord. TYJ! Amen. Bless & help them to be cautious & prayerful & think about You all the time & not do anything foolish or harmful or careless or reckless, very prayerful crossing streets & playing anywhere on the sand or the rocks or the playground or wherever they're going to go, watch the cars & the bars, Lord, In Jesus' name. As we pray Your prayer: (Kids & Dad & Maria pray together:)
9. "OUR FATHER WHICH ART IN HEAVEN, HALLOWED BE THY NAME. Thy Kingdom come. Thy will be done in Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread & forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the Kingdom, & the power, & the glory, for ever & ever & ever & ever & ever & ever ever ever ever ever ever ever! In Jesus' name, amen." That was a long ever, huh? I was trying to show you how long Eternity is! ILY, Sweet Boy! XXXX! Did you like Daddy's funny story? Bye, bye!
10. WELL, PTL! THAT WAS CERTAINLY A STRANGE DREAM & I STILL DON'T QUITE UNDERSTAND IT. But it certainly reminded me of those news reports we heard recently about how science has developed the science of cybernetics & making robots to such an extent that they've about decided that man is really the best robot of all, & the best way to make robots is to implant controlled electrodes in man's own brain to be externally stimulated by the controllers to prompt him in his actions to obey their will! How's that!
11. I HAD THE IMPRESSION THEY WERE IMPLANTING THIS THING IN MY HEAD LIKE AN ELECTRODE IN MY BRAIN that was going to be attached to the helmet, so that in a sense the helmet was sort of going to be my control mechanism & control me! And in a sense, that's exactly what the Lord does, in a way, in salvation! You put on that helmet of salvation & it's there to stay & to control you forever! In many of these science fiction movies & sci-fi theories about implanting some kind of alien controllers or their electrodes or their bug of some kind in the neck or the head in order to control the human beings from an alien source, I've ways thought how like the spiritual that is!
12. IN A SENSE THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT THE DEVIL DOES, he implants his dirty little demons in their minds & hearts to control them! Satan is the all-powerful external source of control, manipulating his little demon darts in the minds & hearts of the unsaved & the evil to control them according to the Devil's will. Whereas, in a sense, that's exactly the same way that God also operates!
13. WHEN WE'RE SAVED HE IMPLANTS A BIT OF HIMSELF, HIS SPIRIT AND HIS LOVE AND HIS SPIRIT HELPERS, HIS CONTROLLERS, in our minds & hearts to guide & direct & protect us & keep us in control & guided by His direct will & His leadings. His helmet of salvation is certainly not only permanent, but an integral part of our armour & our whole being so that we are from thenceforth controlled thereby, we can never lose it. It's attached & implanted in our heads forever, attached to our minds, brains & exercising control over us.
14. ONCE WE PUT THAT HELMET ON, WE ARE FOREVER HIS CHILDREN & IN A SENSE WE CAN NEVER TAKE IT OFF! We can never throw it aside or discard it no matter how hard we try, & some have tried! Some have backslidden & gone back on the Lord, but found they couldn't even stop witnessing even when they were backslidden! They had that irrepressible urge to witness to people who needed help & to recommend them to have faith in the Lord & the Bible.
15. DEAR WATCHMAN WAS TELLING THAT EVEN WHEN HE WAS BACKSLIDDEN & back in the System, back in the World & working at a System job, when his friend came to him in trouble & problems, etc., he recommended to him that the only solution was really the Lord & His Word, & he just couldn't keep from witnessing when he saw the needs. And I have found this too when I was out of fellowship with the Lord years ago & backslidden & had gotten myself in a mess from wanting to see the World!
16. WHEN I LANDED IN THE ARMY, I COULDN'T STOP WITNESSING, I COULDN'T DENY MY FAITH! I mean, it's just impossible! That helmet was permanently attached, that electrode of God's guidance was absolutely buried in my brain & my primary reactions were always to defend the faith & to give God's answers of Love & His Word, no matter even if I was out of God's will myself, in a sense, & gotten myself into such a mess by rebelling against His service, & tried to take off the helmet of His salvation & His service & don the uniform of the U.S. Army.--But I just couldn't!
