HOW TO SURVIVE IN A CLOSED COUNTRY!      DO 1764  11/80

         1. THE JEWS HAVE LEARNED TO GET ALONG & SURVIVE IN THE WORLD UNDER ALL KINDS OF CONDITIONS under all kinds of regimes & people & they're still around. Whereas the Armenians nearly got wiped out, including a lot of other people. There was a religious movie that came out called "The Seventh Question," did you ever hear about it?--About being "red like a radish"! How red is a radish? (Family: Only on the outside!)
         2. A LOT OF THE MARTYRS TO COMMUNISM, CHRISTIAN MARTYRS, DIED & SUFFERED UNNECESSARILY BECAUSE THEY INSISTED ON GOING TO CHURCH! They insisted on repairing the church building when it was against the law. They insisted on getting their babies baptised when it was against the law. These are all things they could have practiced in their homes & forgotten about the church, but they insisted on going to church on Sunday when they were supposed to be at work in the factory & take Friday or Saturday or some other day off.
         3. BUT YOU SEE, CHURCHIANITY WAS THEIR RELIGION, NOT NECESSARILY JUST JESUS CHRIST & JUST BY FAITH. When your religion is based on church works, then your whole faith is based on the churches. And if you can't go to church & perform church services & church practices & keep the church building up & go to church on Sunday, then where's your religion?
         4. THOSE POOR DEAR DELUDED CHURCH PEOPLE, they went ahead & went to church & baptised & did all the things they weren't supposed to do, so they got martyred or thrown in jail or out of jobs & all kinds of other things when they could have been just as good, if not better Christians at home & on the job & at school by complying with the rules & obeying the laws & doing what they were told to do as long as they didn't have to deny their faith! In fact, it seldom ever got to the point where the Communists said, "You must deny Christ or your faith in Christ or off with your head!"
         5. LOOK WHAT A MUCH BETTER JOB & A BETTER WITNESS THEY WOULD HAVE BEEN if they would have been good Communists, shining examples of the good kind of Communist a Christian can be, up to the point of doing everything & obeying everything except denying their faith in Christ! See?
         6. MANY CHRISTIANS HAVE PERISHED OR BEEN PERSECUTED UNNECESSARILY, EVEN SOME OF OUR OWN PEOPLE! We've had people going into closed countries doing the most stupid things, passing out the most stupid kind of literature, passing out [one ML about an ex-leader] under the government that killed him! Can you imagine anything so ridiculous? No wonder they got thrown in jail & kicked out of the country! So for God's sake, use your head! Don't be stupid idiots & go out of your way to be obnoxious & objectionable & unbearable to where the authorities have got to do something & get rid of you!
         7. JESUS & PAUL TAUGHT JUST THE OPPOSITE! You were to obey the government, obey them that have rule over you, obey the magistrates, obey the police officer, "agree with your adversary whilst thou art in the way with him."--Rom.13:1-7; Mat.5:25. As long as it doesn't compromise your faith in Christ & His Love & His grace & your own salvation, as long as you don't have to actually deny Jesus Christ as your Saviour, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to get along with most governments of the World!--Except for your WITNESSING, & that's, of course, where the crunch comes.
         8. THAT'S WHAT WE DID WHEN WE LIVED IN THE EXTREMELY CLOSED COUNTRY OF FRANCO SPAIN, WE OBEYED THE RULES & WE USED A LOT OF WISDOM, BUT WE COULDN'T STOP BEING CHRISTIANS, & DIDN'T! The Franco government had nothing against Christ, in fact it was supposed to be very Christian, & had nothing against the Bible, they were supposed to believe the Bible, so we talked to people about God, we talked to them about Jesus, we talked to them about the Bible. How could we go wrong? We certainly didn't attack the Catholic Church & we avoided every way we could attacking the government. In fact, we praised the government for its many good points.
         9. NOW THAT'S THE WAY TO DO IT IF YOU WANT TO GO IN & WITNESS IN A CLOSED COUNTRY. You may not stay there forever, you may eventually have to go, but for God's sake, leave a lot of friends behind & lots of believers & lots of converts who are carrying on after you're gone!
         10. WE DIDN'T ATTACK THE CHURCH, WE DIDN'T ATTACK THE GOVERNMENT, we didn't attack the police, we didn't even particularly attack their religious mores or anything else, we were simply going down to the Clubs & dancing every night & talking about Jesus!
         11. EVEN ALL THESE GUYS THAT WERE SENT TO INVESTIGATE US & came to our home & stayed overnight, Guardia Civil--supposed to be the ultra of the ultra, like the SS troops of Franco, the most loyal & the most unapproachable & incorruptible of all the Francoites--they became our best friends! They took back nothing but good reports to their commanders.
         12. ALL THE GUARDIA CIVIL WERE CONCERNED ABOUT WAS THAT WE WEREN'T ATTACKING THE CHURCH & THE GOVERNMENT, so they just went back & said, "They're nice people! He praises Franco, he praises the government, he thinks Spain's a great Christian country, wonderful, more Christian than the rest of the World!"--And I'd say it was!
         13. SO WE'RE LEARNING HOW TO TRY NOT TO OFFEND, & how to live with it, to try to love our neighbours & even try to love our enemies & to try to get along with them & try not to offend them. So there are ways of getting along with people & along with governments & even along with opposing religions if you learn to be "wise as serpents & harmless as doves," knowing you're "sheep amongst the wolves."--Mat.10:16. There are ways to do it. And the smartest way is to try to not get in any trouble!
         14. (AMEN!--MAKE FRIENDS OF THE INFLUENTIAL & POWERFUL!--DON'T ANTAGONISE THEM!--AND ABOVE ALL, STEER CLEAR OF THE RELIGIONS & RELIGIOUS STRONGHOLDS & RELIGIOUS AUTHORITIES!--That's who gave Jesus the most trouble!--And He tried to AVOID'M!--For 3-1/2 years!--Till finally they couldn't ignore Him & His job was done & they killed Him!--But His native disciples carried on!--Until it got so hot most of them fled!--Into ALL the World to preach the Gospel to ALL!--Amen?--That's when YOUR job'll be done! Try to survive until then, by [staying LOW-KEY or MOVING], OK?--Tx! GBAKY till then!--In Jesus' name, amen!)


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