HomeARC ML 1760
LOVE'M & LEAVE'M!--Fruit that Remains!--Jn.15:16. DO 1760 3/84
1. THE NOOSE IS TIGHTENING & THE SITUATION IS TIGHTENING, THE WORLD IS TIGHTENING! We've tightened the Family, but the Devil's tightening the World trying to squeeze us out, & little by little the Lord is allowing him because we are finishing the work, finishing the job. Apparently we have finished our job in some countries. I don't think there's necessarily even going to be time to get back in. I don't know how much the people who are trying to stay in those places [EDITED: "quietly"] are even going to be able to survive, unless we support them & they just live--I started to say "non compos mentis," but that's not the right term--anonymously! You might think they were a little crazy for staying, that's for sure! But what good does it do to support them there & keep them there if they can't witness & they can't be fruitful & they can't do anything?
2. I'M NOT OF THE OPINION THAT THEY SHOULD STAY--UNLESS THEY WANT TO TRY TO SIT IT OUT & WAIT IT OUT to see if it does cool off & at least try to conserve & preserve some of the remnants of the fruit & get them established so they can leave. The disciples they already have they can at least teach [EDITED: "quietly"] & ground in the faith & the Word & organisation, etc., so they can leave behind an indigenous church which can survive. Right now antagonistic governments are principally after the foreigners.
3. WE HAVE TAUGHT & WE HAVE ADMONISHED & WE HAVE WARNED: YOU HAD BETTER GET AN INDIGENOUS CHURCH READY TO CARRY ON, because the stay of foreigners is always in jeopardy & always in question & tentative & could end at any moment as it has in some places. How well-prepared you were for it, I don't know. How well you are organised, how indigenous you are, how nationalised you are, how well-organised & taught & grounded in the faith your national church is, I don't know.
4. IT WOULD BE A SAD COMMENTARY ON OUR FAMILY IF AFTER SO MANY YEARS IN A FIELD WE SUDDENLY ARE FORCED OUT & HAVE TO PICK UP & LEAVE & FIND WE HAVE NOTHING LEFT BEHIND! I would say the Family in that case has been a total failure & all their work has been an almost virtual loss, except for a few Salvations. But if they're not organised to survive & to self-propagate & self-govern & self-support, then they're not organised to survive & they're going to die out.--Just like Christianity died out in Japan where it once had a stronghold, in China where it once had a stronghold. They didn't really have a good strong indigenous national church that was taught & grounded & strong enough & organised enough to carry on. So it just died a natural death. That was the end of it. It died of old age!
5. SO I THINK SOME OF OUR PEOPLE NEED TO QUESTION THEIR FIELDS & QUESTION THEIR METHODS & QUESTION THEIR RESULTS as to, "What if we had to go today, what would be left behind? What would be left that would be lasting?" That's a good phrase & question to remember: "What would be left that would last? Do we have a good native church, well-taught & grounded & loyal & faithful & solid, 100% & already TRFers proving their complete sold-out loyalty & wholehearted membership & well-organised to carry on without the foreigners?" I wonder.
6. I WONDER HOW WELL-OFF THOSE COUNTRIES ARE NOW? It seems to me that when we were forced out of some countries there wasn't much left. I think that's one of the most serious questions that we need to ask ourselves: In the countries where we have been forced out, how much is left that is carrying on? How much permanent results have we had? And of the countries left, how much is going to be left? How much solid, permanent results will we have left that can carry on & prosper & propagate & proliferate after we're gone? I want the leaders of these countries to ask themselves that question: How much can you really count on? How many people do you think would really carry on without us, even if their support were cut off?
