"WITH PERSECUTIONS!"--Mark 10:29,30      DO 1967  Comp. 6/85

         1. WE ARE ONE OF THE FEW RELIGIOUS OUTFITS IN THE WHOLE WORLD THAT IS REALLY ON THE ATTACK FOR JESUS! We are invading the Devil's territory! We are attacking the gates of Hell & we are winning! (Mat.16:18)--Winning souls & winning citizens from his kingdom! And Satan hates us for it, therefore he attacks us on every hand, every way he possibly can, to try to stop us!--But he can't stop us! Hallelujah!

         2. PEOPLE ASK ME, "WHY DO YOU MAKE SO MANY ENEMIES?--Why do they hate you so?" I usually answer, "For the same reason they hated Jesus & finally killed Him!"--We preach the Truth, we tell it like it is! In fact, we have, told it by the millions to the billions!

         3. JESUS SAID, "IF I HAD NOT COME & SPOKEN UNTO THEM, THEY HAD NOT HAD SIN. BUT NOW THEY HAVE NO CLOAK FOR THEIR SIN!" (Jn.15:22) And that's why the very ones who should have been His friends, who were supposed to be of His same religion, the Scribes, Pharisees & Chief Priests, were the ones who killed Him!--Because He exposed their self-righteous hypocrisy!

         4. THE COMMON PEOPLE LIKED JESUS. When He went out & mingled with & preached to the drunks & the harlots, the publicans & the sinners, it says "the common people heard Him gladly!" (Mk.12:37) But when He went into the churches of His day, they mobbed Him & threw Him out & finally crucified Him! The jealous, envious, covetous religious leaders saw themselves losing flocks & lambs & converts, & as a result, money, wealth & power, which is what the religious leaders usually love most! (See John 11:47,48.)

         5. THERE'S NO WAY THE ANTI-CHRIST, ANTI-TRUTH FORCES OF THIS WORLD CAN FIGHT THE TRUTH EXCEPT BY TRYING TO STOP THE TRUTH-GIVER! This is what they did to Jesus & His disciples & every Prophet of God or man of God that's ever risen to speak the Truth! If people don't yield to the Lord & they harden their hearts against your message from the Lord, naturally they're going to harden their hearts against you too!--If they harden their hearts against Him, they will harden their hearts against those who are preaching His Words!

         6. THEY SAY TRUE LOVE NEVER RUNS SMOOTH, & THE SAME IS TRUE OF THE TRUE KINGDOM OF GOD & THE PREACHING OF ITS TRUTH! Living for the Lord & the Truth is never going to be all roses & no thorns! We are bound to suffer some persecution! Jesus virtually promised it to everyone who forsakes all to follow Him!--"Verily I say unto you, there is no man that hath left house, or brothers, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for My sake, & the Gospel's, but he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, with persecutions; and in the World to come Eternal Life!" (Mark 10:29,30)

         7. IF YOU NEVER SUFFER ANY PERSECUTION OR HAVE ANY TROUBLE, YOU MUST NOT BE DOING ANYTHING! Because the Bible says that "all that will live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution!" (2Tim.3:12)--Jesus even said, "Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets!" (Lk.6:26) If everything is always so smooth & you never have any problems or persecution & all men think well of you, you're not living Godly in Christ Jesus!

         8. JESUS SAID, "THE DISCIPLE IS NOT ABOVE HIS MASTER, & IF THEY HAVE PERSECUTED ME, THEY WILL ALSO PERSECUTE YOU!" (Mt.10:24; Jn.15:20) Jesus Himself, the perfect, sinless Son of God, was accused by the religionists of His day of being a demon-possessed false prophet, a mad man & a deceiver, a seditionist & a law-breaker, a glutton, drunk & friend of sinners & harlots & a destroyer of the true faith! (Mk.3:21,22; Lk.7:34; 23:2; Jn.7:12,20; 8:48,52; 10:20; 11:47,48) He was terribly persecuted & finally crucified for telling the Truth & giving the World God's Love!

