HomeARC ML 2411
DON'T PULL YOUR PUNCHES! 1/88 DO 2411
--It's Japan's Last Chance!--So Sock It to'm!
--A Vital Witnessing Lesson for All!
1. I've always said there are four phases of witnessing--would you like to hear what they are? (Family: Yes, Sir!) The first thing you have to do when you're trying to interest a class is find out if they want to hear! If they're not even interested, they might as well be deaf & you can quit wasting your time!
2. The reason you ask rhetorical questions--questions you know they don't know the answer to & you don't expect them to know the answer to--is when you ask them a question to which they don't know the answer, then they want like mad to know the answer, because there's something they don't know!--And every man, woman & child in the World wants to know everything! This is the horrible temptation for the knowledge of good & evil that was put into Man's heart by the Devil to begin with. That's why they were so tempted by the Tree of Knowledge, because if you knew everything, then you'd be as gods, & they wanted to be like gods!
3. The whole modern educational system is built on Man's desire to be a god!--To be smarter than the other common Earth people, to be exalted as a god, worshipped as a doctor, worshipped as a psychiatrist, worshipped even as a theologian, a god above all the little folks down below who don't know the meaning of all those big words they learn. It doesn't matter if they don't understand you or not, in fact the less they understand you the more they worship you, because they figure, "Well, he's so deep, that's why I don't understand him." But I sometimes feel like the little old lady who said, "He's not deep, he just ain't clear!" I hope I'm not like that with you!
4. But this desire for knowledge is part of the craving that the Devil put in, especially a knowledge of good & evil. Some people have a fascination for evil, that's why they like all these horror movies & violent movies & all that kind of stuff, they're fascinated by evil! Horrible!
WITNESSING TO JEWS!
5. I used to go out witnessing, trying to witness to the Jews, but I was sure thankful when I came across a Catholic instead! The Jews are built & ingrained & practically born to resist being sold. A Jew's main object in life is to not let you sell'm, they refuse to be sold.--No matter if they like what you're saying, no matter if maybe you've even persuaded them that you're right, they'll never admit it to you that you convinced them.
6. I remember telling Maria that about Enrique, the head of the hotel with the club where we had all the girls in Tenerife. She came back discouraged one night, he just wasn't seeming to respond at all. I've had to advise some of our girls about this: Don't think that they're not getting it, don't think they're not listening, don't think they're not even believing it & getting convinced!
7. [DELETED] Like old Uncle Charlie sitting on the bench with that Jew in Miami. The old Jew was saying, "Oh, you're just in it for the money!" He was witnessing & giving the Jew a tract. Uncle Charlie replied, "You know I'm not in it for the money.--If there was any money in it, you'd be in it too!" He was an old Jew himself & he knew the Jews! [DELETED]
8. [DELETED] You take this one old guy whom they were witnessing to that invited his friend--why did he invite his friend if he didn't like some of the things they were saying?--If he didn't even believe some of the things they were saying! Why would he invite his friend? He invited his friend because he knew he would probably be a good prospect, maybe even more of a prospect than he is! At least he's the kind of a guy that would probably admit it & accept it & pray & get saved. But the old Jew doesn't ever want to admit that he is accepting!
9. You've got to remember these things! You may think you're ineffective, you may think you didn't make it, you may think you didn't have any effect, "Oh, he's a hard old goat & he'll never pray & he'll never accept what we're saying!"--But why does he listen?
10. We used to say in Boyle Heights, Los Angeles amongst the Jews: Keep talking as long as they listen! Keep talking. Even if they only open the door a crack on the door chain: "What do you want! Go away! I don't want to buy anything!" "I'm not trying to sell anything, I'm trying to give you something, I'm trying to help you!" She'd think, "What in the World? Nobody ever came to my door before to give me something & to help me," & she just couldn't resist listening a little longer! But of course she wouldn't admit she was sold or anything.
11. I think I only got one convert in all those months I was in the Soul Clinic witnessing in Boyle Heights amongst the Jews, & that was that beautiful young blonde Austrian girl I told you about. But of course she'd been raised a Catholic, so you do have a little advantage with Catholics who are at least supposed to believe the Bible, supposed to believe in God & Jesus & all that. Of course, they're just as much pagans & heathen & unbelievers & unsaved as the Buddhists or anybody else! It's the same thing, except they're a little bit more receptive because you're not against their religion.
WINSOME WITNESSING & FACTS ABOUT BUDDHISM!
