YOU MUST OBEY THE LEAST OF THESE COMMANDMENTS!   DO 1827  26/12/83
--A Personal Talk on Our Family [Rules at Dad's Home]!

         [HomeARC note (10/98): The Charter states the Family's current policies, and the rights and responsibilities of members. See point 16, "Rights of Personnel in a Service Home."]

        
         3. SO I'LL TELL YOU, THIS IS THE BIGGEST RESPONSIBILITY YOU HAVE EVER HAD, LIVING IN THIS HOME! You think it's the greatest glory you ever had & the most wonderful thing that ever happened to you & you've heard lots of wonderful testimonies of what a wonderful thing it is to be here--well, it may be a wonderful thing, but it is a terrible responsibility! We mean business & I'm not just joking! We're serious about these rules, & anybody who breaks them--I don't care even if you do it in secret--God knows! He'll catch you & you'll suffer for it, you'll be sorry.
         4. Remember Tim Concerned?--Well, he wasn't very concerned about [us]! He went back to Rachel's crowd. When Tim left us we immediately moved because we didn't know how far he'd go.
         5. WHEN PEOPLE START GOING THEIR OWN WAY INSTEAD OF GOD'S WAY, YOU CAN'T TRUST THEM ANY MORE. When they start breaking the rules & the customs & the advice & the instructions that I have given this Family, even the tiniest littlest things because they thought perhaps they were exceptions, because they were bigshot leaders, so they didn't have to pay any attention to those little rules, you can't trust them any more.--"Why, Dad doesn't mean me!" Jethro used to get up & say, "Well, you know Dad, he doesn't really mean that! He doesn't expect me or you to have to do things like that. He says drink only one or two cups of coffee a day"--he drank six--"but I don't have to keep that!--After all, I'm one of the bigshot leaders, you know!"
         6. WHEN YOU CAN'T KEEP THE TINIEST LITTLE "LEAST OF ALL THESE COMMANDMENTS," WE BEGIN TO WONDER ABOUT YOU & WORRY ABOUT YOU & NOT TRUST YOU TO KEEP THE BIG COMMANDMENTS! If you can't even keep the little ones, how can we trust you to keep the big ones? Do you understand what I'm talking about?--People who break the little commandments & just brush them aside, "Oh well, Dad doesn't mean me, he doesn't expect me to pay any attention to that. I don't have to do that! After all, I'm one of the upper crust, I'm the aristocracy, I'm the Royal Family!" or "I'm one of the leaders of the Chain, or I'm a LAS, or a DAS, or a NO, & I don't have to keep those silly little rules!"
         7. LET ME TELL YOU, IF I HAVE WRITTEN IT IN A LETTER & I HAVE TOLD YOU TO DO SO-&-SO & NOT TO DO SO-&-SO, I MEAN YOU--EVERY ONE OF YOU! Nobody is too big a shot or too important a leader to not keep the least little rule that I have given the Family, including coffee-drinking, sun-tanning or whatever it may be! If you break those rules, you're apt to break any rules & you'll get further & further away! Pretty soon you'll think, "Well, that rule doesn't apply to me either, the other doesn't apply to me either, I don't have to do that either!"
         8. I WANT TO TELL YOU, IT'S THOSE LITTLE FOXES THAT EAT THE VINES! (SoS.2:15) In the early days, Saul was head & shoulders above his brethren, a man of talents, big man, a man of ability, great leader, good organiser, a tremendous king, & God said to him, "When thou wast little in thine own sight, I did highly exalt thee." (1Sam.15:17) But the day came when Saul thought he could get along without obeying God's rules & without obeying God's Prophet, that he could do it his way.--He didn't have to listen to the Prophet, he didn't have to pay any attention to his rules & his orders--in this case his Letters--& he went ahead & did it his way.
         9. THAT'S ONE OF THE MOST HORRIBLE SONGS THAT FRANK SINATRA EVER MADE POPULAR, "I DID IT MY WAY!" That's like that poem "Invictus": "My head is bloody but unbowed! I am the captain of my fate, the master of my soul!"--And whoever wrote that went straight to Hell! That's where people go who have that attitude.