17. I COULDN'T GET THAT HELMET OFF, IT WAS THERE TO STAY, & I continued to defend the faith & to stand up for God & His Word! I was a Conscientious Objector & refused to carry a gun, or at least to fight with one, to kill my fellow man, when I felt I should be out there trying to save him & preach him the Gospel & love him & not kill him! So even out of God's will, His highest & best for me--which was in evangelistic work with my Mother--I was still faithful to the faith.
18. I STILL WORE THE HELMET OF SALVATION & IT WAS A TESTIMONY TO ALL AROUND ME. They could see it, I couldn't hide it! It's just like once you're really saved, it's there to stay & everybody that you come in contact with is going to see that helmet whether you like it or not or try to hide it or not. They're going to know you're different, they're going to know you're not just like the rest of the World & you're not wicked & sinful, at least not the same way they are.
19. EVEN WHEN YOU DO SIN & MAKE MISTAKES & GET OUT OF GOD'S WILL & go back on the Lord & His service, the helmet is still there, it's attached! That tiny electrode is embedded in your brain & that helmet acts as your control & guides your every movement & protects you & keeps you & makes you a constant testimony & a witness to being different & being saved, that you're not one of them, & you never can be again!
20. JUST LIKE PETER SAID* SOMETHING ABOUT THE OLD FRIENDS WONDER WHY YOU CAN'T RESORT TO THE SAME OLD SPORTS & fun you used to have together with your old friends. You come back different to your family or relatives & they wonder what in the World's happened to you, there's such a change! Even if you've backslide & gone back home & out of God's will & forsaken the field & your plow, you're still saved & you're still one of God's children, whether you like it or not! (* 1Pe.4:4.)
21. YOU CAN'T HIDE IT! YOU CAN'T DENY IT! If you've really gotten the real thing & a real dose & are genuinely saved & really have the Lord & His Spirit, you'll never be able to take that helmet off! Even if you try to take it off & try to yank out the electrode of God's controlling Holy Spirit, it's impossible, its in there forever! You are saved forever & that helmet of salvation is there to stay & it'll be forever visible to all no matter what colour you try to paint it or try to hide your head in a sack or whatever & try to hide your light under a bushel, it's going to burn its way right through!
22. GOD WILL NOT BE FRUSTRATED, HIS PLAN IS NOT GOING TO FAIL! You're His child & sooner or later you're going to wake up to that fact, & sooner or later, though God may let you go back & learn bitter lessons through your backslidings you're going to learn also the benefits, that backsliding is a hell of a hole, & home & the System are hell holes & pits!
23. YOU'RE GOING TO GET SICK OF IT & FED UP WITH THE SWINE PEN & THE VOMIT & the husks & the mire & the mud of the System, & you're going to want to run back to the Father's house as fast as you can go, even if it's only to be a humble servant from now on, & even under your older faithful brothers whom you once criticised & argued with & fought against & rebelled against their authority & their faithfulness & their hard work.
24. YOU'RE GOING TO BE RUNNING BACK HOME TO DADDY & TO BIG BROTHER & HOME AGAIN, the Heaven of His spiritual service & fellowship with the Family, & be very thankful for Daddy's love & His gifts & even the eventual reconciliation with your older brother & acknowledgment of his authority over you, he having remained there & remained faithful. Even though he wasn't always loving about it as he should have been, & even though he was a little bit rebellious & resentful himself of the love & mercy showed you by the Father, Home was still better than the Pit!
25. NEVERTHELESS, YOU HAD THE HELMET & IT STUCK, EVEN WHEN YOU WERE STUCK IN THE SWINE PEN!--Even though your feet were stuck in the mud of the pit, your head was stuck in the helmet of Heaven! And obviously in the case of the Prodigal Son, the helmet of salvation proved much stronger in its pull than the pull of the mud & the mire of the pit on your feet.
26. THE HELMET OF HIS SALVATION FINALLY PULLED HIM OUT WITH THE CONTROLLING THOUGHTS that it was better to go back to the Father's house where there was at least room & a good place to stay & love & plenty to eat & clothing & everything he needed, than to stay there with his feet stuck in the mud & the slop & the sewage & the vomit & the horrors of the pit!
27. SO PRAISE GOD, THE FACT THAT HE WAS A CHILD OF GOD--obviously in that story--a son of the Father, it was the helmet of his salvation which pulled him out of the mud & turned his head & his thoughts towards home & guided him & directed him to run home to Daddy!