12. For God's sake, when you're witnessing to Catholics or Buddhists or anybody, don't be against their religion whatever you do! That's one of the main points of witnessing to other religions. Try to find as many points that you agree on as possible: "Yes, Buddha was a good man, he was really trying to find the Truth & he was really thinking & meditating & trying to find the facts of life & what life was all about." He did have a lot of good rules & there are a lot of good things about Buddhism. The only thing is, he never expected people to worship him as a god, people going to shrines & worshipping Buddha. He was just a man, he never claimed to be a god. He was just a great teacher, a philosopher, & he was preaching a code of ethics, & most of it is good ethics. Confucius too.
13. Confucius almost preached the same things as Jesus except he was a little negative. Instead of saying, as Jesus did, "Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you," that's positive, Confucius said, "Don't do to others what you don't want them to do to you!" That's Confucianism! But don't laugh, that's the kind of religion that most Christians live today! Their religion consists of what they don't do to others!--Including they don't give them the Gospel, they don't witness, they don't get'm saved & they don't win souls, sad to say! Their religion consists of what they don't do, that's certainly true!
14. Buddha himself did not consider that he was starting a religion. He was a philosopher teaching ethics & what he thought was the best way to live, & the best way to die, in fact. And of course, since he died they have perverted his teaching & corrupted it & changed it. They've added some from Hinduism, some from Confucianism, some from this & some from that, until Zen Buddhism today, which is probably the purist form of Buddhism, is really a far cry from what Buddha himself taught. They build his idols & they worship them as gods, whereas Buddha himself never expected them to do that. [DELETED]
15. He was really preaching against polytheism, but also he even got to the point where he was preaching against monotheism. He didn't want people being like Hindus & being like those crazy people worshipping all those idols! So in his effort to get people away from worshipping gods, he tossed out God too, which probably was his original faith. [DELETED] He wanted them to get away from this God concept.
16. In Zen Buddhism you'll never find anything about a God concept, except the idea of the Great Spirit of some kind. They say, "Well, everything's a part of it, you're a part of it, the walls, the house, the rocks, the telephone, the postbox, the school, everything's a part of God! So of course bow down to everything because it's all part of God," of what he considered God. (Great Spirit: Brahma.)
17. He tossed out the concept of a God, like a Judaistic God or Christian God or anything like that--of course, there wasn't Christianity yet--but at the same time he wanted to get away from this personality of a God. He said, "Everything is God, the whole World, the Universe is God!" And what do they call it? Is it karma? There's a word for it. (Peter: Nirvana?) No, Nirvana is the state that he works toward. That's really a great salvation, Nirvana.--The way to get out of all your troubles & the way to get out of all your problems & your self condemnation, your guilt, your faults, your sins & this horrible World, besides your soul getting transmigrated from one creature to another until you work your way up into angels, etc., & finally you just work yourself completely out of any kind of an existence.--The great reward is not to get reborn at all into anything, but you get complete final release from everything into nothing!--That's Buddhism! That's a fact, you study & see. I'm saving you a lot of time.
18. Nirvana is their kind of Heaven, & what it is, is nothing, nothingness! You finally just get complete release into total nothingness & you are reabsorbed into the great Cosmos as a little spark or a little flicker somewhere! You become nothing & just melt back into the Creation or melt back into the great Universe, etc. You can just get out of it all. It's a cop-out! Just get out of it all! And the way to do it is to just sit there & cross your legs & hold your hands in a certain position & make funny faces, look like a lion, act like a lion & make horrible grotesque faces, roar like a lion, & these different positions.
19. I tried it once! I heard that Yoga was good exercise, & I was on the road & I was getting very little exercise except running back & forth to TV stations, & I heard that if you'd just go through these exercises it was good for you. I didn't have too much time to run around doing exercises, my hotel room was about the only place, so I heard you could even do these things in bed.
20. So I got me this little book, I found it on the bookshelf at some magazine shop, {\ul \i Yoga Made Simple}! And the way it made it simple was it had all these pictures, a picture on one page, text on the other, another picture & text & all the positions. I was a little stunned by some of those as I got toward the end of the book, all these grotesque faces you were supposed to make, horrible grimaces! I thought, "That's bad! Well, I'll forget the last part of the book, I'll just do these exercises." Well, I sat on my bed & I tried to get my feet together & under my knees & it nearly killed my ankle bones!
