FALSE ACCUSERS IN THE LAST DAYS!
Maria #174
7/92
DO 2820
--"This know also, that in the Last Days perilous times shall come: For men shall be lovers of their own selves ... false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good!" (2Tim.3:1-3).
--By Maria (From Hope 34. See GN 532 for full original version.)
(After hearing about various backsliders' traitorous threatenings against the Family, and of our enemies' attacks on the Lord's work, Mama had several informal talks with others about the situation. It is from these talks that the following excerpts were taken.)
1. (Mama prays:) Lord, we know that no one can rise up against us without Your permission, or without it somehow being part of Your plan. You've shown us that time and again, and You've proven that You even cause the wrath of man to bring praise and glory to Your name. We know You've allowed these attacks to give us new challenges, to cause us to seek You for the answers, and in so doing to get Thy truth out to the world, Lord. So we know that all of these things are working together for our good, no matter how bad they may seem at first.
2. We know You're not only using this persecution to get Your message of truth out, but You're also allowing it to divide the sheep from the goats. We know, Lord, that You allow these things to befall Your children to "try them and to purge them and to make them white" (Dan.11:35). So help us, Lord, to look to Your Word. Help Thy children to keep their eyes on You and Your Word and what You have promised us, and not be swayed by the Enemy's attacks.
3. And help us to know how to answer their lying accusations, give us Thy wisdom, Lord. Give our dear Family in the field, those who are facing the Enemy and under direct attack, great wisdom in knowing how to proceed to victory. Inspire them with Thy thoughts and Thy solutions and Thy counterattacks in this battle. Help us all, Lord, in Jesus' name! TYL!
The Importance of Clinging to the Word!
4. One thing the Lord has told us over and over is that we not only need to really pray, but to also really cling to the Word and the promises that He has given us. When you think of these attacks against us, even though they don't sway us or cause us to waver, they can still be very depressing and discouraging unless you keep going back to the promises the Lord has given and really draw your strength from the Word.
5. When your eyes are on the Lord and the promises of His Word, then you realize that these attacks are of no consequence in the Lord's sight, and these people who rise up against us are nothing. Looking at it all carnally and in the physical, it can look pretty daunting, like a pretty heavy attack. But when you look at what the Lord has said, these things are cut down to their proper size real quickly, and you realize it's all happening for God's purpose and He's working it all out for our good. That's the only way to stay inspired and victorious, to "endure as seeing Him Who is invisible, looking unto Jesus!" (Heb.11:27; 12:2).
Tough Times Are Coming, But the Lord Promises the Grace!
6. Tough times are coming; in fact, they're already here, but it's important that you realize that just because you might feel like maybe you're too weak to make it, and you have some fears about the future, you can't let that sway you. Because no matter how weak you feel or how fearful you may feel about the future, the Lord has promised to give you the grace you need when the time comes. "As thy days, so shall thy strength be!" (Deut.33:25).
7. In a lot of our severest persecution worldwide, it's been some of the very weakest people who have had to go through it, and they have come through it with flying colors, and come out as shining witnesses for the Lord, God bless them! The Lord has worked and witnessed through them regardless of how weak they felt or how incapable and even weak in faith they were. The Lord has worked through them and His strength was made perfect in their weakness. So feeling that you're weak or fearful about the future or beset by occasional attacks of doubt is certainly no reason to quit!
8. If you have serious doubts about Dad and about the Letters and about our way of life, or you've harbored criticisms and lasting bitterness about things, or you've had a general lack of contentment and have just felt dissatisfied and unhappy, then it's time for you to get the help that you need to fight for lasting victories in your life.
9. As time goes on and conditions get rougher, there will probably be more things for you to criticize and more for you to doubt, because our enemies are coming on stronger than ever, and their accusations will probably add fuel to your fires of discontentment, resentment and doubt. It's going to be harder for you to have the faith if your faith is already weak, if you're not clinging to the Word, if your faith isn't in the Word.
If You're Determined to Fight, We'll Do All We Can to Help You!
10. Of course, if you've had trials along these lines, but you've come to the point of desperation where you're just so sick and fed up with those doubts and fears that you're willing to fight and do whatever it takes to overcome them, then praise God, let us help you fight these things! We'll be happy to do all we can to help you overcome your doubts and win the victories you need! We would hate to see all that the Lord has poured into you wasted, and we're willing to really fight for you to help you make it, providing you really want to make it.