         9. IN FACT, NEARLY EVERY GREAT RELIGIOUS LEADER, REFORMER & REVOLUTIONIST HAS BEEN VILIFIED & SUFFERED PERSECUTION, IMPRISONMENT & DEATH, usually at the hands of the opposing religions! But that's Christianity--to tell the Truth even when it hurts! 'Cause when you tell some people the Truth, it hurts, & if they don't receive it they'll turn around & hurt you!

         10. JUST TAKE A LOOK AT HISTORY!--Read the Bible!--Most of the Prophets seemed to wind up virtually alone & figured nobody was left but them! Elijah thought he was the last one. (1Kings.19:10,14) When they tossed Jeremiah in the pit, he thought he was the last one. (Jer.38:4-6) Most of the Prophets were lonely men, they didn't have too many friends. The one thing they always had plenty of was enemies!

         11. IF THE GOVERNMENT WASN'T AFTER THEM, THE RELIGIOUS SYSTEM WAS! All the way from the Prophets of old up to the more recent men of God like Martin Luther, Savanarola, John Knox, Tyndale & some of the rest of those fellows, they had to give up their lives so others could have the Truth! Every last one of them fought the System of their day, the false religious system!--And nearly every last one of them got it in the neck for it! But as a result, you're here today hearing the Truth of God!

         12. SO WE'RE IN A DANGEROUS BUSINESS! But being a Christian is always dangerous if you're a real Christian! The Devil is not asleep, he hasn't quit, he hasn't given up! He & his people are still after God's people, & they still hate us & still want to stop us, because we're exposing them to the whole World! And they are furious with us just like they were with all the Prophets, Apostles & Reformers of the past!

         13. SO IF YOU REALLY WANT TO LIVE FOR JESUS & STAND UP FOR THE TRUTH, THEY YOU'D BETTER "COUNT THE COST"! (Lk.14:28)--"For we are not warring against flesh & blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this World, against spiritual wickedness in high places!" (Eph.6:12) In the Spirit World there is a constant great battle being waged between God's forces & the Devil's evil angels.

         14. AND YOU CAN'T GO INVADING THE DEVIL'S TERRITORY, FREEING CAPTIVES & LIBERATING SOULS FROM HIS CLUTCHES WITHOUT MAKING HIM MAD! When you attack the Enemy to start taking over his territory, he doesn't just take it, he tries to hit back & fight back by stirring up his anti-God forces!

         15. "OH, BUT ISN'T THIS THE 20TH CENTURY, A CIVILISED AGE, AREN'T THINGS DIFFERENT NOW?"--No, they're not! The Devil is just as evil as ever & his people are just as vicious as ever, & they're just as bitter enemies of God as ever & they're after God's children as much as the inquisition was, or the Roman persecutors were, or the Pharisees were etc.!--All the way down through history it hasn't changed a bit!

         16. AND JUST AS IT WAS WITH JESUS, OUR BITTEREST ENEMIES TODAY ARE THOSE THAT OUGHT TO BE OUR FRIENDS!--The religious people who are supposed to know the Gospel & are supposed to love the lost, they're the ones who attack us the worst! Think of it!

         17. WHEN WE STARTED OFF, OUR VERY LIVES EXPOSED THE CHURCHES & THEIR HYPOCRISY & their failure to witness, & they hated us from the start, from the very beginning!--Because we were doing what they said couldn't be done & what they refused to do!--And we told the truth about them & exposed them!--And they were furious & tried to crush us! We ripped away their disguises, their sheep's clothing, & revealed the wolves that they really were beneath!

         18. I'VE HAD THEM ACTUALLY PICK ME UP BODILY & THROW ME OUT the door of their church buildings just because I quoted'm Scripture!--Scriptures which contradicted the lies that they were teaching the people! They didn't want to hear the Truth, they shut their ears, & like they did to Stephen, they ran upon me! (See Acts 7:51-60.)

MATTHEW 10:36ers & THE MODERN INQUISITION!