7. YOU KNOW, I ASKED MY BROTHER-IN-LAW THAT QUESTION ABOUT HIS BIG FANCY METHODIST CHURCH IN KENTUCKY ONCE-UPON-A-TIME, Eve's sister's husband. He had 600 members, I mean 600 faithful members in attendance every Sunday morning. I said to him, "Tom, what would happen if the government would go Communist or the Communists would take over or whatever?"--Of course, the government there is getting so anti-Christ it's getting almost that way already. "What if they'd close your church doors tomorrow, burn all your Bibles & hymnbooks, murder your pastor--you--& suppress meetings, ban the meetings, what would you have left?" In other words, a somewhat similar situation to what we're getting into in some of these other countries & have gotten into where they have forbidden our meetings & forbidden our witness & forbidden our literature & persecuted our leaders.
8. HE REALLY THOUGHT ABOUT IT & HE SAID, "DAVE, I THINK MAYBE I'VE GOT A DOZEN GOOD STRONG MEN, WELL, AT LEAST HALF-A-DOZEN WHO WOULD BE STRONG ENOUGH TO SURVIVE & who could probably go underground & help rescue the remnant in secret meetings, secret worship & carry on after I'm gone." He said, "Well, at least a half-a-dozen."--Six out of 600 that he could count on! My God, is that going to be our record in some of the countries?--Not only in the East, but in South America?
9. WE COULDN'T EXPECT TO HAVE TOO MUCH LEFT TO CARRY ON IN THE UNITED STATES. We deliberately evacuated the U.S. because we know it's anti-Christ & going to be destroyed & we didn't want anybody left there. We discouraged them from carrying on there & left them virtually leaderless & unorganised purposely to try to encourage them to leave, Europe the same. We're not trying to leave anything behind in countries destined to be doomed & wiped-out or left in ruins & chaos where almost nothing could be preserved. We don't want our people to be wiped-out, we want to get them out & evacuate those countries because of persecution & because of the judgements of God that are going to fall on them, the doomsday that's coming.
10. BUT IN THE COUNTRIES OF THE THIRD WORLD & THE SOUTH TO WHICH WE HAVE FLED & where we have been received with open arms for years, ten years or more in some of them, & where we have proliferated, propagandised, prospered & saturated them with our message & our people, we should have a good strong indigenous church that we hope will survive, in countries that we expect to survive the holocaust--the real holocaust, whether it be the holocaust of Antichrist peace or the holocaust of atomic war--countries that we have advocated our people going to & working in to establish something that will last & live long, as long as possible, in areas or Third World countries that we expect to survive not only the peace, but the war!--Even the Antichrist! How much have we got left? How much will we have left when they force the foreigners out? How many nationals can we really count on to carry on?
11. I'M ASKING THE LEADERS OF THOSE COUNTRIES RIGHT NOW HOW MUCH YOU THINK YOU'LL REALLY HAVE LEFT WHEN YOU'RE GONE? How much of what's left will last? What have you got to show for all your years of labour & years of sowing & years of harvesting? What kind of barns have you got left?--Not church buildings like the churches build, but well-built barns of organised fleshly stones able to garner the grain & carry on. TYJ! PYL! How much do you think will be left?--Or have we suffered so many things in vain? (Gal.3:4)
12. YOU SAY, "WELL, DAD, WE WON MILLIONS OF SOULS!" Thank the Lord! But if those souls are not well-enough taught, trained, grounded, organised & indigenous to be able to survive so that when we leave virtually nothing is left but a few scattered disciples, unorganised, unled, ungrounded, unsupported, unable to carry on, unable to carry on anything of sufficient value to be fruitful or profitable at all, what have we got to show for it? If that's the case, as soon as we get forced out of the rest of these countries our work is done, finished, nobody left! So they ban our lit, censor the mail, we can't even feed'm by mail. I hope that'll never happen. But it could happen & it's already happened in a few places. It's already a regular procedure in some countries.
13. BUT WHAT HAVE WE GOT LEFT THAT'LL LAST? How soon is our job going to be over? If our Family has not built an indigenous native church that will last, then by the time they get forced out personally, all the foreigners get forced out of all these countries, their job will be over. If they can no longer witness, no longer litness, no longer operate, no longer preach the Gospel or win souls, the Lord might as well take'm home! Their job's finished. If we as a World Service can continue to feed individual native disciples who are still in those countries, we may find that the task & the job of the leadership has fallen upon us of trying to keep the stray lost sheep together & trying to encourage them to band together & work together in spite of opposition & persecution.
