DO 17373/84

1. I DON'T KNOW WHETHER I SHOULD SAY THIS OR NOT, but if one person has mentioned it, I presume there are other people who have thought it & maybe have wondered why. Somebody the other night‚ cheerfully, I suppose they felt it was encouraging, perhaps even complimentary, said‚ "Oh, we are hoping & praying for a talk!"

2. YOU MIGHT AS WELL HAVE HIT ME OVER THE HEAD WITH A BASEBALL BAT OR A TON OF BRICKS AS TO HAVE SAID THAT! I'm sure they didn't mean it derogatorily & didn't realise that they were saying something that really cut to the heart & made me feel bad, to think that if God gave me a talk to give you, I wouldn't give it to you! I want to tell you right now, if God's got something for you‚ He will give it! You'll get it, & sometimes you may be sorry.

3. SO IF YOU WANT A TALK, YOU'D BETTER NOT ASK FOR IT OR YOU MIGHT GET IT! It kind of hurt me to feel that someone would ask for a talk, as though I was holding out on you or holding back on you! Listen, Beloved, I have talked & written so much already, I doubt if you will get it all read before the Lord comes. Besides‚ as Maria & others know, there are talks & talks & talks stacked up in there on my desk which I haven't even had time to edit & proofread for you yet, things that you need & things that I have said already & before, that we will probably never get finished editing & publishing before the Lord comes!

4. I HAVE ALREADY SAID & WE HAVE ALREADY PUBBED MORE THAN YOU'LL EVER FINISH READING—FOR GOD'S SAKE, HOW COULD YOU ASK FOR MORE? Why should I come down after a long hard day's work on what's already been said & what needs to be pubbed & which you need to read, & give you another talk?—Unless it's some kind of emergency that God by His Spirit lays on my heart, as I have often said, "If the Preacher comes!" Let me tell you, if the Preacher comes, I will give it to you & you will get it in no uncertain terms, as a lot of the people here know who have been here on those occasions.

5. I DON'T EVER WANT TO HEAR ANYBODY SAY TO ME AGAIN: "OH, WE'RE HOPING & PRAYING FOR A TALK!" It reminds me of some of the things the disciples said to Jesus, "Oh Lord, do us another miracle! Oh Lord, tell us something else!"—When He'd already told them so much that they couldn't even understand or absorb it all!

6. ASK YOURSELF, HAVE YOU REALLY READ ALL OF THE MO BOOKS? The old Books have just as many good lessons in them & are just as appropriate for today as some of my most recent talks. They're just as good for today as they were yesterday. And I often figure, "Well, why should I talk about this or why should I talk about that or why should I say this or tell this story again when I have already told it so many times & it's already been published 10 or 15 years ago?"

7. BUT A LOT OF YOU ARE JUST LIKE MY JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS: You don't want to have to go to the trouble of having to read it! You'd rather have the teacher answer questions in class & tell you what's in the book & what was in the assignment, because you don't want to have to go to the trouble of reading the chapter. That's why I got fed-up with those "Questions & Answers‚" because almost every single one of those questions could have been answered if they had just looked in the Books & the Letters. I have done my job, I've done my work: I've said it, I've written it, I've published it & it is there for you to dig out! If you need it, look it up! Find it! Work at it a little bit!

8. WHEN YOU GET LIKE THAT, YOU'RE GETTING JUST LIKE THE CHRISTIANS IN THE CHURCHES! It's all in the Bible & they'd be a Heaven of a lot better Christians if they'd stay home & read their Bibles & not even go to church! But they don't want the hard work of having to read & study the Bible & ask for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to figure it out & explain it to'm & try to get the message from the Lord. They'd know more about the Will of God & the way of God if they'd read their Bibles!—If they had read what was already said!

9. AND IT MAKES ME DAMN MAD to have people come around & say‚ "Oh, I want another talk! Why can't you give us another talk? We're hoping for a talk!" Maybe I shouldn't have teed-off so much on that, but it got my goat! When you think of all the talks I have given & all I have written & all I have published & you've never even read it & you want a talk, it makes me want to spit—spit fire! If I get any new revelations‚ I promise you, I guarantee you, you'll get'm! I'll give'm! And if I don't see to it, God will!

10. LET ME TELL YOU, IF YOU NEED A TALK, YOU'LL GET IT! I'm not sitting here holding back! There's a time for everything (Ecc.3:1)—a time when you need to just sit & do nothing! And after a good long hard day's work & real mental strain & stress & dealing with problems & business as well as Letters & inspiration & all the rest, & often not much of a night's rest, when I come to the dinner table, this is my fun, this is my recreation, this is my fellowship, this is my playtime if you will!