28. SO PRAISE GOD! THANK GOD FOR HIS HELMET OF SALVATION! Thank God for its electrode of the Spirit & His holy spirits that control it. And thank God it's more powerful than any other influence & we'll never be able to take it off or get rid of it, & never be able to rebel for very long against its guidance & its far superior power over our minds & hearts & lives. TYJ! TTL!
29. SO DON'T BE AFRAID OF THE FACT THAT ONCE YOU'RE SAVED & HAVE DONNED THAT HELMET OF SALVATION & had it attached with its electrode of spiritual control, you'll never be able to shake it, never be able to doff it, never be able to get rid of it or throw it away. It's attached, it's there forever, & it's for your good & your protection & your salvation & your daily guidance & daily control by the holy spirits of God through that little attachment. Praise God! Hallelujah! TYJ!
30. IT'S SORT OF FUNNY WHAT THE ARMOURER WAS SAYING. He was sort of like one of God's angels, you might say, saying, "What's the matter with you great big strong men, great big fighters so brave in battle, & yet you're afraid of having one little hole in your head, one tiny little hole punched in your skull to put on the attachment to attach the helmet!"
31. IT'S SIMILAR TO HOW SOME BIG BRAVE STRONG PEOPLE FEAR GETTING SAVED. They know it's going to make a change in their life, a permanent change, and they fear it and they fight it. They fight conviction, they fight against the permanent donning of the helmet of salvation. They like the looks of all the rest of the armour & it all sounds good: The "breastplate of righteousness", oh, how they want to be righteous! And the "shield of faith", yes, yes they believe, of course--but they haven't yet received! And the "sword of the Spirit", yes, oh, of course, they believe the Bible, they believe the Word! And "feet shod with the Gospel of peace", yes, of course!
32. THEY CERTAINLY THINK THERE OUGHT TO BE MISSIONARIES PREACHING THE GOSPEL--BUT NOT ME! "It's not for me, I've got to keep on with my business & my money-making & my Worldly life & my sinful habits, & I don't want to have to give up this & give up that! I don't want to have to give up my sins for a real genuine total 100% salvation & have that electrode of His Spirit planted in my brain that's going to control me from then on. I want to be my own boss!
33. "I WANT TO BE THE CAPTAIN OF MY FATE & THE MASTER OF MY SOUL! I know my head's bloody from the buffeting of the Enemy & even the Holy Spirit trying to convict me & get me to bow my head in humility & say 'uncle' to God, my head's bloody but it's still unbowed! I'm still my own boss, I'm still the master of my soul & the captain of my fate & nobody can tell me what to do!
34. "NOBODY CAN GET ME TO WALK THAT AISLE & RECEIVE JESUS CHRIST AS MY SAVIOUR & shake the preacher's hand, promise to come to church, promise to serve the Lord from now on, promise to tithe." Or in our case: "Join the Family, promise to support it & help it be faithful & loyal to the Family & the Lord & support it with my tithe. I don't mind being a part-time friend, I believe in what you're doing & I like you guys & you're wonderful & all that, but don't try to rope me into this thing & get me all tied up with it, I'm just not that kind!
35. "I'VE GOT TO BE MY OWN BOSS & LIVE MY OWN LIFE & BE INDEPENDENT & GO MY WAY & HAVE MY OWN WAY. I can't be under such discipline & rigid control of your Family rules & serving God the way you do. I think it's fine for you & I believe in it, I think it's great, I believe in what you're doing & I think it's all good, I think you're good, but it's just not for me!
36. "I DON'T WANT THAT HOLE IN MY HEAD! I don't want that helmet, no matter how pretty it is, clamped on my head forever & never able to get it off! That sounds too much to me like surrendering my own will & my own self, my own way, to a total control that I'll never be able to throw off again!"
37. IT REMINDS ME OF THAT FAMOUS CRIMINAL LAWYER IN DETROIT THAT CAME TO MY MOTHERS' MEETINGS, our meetings there, & got under such conviction night after night that he should give his heart to the Lord. And on her last night there during the invitation he was under such powerful conviction, the Lord's Holy Spirit so convicted him, he actually broke out in a terrific sweat almost like he was having an apoplexy, sitting there beside Fred Schultz who had brought him there to try to get him saved.