14. THE TIME IS COMING WHEN ALL COUNTRIES WILL PERSECUTE US OR SUPPRESS US OR BAN US, RESTRICT US, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO THEN? Will we have anything left that can carry on when the foreigners are all gone? I'll tell you, it's a serious question we need to think about & question ourselves about: What are our lasting fruits & results that would be left? Or will our job be done & over?--Maybe not ours personally, maybe we can still continue to feed them by Letter, by mail individually, though they are scattered, though their shepherds have been smitten & the sheep have been scattered. I'm hoping we'll still be able to keep'm in contact with each other & keep'm in contact with us & us with them by mail. Thank God for the mails! But it's possible the time will come that even that opportunity will be gone & then certainly our whole job will be done!
15. BUT WHAT ARE THE FOREIGNERS GOING TO DO? If they're forced out of all the countries where they're foreigners, there's only one thing they can do--what? Well, they can either go up to be with the Lord or go back to their anti-Christ homelands & sink with the ships! When they're forced to go back to the Americas or to Europe, that will be the end of their ministry.
16. IF THAT END COMES--which it could very easily & is most likely going to come--to where we are eventually forced out of all foreign countries, all other countries as foreigners not of their nationality, & we have to go back to the countries of our passports & no longer able to lead those people in those churches, what will we have left behind that's going to be lasting & strong & fruitful & able to govern themselves & organise & continue to labour till the very End? Well, there must be some way it's going to happen because I'm sure there are going to be millions of people going up in the Rapture. But are they just going to be scattered stray sheep that have been left out there with no folds & no shepherds because we didn't leave anything lasting behind? Is there going to be nothing left but a mail ministry feeding individual stray scattered sheep?
17. I'M TELLING YOU, OUR FOLKS NEED TO BEGIN TO THINK ABOUT IT & QUESTION THEMSELVES! How many more countries can we [EDITED: "move"] to? How many more countries can we afford to evacuate? How many places are left to which we could go without having to finally go back to our passport countries? I don't say our own countries, because our country is in Outer Space, thank the Lord, & one of these days it's going to come down & our country will be the whole World!--But not yet! We're trying to finish a job before that happens & do the best we can before then.
18. WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO THEN? WHAT WILL YOUR ANSWER BE? WHAT WILL YOU SAY? Several times I thought it was pretty close, but we managed to [DELETED] go someplace else. But as I once before mentioned, we're sort of running out of countries! A few places cooled off & we were able to get back in & they're thriving again, thank the Lord for that, but how often is that going to happen? The more the anti-Christs put the screws on, the more the Antichrist takes over, the less opportunity there will be of reviving, perhaps even of surviving as foreigners.
19. SO WHAT ARE THE LONGLASTING LEFTOVERS? WHAT HAVE WE LEFT BEHIND? If our job is done & our foreign personnel forced out of all countries, or most countries, maybe they're only able to go back to their passport countries. Well, maybe some will survive the holocaust & help the poor survivors. Maybe that will be their last job before the Lord takes them Home. Maybe He'll take a lot of them Home in the holocaust. [DELETED]
20. BUT WHAT HAVE WE GOT LEFT? WHAT ARE WE LEAVING BEHIND? I've talked about this before, I've tried to emphasise it before. I've been preaching this for years, you know that! My God, I went to Tenerife in 1974, ten years ago, & I got out a whole series of Letters on the indigenous church, indigenuity, nationalising the church. I put the squeeze on & clamped down & insisted on nationalisation, put down rules of nationalisation. Leadership had to be at least half-national & so on down the line. (See Nos.315C, 316A, 316B, 318, 328B, 659, 663, etc.)