         19. ANOTHER SOURCE OF PERSECUTION THAT OFTEN COMES UP IS FROM THE FAMILIES & RELATIVES OF THOSE WHO WANT TO BE HIS DISCIPLES. God allows such divisions in families as one of the first & greatest tests for those who choose to follow Him!--To see if they really are serious & dedicated to Him above all else! Jesus said, "A man's foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: & he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me." (Mt.10:35-37)

         20. SOME POOR MISGUIDED PARENTS EVEN THINK THAT WE ARE THE WORST THINGS ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH & accuse us of robbing them of their children, robbing their children of their old faith, brainwashing their minds & transforming their personalities! Well, we've done no such thing!--Jesus does it! Praise God! He's the one who washes their formerly filthy minds & cleans them up inside & out!--And changes their personalities into sweet, loving, kind, obedient servants of God trying to help others! God's changed them!

         21. BUT SOME PARENTS WOULD RATHER HAVE THEM BACK THE WAY THEY USED TO BE.--Even if it's taking drugs, involved in vice & crime etc.! Some very misled parents have become so infuriated & embarrassed & ashamed before others that their child has not done what they wanted them to do, that they've gone to the extreme of actually forcibly kidnapping their own child in an attempt to force them to renounce their new faith & go back to their old ways!

         22. SOME HAVE EVEN GONE SO FAR AS TO FORM ORGANISATIONS TO FIGHT AGAINST US! The funny thing about it is that many of the kids had left home long before they came to us & were wandering around the World footloose & fancy free, into drugs, crime & absolutely worthless living!--And it was perfectly all right with their parents for them to live for the Devil, but for them to join a religious "sect" or "cult," whatever it is they call us, that's another story!

         23. ONE CRUEL PARENTAL ORGANISATION IN AMERICA OPENLY BOASTS OF THOUSANDS OF SUCH KIDNAPPINGS of legal-aged responsible youths from different non-conformist religious groups! The main perpetrators of these crimes are hired criminals, professionals mercenary kidnappers who collect thousands of dollars from the parents who hire them! Then these goons & thugs snatch their victims off the street--or even out of their new homes--haul them off to be imprisoned in a solitary room somewhere & there they begin so-called "deprogramming" them!

         24. THOUSANDS OF GROWN YOUNG PEOPLE, IN THEIR TWENTIES & THIRTIES, OFTEN WITH A HUSBAND OR WIFE & CHILDREN OF THEIR OWN, have been abducted by these heinous fiends, locked up for long weeks of incarceration & subjected to the worst kind of brainwashing--psychological & mental torture in which the victim is yelled at, mocked & brow-beaten, slapped around, threatened & beaten into a mental pulp until they can't even think straight! Hundreds of our own people in the U.S. have fallen prey to these devils who try to "deprogram" them & get them to deny their faith & drop out of the Family, forsake for the Lord & His children & go back to obeying their hard-hearted stiff-necked parents!

         25.--WHICH SHOWS THAT TIMES HAVE NOT CHANGED!--The modern World is only getting more diabolical, more fiendishly clever & satanically scientific in its forms of force, torture, compulsion & devilish ordeals!--Enough to drive some of these poor young people stark raving mad! But, thank God, the vast majority of our own sincere dear little lambs upon whom these wolves have gnashed their wicked fangs have kept their faith & escaped their ghoulish grasp & returned to their faithful folds & true shepherds, although sometimes somewhat battered, bruised & wounded in spirit, mind & heart by the horrors to which these demonic monsters had subjected them!

         26. BUT BELIEVE ME, WE HAVE BEEN THROUGH IT! Our kids have been kidnapped & they have been beaten & they have been tortured & they have been in prison & some have even been killed!--It's not just in our imagination, it's not just some kind of mental paranoia, it's happened!--So let this be a warning to you!

         27. IF ANY OF THOSE GOONS EVER TRIED THIS BUSINESS ON ME, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'D DO, but they'd better steer clear of me, because I doubt if I'd just take it peacefully!--I would "contend earnestly for the faith!" (Jude 3)--I've just got so many cheeks to turn (Mt.5:39), & after that I think I'd give their cheeks a few things!