38. THIS WEALTHY LAWYER LEAPED UP FROM HIS SEAT DURING THE INVITATION & RAN DOWN THE AISLE & RAN OUT THE DOOR--not toward the altar but out the door, the opposite direction! And when Fred followed him to see what was the matter, he found him outside leaning up against the church mopping his brow & saying to Fred, "Whew! Boy, that was close, she almost hooked me! She almost got me that time! I almost walked that aisle!" But he said, "I won! I won! She didn't get me! I got the victory & I made it out!" And Fred just shook his head sadly thinking, "Yes, you won, but look how much you've lost!"
39. THAT WAS THE LAST NIGHT OF THE MEETING & THE LAST TIME HE EVER WENT TO CHURCH--that big Detroit lawyer--& I'll never forget when I heard just a few weeks later that his beautiful young teenage daughter that I was in love with, one of my many famous loves, wrote the heartbreaking news that her father sitting in his office worrying & grieving over his problems & troubles etc., put a pistol to his head & blew his brains out!--Just three weeks after he said he'd won, "She didn't get me, I resisted it! They didn't hook me!" Well, he was hooked all right, he was hooked on the Devil's control & the demons of Hell finally destroyed him!
40. SO BELOVED, YOU OUGHT TO BE MIGHTY THANKFUL YOU'VE GOT SALVATION!--That you not only believe in the Lord, but you've received Him as your own personal Saviour & the helmet of salvation & the electrode of His Spirit & the guidance of your life & its total ultimate control, that no matter how far you backslide or how far you try to get away from the Lord, you'll never be able to escape that Hound of Heaven who'll follow you every step of the way & track you down no matter where you are & nail you one way or the other!
41. SO THAT IF YOU WON'T REPENT & COME BACK TO GOD'S SERVICE & His loving fellowship of His Family, confess your faults one to another that you may be forgiven & confess your sins that you might be healed, God will see to it that the way that control finally works is that if you become more of a hindrance than a help & more of a poor testimony & bad example than you are an influence for good, He'll probably see that that helmet of salvation saves you from becoming a worse testimony & saves you from actually leading others astray, saves you from causing others to backslide & maybe even turning sinners into Hell by your poor example & poor testimony.
42. THAT HELMET OF SALVATION WILL SAVE YOU BY KILLING YOU PHYSICALLY, destroying your body that your soul might be saved! (1Co.5:5.) As John said, "There is a sin that is unto death, I do not say that you should pray for it!" (1Jn.5:16.) But that in the case of some, God has to destroy their bodies to save their souls & to spare the World & the Family & others from their poor testimony & poor example, & to make an example of them that crime does not pay, permanent backsliding does not pay, & that God is going to get you one way or the other & not let you get away with it!
43. HE'S GOING TO GET YOU BACK INTO HIS SERVICE REPENTANT AND HUMBLE & confessing & faithfully serving Him again, or He's going to take that life away from you that you won't give to Him--& forever! You'll be saved, you'll go into His presence, but ashamed & raised to everlasting shame & contempt because of your rebelliousness & your disobedience & your backsliding & your bad example & your refusal to serve Him & sacrifice any longer. (Dan.12:2.)
44. YOU'RE GOING TO FIND OUT WHEN YOU TRY TO TAKE THAT HELMET OFF & YANK OUT THAT ELECTRODE, IT'S GOING TO KILL YOU! Because God will not allow your body to be taken by Satan to be used by him. He's got it, He's got your mind, He's got your heart, He's got your spirit, your soul, your body, everything--once you've taken His helmet of salvation--& He'll never let you be taken away from Him!--Even if the Devil tries & even if He has to let the Devil kill you in justice, retribution & just punishment for your sins, for disobeying God & running away from His service & going back on His family & on the truth, He'll not let you go!
45. IF YOU DON'T REPENT, CONFESS & RETURN LIKE THE PRODIGAL SON DID, THEY YOU'RE GOING TO DIE IN THAT HORRIBLE PIT! God's going to let the Devil take your body, in a sense, He's going to let His Executioner kill you for your sins that your soul might be saved, as Paul says. (1Co.5:5.) God bless Paul, he taught a lot of good things & mostly the right things, just a few things I don't agree with him on. So, TYJ!
46. WHEN I TELL DREAMS THAT I CAN'T UNDERSTAND, as I tell them to you & admit I don't understand, then the Lord has to give me the interpretation by revelation, & apparently that's what that dream means, Beloved! That helmet of salvation is there to stay! You can't fight it! You might try to fight it, but you can't lick it! It's got you!