21. I WONDER WHAT WE'VE GOT NOW AFTER TEN YEARS OF EMPHASISING IT, PREACHING IT, PROMOTING IT, ADVOCATING IT & WARNING ABOUT IT? I wonder what we have & what we will have left in these countries in the way of a strong national church, organised, with good leadership & grounded in the Word, strong, loyal, faithful & able to survive & remain fruitful in the lands we have to leave.--And we are leaving them!
22. I WONDER HOW MANY OF THESE PEOPLE WHO HAD TO GET OUT OF THESE PLACES HAD TO GO HOME & COULDN'T FIND ANY PLACE ELSE TO GO? I wouldn't be surprised! I understand from analysing the stats that there's been a sudden increase in single Homes back in Europe & the U.S.A. I wonder if some of these are people that are being forced out of some of these countries & have had to temporarily go home?
23. WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN WHEN WE FINALLY ALL HAVE TO GO HOME? What then? Well, I'd say as far as I'm concerned, if we have to go home, that's the end!--Ha! That would be finito! But I'm trusting the Lord will still find us some place of refuge, wherever, right until the End so you can continue to feed the sheep by mail. I'm still hoping the Lord will preserve the postal system till the End so we can communicate.--If we have to do it by courier or runners or by individual travellers like Paul did, whatever, even if it takes weeks or months to get the message through to let them know "there's still seven thousand who haven't bowed the knee to Baal" (1Kgs.19:18), still people who are carrying on, to encourage them, feed them & contact them & keep them in communication & fellowship & spread the news.
24. I'M HOPING THAT YOU'RE GOING TO BE ABLE TO CARRY ON! I don't know about me, but I'm hoping you're going to be able to carry on, God willing, right till the End! I'm expecting it!--Not just hoping, I'm expecting it, because I don't think the Lord would have prepared you so well for it & gotten you so well-trained & prepared & organised, even preparing you for what to do in case of emergency or in case I'm gone, so that you'll be able to carry on.
25. I CAN SEE LEADERSHIP IN YOU DEVELOPING BETTER EVERY DAY, MANAGEMENT IN YOU, PUBLIC LEADERSHIP IN YOU! Maria never wrote & spoke & organised & led before or anything like she's doing today! Her ministry is becoming more public all the time. Her managerial ability is coming out stronger all the time. (Maria: It's going to take a long time.) It will not take a long time! (Tongues:) "Refute not these Words of thy Father David that I have given!" TYJ! PTL!
26. THAT'S DOUBT, THAT'S VOICING THE PROPAGANDA OF THE ENEMY! That's not true! You can have it in a moment! The power can fall on you, the mantle can fall on you, the anointing can fall on you (claps!) just like it did on Peter on the Day of Pentecost & there'll be no difference! You'll stand up strong & magnificent in the power & anointing of the Lord! And it'll come. You're already growing that way.
27. THE PEOPLE ARE ALREADY BEGINNING TO RECOGNISE IT & HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOU & YOUR ABILITY TO CARRY ON & YOUR LEADERSHIP TO CARRY ON WHEN I AM GONE. They know that I have confidence in you, they have seen that the Lord has confidence in you, & they know that you're going to be able to carry on, & you too, Son, when I'm gone, & many others with you! TTL! I'm expecting you to carry on to the End, maybe even till Jesus comes! If you're one of the Two Witnesses, which it sounds like you may be, or the many witnesses at least, there are going to be some people here blasting away, blazing away right to the very Coming of Jesus when millions are going to rise to meet Him!--A lot of them who are alive & remain, not just the dead ones! PTL? (1Thes.4:15)
28. BUT MEANWHILE, ARE WE GETTING THE JOB DONE & GETTING IT DONE RIGHT, & ARE WE ESTABLISHING SURVIVAL CHURCHES IN THESE COUNTRIES that will be able to carry on without us as we're getting forced out of these countries? And it's not going to happen, it's already happening & it's already happened in many of them! (Maria: Well, what if we haven't? What should we do?) Well I'll tell you, if we haven't & after ten years they still haven't, there's not much they can do but work real fast & try to suddenly organise in a hurry & do what they failed to do over the last ten years! And that may not have too much results. Let's hope it does.