         28. NOW I WOULDN'T ADVISE YOU TO PURPOSELY GET INTO A FIGHT, but if these criminals, these thugs, those devils, ever start dragging you off to their car to kidnap you, I'd start kicking!--Kick'm in the guts, kick'm in the groin, sock'm in the teeth--fight!--Don't go down without a fight! Fight for all you're worth!--Because if you don't, you may never get out of it alive or sane!

         29. IF THEY KNOW THEY'RE GOING TO HAVE A FIGHT ON THEIR HANDS EVERY TIME THEY LAY A FINGER ON US, they're going to think twice before they so easily go & just guide us by the elbow into their car off to some motel, acting as if they're doing as a favour, treating us royalty somehow, as their guests, blah, blah! Don't kid yourself, & don't kid them! Let them know you're going to fight!

         30. OF COURSE THE EXTREMELY ANTAGONISTIC PARENTS WHO HAVE ACTUALLY ATTEMPTED KIDNAPPINGS, deprogrammings, etc., are, thank God, a very small minority! Most parents are grateful that their children are safe & happy serving the Lord, doing something useful with their lives!--And though often they are initially disappointed or even upset that their child is forsaking all to join the Family, if the child lovingly & wisely explains to them what he is doing, has a fond farewell talk, etc., they can usually part in peace.--Which is a lot better than in pieces!

         31. BUT, AS WE SAID, GOD OFTEN ALLOWS A LITTLE OPPOSITION OR EVEN PERSECUTION FROM RELATIVES & LOVED ONES as one of our first tests, to see if we really mean business with Him & are going to put Him first! As Jesus said, "Offences indeed must come, but woe unto them through whom they come!" (Mt.18:7)--These tests have to come to test our faith & determination!

WHY DOES GOD ALLOW PERSECUTION?

         32. THIS PRINCIPLE IS TRUE OF ALL PERSECUTION: Opposition has to arise to separate the sheep from the goats, to separate the wheat from the tares, & to put the pressure on so that the weak ones will go back & only the good fruit will remain! (Mat.13:24-30) This is one of the main reasons God allows it--it's persecution with a purpose! It's good for you because it "purges, purifies & makes white." (Dan.11:35; 12:10)

         33. IF THERE WAS NEVER AN OPPONENT, AN OPPOSING SIDE, God's people would never be tried & tested & given any opposition to have any kind of a battle in which they have to call on God to help them!--And it's in this that God gets the glory! (Psa.107:28) He allows Satan to lead the opposition, to try & test & persecute His people. But then when they call on God, the Lord always gets the victory & always defeats the Devil! "All things work together for good to them that love the Lord," & He even "causes the wrath of man to praise Him!" Hallelujah! (Rom.8:28; Psa.76:10)

         34. OF COURSE, THIS DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD GO OUT SEEKING PERSECUTION! For God's sake, use your heads & don't ever go out of your way to be obnoxious & objectionable & unbearable to where the authorities have got to do something to get rid of you! Jesus & Paul taught that you are to obey the government, "obey the powers that be" (Rom.13), obey the officers of the law, & "agree with your adversary quickly while your are in the way with him; lest the adversary deliver thee to the judge, & the Judge deliver thee to the officer, & thou be cast into prison!" (Mt.5:25)

"WALK IN WISDOM TOWARD THEM THAT ARE WITHOUT!" (COLOSSIANS 4:5)

         35. JESUS SAID, "BEHOLD, I SEND YOU FORTH AS SHEEP IN THE MIDST OF WOLVES: BE YE THEREFORE WISE AS SERPENTS, & HARMLESS AS DOVES!" (Mt.10:16) Try not to offend, learn how to love your neighbours & even try to love your enemies & try to get along with them. The Lord can help you to get along with people, governments & even opposing religions if you really learn to be "wise as serpents & harmless as doves"! "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men." (Rom.12:18)

         36. AS LONG AS IT DOESN'T COMPROMISE YOUR FAITH, 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 this World.--Except for your witnessing, & that's often where the crunch comes, because we've got to witness!--As the Apostles told their persecutors, "We ought to obey God rather than men!" (Acts.5:29)