47. GOD'S GOT YOU & YOU'RE HIS & HE'S NOT GOING TO LET THE DEVIL TAKE YOU AWAY FROM HIM!--Or even let the Devil use you for long! Because if you don't repent & you try to jerk off that helmet, yank out that electrode of His Spirit, you fight & resist His Spirit, you're going to find out that if you keep on resisting it's going to kill you! That's a sin He's not going to forgive without taking a collection of your life! Your death will be the penalty for your unrepentant spirit, your rebellious attitude, your sad example, bad influence & even becoming a stumbling block to others. God won't allow it!--He'll kill you first to keep you!
48. YOU'RE HERE TO STAY IN GOD'S FAMILY, BELOVED, DEAD OR ALIVE! You're here to stay, & you might as well give up trying to fight it!--Because one way or the other, God's got you & He's going to get you and He won't let the Devil have you--even if He has to kill you! So, what will it be with you? Are you going to keep on backsliding, keep on fighting God, keep on trying to pull off the helmet, keep on trying to yank out the electrode of the control of His Holy Spirit, fight and resist His spirit and His Truth, His Word, His Service, His Family, your Godly friends & their warnings & counsel?
49. ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP ON FIGHTING IT, YOUR HEAD BLOODY BUT UNBOWED & bloody to the death, resisting the Spirit & control of God till God has to take your life to save your soul?--Or are you going to confess, repent, humble yourself, pull your feet out of that stinking shit of the System, no matter how it tries to suck you in, & ask God to wash you up & clean you up & run back to the Father's house as fast as you can go!--Back into the fellowship of the Family, back to the joy of the Holy Spirit, back to the food & plenty & warmth of the home hearth & home, even those sometimes self-righteous older brothers who have some lessons to learn sometimes of mercy & more love themselves!
50. MAYBE IF YOU OLDER BROTHERS HAD BEEN A LITTLE BIT MORE LOVING & KIND, more merciful, more forgiving, more tolerant, more understanding, more gentle, more reasonable, maybe your younger brother wouldn't have run away from home. Maybe he was trying to get away from you & your unloving critical attitude & hard spirit, maybe that's why he wanted to run away! It certainly wasn't the Father that was unloving!
51. SOME OF YOU OLDER BROTHERS HAVE BEEN PRETTY CRITICAL & UNLOVING & HARD, & HARD ON THE YOUNGER ONES--unforgiving, intolerant & impatient. What about that, older brothers? And sisters? Some of you long-tongued sisters with your sharp-tongued gossip & criticism have sometimes nearly destroyed some of your poor pitiful younger sisters who were struggling along trying to make it, & instead of you making it easier for them, you even made it harder for them by your criticism & critical spirit & hard heart, unforgiving & hardness & unwillingness to be patient & tolerant & teach & train.
52. YOU'D RATHER JUST KICK'M OUT & GET RID OF THEM! It's too much trouble, it's too hard work to have to train these babes & put up with these younger disciples who are so green & raw & they don't know the ropes & they don't always do everything like they ought to, so you just want to get rid of them, wash your hands of the responsibility, throw the babe out with his dirty bath water!
53. WELL, YOU OLDER BROTHERS & SISTERS MAY HAVE A FEW LESSONS TO LEARN TOO ABOUT THE FATHER'S LOVE & His great mercy & forgiveness, as you watch God Himself forgive them & take them back in, the Father Himself embrace them & clothe them with a nice beautiful new garment of righteousness & the ring of His permanent marriage on their finger, & kill the fatted calf & have a great feast of celebration & love & thanksgiving that they've returned to the fold & the Father's house.
54. YOU OLDER BROTHERS & SISTERS MAY HAVE A FEW LESSONS TO LEARN ALONG THE LINES OF LOVE & MERCY & forgiveness & patience & tolerance & longsuffering, as well as loyalty & faithfulness & hard work & righteousness. Because let me tell you, that younger brother is here to stay, whether here or there or gone again! He is a part of God's Family forever! He is saved forever, & whether you will tolerate him or not, God will, & God will follow him up, even if you don't.