29. LET'S HOPE THAT THIS LITTLE TALK IS GOING TO GET SOME PEOPLE BUSY TO DO WHAT THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN DOING ALL THE TIME, which many other talks & many other Letters have admonished them to do & exhorted them to do. But they have lazily not done it because they weren't forced to, they were still there, they weren't forced out yet. They've been depending on themselves & their own support & World Service support & their own talent & their own leadership ability, their own know-how, & have not really trained local personnel, national leadership & organised the national local Church to carry on.
30. IF THEY DO NOT ALREADY HAVE LOCAL NATIONAL LEADERS WHO ARE HEADING HOMES & manifesting leadership ability & organisational ability & fruitfulness, if they don't already have such Homes, it's unlikely they're going to be able to suddenly create them at the last minute! I'd say their ministry has not been a lasting ministry, a permanent ministry bearing "fruit that shall remain." That was a part of the Lord's call! "I have ordained you that ye should go forth & bear fruit, & that your fruit should remain!" (John 15:16)
31. THE LORD INTENDED FOR US TO BEAR FRUIT THAT WOULD REMAIN, not fruit that would melt & vanish into the crowd after we're gone & give up in discouragement & despair because they don't know what to do or how to do it & how to carry on! They never had any leadership training, they never had any organisational training, they were never given any responsibility, they were never trusted with anything, they were never forced to do anything on their own, because the missionaries, the foreigners did it all for them. So they're cast out in the street like little babies, little homeless children, little homeless lambs not knowing which way to turn or what to do because they haven't been trained to be leaders, organisers, fruitbearers, survivors! What's going to be left?
32. WE ARE LOSING COUNTRIES DAY BY DAY, BELOVED! We are being forced out of country after country, day by day, little by little, some faster than others. What's going to happen if we're forced out of all of them & all foreigners have to go home? Let's hope that by that time it's time to go home to Heaven! I'd sure as hell hate to have to go back to the Hell of a country that I came from, almost the worst in the World, that hates us & would just love to get ahold of us, where the anti-Christs are in absolute total control! It would sure about mean the end of me, that's for sure! And I hope it never happens before I die some other way.
33. I WOULD HATE TO DIE IN THE HANDS OF MY ENEMIES! I tried to tell the Lord, "I would like to be willing, Lord." But I'm not much of a sufferer, I'm not much of a sacrificer, I'm not much of a martyr. I don't think I would take crucifixion very cheerfully. I'm more apt to die fighting, trying to help the other guy die for his country! As Patton said: "Your job as a soldier is not to die for your country, but to make sure the other guy dies for his country!" I'm afraid that's the kind of fighter I am, I'm more likely to wind up maybe even dying trying to get him to die for his country or his cause or his backers! That's about the only way I could visualise myself dying violently. I don't think I would very easily let them take me, because I know what they would do & I know it would be a hopeless situation.--Unless the Lord knew that there was some way I'd be a witness, some way I'd be able to carry on from prison, as some have & all that, but in these days I somewhat doubt it.
34. THE LORD HAS GIVEN ME SOME INDICATION THAT I WOULD BE ALLOWED TO DIE IN PEACE LIKE SOME OF THE PATRIARCHS & PROPHETS, perhaps even in bed surrounded by my Family & be able to peacefully bless them & prophesy over them & bid them farewell & depart in peace. PTL! That's the way I would like to die & maybe the Lord's going to give me that wish, that prayer. I told the Lord I would prefer to die that way, but I'm trying to be willing & if He wants me to die some other way, well okay, that's up to the Lord. The Lord knows what way I would be the most good & do the most good, & if my death would accomplish more some other way, well, that's up to the Lord. I feel myself that I would prefer of course to die in peace, & perhaps it would also be easier on the Family & on you if I would die in peace. Because if I had to suffer, I'm sure you would suffer too & our children would suffer. It would not be easy on any of you to watch me suffer. So you'd better pray that I can die in peace if you want to have a little more peace & feel peaceful about it!