         37. OFTEN THE LORD COULD HELP KEEP US IN CERTAIN PLACES & MISSION FIELDS IF WE'D JUST GIVE HIM A LITTLE MORE COOPERATION, & not be so foolish & unwise & insecure in the kind of the ministries we push & publicise & the kind of people we witness to! For example, big public ministries are very dangerous!--Because they usually bring popularity, which precedes publicity, & publicity is usually followed by persecution!--It's an inevitable cycle! So the more we can keep a low profile, the better. The more underground & clandestine our ministry is, the longer we can usually carry on doing the Lord's work of seeking out & gathering together His hungry sheep!

         38. ANOTHER WAY TO AVOID PERSECUTION IS TO "GIVE NOT THAT WHICH IS HOLY UNTO THE DOGS, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under feet & turn again & rend you!" (Mt.7:6) The swine & the dogs are usually the self-righteous, hypocritical, Truth-rejecting Scribes & Pharisees, the same kind Jesus had to fight with! (Phil.3:2; Acts 7:51) When He finally came out and openly condemned & fought them in the 23rd Chapter of Matthew, that was almost the end of the book of Matthew & it was the end of Jesus' public earthly ministry!

         39. SO IF YOU'RE READY TO END YOUR MINISTRY WITH MARTYRDOM, THEN SOCK IT TO THE RELIGIOUS SYSTEMITES & THEY'LL END IT FOR YOU! But if you want to continue on for a little while & still bear a little "fruit that remains" with lasting results, disciples & members, then you'd better keep your mouth shut except where it really pays to open it & it bears fruit!--Such as in quiet, wise, unpublicised personal witnessing!

         40. SO FOR GOD'S SAKE, STEER CLEAR OF THE RELIGIOUS STRONGHOLDS & RELIGIOUS AUTHORITIES!--That's who gave Jesus the most trouble & He tried to avoid'm!--Till finally after 3-1/2 years, they couldn't ignore Him & His job was done! Avoid the devoid & don't try forcing the truths of your "new wine" into a bunch of brittle "old bottles" who don't want it & can't appreciate it! (Lk.5:37)

         41. LEARN A LESSON FROM THE INSISTENT BOOK SALESMAN: The book salesman came into an office trying to sell his books & they said, "No, we don't want the books", & they told him to leave. He came back in & said, "but these books are really good books, you should see these books, they're great!"--"We don't want the books, beat it!" He came back in again, "But you don't understand what a bargain you're missing!--This is a great sale I've got here, you're just missing the boat by not buying my books!"

         42. HE KEPT BEING SO INSISTENT THAT THEY FINALLY GOT SO DISGUSTED THEY KICKED HIM OUT, picked him up & threw him down the stairs & his books behind him! Pretty soon the poor battered book salesman stuck his nose back in the door of the office & said, "Well, do you want the books or don't you?" You need to take a hint, when they don't want the books, don't push it!

         43. BUT NO MATTER HOW WISE YOU ARE OR HOW MUCH WISDOM YOU USE, if you're really serving the Lord, the Devil will fight you! If you never get any objections, you must not be doing the job. If you're too popular & have no enemies, something must be wrong with you! Jesus said, "If they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you!" (Jn.15:20)

         44. PERSECUTION SHOWS YOU'RE GETTING THE JOB DONE!--It shows you're hitting the Old Boy where it hurts when he starts howling! If the dogs aren't yapping & yelling, we haven't hit'm!--It's the hit dog that howls, & let me tell you, the dogs are usually howling plenty!--Because we've hit'm & hit'm hard with the Truth & they don't like it, so they try to hit back & snap back! Thank God, about all they usually do is howl.--Not too many times have they really gotten a good bite!

WHAT TO DO WHEN PERSECUTED!

