WE'RE AN ARMY!--A Sobering Lesson on Obeying God's Rules!        DO 2522  6/89

         1. What do you folks believe that we are? Are we just some kind of a social club? What are we? (Fam: An army.) We are an Army of the Lord! And what does an army have to have? (Fam: Discipline.) Yes, which means what? (Fam: Rules.) Rules to ensure that everybody can work together in harmony, cooperation & safety. Does the Lord have an Army? Does He have rules? (Fam: Amen.) Does He tolerate disobedience? Does He excuse & forgive you just because you forget the rules? He will eventually, yes, if you're sorry & repentant.

         2. But does He just ignore it when you just happen to forget the rules? Maybe you think you're here on some kind of a vacation or this is an outing of some kind?--"Since we are who we are, we don't really have to keep all those little old rules we used to keep back in the other Homes, that was for beginners." Are the rules just for the bootcamp people in the very beginning?

         3. I want to tell you something, this outfit started as an Army, first with my own little family, & I ruled that family & those children with a rod! And I thank the Lord that as a result, most of them turned out very well, except Deborah, who was prevented from being ruled with the rod by her mother who was just like her & has almost gone the same way.

         4. Just because you're here is no excuse to think that you no longer have to keep the old rules, & that I'm not going to get tough about it because I've been such an easy mark, such a pushover & so lenient with you, & familiarity has bred contempt for your boss! If you think that, you're going to find out something different, that I'm just as tough as I ever was & I'm going to crack down on you just like I always have! And if you think that just because you're in a top position in this Family, or because you're a top leader, that you no longer have to keep the rules because the rules are just for beginners, you're going to find out something very different!

TWO OF OUR MOST IMPORTANT RULES!

         5. When you first joined this Family, what were two of the most important rules that were made for your own safety, for your own good, & to keep things well-organised so that everyone didn't go wandering off doing their own thing? Can you remember two of the most important rules? (Fam: Going two by two.) Never go anywhere alone! Is that clear?--Never! And the other, like unto it & next to it, never leave this house or any house, without telling people where you are going & who with!

         6. What do you think those rules are made for? (Fam: For safety.) I used to tell my children in my first family, "Why did Daddy tell you not to go across the street?--Because I want to be mean to you & I don't want you to have any fun? Why?--Because I don't want you to get killed, that's why! Because I love you!--And I am going to whip you the next time you go across the street without permission & without anybody with you!" Why was I going to whip them? (Fam: Because you loved them.) Exactly, that's the main reason. I want you to keep the rules for your own safety & your own good!--Because I love you! Isn't that the way God is too?

         7. If you don't want to be a member of this Family, that's up to you! You can take off any day of the week & do as you please & go where you want to go if you don't like the rules, if you don't like to keep them, if you think they're too tough! But God have mercy on you! "The way of the transgressor is hard!"--Pro.13:15.

         8. Now I have never been known as a very patient man. I never heard of any man or woman who ever started a revolution who was extremely patient, because if they were so patient they would have waited for the System to change! But they were impatient, they wanted it now, they wanted to change the World now & change you now & therefore they had little or no patience!

RESPONSE TO OFFICERS: "YES SIR!"

         9. When I was in the Army, let me tell you right now, when the officers gave us an order of any kind, we didn't just stand there & say, "Okay, I'll do it sometime"! You know what you did? You were always already on your feet, because no officer ever came into the room but what everybody, no matter what they were doing, had to leap to their feet! He'd say, "Attention!"--And you leaped to attention!--Heels together, saluting, stiff & half scared to death, especially when you were a new recruit! And when they said, "Do this or do that," what did you say? (Fam: "Yes, Sir!")

         10. A lot of our people, even my own children, got a little sloppy about that. They'd say, "What?" Boy, I was taught by my Mother to say, "Yes, Sir! Yes, Ma'am!", as a term of respect. Not, "Huh?" or "What?", but "Yes, Sir! OK, Sir!" My Father ran his family like an army. Do you think I'm wrong in running mine like that? Well, I think it's worked & we've recruited an Army for the Lord that has learned to obey & do God's Will & what the Lord said to do!

         11. Of all the people on God's Earth that ought to set an example of keeping these rules & fearing to defy them or break them, fearing chastisement, you should! We are to fear God, & you're to fear your officers in the Lord as well as love them, & if you really love them you'll fear them, & you'll fear their wrath if you break the rules & show you don't love them by disobeying, or even forgetting.

RULES FOR OUR OWN GOOD!

         12. Do you think these are still good rules or not? Do you think that's too tight? Do you think that's just to be mean? Is it too restrictive? Too tough? Is Dad too hard? I'll tell you something, if you think I've gotten any softer than I used to be, you're going to find out otherwise! Even if you're just going outside nearby for a little while, that doesn't mean we don't need to know where you're at! Tell somebody!

         13. Don't you think it would at least be thoughtful & considerate to give people some idea where you're going to be? Don't you think it might even be a good idea for your own sake to at least tell somebody, "I'm going to step out for a minute to do such-&-such."--So we'll know where you are in case we need you in a hurry in case of an emergency or something. TYL!

OUR JOB RESPONSIBILITIES & OBLIGATIONS!

         14. Maybe you feel that you've reached the top, that this is some kind of a place of vacation & you can do as you please now? Are you such a bigshot & so important that you don't have to keep the rules any more?

         15. Well, what does the Devil's own System require of their slaves? Do they have a time when they're supposed to be at work? Are there any rules at System jobs regarding what time they come to work & sign in, & what time they knock off & when they can take their coffee breaks, etc.? Does he enforce such rules or not? Does he require certain hours of labour or not?--And give them certain times to report for duty & when they can knock off & go home, etc.? Well, would you do any less for the Lord?