11. I've got a lot of faith for people who have the attitude that, "This is the only place in the world for me, so I've just got to stick it out as long as I possibly can! Even though I know it's going to get tough, and even though I don't know how I'm going to do in the end, and I don't even know if I'll make it, I know of nowhere else to go, 'Thou alone hast the Words of Eternal Life!'--This is what I've dedicated my whole life to and I know this is the best place to be, so I'm going to stick it out no matter what!" If that's your attitude, then this is the place for you, and the Lord will pull you through!
We Need Full-of-Faith Soldiers, Not Halfhearts!
12. How can you live for something that you can't give your whole heart to? How can you be a soldier in the Lord's army unless you can put your whole heart and strength into fighting for His cause without reservations? (Amen!)
13. We need a band of soldiers who are willing to fight till the death if need be, people who are so dedicated that they have full faith in what they're doing, and are willing to die for it! With the Lord's help you can become so dedicated that you don't care about all these accusations, and you don't mind all of these attacks and you don't care what they say we've done! You just care about what the Lord wants you to do, to win the world and to stand up for Jesus and be an Endtime soldier! You don't care what your leaders are accused of or what things from our past our enemies are bringing up and portraying as so evil. It doesn't even matter to you, you just want to come with us and stand up and be counted and do the job for the Lord that only this little group of people is doing in the world today!
14. That's not to say that you soldiers think everything about the Family is 100% completely perfect.--But at least you believe it's better than anything else you could find! You believe that what we're doing is in accordance with God's Word, so when people attack us, attack our Family, you're willing to really fight back, because you believe that those who attack us and our way of life are attacking the Word and the Lord!
It's Gotta Be Worth Dying for!
15. It's not enough to just believe that the Family is the best place to be, and the best thing you could be doing. A lot of people know what's best, but they aren't necessarily doing it. It's one thing to have an ideal, but a lot of people don't live up to their ideals.
16. So just because you think the Family is the best place to be won't necessarily be enough to keep you going through the tough times that are ahead. You're going to have to believe that this is what God has called you to, and that it's worth dying for. You should be so sure of your calling and so convinced of it that you know you would be out of His will in any other place. And you should be so determined to stay in His will that you're going to stick it out with the Family no matter what happens.--You'd never seriously consider anything else.
17. And you know that no matter what happens, the Lord is going to pull you through!--Whether your brothers or sisters or parents or kids are taken away or you're thrown out of your house or your plans are all upset or whatever happens! You still believe so firmly in this Family that you just know that the Lord will bless and honor and keep you as you persevere in His will! And even if things only get worse, you couldn't even think of going anywhere else! "To whom shall we go?" You know that the Family alone is God's will for you. PTL!
The Choice to Believe God's Word or Man's Word
18. As Dad has frequently said, one of the Lord's purposes for allowing persecution is because He wants to purge the Family. I'm convinced that's one reason why the Lord is allowing this new wave of persecution, to really purge the Family--so we're not going to have any people who aren't that sold-out, no matter what. The Lord is allowing the Devil to try to dissuade people in every way, to give them everything he can possibly think of to try to dissuade them from serving the Lord. Let's face it, we who are in the Family have no excuse for "falling away" because of the accusations of our enemies. We've got God's Word against man's word, so it's up to us to make the choice whether we're going to believe man's word or whether we're going to believe God's Word.
19. The general public aren't nearly as responsible, because when they're flooded with the Devil's propaganda, they don't have hardly any of the Lord's Word and truth to counter it.--Which is why we're so responsible to get out as much truth to them as we possibly can. We are responsible because we have the truth, and we know that it's the only thing that can strengthen people to resist these terrible attacks and lies of the Enemy. The Lord has told us over and over that it's only the Word that can make us strong and keep us going.
The Lord Will Have to Supernaturally Protect Us!
20. It's exciting to see how the Lord is leading and keeping His children! I think we're going to see more and more miracles of protection and power, when we come to the place where we can't do anything in the natural. Then the Lord is just going to have to supernaturally stop our enemies and keep us going. Maybe that's when more miracles and more healings are going to take place. There are going to be miraculous situations where our enemies are not even going to be able to touch us because of the things that are going to happen.
21. As we go out and get on the attack and sock it to the media and the public with our side of the story, and get back such a favorable response from the public, our enemies and even the officials are going to have to take a second look and have some second thoughts about attacking us. They are responsible to the public, and they're usually very concerned about their reputation, what the people will think about them.
22. I think that when they see that we get a favorable response from the public, they're going to be real careful about what they do to us. Look how Jesus' enemies were frequently hesitant to attack Him because of public opinion: "And they sought to lay hold on Him, but feared the people: for they knew that He had spoken the parable against them: and they left Him, and went their way" (Mark 12:12). "And the chief priests and the scribes the same hour sought to lay hands on Him; and they feared the people" (Luk.20:19). "And the chief priests and scribes sought how they might kill Him; for they feared the people" (Luk.22:2). The Lord used the enemies' fear of the opinions of men to protect the Apostles as well: "Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned" (Acts 5:26).