         10. IF YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE SOMEBODY IMPORTANT, A LEADER, WHOEVER YOU ARE, & YOU CLAIM TO HAVE DONE THE WILL OF GOD & A GREAT WORK LIKE SAUL DID, why do I hear this lowing of the cattle & this bleating of the sheep of some of these little sins & little transgressions, these tiny little foxes eating the vines, sapping your strength, sapping your spirit, sapping your very soul because you have disobeyed the slightest, tiniest, littlest, least of all the rules?
         11. DON'T THINK YOU'RE GOING TO GET AWAY WITH IT! IF I DON'T CATCH YOU OR ONE OF US DOESN'T CATCH YOU, GOD KNOWS ABOUT IT & HE'LL CATCH YOU, & YOU WILL PAY FOR IT! Sooner or later you will pay for it & you will reap what you have sowed!--And that means you, Faithy, & every last one of you!--I'm talking to every one of you! Because when people begin to break the little rules, pretty soon there's no rule too big to break. "He that is unfaithful in that which is least will be unfaithful also in that which is much!" (Lk.16:10)
         12. If you allow the Devil to get in in one little tiny thing, in the least disobedience to these rules we have laid down, it shows that you have a chink in your armour, a crack in the dyke, a little place for the Devil to get in. And if you disobey the least of these commandments, you are going to be guilty of all! (Jam.2:10) And "He that shall break the least of these commandments & shall teach men so"--even if you're saved--He says, "shall be the least in the Kingdom of God." (Mt.5:19)
         13. THIS IS THE TOUGHEST OUTFIT YOU HAVE EVER WORKED IN! We have the toughest rules & the toughest jobs & the toughest work & the least recognition for it!
         14. DO YOU KNOW WHAT JUDAS' JOB WAS? The enemies didn't know where Jesus & the disciples hung out in the middle of the night when the crowds weren't around Him. They were afraid to arrest Him in broad daylight because He was always surrounded by mobs that might attack them if they tried to arrest Him, so they had to sneak up on Him in the dark, in the middle of the night, the cowards! They were the High Priest's soldiers, not the Romans. It was the Temple guards who did it. But first they had to find out where He lived, where He spent His time at night.
         15. SOMETIMES I'VE ALMOST GOTTEN FED UP WITH THE CONFINEMENT OF [AN OFFICE] COLONY & SAID, "I'M GETTING STIR CRAZY! I'd like to get out of here & go someplace, do something, take a vacation, a change of scenery somewhere!" But after thinking better of it & murmuring & complaining a little bit, I think maybe that's why the Lord let me get so sick--I was just getting ready to take off! I was going to take a trip & go somewhere, to get out of here for awhile!
         16. BUT LOOK, WE HAVE EVERYTHING A HEART COULD DESIRE! We have a gorgeous house to live in, plenty to eat, comfortable bed, you're doing what you like to do & working for the Lord, serving God & even in our household, & in some ways you have the best security you ever had.
        
         18. THIS IS THE MOST DANGEROUS, DELICATE JOB YOU EVER HAD IN THE MOST DANGEROUS PLACE YOU EVER LIVED! The Devil knows that you & I are the greatest threat to his kingdom in this World! The churches aren't doing him much harm, they're not battering at his gates, the gates of Hell. But let me tell you, he's afraid of us & he attacks us any way he can get in--into any little weak character who's not 100% sold-out & loyal & faithful & diligent & spiritual & absolutely all-out for Jesus & us!
        
         20. THEY COULDN'T FIND JESUS, THEY DIDN'T KNOW WHERE HE HUNG OUT IN THE DARK IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, so they had to bribe one of His Own disciples to lead'm there & show'm where He was hiding. "Judas, betrayest thou Me with a kiss?" Jesus asked. (Lk.22:48) Imagine, he went up to Him & kissed Him! I've had people kiss me who I felt were betrayers, & later they turned out to be! They could pretend to love me & kiss me & big smiles & everything's fine, but later on betrayed me!
