Maria #174DO 28207/92FOR ADULTS AND EAs ONLY

—"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

(After hearing about [some backsliders] traitorous threatenings against the Family, & of [some other bitter ex–members'] collusion against 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 showed us that time & again, & You've proven that You even cause the wrath of Man to bring praise & 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, & 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 & the weak from the strong. We know, Lord‚ that You allow these things to befall Your children to "try them & to purge them & to make them white" (Dan.11:35), & we believe this current wave of persecution is going to do that. As things get increasingly more difficult as the End approaches, You're going to have to keep purging out the ones who aren't really loyal‚ who are weak in faith. So help us, Lord, to look to Your Word. Help Thy children to keep their eyes on You & Your Word & what You have promised us, & 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 leadership in the field, those who are facing the Enemy & under direct attack, great wisdom in knowing how to proceed to victory. Inspire them with Thy thoughts & Thy solutions & 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 & over is that we not only need to really pray‚ but to also really cling to the Word & 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 & discouraging unless you really keep going back to the promises the Lord has given & really draw your strength from the Word.

5. When your eyes are on the Lord & the promises of His Word‚ then you realise that these attacks are of no consequence in the Lord's sight, & these people who rise up against us are nothing. But looking at it all carnally & in the physical, it can look pretty daunting‚ like a pretty heavy attack.—And it is one of the worst ones we've ever had. In fact, it looks like they're getting worse all the time. But when you look at what the Lord has said, these things are cut down to their proper size real quickly, & you realise it's all happening for God's purpose & He's working it all out for our good. That's the only way to stay inspired & victorious, to "endure as seeing Him Who is invisible, looking unto Jesus!"—Heb.11:27; 12:2.

Persecution with a Purpose!—To Purge the Family

6. As Dad has frequently said, one of the Lord's purposes for allowing persecution is because He wants to purge the Family & get rid of any weaker members. After all, we don't even want to win or keep disciples who aren't going to be able to take this sort of thing. At this late date, the friends & new disciples we're going to win are going to have to be strong in faith & strong in the Lord.

7. 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. The Lord knows that we've got more important things to do than to put up with people for months or years only to have them back out & give up the fight when things heat up & the going gets rough. So He allows persecution like this because it helps people know what they're getting into.—That this is really the Endtime! It sure looks like this is the beginning of a time of real tribulation, just like Dad said in "It Could Happen This Year." (See ML #2738, GN 493.) Right after he received this from the Lord, this current wave of international persecution against us started full-scale!

8. A lot of us probably sort of thought, "Well, Dad said it could happen‚ he didn't really say it was going to happen..." But just a few months after he said it, all this persecution began. I'm getting more convinced all the time that we're really entering the Last Days of the Endtime!

Letting New Disciples Know What They're Getting Into!

9. I think that people who are going to join the Family are going to have to know what they're getting into & what the prognosis is for the future. I believe that's undoubtedly one reason why the Lord is letting our enemies pull out all the stops at this time, letting them openly come out against us like they are, because we can't afford to waste time on either uncommitted people who we have in the Family right now, or on new people who we're trying to win who don't have what it takes to be in the Family.

10. We might as well give them the facts now & say, "Look, this is what you're up against if you're one of us, so don't join us unless you're so dedicated that you don't care about all of these accusations, & you don't mind all of these attacks & 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 & to stand up for Jesus & 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 & portraying as so evil.—It doesn't even matter to you, you just want to come with us & stand up & be counted & do the job for the Lord that only this little group of people is doing in the World today!"

11. Of course, I'm not saying that the moment someone decides to become a Christian & expresses an interest in the Family that we should sit him down & give him this very heavy talk on all the persecution that is coming, & "You might not be able to make it!" We usually have a pretty good waiting period before we let people join the Family fulltime, so somewhere during that period would probably be the best time to let them know that we've got a lot of enemies & we're a persecuted bunch, so they'd better "count the cost" before casting their lot in with us. But that's the way it's always been with real Christians‚ for "all who will live Godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution!"—2Tim.3:12.

Tough Times Are Coming, So Get In or Get Out!

12. To any hanger-on'ers in the Family who aren't here with their whole heart, I would say, "Look, this is what's happening‚ these are the threatenings & the accusations that the Enemy is breathing out. Things are obviously getting very hot & heavy now. And though we know the Lord has promised to keep us, you still need to count the cost! It's only going to be those who are strong in faith who are going to make it through what's ahead. Our vicious enemies are accusing us of all kinds of child abuse & other crimes, so you could be questioned & falsely charged & face serious persecution, just like what some of us are facing right now in different countries. So if you can't take it, maybe now is the time for you to get out!"