23. Of course, there will probably come a time when they won't care about public opinion, but then the Lord will use other things to stop them. They'll see God's power upon us in a greater way than ever before, and they'll be afraid to touch us. That may be when the Lord gives us, as He's promised He will, more supernatural gifts of healing and miracles that will be recognized and publicized far and wide.
24. As we come out more in the open, because our way of life is so contrary to the System's way of life, the Lord is just going to have to miraculously protect us and keep us. We know He wants us in these countries, He wants our people there, so He's just going to have to keep them there! When you consider that there are a lot of Family Homes and members that the System will be trying to get at, and you think about all the different kinds of technicalities that they can pull out when they've got it in for someone, things that they will try to use against us, or even make new laws about, it makes it very interesting to see exactly just how the Lord is going to keep and protect us. It's very exciting, and I believe the Lord has really been anointing and leading our people in these places where we've been under such attacks, GBT!
Being Fully Persuaded of Your Calling in the Family!
25. When the attacks begin and the accusations are flying like they are now, I think the bottom line is that we're just going to have to say, "Okay, whether you think there is any basis to all of these accusations or not, do you believe the Family is the best place for you to be? Do you believe you have a special calling of the Lord to be here?" Because if you do believe that, then you should be able to say, "None of these things move me" (Acts 20:24). When we see all the good fruits and results of the Family, we know it is the right thing, and we know from the Word that we are going to get persecution. So now that persecution is here, it shouldn't be too surprising.
Our Enemies' Dirty Tactics and Goals
26. Our enemies' goal in trying to discredit Dad is to try to discredit the Word and the Family. That's what they're trying to do. "This man is so terrible, so how can you believe what he's saying in all of these Letters?" Of course, the simplest answer to that one is that when those Words bring the good fruit and the good results that we have in the Family, then you know the source of the fruit is all right and can't be terrible. "Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit.... A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them" (Mat.7:17-20).
27. Just look at the Family, how wonderful it is, and all of the fruit that the Family is bearing. When you look at the results of the Family--all of the souls saved, the message getting out, the wonderful children He's given us--then you know it's of God! "For no man can do the miracles that thou doest except God be with him!" (Jn.3:2).
Backsliders' Accusations Based on Actual Quotes and Incidents
28. When attacking us, the Enemy prefers to base his lies on true incidents that happened or comments that someone actually made, because that has more credibility, and people are more prone to believe it. For example, if the public sees from our lit that we believe in certain sexual freedoms, then any charges our enemies choose to make against us of a sexual nature--no matter how wild, untrue and ridiculous they may be--will have greater impact on those people; they'll be more easily persuaded to believe those lies since they already know we have some liberal sexual beliefs.
29. So if our backsliders and enemies can come up with something from our lit or something that we've done that they think will enrage the public or the authorities, they're happy to use it against us as much as they possibly can. Of course, many times they amplify and beef up their accusations to make sure that they really get the public's attention. They expand, exaggerate, distort and misconstrue things until the original quote or incident that they've gotten ahold of is blown all out of proportion. They don't hesitate to twist and misinterpret things in order to more effectively raise the ire of those to whom they're accusing us. (--Or downright lie!)
30. But if they think they can get enough mileage out of verbatim quotes or accounts of incidents that actually took place, then they will use them as is. In fact, they often take perfectly good, true and Godly statements from our literature, or good things we have done, and they try to use those things to accuse us of breaking the law or doing things that are unacceptable to the mainstream public.
31. There are all kinds of good and Godly things that we believe and practice which they try to attack and try to label as evil, charging that we are breaking the law. Our home schooling is an example of this. Although it's a major Godly part of our life and considered completely respectable and protected by law in some places, it's banned and deemed to be criminal in other places.--And it's certainly looked down on and demeaned in many other places. Administering corporal punishment to children is another good example. Although it is definitely advocated in the Bible and can be a part of Godly discipline if applied moderately and lovingly, it's now illegal and criminal to spank a child in some countries of the world.--Not to mention our beliefs about the AC conspiracy, our stand against the sodomites, our communal lifestyle, our stand of faith regarding healing, etc.--All of which are contrary to the mainstream attitudes of the System nowadays.
Backsliders' Bitter Accusations About Past Mistakes!