11. I'LL GRANT YOU THAT THERE HAVE BEEN MANY TIMES WHEN I HAVE HAD TALKS‚ & MOST OF THE TIME IN THE PAST, but I & the Lord have recently decided, "Dave, old boy, I think you've worked hard enough, said enough, written enough, pubbed enough & they haven't even read it all!—In fact some're too lazy to read it all!"

12. THERE WAS A TIME IN BIBLE HISTORY THAT GOD GOT FED-UP WITH TALKING TO PEOPLE, IN THE BOOK OF MALACHI. He had said it all. He had said so much already, & it went in one ear & out the other & rolled like water off a duck's back! "Wherein have we done this? Wherein have we robbed Thee? Wherein have we done so-&-so?" (Mal.3:7-8) It hadn't even sunk in! Instead they'd gotten to the point of, "Oh, what a weariness!" That's what they said. "Oh‚ what a weariness! All this talk, all these Letters, all these GNs, whata weariness!"

13. BELOVED, I HOPE YOU NEVER GET TO THAT POINT‚ BECAUSE WHEN YOU DO, GOD WILL DO TO YOU WHAT HE DID TO ISRAEL—HE STOPPED TALKING! He had said enough already, He didn't need to talk any more. What they needed to do was heed it & obey it & listen & read it. It was even written! God says, "Be not weary in well-doing, for in due season ye shall reap if you faint not." (Gal.6:9) But they were weary of it.

14. EXCEPT REGARDING IMMEDIATE DAY-TO-DAY POLICY & PROCEDURES & CHANGES OF METHODS OR MILITARY TACTICS‚ ETC.‚ day-to-day, up-to-the-minute direction, I don't think there's anything that I am saying today about general behaviour, spirituality, your walk & life with the Lord, revelations of the Future‚ Bible-teaching & all the rest that I have not already said! It's all right there in the Books, & if you want a talk, read it, for God's sake! We have already written too much & published too much! God has glutted you & flooded you & overwhelmed you with everything that could possibly be said or taught! If you would just take what you've already got‚ it could last you for the rest of your life without another talk!

15. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE I SAID "READ IT!"? I wrote a Letter on this same subject years ago. The girl is saying, "Oh God, speak to me! Oh Lord‚ answer me!" And God's up there in the Heavenlies saying, "Why don't you read what I've already said! Why don't you listen to what I've already said!" (See No.712)

16. IT'S NOT ANCIENT HISTORY, IT IS WHAT THIS FAMILY WAS FOUNDED ON & WHAT MADE THIS FAMILY WHAT IT IS TODAY, WHAT STARTED IT, & it might behoove you to find out what started this Family & how it was started & on what it was started & on what kind of talks & what was said then that made us what we are today! I don't want to ever hear anybody here again say, "Oh, we're hoping you'll give us a talk!" Why do you want me to talk?

17. DO YOU JUST LIKE TO WATCH ME WORK?—BECAUSE THIS IS WORK!—AND I HAVE ALREADY DONE MY DAY'S WORK SINCE FOUR O'CLOCK THIS MORNING! (Maria: And you already gave one talk today during your work hours.) I already had a business conference, as well as proofreading—& answering scores of notes every day.

18. I'M A BUSY MAN, IN CASE YOU DON'T KNOW IT! I don't just sit up there twiddling my thumbs all day. I can't even stop working for my little daughter Techi who comes up & sees me & whom I see for a few minutes.

19. JESUS SAID, "ME YE HAVE NOT ALWAYS WITH YOU."—AND THE SAME IS TRUE OF ME, BELOVED. All these things, all these jobs & all this work & the commission God has given you to do‚ you will always have with you, but "me ye have not always with you." But thank God I have been faithful & diligent to leave the Words with you, & those you will have always with you. TTL!—Even after I'm gone. So I think I've done my job.

20. I'VE DONE MORE THAN ANY MAN I KNOW OF TO TRY TO EVANGELISE THIS WORLD & PREACH THE GOSPEL TO EVERY CREATURE IN ALL THE WORLD, & published more Gospel literature & given it to more millions of people, & have been instrumental through you to save more millions of souls perhaps than any other single man in history! Not even Jesus Himself was able to do that much! He didn't have the facilities for it & He didn't have the time for it. That's why He said, "Greater works than these shall ye do, for I have to go away to My Father." (Jn.14:12)

21. SO WHY SHOULD I SAY MORE? Why should you want another talk when you haven't even read all the talks I've ever made & the things I've already said, which are just as good today as they were 15 years ago, except for a little business mixed in or something that was particularly appropriate for that immediate need or situation. But most of my talks & Letters that we began to write as far back as London or Israel or Cyprus are just as good today. You read'm!