55. THE GOOD SHEPHERD WILL FOLLOW HIM OUT INTO THE HILLS, INTO THE NIGHT & THE STORM & TRY TO SAVE HIM & try to save his life & his ministry, even if you undershepherds are not willing to leave the comfort & warmth & ease of that home & the luxury of that country & go out to a foreign field to try to find the lost sheep that was straying. The Lord left the 99 in the fold & went out on the mountainside in the storm to find the lost sheep, the stray one, so He proved His love for even the stray sheep, even one!
56. THESE BACKSLIDERS ARE YOUR STRAY SHEEP, THEY'RE THE PRODIGAL SONS & GOD STILL LOVES THEM & YOU'D BETTER LOVE'M TOO! You'd better get that through your thick skull that God's electrode of His Holy Spirit is forever embedded in their thick skull & they'll never be able to get away with it or doff that helmet of salvation, whether you forgive'm or not!
57. SO YOU'D BETTER OPEN YOUR ARMS OF LOVE & HUMBLE FORGIVENESS, & you'd better ask those younger brethren to forgive you for your impatience & your hardness of heart, your intolerance, your unloving critical spirit, & take them back in with wide open arms & ask them to forgive you for being so self-righteous & critical & hard of heart, unloving & impatient, which may have driven you out of that Home, out of the Father's house.
58. THERE'S SOME LESSONS IN THAT STORY FOR EVERYONE but the main lesson is, dearly Beloved, remember, God is not going to let you get rid of Him nor His salvation nor your salvation nor the short sharp shocks of His Holy Spirit planted in your brain forever, even if it kills you, even if He has to kill your body to save your soul! That helmet is there to stay & that attachment, the electrode of His Holy Spirit embedded in your brain, is there forever & you'll never be able to get away from it, even if God has to kill you to save you! So think it over.
59. IT'S NOT WORTH THE PRICE OF DYING FOR NOTHING & IN REBELLION & your backslidden condition & disobedient to God, out of His service & out of fellowship with His Family. It's just not worth the price you're going to have to pay, even perhaps unto death, that God may have to kill you to save you! He'll do it if He has to, because you're His child, His son.
60. AND LIKE ABRAHAM WAS WILLING TO SACRIFICE ISAAC on the altar to save him in obedience to God, God may have to do it to you to save you, to save your soul or your spirit by destroying your body, sacrificing your life of this life & this body to the executioner, the Devil, for your sins, justly, & you receive justice because you refused His mercy! You receive the justice of God's execution of this body that He might save your soul!
61. DON'T DO IT, BELOVED! DON'T RUN THAT FAR AWAY! Don't refuse to ever come back, or God is going to get you & He's going to take you back, even if He has to slay your body to do it! He's going to take you to Himself & to His bosom of love, even if the rest of the old brothers & Family may hold you in shame & contempt forever for your waywardness & your selfishness & your backsliding & your bad example & damage & harm that you've sometimes caused the Family & the way you've led others astray.
62. YOUR REWARD MAY BE THE SHAME AND CONTEMPT FOREVER OF THE OLDER FAITHFUL BRETHREN, but at least you're going to be mighty thankful for the Father's love in taking you back into His house, even if you have no reward left & none of the inheritance is yours any longer.
63. YOU'VE LOST YOUR BLESSING OF THE REWARD OF THE PROPERTY, but at least you've still got the birthright of being a son & a member of the Family & in the Father's house & saved, enjoying the Father's mercy & even the older brother's tolerance, & to be able to sit at His table & eat His food & wear His clothes & His ring of marriage to the Family & enjoy His Love & the fellowship of the Heavenly Family, even forever, something you'll never be able to get away from, even if some are ashamed of you!
64. SO HOW MUCH BETTER TO COME BACK VOLUNTARILY ON YOUR OWN, CONFESSING HUMBLY YOU WERE WRONG & made a mistake, you should never have left & you want to get back in, even if you have to be a hired servant, like the prodigal said. The father was out there waiting for him, & even when he saw him afar off he came running toward him.
65. IF YOU'LL EVEN START GOD'S WAY, IF YOU'LL EVEN TURN TOWARD HIM & START TRYING TO FIND YOUR WAY HOME, the Father will come running toward you & take you in His arms, as I have many a prodigal already. I've gone the 110th mile trying to find them & pray for them, trying to woo them back, trying to persuade them to return.--I'm still looking for some of our stray sheep!