35. BUT I WOULD DIE IN GREATER PEACE IF I KNEW THAT OUR FOLKS WERE ACCOMPLISHING THE JOB THAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO DO, & that is to win souls & make disciples of all nations who will be able to carry on when they're gone, & they're going to be gone & it looks like soon! How soon is up to the Lord, but I'm sure He will gauge it largely on how much we've accomplished, how much we've saturated the people with our Message & held them individually responsible even if we haven't had lasting fruit that will remain. That's our responsibility, that's their responsibility, not really His. That's all our fault if it doesn't happen. That's our failure if they don't develop leadership & organisation & cooperation that'll be fruitful & profitable & effective & survive.
36. OUR JOB IS TO WITNESS, GET THE WORD OUT & HOLD THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE TO THE POINT WHERE THEY FORCE US OUT & WE CAN NO LONGER WITNESS & WIN SOULS. Then we can get out of the way so the Lord can lower the boom on them & lower the judgements on them & punish them for what they did to us & their rejections, but at the same time we hope bless those who survive & who carry on, the natives, the nationals. It's funny, they don't like that term "native" any more. It's not accepted terminology any more in missionary circles, you're supposed to call them "nationals." That's more impressive, that's more dignified, that's more respected. A native is some kind of a Hottentot running around wild & woolly with a grass skirt dancing & yelping & that sort of thing, that's their picture of a native.--Not very complimentary. But a national, that sounds much more developed & developing, civilised.
37. WELL, I DON'T CARE WHETHER YOU CALL THEM NATIVE OR NATIONAL, GET'M SAVED, GET'M ORGANISED, GET'M GROUNDED, GET'M ESTABLISHED, GET'M TOGETHER & TEACH'M HOW TO CARRY ON WHEN YOU'RE GONE!--Or you're not going to have much left to show for your ministry & you may have to face the Lord in shame & be ashamed that you didn't teach your sheep to mature & become not lambs, but ewes & rams who could bear fruit & carry on & defend themselves--survive! You're going to be pretty ashamed if all you did was win a lot of statistical salvations who vanished when trouble came & there was nothing left!--Nothing survived, nothing carried on, nothing fruitful! May God forgive us!
38. I THINK I HAVE DELIVERED MY SOUL ON THIS SUBJECT! I think I have been faithfully pounding away on it, but here again I think the Lord is giving maybe one last call that you'd better get it done & done now & done quick or you may be next to have to leave that country behind, & whatever's left will be what you've already got & got organised & grounded & taught & who are already experienced leaders, organisers & fruitbearers! I would say if you haven't got'm already, there's not much time left to get'm! And if you haven't made it in ten years, my God, how are you going to make it in one year or two years or maybe not even tomorrow? That country is already finished & so are many other fields. It's too late. Too late!--Unless they can work [EDITED: "quietly"] for awhile & manage to survive long enough to teach the locals to carry on. Maybe that's what the Lord's doing in lifting some of their papers so they can't leave, so they'll have to stay there & try to ground & confirm the sheep & make them into real mature Christians that are able to carry on when they're gone.
39. I'M TALKING TO ALL THE LEADERS IN ALL THESE COUNTRIES WHEREVER IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN: ARE YOU PREPARED TO GO [EDITED: "LOW-KEY"] & STAY? Do you think it's possible? Will you try? Do you need to?--Or are you prepared to [EDITED: "move"] & get out to at least save your lives & your future ministry & future opportunities? Until it happens we won't know, of course, how bad it will be, whether we'll try to just [EDITED: "wait it out"] [DELETED] until it blows away, blows over, like in a storm, & usually it does. But in some cases it doesn't! They're still very antagonistic & bitter against us in a number of countries, where if they knew who we were & we were trying to get back in, they would turn us away at the gate or worse!--Either turn us away or turn us in!