13. Tough times are coming; in fact‚ they're already here, so it's a good time to "examine yourself, whether you be in the faith!"—2Cor.13:5. But it's also important that you realise that just because you might feel like you're too weak to make it‚ & you have some fears about the future, you can't let that be the deciding factor in whether you leave or stay in the Family. 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!"—Deu.33:25.

14. In a lot of our severest persecution worldwide, it's been some of the very weakest people who have had to go through it, & they have come through it with flying colours, & come out as shining witnesses for the Lord, God bless them! The Lord has worked & witnessed through them regardless of how weak they felt or how incapable & even weak in faith they were. The Lord has worked through them & 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 not sufficient reason to quit!

15. But on the other hand, if you have had serious long-standing doubts about Dad & about the Letters & about our way of life, or you've harboured criticisms & lasting bitterness about things, or you've had a general lack of contentment & have just felt dissatisfied & unhappy, then maybe this is the time for you to go.—Or if you've gone for a long time wondering, "Maybe something else, somewhere else might be a lot better for me." If you've been feeling that way for quite a while, unless you have a very big change of heart & attitude, I don't think you're going to feel any differently as time goes on & conditions get rougher. There will probably be more things for you to criticise & more for you to doubt, because our enemies are coming on stronger than ever, & their accusations will probably add fuel to your fires of discontentment, resentment & doubt.

16. 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 the only reason you're sticking around is because you're too proud to say you made a mistake by joining us & you've found out it just isn't going to work out for you, then I would say that it probably is time for you to seriously consider leaving.—Or at least getting out of our DO Homes & becoming a TRF Supporter where you can have it a little easier in some respects.

17. If you've had any long-term problems along these lines, then now might be a good time for you to get out. If you're generally dissatisfied & you just feel like it's been too hard for too long, & there's too much in the Family that you just don't like or that doesn't really make you happy, then I would say that the Family is no longer the place for you.

If You're Determined to Fight, We'll Do All We Can to Help You!

18. 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 & fed up with those doubts & fears that you're willing to fight & do whatever it takes to overcome them, then praise God, stay & let us help you fight these things! We'll be happy to do all we can to help you overcome your doubts & win the victories you need! We would hate to lose you & see all that the Lord has poured into you wasted, & we're willing to really fight for you to help you make it, providing you really want to make it.

19. 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‚ & even though I don't know how I'm going to do in the End, & 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 & 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 of course this is the place for you‚ & the Lord will undoubtedly pull you through!

We Need Full-of-Faith Soldiers, Not Half-hearts!

20. But if you're already weak in faith, & these attacks on us by our enemies further weaken your faith & cause you to be filled with doubt, then that's another story. If you feel like you just can't get the victory over your nagging doubts, even after you've done all that you can to overcome them, including asking for united prayer, getting in the Word & spending a fair amount of time earnestly contending for the victory, yet your doubts continue to fester & dishearten you, & one wave of doubt is followed by another, & you're dissatisfied & unhappy on top of it, then 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 & strength into fighting for His Cause without reservations? (Amen!)

21. If you don't have full faith in something, how can you wholeheartedly fight for it? So if after struggling & fighting with those doubts & fears for a reasonable amount of time, you can't seem to get the faith that the Family is the only place for you, & that this Family is God's great Endtime Work, & you sort of feel like, "Something is definitely wrong & maybe we're not as great as I always thought we were," or whatever‚ then it's probably time for you to move on.

22. Look what the Lord did with dear Gideon & his soldiers, that was a real purging of the ranks! That's what we need to do as well, even if it means we lose half of our people, or more. 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, & are willing to die for it!

23. That's not to say that those soldiers think everything about the Family is 100% completely perfect.—But at least they believe it's better than anything else they could find! They believe that what we're doing is in accordance with God's Word, so when people attack us‚ attack our Family, they're willing to really fight back‚ because they believe that those who attack us & our way of life are attacking the Word & the Lord.

It's Gotta Be Worth Dying for!

24. So you're going to have to decide whether you believe the Family is worth fighting for, & even worth dying for. If you don't feel that way about it, then maybe you'd better go somewhere else. It's not enough to just believe that the Family is the best place to be, & 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.

25. 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, & that it's worth dying for. You should be so sure of your calling & 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.

26. And you know that no matter what happens‚ the Lord is going to pull you through!—Whether your kids are taken away or you're thrown out of your house or your plans are all upset or you wind up stuck in a tiny Home somewhere—or maybe you're even without a Home to call your own! You still believe so firmly in this Family that you just know that the Lord will bless & honour & 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

27. I'm convinced that's one reason why the Lord is allowing this new wave of persecution, to really purge us all—purge the Family—so we're not going to have any hangers–on, people who aren't that sold out, no matter what. 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.