21. The Hindus are the opposite extreme, they worship everything! Well, it's the same thing in a way, only they make little models of every little god & they've got at least 4,000 different gods! The Buddhists have gotten into the same bad rut of first worshipping big idols of Buddha, & then they've also got hangovers of a few other gods--the good gods, the happy gods, god of happiness, wealth & all these things. So they've got their gods too, plus the dragons & beasts & all kinds of horrors, hangovers & a mixture, actually, of a lot of different heathen, pagan religions.
"WHAT'S BUDDHA DONE FOR YOU LATELY?"
22. So you can be frank about their religion. I wouldn't attack it if you can help it, but if they insist on being dogmatic & pugnacious & say, "Oh my religion is blah blah!" Just ask them questions, questions they can't answer.
23. If you want to really get a little aggravating with some of those Buddhists you can ask them, "Well, what's Buddha done for you lately?" That's like that story about Fred Shultz & his nephew Clifford. He'd brought his nephew all the way from Germany & set him up on a farm outside of Detroit. They'd done everything for him, brought over his mother then & all his family & got him going & he was getting rich. Detroit grew & the farm became a part of suburban Detroit & the price of property went up & they both got to be millionaires.
24. Well, one night Shultz phoned him & wanted him to cash a check late at night because the banks were closed. And he said, "No, I can't cash that tonight, that's too much trouble. Why should I do it?" And Shultz said, "After all I've done for you, brought you over here & set you up & gave you this farm & brought your family, your mother & everything else, & you won't even cash this check for me?" And Cliff said, "Yeah, but what have you done for me lately?"
25. What's Buddha done for you lately? What does Buddha do for you anyway? What can he do for you? They don't claim he's alive, he's dead, died thousands of years ago. What's he done for you lately? So what can he do for you now? "Well, he taught all this stuff that's good for me & I can do these things & go through this meditation & eventually think myself into nothing so I won't have any problems!" They do all these funny positions & ugly faces & try to put every other thought out of their mind & make their mind a nice blank, a nice vacuum, so that, yes, you can become divine & a part of the infinite Spirit World, you can find the god in you, in fact you can get this spirit in you!
26. That's what all this meditation's about--to get demon-possessed! That's what hypnotism is! People get in a state of mind, of relaxation, "Make your mind a blank, don't think about anything, go to sleep, just relax & yield your spirit to me & I'll take care of things."--And the evil spirit has a perfect easy entry into your body to take over. And that's what Zen Buddhism is too--a way to become literally demon-possessed, with all that meditation & those ugly faces! You imitate these horrible creatures & ugly faces & you get yourself in a spirit to receive that kind of a spirit, to receive the spirit of a lion-like demon or a serpent or a dragon or whatever!
27. So if you want to be a little negative you can say: "What's Buddhism done for you lately? Has Buddha answered any of your prayers lately? Did he bless your business? How's your relations with your wife?" We've got Someone Who's alive & living & can answer all your prayers & problems & come into your life & heart!"--If they don't understand heart, say into your life--"And be a Friend to you! He's the Son of the Great Spirit, the Good Spirit, the Good God Who will help you & be a Friend & a Helper & a Saviour & guarantee you're going to Heaven when you die!"
DON'T PULL YOUR PUNCHES!
28. It's pretty simple really, they just haven't got it! They haven't got anything! Why be ashamed to give'm what you've got? You've got something & they know it & they can tell it & they can feel it & they can see it! Why be ashamed of it? Why pull your punches? Why throw the fight? Sock it to'm! Tell'm! Don't be ashamed of Jesus!
29. That's why the Lord said, "He that is ashamed of Me before this wicked & adulterous generation, I'll be ashamed of you before the Father & all the Holy Angels!"--Mk.8:38. He didn't say you'd be lost. How could you be before the Father & the Holy Angels if you weren't saved? He said He'd be ashamed of you! "Some raised to everlasting shame & contempt!"--Dan.12:2.--Saved, but boy, that's almost worse than going to Hell! I think some of them would almost feel better if they'd gone to Hell! At least they'd have good company, at least their kind of company or pretty close to it! They wouldn't have to face the Father & the Holy Angels & all the other Saints!
30. We can't be ashamed of Jesus! Jesus is what we're all about! Jesus is what we're here for! Jesus is why we sacrificed our lives & gave away everything & gave up everything & forsook-all & came to all these crazy countries with their crazy languages & their crazy traditions, etc. And they are crazy, let's face it! Maybe some, like the Japanese customs, are not so crazy, they're almost Christian. But we certainly wouldn't have done all that we've done merely for ourselves. I can't see what personal advantage there is for our people in being in such countries! It's a sacrifice! Why were you willing to give up everything? Some have given up mates, children, everything! What are you there for? You're on a mission, you're there for a purpose, you're trying to help others!