32. Another way they attack us is by using backsliders to testify about wrongdoing by immature (and sometimes irresponsible) leadership. Or sometimes they'll testify about mistakes and unwise moves made by leaders who have been very sincere and responsible, but were just lacking in training. On the one hand, as mentioned above, the Enemy will try to use our perfectly good and Godly policies, writings and practices to try to falsely accuse us, and on the other hand, he'll use past mistakes or weaknesses by some Family members to try to accuse and condemn us as well.
33. When the Enemy brings up mistakes and wrongdoing by Family members and shepherds, he'll not only use that to try to raise the ire of the public and the authorities against us, but also to try to condemn those who made the mistakes and committed the wrongs. After all, he's the "Accuser of the saints" (see Rev.12:10), so if anyone happens to have done something wrong wherewith he can accuse them, he'll do his best to try to make them feel bad about it, condemned and guilty, like, "Well, in a way, I guess these backsliders have a right to be upset and bitter."
34. But even if mistakes were made by leaders or Family members, they have repented and changed. These antagonistic backsliders who stop serving the Lord because of someone's mistake are making a much greater mistake by attacking the Lord's work. And they have not repented and they have not changed, and in fact, they are continuing to fill their cup of iniquity by not only turning their back on the Lord's service, but turning around and viciously and vehemently attacking the Lord's work, trying to justify their own actions by trying to destroy the Family.
35. Everyone makes mistakes, and I'd venture to say that most of the mistakes made by Family members were not because of wrong motives, but due to inexperience or immaturity, etc. But if we repent and change, the Lord is merciful and forgiving and will not hold it against us. All men and women of God have made mistakes and have weaknesses, but when they have repented and changed, the Lord has forgiven them and pardoned them and taken the condemnation and the guilt away. So if God has forgiven you, others must forgive you, and if they won't, God will hold it against them.
36. A small handful of backsliders not only refuse to forgive certain Family members for past mistakes, but they become filled with demonic hatred and venom with which they actively fight to destroy the entire Family!--Not just because they have supposedly been wronged in the Family, but mostly to justify their turning their back on the Lord and His work, and to try to get out from the heavy conviction that has fallen upon them as a result. They have turned their back on the truth, so God sends them strong delusion that they might believe a lie! (See 2Thes.2:10,11.) They take things that happened to them that are often very minor and insignificant and exaggerate them and misinterpret them and distort them and expand on them until they've woven a great tale of abusive treatment by their supposedly "all-powerful, cruel and despotic leadership"!
37. Of course, when our enemies are unable to find things that we are doing which are against the law in the countries in which they are attacking us, they don't hesitate to completely fabricate a story for the purpose of enraging the public against us. This is something they have done time and time again, concocting absolutely absurd and lurid accusations like, "They're stockpiling weapons in all of their Homes!" "They perform Satanic rituals!" "They hypnotize and brainwash people!" "They buy and sell babies!" "They prostitute their teens," etc.!
Fictional Fantasies Are Very Common!
38. How many novels or fictional stories and books are there in the world? How many people have virtually done the same thing that our enemies are now doing? If you just take a look at all of the novels and movies and television series, etc., you shouldn't have any trouble believing that there are an awful lot of people in the world who can concoct absolutely wild and totally imaginary stories, making them sound very believable and true to life! Compulsive liars can make up the most believable lies right on the spot, and they even start to believe their own lies.
39. Making up stories and writing novels is a gift that some people have--in many cases, a gift straight from the Enemy! There have been all kinds of famous liars throughout history, great and small. Remember the Howard Hughes hoax, when that writer announced to the world that he had Howard Hughes' autobiography, and it turned out that he'd never even met him.--Or the famous "Hitler Diaries" that Stern magazine in Germany purchased for a fortune, as they were supposed to be Hitler's secret personal diaries, and they proved to be a total forgery.
40. Not to mention the huge lies and fabricated stories that governments frequently cook up to deceive and mislead the public!--Like that story that won American support for Bush's war against Iraq: that Iraqi soldiers in Kuwait were cruelly removing helpless babies from their incubators and leaving them to die while the soldiers hauled the incubators back to Iraq. It turned out that the entire story was an absolute fake, a phony through and through! There was not a word of truth to it! It had been deliberately cooked up by the Kuwaitis to get the West to go to war for them. (See Outlook #4.) But it gave Bush the public outrage against Saddam that he needed to perpetrate his war against Iraq. And what about Janet Cooke of The Washington Post, who won a 1981 Pulitzer Prize with a story about a young black boy's drug addiction? When she was exposed as having made up the whole story, she had to return the prize.