28. 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 & 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‚ & we know that it's the only thing that can strengthen people to resist these terrible attacks & lies of the Enemy. The Lord has told us over & over that it's only the Word that can make us strong & keep us going. So we who have the Word are without excuse. But we're responsible to get it out to the World; otherwise, they don't have it.

Importance of Giving the Public the Word & the Sample

29. We've got to not only get the Word to them, but also the Word made flesh, so to speak‚ the sample. That's what the Lord has shown the leadership & the Family in Japan recently, when they've been barraged with a lot of media persecution: To get out there & just show the public the sample, to go ahead in spite of anything the Enemy may throw at them. They know they need to try to answer & refute the attacks against them as much as they can, but that alone will never turn the tide. They've got to show people the sample too—their beautiful spirits, their beautiful children, their witnessing, etc.—which‚ when combined with giving them the Word, is what will win people & change their lives. (—"I'd rather see a sermon!")

30. Then people will be like the man who said of Jesus, "Whether this Man be a sinner or no, I know not, but one thing I know; before, I was blind, but now I see!"—Jn.9:25. That's what the World's response to us is when we've really shown them Jesus, when they've really seen our sample. If they receive spiritual life from us, whereas they were dead before, that's the most precious gift that they could ever receive, & they're not going to care about our enemies' accusations. Just like that man who'd been blind, he didn't care what Jesus' reputation was, he didn't care what His enemies said He'd done, he just cared about what He'd done for him & the wonderful gift He'd given him.

31. So we've got to get out there & we've got to give them life, we've got to give them Jesus, we've got to give them the Word. And, praise God, that's what we're doing! Our Family in Japan is forging ahead despite all kinds of terrible articles & negative publicity, & they're getting out witnessing & being a wonderful sample of the Lord's Life & Love!—And winning the media & the public as a result! It reminds me of what happened to Peter & John; after the Sanhedrin had threatened & beaten them‚ they let them go & it says that they went right out & started preaching all over again, ha! "And when they had called the apostles‚ and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the Name of Jesus, and let them go. And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His Name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ!"—Acts 5:40-42.

32. That's like the Family in Japan, they've undergone quite a "beating" from the System. They're besieged, they're surrounded on every side, they're virtually being threatened with extinction, yet they're launching a counterattack & doing public demonstrations & Holy Ghost samples & massive Lit distribution drives!—And now they're going out & holding free music concerts & sample shows for the public! They're really going on the attack! But that's God's plan, that's His method, that's the plan of attack that we read about in the Book of Acts‚ & that's the only way that we're going to overcome the Enemy—by giving no place to him, just resisting him & defying him & going ahead & doing what we're supposed to do as long as we can do it‚ until they throw us in jail!

33. And if we land in jail, we can either be a witness there, or the Lord will let us out, even miraculously if necessary, like He did Peter & Paul & Silas. The Lord can even get you out of jail miraculously, with His Angels opening the way for you‚ if He wants you out & there's no other way to do it! (See Acts 12:4-11; 16:22–26.) I had to really laugh & praise the Lord when I thought about it last night, how it looks like everyone's ready to pounce & swoop down on the Family there in Japan, but instead of cowering & hiding, they're just going out into the highways & hedges & compelling more of the lost to come in! PTL!

The Lord Will Have to Supernaturally Protect Us!

34. It's exciting to see how the Lord is leading & keeping His children! I think we're going to see more & more miracles of protection & 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 & keep us going.—Maybe that's when more miracles & 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.

35. As we go out & get on the attack & sock it to the media & the public with our side of the story, & get back such a favourable response from the public, our enemies & even the officials are going to have to take a second look & have some second thoughts about attacking us. They are responsible to the public‚ & they're usually very concerned about their reputation, what the people will think about them.

36. I think that when they see that we get a favourable 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.

37. 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, & 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 & miracles that will be recognised & publicised far & wide.

38. 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 & 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 & Members that the System will be trying to get at, & 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 & protect us. It's very exciting, & I believe the Lord has really been anointing & leading our people in these places where we've been under such attacks, GBT!

Being Fully Persuaded of Your Calling in the Family!

39. When the attacks begin & 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 with us?" Because if you do, then you should be able to say, "none of these things move me" (Acts 20:24). When you first joined the Family you knew it was the right thing, & you knew you were going to get persecution. So now that persecution is here‚ it shouldn't be too surprising.

Our Enemies' Dirty Tactics & Goals

40. Our enemies' goal in trying to discredit Dad is to try to discredit the Word & 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 & the good results that we have in the Family, then you know the source of the fruit is all right & 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.

41. Just look at the Family, how wonderful it is, & 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 & Incidents

42. 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, & 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 & 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.