22. SOME OF YOU PEOPLE ARE STILL OLD BOTTLES—YOU NEED TO GET BROKEN & MADE INTO A NEW BOTTLE! I'm not here just to preach pretty sermons, let me tell you that right now! I'm not here just to be a preacher & a pastor & tickle your ears! I'm more apt to sock your rear than tickle your ear! And that's what's made this Family & gotten them off their butts & out serving the Lord instead of sitting in church listening to talks!

23. MY GOD, MORE TALKS!—THIS DAMN WORLD'S HAD ENOUGH TALK‚ WE NEED A LITTLE ACTION & I need a little time to play & rest from talking & working & conferences & problems & decisions & Letters & all the rest! And for God's sake, if you don't like it‚ you can lump it & go someplace else! After this, I don't think you're ever going to want another talk, not like this one anyhow! PTL? Maybe this will cure you!

24. GOD IS TRYING TO SAY, "WHY DON'T YOU LISTEN TO WHAT I'VE ALREADY SAID? WHY DON'T YOU READ IT? WHY DON'T YOU DO IT & OBEY IT?" If you've got the time for more talks, then for God's sake, go back & read'm! There are plenty of'm you haven't read yet. Lord help us & have mercy on you & give you a little common sense, & give you a little mercy for me! I've done more than enough talking! I've done more talking probably than any man on this Earth ever had published!

25. IF YOU SAY, "I HOPE YOU GIVE ANOTHER TALK," THAT'S A COMPLAINT THAT I HAVEN'T BEEN GIVING ENOUGH TALKS! IT WAS A SLAP, IT WAS A REBUKE! "All this dancing & no talk!" If you say things like that to me, I'm going to figure you're murmuring. And if you murmur with all the blessings God has given you here & all you've got & all you've already had, I'm apt to do like the Lord did & give you something to cry about‚ give you something to really complain about!

26. YOU DON'T NEED ANOTHER TALK! YOU DON'T NEED ME TO SAY ANOTHER DAMN THING!—WHAT YOU NEED TO DO IS READ WHAT I'VE ALREADY SAID & OBEY & pay attention to what's already been pubbed & all the other talks! And you'll never get done reading them all because we'll never get done pubbing them all! We don't even have time to pub'm all! So for God's sake, don't you ever ask me for another talk! Do you get the point?

27. JUST BECAUSE I SPANK YOU DOESN'T MEAN I DON'T LOVE YOU, in fact it's my intolerable compliment that I love you enough to chasten you & spank you & chastise you! It's to show my love for you & that I am concerned that you straighten out & get the right perspective on things‚ the right attitude towards things, & not criticise us for dancing here every evening & me sitting here doing nothing every evening when I've already done enough all day long!

28. I HAVE DONE MY JOB & I HAVE WORKED MY DAY & I HAVE SAID MY SAY & YOU DON'T NEED ANOTHER TALK! What you need is a little relief & rest & relaxation & recreation & fellowship & exercise & just to forget all your worries & your work & all the rest! If God wants to talk, He'll let us know, & He'll talk!—Like He did on Birthday Night!

29. THE LORD KIND OF COMFORTED MY HEART & SAID, "DON'T WORRY, SON, SOME OF THOSE PEOPLE NEED THE REST AS MUCH AS YOU! When you're resting & not doing anything, they can rest." "Why should I give you another talk?" That's a question to leave with you: Why should I‚ when I've said enough & too much already & you have to work hard on it all day, every day? (Prays: )

30. AMEN, LORD, SOOTHE & POUR THY LOVING BALM UPON ANY WOUNDS THAT HAVE BEEN CAUSED TONIGHT & CAUSE THEM TO HEAL, BUT TO LEARN THEIR LESSONS FROM THE LASHES & learn to have a little mercy on their leadership, in Jesus' name we ask for Thy glory. Bless & continue to keep us & give us a good night's sleep, in Jesus' name, amen. GBY all! Don't tell me you want another talk! Anybody miss the point? Anybody want another talk? God bless you! I love you, even if I have to spank you! PTL!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family