31. "God, Who created us & the whole World & everything, our God, the great God, the real God, His Son loved us enough to die for us! If you don't understand that, you don't have to, just know that He loves you & His Son came to show us what He's like, & He just wants you to love Him & thank Him for it all! He wants to be a help to you & a Saviour."
32. How could you be ashamed of Him? How can you pull your punches? If you pull your punches you're going to throw the fight. If you know anything about boxing, when they want to cheat, these Mafia & whatnot arrange to get one of the boxers to definitely throw the fight by pulling his punches & losing & not winning, & then they bet all their money on the other guy! It's guaranteed he's going to win because they prearranged it between the two boxers & the two managers & the two sponsors & all their backers who's to win this fight, so they can put their money on the other guy & win millions! Of course it's illegal, it's against boxing laws, regulations & everything else. But they do it, it happens all the time.
33. Is that what you're going to do? Just because somebody says, "Well now it would be better if we arranged it this way so we can make sure the fight is won the way we want it to be won & that our club wins the fight & we win the fight.--We don't want to offend people, we don't knock'm out, we take it easy on'm & we pull our punches & we're ashamed to say too much about Jesus so we can be sure that they win the fight so it won't offend them. We get along better that way."--That's just exactly what the Devil wants you to do!
34. And frankly, if those people keep on insisting on that & if our Hosts there don't want us to do what we're there to do, to preach Jesus, to give'm Jesus, then they're trying to persuade us to pull our punches & throw the fight so that their club can win, their patrons can win & not have to yield, give up or surrender to Jesus.--So the Devil can win!
35. That's the Devil's message: "Now don't push too hard, don't go too far!" I grant you there's a matter of wisdom & tact & custom & being wise & all that, but it's very unwise to not push Jesus or to be ashamed of mentioning Jesus or Christ or that you love the Lord! You don't have to say you're Christians, Christians have a bad reputation, a bad name. You're not trying to win'm to a religion, Christianity, that's got a bad name too. You're not pushing anybody but Jesus!
36. "What's wrong with Jesus? Tell me, what is it you don't like about Jesus? What did He do to offend you? What has He done? What has He ever done except go about everywhere doing good & trying to deliver everybody that was oppressed of the Devil!"--Acts 10:38.
37. We have come to preach Jesus, & if we're not going to preach Jesus, we might as well leave & go! Forget the whole business, let those Hosts drown in their own stew & their inability to pay their taxes & not use us as some kind of an excuse! I mean it!
THE SELF-RIGHTEOUS JAPANESE!
38. They have Hosts & sponsors in Japan & an open door & open property & open clubs & it's a marvellous opportunity! It's a marvellous opportunity to try to crack the tough nut of Japan, one of the toughest nuts in the World!--Some of the most self-righteous people in the World!
39. My Mother used to say the self-righteous church people are the hardest people in the World to get saved!--Because they think they don't need it, they think they're already saved, they think they're good & they don't need what you're preaching. They don't really have to depend on Jesus. They believe in Jesus, sure, of course, they're Christians, but they're working their way to Heaven through their own self-righteous works & good works & going to church every Sunday & giving to the preacher & all the rest. She used to say they're the hardest people in the World to get saved.--And from all I hear of the Japanese, they're exactly like'm!
40. "What do we need with you?" they want to know. "What do we need with Jesus? We're doing all right, we're doing fine! We're the richest nation on Earth, the biggest creditor, have the most economic power & we're doing great! What are you here for? We don't need any help!"
41. But you can prove to them that they do need help!--When they start pouring out their hearts to you & reveal that they're not satisfied & it hasn't fulfilled the void & they are not getting what they need, they're not happy, their riches haven't satisfied them, they're still having problems with their teenage kids, they're not going the way they wanted them to go, they're still having problems with their wives or husbands & they're not happy & all their wealth hasn't brought them what they thought it was going to bring them, let's face it.
42. They're just as miserable as anybody else, only they're worse!--They have the insulation of self-righteousness and it's hard to get through that thick skin! "I'm okay, I'm not a sinner, what do I need you for?" Well, whether you're going to make them admit they're sinners or not, you've got to show them that they have a need!--That they're not saving themselves & they're not making it & they're not happy. "What you need is Jesus! That's what it's all about. He's what it's all about!"