66. HE'LL BE OUT THERE WATCHING FOR YOU, WAITING FOR YOU, & running toward you the moment you start turning His way trying to make your way back. He'll receive you with open arms of love & a new garment of righteousness, a beautiful new golden ring of reward that you don't even deserve, & a feast of thanksgiving & celebration that this His son, though he were dead, yet now he is alive & home again, though he seemed like he was gone & dead forever.
67. GOD'S ABLE TO REVIVE YOU, EVEN IN THE SWINE PEN, WITH THAT HELMET OF SALVATION & that electrode of His Spirit, to shock you & to turn your head toward home & bring you back again, even if you've lost a lot of the reward that you could have had by being faithful, & you've lost the blessings & the crownings of those who are faithful & fruitful & diligent & obedient.
68. EVEN IF YOU LOST ALL THOSE REWARDS & YOUR PART OF THE INHERITANCE, your part of the authority that you could have had in the home--your place, your officership, your place of leadership, perhaps, which you could have had--now you're not much more than a hired servant, only a step above them, the lowest in the family, the prodigal son returned home, at least you're home & you know the Father loves you & you're in fellowship at His table in the safety of His love, back in the Family again! Hallelujah! TYJ! PYL!
69. BLESS THEM & HELP THEM TO RETURN, LORD! Help them to confess their sin, that they've gotten themselves in a Hell of a mess of a mudhole that they're sick & fed up with the swine pen & its husks & slop & sewage & mire & stink & stench & humiliation! They don't have to stay there, Lord, they can pull out.
70. THEY'VE STILL GOT THE HELMET OF SALVATION, they still have the promptings of the electrode of Thy Spirit in their conscience. They still know they're wrong, they still know they ought to repent & go home, & You've been faithfully telling them. And if they'll just follow You, Lord, You can pull'm out & bring'm home back to fellowship & love & feasting & joy & happiness, even if they've lost their reward.
71. IT'S NOT TOO LATE, LORD, FOR SOME OF THEM TO COME BACK HOME & SERVE FAITHFULLY ON THE FARM AGAIN & help with the work & the crop & share in the blessings if they'll come now. Help them not to wait, Lord, until it's too late. Help them certainly not to wait, Lord, until You have to allow the Devil to require their body & execute them from this life in order to save their soul & stop them from being a worse testimony & leading others astray. In Jesus' name! Amen! TYL!
72. MAY GOD HELP YOU, BELOVED, YOU BACKSLIDERS PARTICULARLY, TO REPENT, CONFESS, & COME BACK & SERVE HIM AGAIN in the joy & fun & fellowship & food of the Family! Even if it's to everlasting shame & contempt amongst the older brethren, the loving ones will forgive you & take you in again & I'm sure they'll let you work with them & help share in the fruits & crops if you'll share the work. PTL! Hallelujah! TYJ! In Jesus' name.--Just as we are now doing, particularly in some of our Musical Units. TYJ! PTL! Hallelujah!
73. THANK YOU LORD FOR THE VICTORY IN MANY LIVES! O God, yet have mercy upon some that are still backslidden, still not yet returned, so many of the old-timers who were led astray by the Chain & its evil influence & who are still astray. Help them, Lord, to forsake their pride & abandon their selfishness & their evil ways, their independence, & realise they can never shake Thy helmet of salvation & the electrode of the Holy Spirit, that constant conscience & consciousness of Thy presence & Thy Word & Thy conviction, they can never shake it, Lord, & if they try hard enough it may kill them!
74. BRING THEM BACK IF POSSIBLE, IF THEY HAVEN'T GONE TOO FAR to where You have to kill them to save them! In Jesus' name we ask for Thy glory, for the sake of Thy Word & Thy children & Thy Family & lost souls! Help them to obey & come back to the Father's house & fruitful service in the fields for Him, in Jesus' name, amen. So PTL! I guess that's the meaning of "The Helmet Dream"!
75.--WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO YOU?--WHERE ARE YOU?--PLEASE COME HOME! We still love you!--We'll even come get you if you need our help to disentangle yourself from the thorns of the System!--Just let out one pleading little bleat for help & we'll come running!--We'll leave the safe 99 to rescue you--just you! Do you want to come?--Then come now! Call for help! The Lord will still rescue you now before it's too late! Don't wait! Come TODAY!--Tomorrow will be too late! WLY! GHU!--IJN, amen.
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