41. So why should people get so easily taken in by a story, any story? I guess one reason some stories sound so realistic is because they've got all kinds of details in them. When it's, "He said this and then I said that. He did this and I did that," it usually sounds pretty believable. It's just hard to believe that somebody could make up things like that!
42. And sad to say, people usually want to believe the bad and the negative. It seems like something that the Devil frequently uses, as it usually has a real hold on people. Just look at some of the things you hear about in the news, the accounts you hear, the lies you hear.--Like that woman in the U.S., Anita Hill, and her entire "sexual harassment" story she told against Clarence Thomas, who is now a Supreme Court judge. Who knows? To this day, nobody knows for sure if it's true or false. Her story sounded so credible. But so did his. So who knows who is really telling the truth?
43. People can be very believable in their lies. So when outlandish accusations are made against us, or against Dad, you have to look at the facts; who has the fruit, who has shown the love and the unselfishness and the sacrifice and has obviously been greatly used of the Lord over the years?
Our Enemies' Charges of Psychological and Emotional Abuse
44. Our enemies are now trying to pull out charges of "psychological abuse" and "psychological damage." They think they've really hit on something they can use against us. The sexual abuse charges aren't making it, and neither are their charges of physical abuse. So the psychological or emotional damage is the thing they're starting to use now, since it's the most difficult one for us to disprove, since by ungodly Flatlander System standards, our faith in Jesus and our commitment to Him is completely insane from their anti-God perspective. So from their viewpoint, they could say we're all psychologically damaged!
45. After all, we've been rewired by the Lord, no longer living according to the course of this world, or "according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph.2:2). We are absolutely new creatures in Christ, not conformed to this world, but transformed by the Lord! (See 2Cor.5:17; Rom.12:2.) I think the only way we can get out of that charge is to somehow convince people or get them to accept the fact that we shouldn't be judged by the System's standards, because we're not part of their System. We are not "of" this world! (Jn.17:14b).
46. Then they try to pull out their charges that some of these people who have left the group are all messed up, they're mental cases , etc. And of course, they blame that on us. As far as they're concerned, there is no other reason for it. They completely fail to accept that the reason for some of our backsliders' mental and emotional anguish is because they have failed the Lord and turned their backs on Him, and betrayed His work and people, and may feel that they're being punished or they give up as a result.--Or in a case like [this ex-member's], she was a mental case while in the Family, before she left, because of her playing around with the Enemy and refusing to yield to the Lord. Or in [another] case, he was in mental institutions before coming to the Lord and the Family. I suppose our enemies would say that it was Jesus' fault that Judas went out and hung himself! Of course, like [some of these backsliders], Judas had serious problems while he was "in the Family" too, but they manifested themselves very clearly and dramatically after he left!
47. Thank the Lord that we usually haven't had to worry or be concerned about our members' mental health, because we're all the Lord's, and He has not given us a spirit of fear, like most of the people in the System have, but of power and of love and of a sound mind! (2Tim.1:7). We've had very few people who've had any kind of serious mental problems because He keeps in perfect peace all those whose minds are stayed on Him, PTL! (Isa.26:3). And we've had hardly any people who ever needed to have institutional care. The vast majority of our members are wonderful, happy and well-adjusted people who are extremely healthy mentally and emotionally and spiritually, etc.
48. But our enemies will probably try to claim that the majority of people who have left the Family have been psychologically damaged and are now in sad shape, having been traumatized, tortured, mentally and emotionally manipulated, etc.--which is definitely not true! Because our enemies are starting from the false premise that all of our people are more or less nut cases anyway, to their way of thinking the ones who have left us would be considered doubly so, since many of them retained the basic beliefs of the Family. But because they have rebelled against the Lord at some point, they became deluded and quite mixed up. So on both counts, such backsliders would probably not fare very well under a psychiatric examination. Number one, it's a strike against them just having been in such a "fanatical" religious group! And number two, they're often genuinely screwed up because of their rebellion against the Lord and forsaking Him and His work--and it'll all be blamed on the Family!
Our Backslidden Enemies' Culpability
49. It's amazing how our bitterest enemies can spend all their time fighting us! Here we're doing our best to win souls and do what Jesus wants us to do, and they're doing their best to try to stop us! While they accuse us about our children, many of their kids are an absolute mess, mixed up with drugs and crime and all sorts of deviltry! Boy, they're going to have a lot to answer for!--Not only trying to keep us from being the witness we should be, and getting us so embroiled in all their battles, but themselves not being the witnesses they could have been. God damn'm! (--And He will!--And He has!--He's letting them have their fling till their cup of iniquity is full and He's used them to make us even stronger witnesses, then His judgments will fall!--D.)
Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family