AN OPEN DOOR IN JAPAN, OUR HOSTS' MOTIVES
43. God has given us a sudden open door in Japan.--Well, not so sudden, it's been there quite awhile but the Family didn't take advantage of it, the clubs & all. They were kind of leery of it, even the Hosts, but now you're proving yourselves, showing that you can do it & it works & that you're trustworthy & you know what you're doing & how to do it & you're experts in the field! Amen? You've shown'm that you can really run a School & produce wonderful children & people that everybody starts raving about, they've never seen anything like it, never seen such wonderful children, well-behaved, happy, loving & all these things!
44. You've got the goods! Don't be afraid to show'm off! Don't be afraid to deliver the goods, give'm a sample! We've got nothing to be ashamed of! We're not ashamed of Jesus, He's what it's all about! Who made our kids like this?--Not our Hosts, not us, not the School, but Jesus!
45. Why are you so happy there in the club? How can you be so happy & content & smiling & radiant? They can feel the Spirit, they can see it on your faces! "You've got something we haven't got! What is it you've got?" It's Jesus! That's the Answer, just that simple!
46. If you're going to try to hide your light under a bushel or try to smother your candle just because your Hosts are afraid that it might offend them & say, "No, you're pushing too hard & this offends some people!"--The people who are offended by it are the ones who need to get driven away! So what!
47. If your Hosts are not willing to make some sacrifices & lose some customers, then they shouldn't be in this business!--If they're trying to please everybody. "Beware when all men think well of you!"--Luke 6:26. You can't be men-pleasers & please God at the same time!
48. "Of course you're going to lose some customers who don't want to be preached at, & if you are afraid to lose some customers--afraid you're going to lose some money, that's the point--afraid you might lose a little business through allowing the preaching of the Gospel there, allowing people to get saved, then you're in the wrong business!--You're in it for money & you're not in it for the Lord! You're in it for cash & you're not in it for Christ! You're in it for expenses & you're not in it for souls! You've got the wrong motive!"
49. They just thought it might do their business a little bit more good to have you pretty girls around & keep their customers happy. Well, you're going to make some of them very happy, you're bound to, but somebody's going to be offended! And the offended ones are usually the loudest ones & make the most noise, because they're full of the Devil & he doesn't want you there & he doesn't want you doing that! Of course you're going to have some offended! "They that live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution!"--2Tim.3:12.
50. If they're not prepared for losing customers, then they're in the wrong business!--Or losing a little reputation & not being able to strut around like they're doing it all & they're some kind of bigshots who have more money than they really have & have done all this: "We've done it! This is our product!" Well, your Hostess can share the glory, but she can't take it all! She can get part of the credit for furnishing the property & for doing some PR, that's fine. She's done the right thing so far, but if she's going to be afraid of us doing our right thing, then that's going to end the whole thing, & it may come to that! You've always got to be prepared for the worst, then you won't be disappointed! PTL! Like the guy said, "Cheer up, things could be worse! So I cheered up, & sure enough things got worse!"--And they might!
51. But at least you'll have the satisfaction of knowing you tried, you did what was right! You can say, "Lord, I obeyed You & I preached You & I gave them love & I tried to get'm saved, & even if they shut us out & reject us & throw us out & reject You, we did our part & we did what we were supposed to do! We went there to save Japan!--If Japan doesn't want to be saved, then let'm go to Hell!" That's the facts!
52. I don't know if you're going to save Japan or not, frankly! Considering how tough they are, how hard some of them are, it doesn't look like you're going to save all of Japan--& it's not likely, the majority are usually wrong--but you're getting some! And even those few precious souls that you're saving, they are priceless! You'll be so thankful when you see them in Heaven, it'll be worth it all! Even if they were only one, two or three you got at the clubs, it's worth it all!
53. Even if Japan rejects you, even if your Hosts reject you, at least you will have tried & you will have done what you were supposed to do! What are we supposed to do? "Go ye into all the World & preach the Gospel to every creature!"--Mk.16:15. We will have come into another part of the World & tried to preach the Gospel to them!
54. The Lord didn't say, "Go ye into all the World & save everybody!" That's something you can't do! Their salvation in that respect depends on them & their decision. You can't make'm make it. That's individual choice. Their salvation in that case depends on their decision!--You can't make it for'm!
C.S. LEWIS MOVIE--TREMENDOUS TRUTHS
55. I saw a little movie with the kids the other day, a C.S. Lewis movie, "Time Bandits." It had a lot of crazy junk in it, monsters & whatnot, but it's about this little boy that goes through a time hole or something & gets into other dimensions, a lot of crazy stuff. But C.S. Lewis was smart, he wrote these stories, these tales like The Lion, Witch & the Wardrobe & stuff like that, & he knew a lot about the Spirit World & especially the Devil's work, etc. There's a lot of theology & doctrine in C.S. Lewis' works. At least they got people to read about God & the Devil & how they work!