        
         23. THAT'S WHY THE DEVIL POSSESSED ONE OF JESUS' OWN DISCIPLES, JUDAS, TO BETRAY JESUS, BECAUSE THAT WAS THE ONLY WAY HE COULD GET AT HIM. And when Jesus finally dismissed Judas, it said that the Devil entered into him! (Jn.13:27) And it uses a Greek word that is only used for Satan, capitalised, Diablo, the Devil! The Devil didn't leave that job to any little underling, he did that dirty job himself! He personally possessed Judas to do the job of betraying Jesus.--And he will try to get into you every way he possibly can & do the same if he can, if you don't look out! And I mean it!
         24. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE DEEPLY ON YOUR GUARD IN THE LORD & IN THE WORD & IN SPIRIT OR HE COULD GET INTO YOU & DO THE SAME THING! You say, "What do you mean, Lord?--Me? I'm saved! How could the Devil get into me?" He gets into a lot of people in unguarded moments! Any time you just let down your guard & for a minute you're off guard or out of the Spirit, disobedient, wilful, murmuring, complaining, sorry you came, just any little thing the Devil can use, he'll get in. He's waiting! (1Pet.5:8)
         25. THANK GOD WE ARE SURROUNDED WITH A GREAT COMPANY OF ANGELS! Hallelujah! TYJ! (Tongues:) TYJ! PYL! Hallelujah! "Ye lie protected by My angels, & I have kept thy father through lo these many years!" Hallelujah! TYJ! PTL! Amen! TYL! I'll tell you, if it weren't for that, if it weren't for the Lord and His angels, we'd have been gone long ago. Because I want to warn you, that out beyond this circle of angels which are camped 'round about us here, there is an even bigger circle of devils & demons & Satan himself trying to get in!--Waiting for just one little opportunity, one little crack, one little bad thought, one little evil idea on your mind or heart, & that becomes his territory, that becomes his avenue to get into you!
         26. IF YOU DON'T GO ALL THE WAY WITH THE LORD, YOU'LL GO ALL THE WAY WITH THE DEVIL, EVEN IF YOU'RE SAVED! He'll so deceive you because of your disobedience. If you don't believe the Truth & follow the Truth, then you will believe a lie & follow the lie to your damnation!--I don't mean Hell, but the rod of God with which He can clobber you if He has to, to protect His Work & His Kingdom!
         27. IF YOU STAY, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO WANT TO SO BAD THAT IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW TOUGH IT IS, HOW HARD IT IS, HOW TIGHT IT IS, HOW CONFINING IT IS, YOU LOVE IT & YOU WANT IT MORE THAN ANYTHING ELSE IN THIS LIFE, TO SERVE THE LORD WHERE IT WILL COUNT THE MOST! You may not witness to a soul, you may not get out a piece of lit, but you are going to be responsible & have a share in almost every single piece of lit that is passed out & every soul that's witnessed to & is won by those who do! Because this is where it comes from!
         28. SO THAT'S HOW SERIOUS YOUR JOB IS HERE & THAT'S HOW SERIOUS YOUR SITUATION IS HERE & [we] depend on you & your faithfulness & your loyalty & your obedience, strict obedience to every single rule without exception!
         29. DON'T THINK YOU'RE SOME KIND OF AN EXCEPTION JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE SOME BIGSHOT LEADER or you've got such an important job that you think, "Well, I can get away with it, I'm so indispensable!" Nobody's indispensable, not if they don't obey, for you can't trust for anybody who doesn't obey all the rules, every single one of the rules without exception! Amen? GBY!
         30. NOBODY HERE'S AN EXCEPTION! I'M NOT AN EXCEPTION! I don't dare try to get away with anything, or the Lord will slap me down like He did this past month! I was about to take off prematurely on my own because I just wanted to go some place to get out of it all for awhile & take a vacation. I kept threatening everybody that I was going to take a vacation & I told you I was going to give you a vacation.