40. SO ARE YOU PREPARED FOR ANY EVENTUALITY? Are you prepared to [EDITED: "quietly"] establish the local church & carry on as long as possible locally, [DELETED] & try to help the leadership conserve whatever is possible, to leave behind a good strong national body of believers, a Church, to carry on when you finally have to get out?--Which always comes! It always comes, sooner or later! Are you prepared & do you have plans made, what you expect to do & how you think you should do it, etc.?
41. I SUGGEST TO ALL OF OUR LEADERS AROUND THE WORLD, WORLDWIDE, ESPECIALLY FOREIGN LEADERS WHO ARE FOREIGNERS IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY, THAT YOU HAD BETTER FINISH THE JOB WHILE IT IS YET DAY, FOR THE NIGHT COMES WHEN NO MAN CAN WORK! (John 9:4) It'll be very difficult to do lacking communication, lacking contact, lacking fellowship, lacking opportunity to get the local Church organised. If you haven't got it organised by this time, for God's sake, get it organised quick & give them responsibility now, train their leadership now by making them leaders now & compelling them to take care of themselves!
42. THERE'S A TIME WHEN YOU'VE GOT TO SHOVE EVERY FLEDGLING OUT OF THE NEST! There's a time when you've got to push every child out on its own, to have to stand on its own, even alone in the World if necessary. In our Family it's been pretty comfortable, but when we're pushed out of countries it's hard to keep families together. So if you want to make sure you leave something behind, leave something lasting, you'd better do it quick & fast or you may have nothing left, & that would be shameful, that would be a disgrace! You'd be embarrassed to face the Lord with that!
43. AND IF & WHEN IT COMES, & IT ALWAYS COMES, I TRUST YOU'VE MADE YOUR PLANS--either for [EDITED: "quietly staying"] to help carry on or to evacuate if you can't stay at all. And you'd better have some pretty good idea of where you're going, because as I say, we're kind of running out of countries to [EDITED: "move"] to! We'd better have some pretty good ideas of what to do, how to do it, where to go, when to go, how to go & all the rest, & to be able to make sure what organisational structure we have left behind will be able to survive & carry on no matter where we are as leaders.
44. WE AS WORLD LEADERS HAVE TO MAKE SURE OURSELVES THAT IF WE'RE FORCED TO [EDITED: "MOVE"], that our Worldwide structure that we're in a sense leaving behind is well-grounded & well-organised & well-prepared to stand on its own, if need be, for a few days or weeks. Maybe it might be months we would be out of communication or hiding out or something, would they be able to carry on without us?--Without not only me, but maybe even without you?
45. WHO HAVE YOU CHOSEN TO CARRY ON? Who are you training to carry on our Worldwide organisation in case you are absent for awhile? Who's going to carry on this office? Who's going to carry on our financial structure, our finance office & offices? Are we preparing them to survive indigenously throughout the World so that they will survive even without us for awhile if necessary?
46. SO THAT'S MY WORD TO THE WISE WHICH SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT, & I DON'T KNOW WHAT MORE I CAN SAY! What more shall I say? I think I've already said all that before & I'm saying it all again. I'm just repeating again in so many words or other words that that is what has to be done if you want to be unashamed to face the Lord or face your own conscience or face your own people or your own husband or wife & know that you did your best & you left behind a good strong Church & you didn't fail.--To be able to face your own conscience, face yourself, face the Lord & the Spirit & say, "Well Lord, I did the best I could! I left behind the best Church I could possibly organise, & I taught them how to run themselves. I put them on their own. I gave them the leadership & I watched them operate from behind the scenes!"