56. So this movie brings out the great question, the million-Dollar question or more at the end: "Why, Lord, did You allow this Devil? Why did You allow evil?" And it's so simple, it's so clear! God just talked back to the little boy & said, "To give you a choice!"
57. So in the picture God temporarily destroys the Devil, but the seeds of evil are still there & still planted & still go on back to his time again. He sees that evil is following him & the little boy wants to know why? "How come You didn't eliminate it completely while You were at it?" And He says to the little boy, "So you can carry on the battle!"
58. Now those are a few nuggets, diamonds, that we had to fish out of all the garbage, but they were worth it in a way. It brought out those points, & we brought them out very clearly to the kids. I asked them questions to see if they learned anything, & they understood. It was C.S. Lewis' answer in a tempting sugarcoating or whatever you want to call the pill. By his story, his fanciful tale, he's bringing out tremendous truths of why!
FORGET CHURCHY TERMS!
59. So why Japan?--In what seems like almost our last great drive, our last great effort? God is leading the Family at this particular time to invade that particular field to try to crack almost the toughest nut that we have ever found, because of those self-righteous people who even try to convince themselves that they don't need anything, they have it all! They don't need anything, much less us or our religion or our Jesus!
60. We have such a habit of using religious terms, we've used them so long. We talk about Christians & Christianity, but that's a bad word to a lot of people! It's even a bad word to sinners in the U.S.A.! They don't have a very good opinion of church people or Christians or Christianity. They've gotten gypped by good Christians, they've been deceived by good Christians, they've been cheated by good church people! They've set a very bad example to them! Their attitude is, "If that's Christianity, I don't want it!"
61. So what you've got to prove is that you don't have Christianity! You're not a "Christian," you're not a church person! You've got to convince them that you're something different! You're not like other missionaries they've heard about, even maybe seen. You're not promoting churchianity, you're not inviting them to your church, you're not trying to win them over to your religion! You're not trying to make a so-called Christian out of them!
62. Let's forget those old theological & churchianity terms! You're not trying to change their religion! You're not trying to win them away from Buddhism! You don't have to change their religion--let God do that! And He will! You just give them Jesus, & if they take Jesus, He'll soon change their religion!
63. You're not preaching a religion, you're not preaching a church! I remember something old Arthur used to say. He was a pugilist, a fighter, his arms were almost as thick as his legs, a big husky guy. He got saved, an automotive worker up in Akron, Ohio. He used to be a bar room fighter. He went to bars to get in a fight! He loved to fight, he loved to brawl! That's typically American. It's American to be the toughest kid on the block, to be able to beat all the others. So he'd go to the bar to show he was the toughest kid in the bar & he could beat all the rest of them! He loved it!
64. But then he got saved & he went back & witnessed to those guys! They said, "What in the World happened to you? You've gone crazy, you're a fanatic, you're a nut! What kind of a religion have you got? What church did you join? What are you? Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, what did you become?" Most people are always trying to pin it on something & pigeon-hole you somehow. He'd say, "What do you want me to be?"
65. See, if they can nail you down to what you are, that you belong to this church, that church, that religion, Jehovah's Witness, Seventh-day Adventist, Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, whatever, then they've got you all classified & they know everything you believe--maybe not in the East, but in the States & places like that--& then they can start shooting their missiles & their fiery darts at some of the things they don't agree with! Because now they know who you are, what you are, what you believe & they can nail you down! Just like a fighter, if he can know all he can about the other fighter & all his tricks & weaknesses & strengths, etc., he'll try to nail him down the way he knows he can, he'll know his tactics, etc.
66. But I doubt if anybody ever came to them before & asked them not to become a Christian, not to accept Christianity, but just take Jesus! "What's wrong with Jesus? What have you got against Christ? What did He do that offends you?" Even most heathen, pagans, who know little or nothing about Christianity or Christ or whatever, they have heard about Jesus & they've heard that He went around trying to help people to do good. But instead of them appreciating Him & being thankful, some of them got jealous. Most of them accepted Him & they liked Him & loved Him, believed in Him, but some, especially the religionists, the self-righteous ones, got jealous & they hated Him for what He was preaching & doing. Because if they believed it, they'd have to do it too, & they didn't want to do it, so they killed Him!