         45. WHEN THE DEVIL REALLY IS HOWLING & THE ENEMY IS REALLY SHOOTING & FIRING, you'd better pretty much stick to your trenches & your shell holes for a little while & don't unnecessarily expose yourself to the fire! When the heat is on, you should be especially wise, careful & prayerful & try not to arouse any more problems.

         46. IF THE AUTHORITIES ARE STIRRED UP & THEY ACTUALLY BEGIN TO CLAMP DOWN ON YOU LEGALLY & officially, making it impossible for you to litness or witness in certain ways, & they begin to literally persecute you & forbid you so that you can't openly minister or litness any more, for God's sake, use your head! Go underground, to underground witnessing & less exposed forms of witnessing such as door-to-door!

         47. THE DEVIL IS ALWAYS THREATENING & BREATHING OUT SLAUGHTER & trying to bluff you out or merely persuade you to surrender, so don't give up too easily!--Just go underground & keep going as long as you can! Don't give up the ship too soon! Don't let the Devil frighten you out with his first "boo" & his lies! Don't let them just scare you out without actually being driven out!

         48. AS LONG AS THE LORD'S STILL SUPPLYING YOUR NEEDS & is still giving you freedom to witness & you're still bearing fruit, then stay. But when they make it impossible for you to survive or to witness, if you can't witness & you can't bear fruit, then that's the time to leave!

         49. JESUS HIMSELF SAYS IN MATTHEW 10:23, "WHEN THEY PERSECUTE YOU IN ONE CITY, FLEE YE TO ANOTHER!" And my criterion has always been that when they persecute you to the point that they stop you from witnessing, which is your main job, then it's time to go! When they stop you & ban you & start real violent persecution, or such serious persecution that you can't possibly operate any more, then I'd say God's through with that city or country & you ought to get out!

         50. GOD IS THEN INTERESTED IN NOT ONLY SAVING SOULS, BUT SAVING HIS WITNESSES so that they can survive & witness or work somewhere else! But if you insist on staying there & being a martyr, then that's your final witness & the end of your work & ministry in this life! Remember, Jesus Himself literally commands us that when we are persecuted in one city we are to flee to another, not stay there & be martyred! In the days of the Early Church the Gospel was spread abroad because persecution drove the early disciples out of Jerusalem & even out of Israel & around the World spreading the Gospel as they went! (Acts 8:1-4)

         51. SO GOD IS EVEN SOMETIMES BEHIND THE PERSECUTION TO SHOVE US OUT to obey His command to "Go into all the World & preach the Gospel to every creature!" (Mk.16:15) The Lord will often allow the fury of the Enemy to descend upon us to drive us out of fields that have become unfruitful & dangerous, into others that are more receptive & profitable for our labours!

         52. SO I HOPE YOU GET THE POINT THAT WHEN THINGS GET REALLY TOUGH, YOU SHOULD MOVE ON! Why wait until they kill you or beat you up or imprison or attack you? Usually what they're trying to do is just get rid of you. They figure if you've got any sense at all, if they really put the screws on, you'll leave. It wasn't until the Lord's ministry was finished & His job was done that He let them nail Him to the tree. But He didn't let them to it until He was finished! So if you don't think your ministry is finished, instead of being a martyr, you'd better be a mover!

         53. IT'S BETTER TO BE A MOVER THAN A MARTYR! It's better to fight & run away & live to fight another day!--In another time & another place! We are far outnumbered by the Enemy & we cannot possibly fight them on their own grounds, their own terms or with their own weapons!

         54. BESIDES, WHY WORRY ABOUT A CITY OR COUNTRY THAT'S REJECTED OUR MESSAGE? There are always others who are eagerly awaiting to receive it & you! So keep moving! Stay as long as you can in order to do a good job, reap another few believers, teach them & warn the wicked, but then when the wicked have definitely rejected it & you & make the persecution so rough that you're too hindered to carry on the Lord's work, your job is done there--at least for the time being!

"VENGEANCE IS MINE!"