         31. I GUESS WE'LL TAKE OUR VACATION IN HEAVEN!--BECAUSE EVERY DAY IS SO PRECIOUS, EVERY HOUR IS SO PRECIOUS! I feel like if I don't get up & go to work, what am I going to do?--Waste time? Time is our most precious commodity, we don't have any time to waste. We've got to spend every minute doing what we have to do to try to get out as much as we can get out before we can't get out any more!
         32. I CAN'T DO IT, I'M NOBODY, I'M NOTHING, ONLY THE LORD CAN DO IT! I can't keep you faithful, I can't make you obey no matter how hard I lay down the rules or try to enforce them. You have a free will, you're a free moral agent. God has given you the majesty of choice, & like everybody else & everything else in this World, He's given you the power to choose to do good or evil & you have to choose it. You have to be willing & want to obey & keep the rules. You've got to feel that they're right & righteous & good & necessary & want to keep them.
         33. IF YOU THINK ANY OF THEM ARE TOO HARD &, "WELL, I DON'T HAVE TO KEEP THIS LITTLE ONE OR I DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT & THAT'S TOO MUCH," ETC., you had better watch out, because the Lord is going to hold you responsible & accountable & He knows your every thought & every word & every deed! And I warn you, I beg of you, not to break a single rule or it will be an avenue for the Devil to get in, & that's only the beginning, because it will be worse from there on until you fail God & me & the Family & God only knows how much havoc you might wreak!
         34. SO I HOPE THIS LITTLE TALK HAS HELPED YOU REALISE THE SERIOUSNESS OF OUR SITUATION, THE IMPORTANCE OF SECURITY, THE ABSOLUTE IMPERATIVENESS OF OBEDIENCE & THE DANGER OF DISOBEDIENCE, even the slightest little thing that you might not think is important, like an extra cup of coffee or an extra glass of wine, thinking, "Dad will never know the difference!" Don't break these rules!
         35. SO DO BE PRAYERFUL & ON YOUR GUARD & CAREFUL! You're fighting a dangerous war, & this Unit is under attack all the time without ceasing in some way, & you don't want to be the one who's the hole in the wall or the breach, do you? Stay close to the Lord in prayer & in the Word & in Jesus to keep you from straying in the slightest little thing. Amen? PTL? It's not so nice living here after all, huh?--Pretty tough! But it has its compensations. It has its benefits, praise the Lord!
         36. AMEN LORD, WE'VE HAD TO TELL'M WHAT WE'VE TOLD'M TO IMPRESS ON THEM THE SERIOUSNESS OF IT & the danger of any laxity or digression which can become a transgression against even Thy laws, Lord, & endanger the work. Help them to keep these rules, help them to keep these laws, help them to be led of Thy Spirit every moment & to heed & mind the checks of Thy Spirit even on things that perhaps we haven't had time or a chance yet to tell them about, things that they must be very prayerful & careful about.
         37. HELP THIS TALK NOT TO STRIKE FEAR INTO ANYONE'S HEART, BUT HELP THEM TO KNOW THAT AS LONG AS THEY STAY CLOSE TO YOU & IN YOU, IF THE BRANCH ABIDES IN THE VINE, THEN YOU'LL TAKE CARE OF IT & IT'LL BEAR FRUIT! They have nothing to worry about as long as they stay in the Vine, in Thy Word, in Thy Spirit, in Thy will, in Thy work & keeping the rules, in Thy Law. You'll keep them, Lord, if they'll keep what we've asked them to keep & You want them to keep. You'll keep them. So they have nothing to worry about or to fear as long as they obey.
         38. NOW YOU'RE GOING TO KNOW WHAT THE LORD MEANT BY "IF ANYONE WOULD COME AFTER ME, LET HIM TAKE UP HIS CROSS & FOLLOW ME!" (Mt.16:24) Amen? You may have thought this job was a reward, but you may find it's your cross. This can prove to be your cross as some have already found it to be, but I think you're going to find that the cross leads to the crown! Praise God!--If you'll bear it & carry it gladly & cheerfully for the glory of God! PTL? Amen? TYJ! God bless you all!


Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family