67. They know a little bit about Jesus! Just ask them, "What has He done that you don't like? What is it you don't like about Jesus? Why don't you love Jesus? Why don't you like Him? Why not love Him? He loves you & He wants to help you!" PTL!
WARN & SAVE JAPAN!
68. One reason God sent you, the Family, to Japan as He did His Prophets of old, is to warn the nation of its faults!--Not only in Love, to try to get them saved, to save them from themselves & from their faults, but the next job of the Prophet is to warn the nations & the kings what is going to happen to them if they don't change their ways! And I think that's one of the main reasons God has sent our Family to Japan at this hour!--To tell them, "If you guys don't start being willing to share your affluence & your prosperity & your riches with the people of the World who need it, the whole System is going to collapse!"--Including sharing with the U.S.A., which is rapidly becoming one of the poorest countries in the World.
69. The biggest debtor who owes the most money is the poorest, let's face it! If they'd pay all the money they owe right now they'd be totally bankrupt & fall flat on their face! They can't & they never will. It'll take the Antichrist to pull the whole bunch out of the hole, & he's going to pull them out of the hole just by abolishing the hole, cancelling all the debts & everything! Let's face it, starting all over is the only way this World could ever even be temporarily saved, to just start over. And you have got to warn Japan, if they don't want that to happen, then they've got to give a little!
70. They are going to have to abandon those tariff barriers, & that would help save America & a lot of the Third Worlders! Take the Philippines or Indonesia, for example, all the stuff they could produce cheap that could be sold in Japan, that will even benefit the Japanese workers & the Japanese labourers & the Japanese people as a whole by knocking their horrible ridiculous prices flat on their faces! It would be a great benefit to the real Japan!--Maybe not the government, although it would in the long run, they get the benefit, but it would benefit the people of Japan & God would bless it! That's the biggest way it would benefit the people of Japan!
71. You are there to save Japan!--In more ways than one!--Spiritually, souls for Heaven, but God doesn't leave anything out. If He saves you spiritually, He'll also save you physically, He'll also save you financially!--If they'd be willing to obey God & share, & let down those selfish trade barriers, those ridiculous barriers where the Japanese themselves are paying six times the price of rice on the World Market, their main staple! On most of their food items they are paying 4 to 6 times the World market price!--Which means they could get them today for one-fourth to one-sixth of what they're paying right now! Then the prices of the food in their grocery stores would come down to something within reason instead of being astronomical! The rest of the World is looking at Japan & saying, "You're crazy, this is impossible!" Schools are closing, embassies are closing, businesses are closing in Japan because they just can't afford the prices!
72. So you're there to save Japan, & if they won't let you, then they're standing in God's way! He wants to save Japan. If they let you, God will bless them for it. But if Japan won't let us, then Japan's standing in God's way & will suffer the consequences!
73. I really believe this is Japan's last chance! It's now up to Japan to save the World economy, & they could do it.--Just by abandoning those ridiculous trade barriers & allowing free trade throughout the World. Trade barriers are selfishness! Trade barriers are unfair! Trade barriers are robbing the poor! Countries like Japan are even robbing their own poor with trade barriers by their high prices for food! They're robbing their own people as well as the poor people of the World who can produce it cheaper & furnish it cheaper, & they could eat it cheaper! It's all selfishness! The whole trade system of trade barriers & tariffs is total selfishness, each nation trying to save itself at the expense of others.
74. This is the World's last chance before the whole System crashes! If they want to postpone the inevitable end a little longer, they should obey God, share, give, trade!--And you're there to tell them that! That's part of your message! You ought to tell'm: "We love you, we're here to save you! We're here to save your soul so you can go to Heaven! We're here to save your spirit & your body, but we're also here to save your finances! If you'll take our financial advice, you can save yourselves! But you're headed for a crash!
75. "This thing is not over, it hasn't hardly even begun yet, it's just getting started! It's going to bring the whole World down! This is inevitable, the Bible predicts it!--And only the Superman, the Antichrist, is going to be able to temporarily save the World, but by imposing his super-system, the toughest of all & the hardest of all. You talk about religion, you're going to be forced to have his religion or be killed or whatever! Now is that what you want? You could possibly postpone the doom & the Day of Judgement a little longer, maybe even another year or so if you'd just knuckle under & say you're sorry & get forgiveness by obeying God & sharing.--Even if it hurts your farmers, even if it puts your farming out of business! If your farming business cannot produce & operate as efficiently & cheaply as other nations, then it deserves to be out of business!"