47. SOME OF OUR FOLKS MAY WONDER WHY IN THE WORLD I DON'T EVEN COME TO OUR FELLOWSHIP MEETINGS SOMETIMES. In fact, we never attend your personal Family business meetings & fellowship meetings. It's because you are a Home unto yourselves & a government unto yourselves & you should be able to run yourselves. If we should pick up & suddenly leave, you should be able to carry on without hesitation, without a pause, without missing a step & never even miss us, really. In the day-to-day everyday operation of the Home & the meal schedule & the work schedule & the work & all the rest, just carry right on like we were still here. Of course it would make some difference, but you should be able to carry on with the work you're doing right now & the way you're doing it as long as possible, even if our only contact is by telephone or by mail.
48. HAVE YOU PREPARED THEM FOR THIS? Are you preparing them for it? Have you appointed leaders? Have you designated authority? Have you made it known to the whole Family: "Now if we suddenly disappear, So-&-so is in charge, So-&-so is the boss of this, So-&-so is the boss of that & So-&-so is the overall head." I have warned you to be ready to go at a moment's notice & to feel satisfied you've left behind a well-organised Home, a well-organised Church that will be able to carry on in your absence without your immediate personal presence.--Even if you're able to continue to supervise & superintend by mail or by phone or other communication.
49. WELL, THE ONE THING I REALLY BROUGHT YOU UP HERE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT I NEVER GOT AROUND TO, but I guess that was the most important message, praise the Lord! But maybe I have brought out a few other strong points that you need to give attention to. If we had to leave the scene this afternoon, tomorrow, is this Home ready to keep right on rolling without a hitch? Amen? PTL! God bless you all & keep you & continue to make you a blessing!
50. EVEN IF YOU HAVE TO LEAVE, YOU CAN CONTINUE TO BE A BLESSING IF YOU HAVE PROPERLY ORGANISED YOUR NATIVE, NATIONAL, LOCAL INDIGENOUS CHURCH TO CARRY ON WITHOUT YOU, by teaching them now to carry on with you, yet without you, if you know what I mean, even while you're still there. Are they able to conduct meetings now? Are they able to carry on leadership now? Do they have their committees & organisational structure formed now? Are they operating & leading it now? Are they supporting it now? Are they doing the job themselves now without you, with you just standing in the background behind the scenes watching & making sure that they're doing it?
51. ARE YOU FORCING THEM INTO THE FIELD NOW? ARE YOU PUSHING THEM INTO LEADERSHIP NOW? Are you just supervising & superintending & seeing that they are doing it & they are getting it done & they are the church & they are the native nationals now, even while you're still there? If not, it's doubtful if they can when you're gone! If they can't even do it now while you're there & you haven't taught'm how to do it now while you're still there, it's very doubtful they'll be able to do it without you in the future if they can't do it without you now!
52. EVERY PARENT HAS TO TRAIN CHILDREN TO BE ABLE TO STAND ON THEIR OWN & MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS & be strong in the nurture & admonition of the Lord & the knowledge of the Word & serving the Lord now, so that they won't have any qualms or worries about whether they're gone or there. If that child is mature, by the time they leave or have to leave or they have to be separated, they know that child will carry on somehow without them--with or without them--because they've taught the child to carry on on his own with them while they're still there without them! I don't know if you know what I'm talking about or not!
53. HAVE YOU TAUGHT YOUR CHILDREN, HAVE YOU TAUGHT YOUR SHEEP, HAVE YOU TAUGHT YOUR HOME TO CARRY ON WITH YOU WITHOUT YOU? In other words, to carry on by themselves without you even though you're still with them.--If not, it's doubtful they'll be able to do it when you're gone. You'd better do it now!--Not with or without, but now, with & without! Do you get it? Do you understand what I'm talking about? Do you think they will? You've got to teach them to carry on without you now with you, or it's very unlikely they'll be able to carry on without you when you're not with them any longer. So God help you to do it, in Jesus' name, amen. PTL! God bless & keep your national churches indigenous, so you can love'm & leave'm!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