         16. You're God's slave, believe it or not! He's called you that in the Bible! In the New Testament, where it says "servant," the original Greek meaning of that word is slave! But we are love slaves! I'll tell you, I'm a slave too, of the Lord, & I'm afraid not to keep His rules & I am afraid to disobey Him & I am afraid to just take off on my own & do as I please! I don't do anything without asking the Lord about it!--And may God forgive me if I ever have. I believe in safety first, & the first thing you can do to be really safe is ask the Lord.

         17. --And you should obey the already-established rules set down by your officers in the Lord. They are the Lord's rules, & you should obey them just as much as you would if you heard it direct from God Himself! We are His messengers, we are His officers, & if you want to obey God, you'd better obey us, & not just think it's some kind of an optional thing once you've joined the Army. Paul said, "Be ye followers of me even as I am of Christ!"--1Cor.11:1.

WE'RE STILL AN ARMY!

         18. I'm just jerking you up today to remind you that you are still in an Army & you are to report to duty at certain times that you have been given. And you're not just to think, "Well, it's not really important whether I get there on time or not." If you're slovenly & sloppy about getting to work on time & doing your job & keeping in touch & reporting, do you think that's being a good, faithful servant of the Lord? Do you think that's being a good member of this Family?

         19. We don't follow you around to make sure you're obeying the rules. By this time, as long as you've been in the Family & as loyal & obedient as you should be, we expect you to be obeying all these rules all the time in love whether we ever see you or not!

         20. So I want to let you know right here & now, that these rules are still in effect & are going to be enforced if you don't keep them voluntarily! There is nothing that offends a good Army officer more than a soldier who is independent, who likes to do things his own way, in his own time, as he pleases, & doesn't feel obligated to keep the rules. How long do you think a guy like that is going to last in the Army? Well, I'll tell you the first place you'll land if you persist in that sort of behaviour, if you're in the Navy you'll land in the brig, or if you're in the Army in the stockade!--A little prison with bars & locked doors, & you'll soon be out of the Army with a dishonorable discharge!

         21. You're going to get a tongue-lashing if you don't keep the rules!--If you think you can just prance off any time you please, without reporting, without telling anybody where you're going.--Even if you're doing a job that you're expected to do.

         22. Now don't you ever do that again! Don't leave this house without telling somebody where you're going & what you're going for! And for God's sake, don't ever go wandering way off someplace out of sight & out of sound without somebody with you as well.--Somebody! Even someone Techi's age can run & call & bring help if you need it.

         23. You're also not supposed to work alone--especially in dangerous maintenance work--without somebody with you. And you're never to leave this house & go out of sight & out of sound where you can't be seen & you can't be heard & where we don't even know where you are or what you're doing!

         24. If you want to take a walk, you can walk together with someone. "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up."--Ecc.4:9,10. Now I realise there may be occasional exceptions to going two-by-two if there's definitely no one else around, but those should definitely be exceptions.

         25. We don't want to restrict you so that you have no freedom of movement or liberty of any kind, it's just common sense & safety to not go out of sight & out of sound without somebody with you, & certainly not without notification of someone here as to where you've gone. To go out of sight, out of sound, you must be accompanied, & must go with notification of where you're going. Is that clear? I don't care why it is you've gone out, to work or whatever, that's the rule, OK? PTL!

THE MILLENNIUM--GOD'S WILL WILL BE DONE!

         26. Amen, let's pray the prayer He taught us to pray. I want to remind you concerning that phrase about "Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven"--what do you think the rule is on those points in Heaven or in the Millennium? (Fam: Right now.) That's the way God's Will is done there, right now! And what do you think His Will is going to be in the Millennium?--Everybody wandering off doing their own thing in their own time at their own choice wherever they please? I think you're going to find that the rules are going to be even stiffer & the discipline even tighter, & there's not going to be any such thing as disobedience in Heaven, at least not with God's children! We're still going to have a lot of people around during the Millennium who are going to need a lot of teaching & a lot of organising & a lot of discipline, & even punishment if they don't obey!

         27. We've got a tough job ahead! It's going to be the biggest job we ever had! We're graduating from here. When you graduate, how much easier is the next grade? Did you always find that the next grade was easier? That would be ridiculous! You're prepared to go into something harder & more difficult & a bigger job, a higher grade, where the requirements are even stiffer!

         28. But the Lord is going to give us certain powers & abilities that are going to make it much easier, thank the Lord, or we couldn't take it. But God's discipline is going to be even tighter. "Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." We're trying to do it right now on Earth, but let me tell you, when we're in charge, it will be done on Earth!

         29. Did you know how Army orders are written? In all those Army notices they don't say, "Please, will you do so-&-so?" They don't even say, "You are supposed to do so-&-so." Does anybody know the language of the Army? "You will do so-&-so at a certain time, such-&-such a thing! You will do so-&-so!" That's it! You will do it or else! That's like "God's Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven"! God's Will will be done!

         30. So remember that point when you pray this prayer, "Thy Will," it means, "Thy Will will be done!"--And you're going to help enforce it! But it's going to be a lot easier in some ways. It's going to be a bigger job, but God's going to make you much more powerful to do it! TTL! Okay, let's pray the prayer that He taught us to pray: (Prays the Lord's Prayer.)

         31. I love you! "Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, & scourgeth every son whom He receiveth!" Don't go thinking I don't love you just because I give you a good tongue-lashing! PTL! ILY!--Amen?


Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family