76. This business of having laws just to protect businesses that can't compete is just as ridiculous in Japan as it is in the U.S.A. or any other country!--Laws to squelch competition, to keep out people & products who can do it better & cheaper. It's insane! This trade barrier system is insane! It not only hurts the sellers, the producers, but it hurts the consumers, raises prices for them. And in the end, everybody loses, & in the end, everybody's going to go down if they don't listen & stop it!
77. That's our message to Japan! Most of all, "Love God, love Jesus, take Him as your Friend!--He'll help solve all your problems, personal problems, everything.--Your spirit, your family, your health, your wealth, whatever!" But preach this to the government, preach this to the businesses: That they had better do this to try to save the World or they're all going to go down with it! That's that, period!
REACHING THE TOP IN JAPAN!
78. And you Family in Japan are going to have to turn the tables completely around! It was fine in the good old free days when you could hit the streets & publicly witness all you wanted to, but things are changing. We've already had problems along this line & we're going to have to start doing it other ways. I can certainly see, & Mama certainly sees, the hand of God in it. Because you have not been reaching the people you should have reached.
79. You have not been reaching the captains of business & industry & the rulers of Japan to try to save the country & the World! You've just been getting out on the streets begging & peddling & saving yourselves in a sense. You're not reaching the right people, it hasn't done it. Only a handful of the top have really been reached who really have influence & can influence even the government & other businessmen & people who count & can have influence, decision-makers who can have some kind of weight to try to make the Japanese change their ways, as well as be helpers & supporters & defenders.
80. So you're going to have to go back to English teaching, hostessing, a lot of things which can help support the Family, with more emphasis on DFing instead of FFing. If hostesses & FFers & escort people could go at it with the right motive & the right tactics & the right way, to really have the right influence & teach the right things, you could be a tremendous blessing, as well as get the support you need there!
81. But you've just taken the easy way, the penny-ante way: "Well, we don't have enough money to pay the rent, let's go out quick & have a real binge on getting out Tapes & Posters today so we can pay the rent!" That's not the right motive! That's a necessity, but if you'd been getting through to the right people all this time, you wouldn't have to do that. Like this one lady they wrote us about, they were sorry they were being delayed from getting out, they wanted to go out & get the rent that day, but they finally yielded to the Lord & let one team stay home & talk to her & she gave them 100,000 Yen ($800) to pay the rent!
82. Instead of going out like beggars & just peddling & begging & making a nuisance of yourselves on the streets as far as the Japanese are concerned & the police, you could be reaching people like that! And not only get some people that really are important & really count in the right way, but be able to make disciples! Not just passing converts or street converts, but real disciples who can not only become real disciples, but be helpers, supporters, defenders! But you haven't been doing it. You've taken the easy way.
83. Faithy & Maggie, I'm sorry to say, are extremists, they always go to the extreme. When they were there 3 years ago they said, "You're teaching too much English & getting too involved." Well, the people who were getting in those System jobs were getting too involved & were neglecting to do it with the right motive, were not really witnessing, were not really reaching people. They were just making money, & that was the wrong motive. But if you could go at it with the right motive, that you're doing it not just for support, but to reach the right people & to reach people who are not being reached & need to be reached, if you go at it with the right method & the right motive, then the Lord will let you do it & bless your efforts, because you're doing it for the right purpose!
84. But that's what's going to have to be done there because the other sources are closing! You're going to have to do it!--And there are tremendous potentials & opportunities available there for that! They're begging for hostesses & native English teachers! There's a tremendous need for it, a market for it, if you want to put it that way, by which you can earn your living as well as witness!
85. I told you this years ago! I said the time is going to come when things are going to be so closed you're going to have to get a job & rely totally on personal witnessing! (See No.750.) That's what it's coming to right now, especially in Japan & a lot of other fields where you can't just be out on the corner in the streets witnessing! They've told us it's even hard for you to go house-to-house in Japan because of the intercoms, hard to go to offices because everybody's so busy!
86. So you're going to have to find what channels there are that you can use to reach people!--Clubs are one, the School's another, teaching English is another!--Any way you can to manage to keep on witnessing & survive! So, why not? I think the days of street witnessing are coming to an end & already have come to an end in many countries. You're just going to have to do it some other way, that's all!
87. Lord bless them & help them to continue as long as You want them to & as long as it's possible, that we can continue to help Japan as much as we can to be the final possibility of saving the World economy, to stave off the End a little longer, for a little more witnessing & a little more saving!
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family