         55. AND THOUGH GOD ALLOWS PERSECUTION TO GET HIS CHILDREN SCATTERED OUT TO OTHER FIELDS WHERE THEY ARE NEEDED, boy, does He sock it to their enemies for doing it! Just read down through history & the Bible! He often has to let His people suffer a little while, but it does them good & it does His work good.--But then He rolls right over their enemies & grinds them to powder every time! (Mt.21:44)

         56. GOD MOVES KIND OF SLOWLY, BUT HE MOVES VERY THOROUGHLY, & when He's finished accomplishing His purpose through His enemies, His judgements will fall! He let Jesus' enemies continue for another 37 years after they crucified Him, to fill up their cup of iniquity! They had cried, "Let His blood be upon us & upon our children" (Mt.27:25)--& that's exactly what happened 37 years after they crucified their Messiah! The Romans crucified over one million Jews throughout all Israel! They had one-hundred-&-some-thousand Jews hanging on crosses around the city of Jerusalem & 2000 were cremated in their Temple!

         57. JESUS SAID, "WHOSOEVER SHALL NOT RECEIVE YOU NOR HEAR YOUR WORDS, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say say unto you, it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom & Gomorrah in the day of judgement, than for that city!" (Mt.10:14,15) At least with Sodom & Gomorrah it was over real quick, but the Jews have been tortured, hounded & persecuted for 2000 years, because they rejected their Messiah, Jesus Christ!

         58. "STAND BACK & SEE ME FIGHT, SAITH THE LORD; for this is not thy battle, but Mine! Vengeance is Mine, I will repay!" (Ex.14:13,14; Rom.12:19) Just put your enemies into the hands of God & see what happens! He says, "Touch not My anointed, & do My prophets no harm; for he that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of Mine eye!" (Ps.105:15; Deut.32:10) They're sticking their finger in God's eye, so they'd better look out!

         59. SO DON'T EVER WORRY OR DESPAIR ABOUT OUR ENEMIES & THEIR PERSECUTIONS! (Mt.10:28) God will take care of them!--And they'll never be able to stop us! In spite of all they have tried to do against us, we're still here & still going strong, stronger than ever, in more countries with more Homes than ever, & continuing to progress & accomplish more & win more millions of souls every year! Thank You Jesus!

         60. GOD ONCE TOLD US, "THEY CAN'T STOP OUR RAIN!" (ML#128) We're like the rain coming down from Heaven, & our enemies are so foolish! They're running around frantically trying to hold up the rain to keep it from raining!--That's how silly it is to try to stop us! Because it's the Truth, it's God's Work, it's God's Word, it's God's Love, it's Jesus!--And Jesus is the Great Conqueror! Nothing can stop Him!

         61. THEY'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO STOP US! We'll keep on going & we'll keep on winning & prospering & propagating & multiplying until Jesus comes, because that's His purpose! They could kill any one of us, or even a lot of us, & God's Work would still go on, because He's our Leader, & they can't beat Him no matter how hard they try!

         62. BESIDES, THEY CAN NEVER DESTROY ALL OF US, any more than the mighty Roman Empire with all its valiant legions could destroy the hunted little Christians of the Early Church! They were like the many-headed monster of mythology, of which it was fabled that every time you cut off one of its heads, two more grew up in its place! The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the true Church, & the more they kill, the more will take their place!

         63. SO EVEN IF THEY DO SUCCEED IN DESTROYING A FEW OF US to immortalise us & inspire us, God will raise up many, many more to take each of our places! They're fighting a losing battle!--In fact, they will not only lose, but if they bother us too much, God will turn on them & destroy them!

         64. "IF THIS WORK WERE OF MAN, IT WOULD COME TO NOUGHT!--But if it be of God, no man is able to stand against it!--Lest they be found to fight against God!" (Acts 5:38,39) Whatever is of God, no power on Earth can stop! As Martin Luther said, "We will not fear, for God hath willed, His Truth to triumph through us!" We cannot lose! It is impossible to defeat us!--Our enemies are already doomed & damned to defeat & Hell! Hallelujah! "They can't stop our rain!"--It's God's "going into all the World," preaching the Good News of His Love to every creature!--For He is with you! God bless you!

Copyright (c) 1997 by The Family