43. So if our backsliders & 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 & "beef up" their accusations to make sure that they really get the public's attention. They expand, exaggerate, distort & 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 & misinterpret things in order to more effectively raise the ire of those to whom they're accusing us. (—Or downright lie!)

44. 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 & Godly statements from our literature, or good things we have done, & they try to use those things to accuse us of breaking the law or doing things that are unacceptable to the mainstream public.

45. There are all kinds of good & Godly things that we believe & practice which they try to attack & 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 & considered completely respectable & protected by law in some places‚ it's banned & deemed to be criminal in other places.—And it's certainly looked down on & demeaned in many other places. Administering corporal punishment to children is another good example. Although it is definitely advocated in the Bible & can be a part of Godly discipline if applied moderately & lovingly, it's now illegal & criminal to spank a child in many 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!

46. Another way they attack us is by using backsliders to testify about wrongdoing by immature (& sometimes irresponsible) leadership. Or sometimes they'll testify about mistakes & unwise moves made by leaders who have been very sincere & responsible‚ but were just lacking in training. On the one hand, as mentioned above, the Enemy will try to use our perfectly good & Godly policies, writings & practices to try to falsely accuse us, & on the other hand‚ he'll use past mistakes or weaknesses by some Family Members to try to accuse & condemn us as well.

47. When the Enemy brings up mistakes & wrongdoings by Family Members & Shepherds, he'll not only use that to try to raise the ire of the public & the authorities against us, but also to try to condemn those who made the mistakes & committed the wrongs. After all, he's the "Accuser of the Saints" (Rev.12:10), so if you happen to have done something wrong wherewith he can accuse you, he'll do his best to try to make you feel bad about it, condemned & guilty, like, "Well, in a way, I guess these backsliders have a right to be upset & bitter."

48. But even if you have made mistakes as leaders or as Family Members‚ you have repented & you have changed. These backsliders have made a much greater mistake in completely turning their backs on the Lord & His Work! And they have not repented & they have not changed; & 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 & viciously & vehemently attacking the Lord's Work‚ trying to justify their own actions by trying to destroy the Family.

49. Everyone makes mistakes, & 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 & change, the Lord is merciful & forgiving & will not hold it against us. All men & women of God have made mistakes & have weaknesses, but when they have repented & changed‚ the Lord has forgiven them & pardoned them & taken the condemnation & the guilt away. So if God has forgiven you, others must forgive you, & if they won't, God will hold it against them.

50. Many of our backsliders not only refuse to forgive certain Family Members for past mistakes, but they become filled with demonic hatred & 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 & His Work, & 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! (2Thes.2:10,11.) They take things that happened to them that are often very minor & insignificant & exaggerate them & misinterpret them & distort them & expand on them until they've woven a great tale of abusive treatment by their supposedly "all-powerful, cruel & despotic leadership!"

51. It seems that most of these bitter backsliders have two main areas of criticism. One is about the supposedly "horrible" things that happened to them when they were in the Family, things that offended them or hurt them or impoverished them in some way. The other major thing they bring up is what they just didn't like or agree with, like our past FFing or our sexual freedoms or our living by faith or our insistence on "forsaking all & taking up the cross daily!"—All kinds of good Scriptural policies & practices that they didn't like & didn't agree with for one reason or another, mostly because they just didn't want to do them, it was too hard, too much of a sacrifice. And because most of these things are pretty different from mainstream society & are pretty radical doctrines as far as the System is concerned, the backsliders like to bring them up to try to justify themselves for leaving us.

Other Accusations & Fabrications!

52. 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 & time again, concocting absolutely absurd & lurid accusations like, "They're stockpiling weapons in all of their Homes!" "They perform Satanic rituals!" "They hypnotise & brainwash people!" "They buy & sell babies!" "They prostitute their teens!" etc., etc!

53. Our enemies don't really care what they say about us. If they can use an actual mistake that we have made, they will use that. If they can use a Godly truth that we are living, & somehow distort it to make it look evil or criminal‚ they'll use that. If they can use a totally fabricated & concocted story, they will use that; whatever they feel will work to their greatest advantage, this is what they will use against us. They will use anything they can to try to accomplish their purpose of stirring up the public & the authorities against us. And, as I said‚ their purpose in accusing us is to try to discredit the Word & to discredit the Family itself, & all the good fruit the Lord has helped us to bear.

54. It doesn't really matter to the World whether these accusations from our enemies are true or false‚ whether we've done anything wrong or not, they'll still call our good evil. Of course, if the Devil can get ahold of something that we actually practice that is unacceptable to the System, like Home Schooling in some countries, he would definitely prefer to use that than to try to have to substantiate concocted & completely fabricated claims which have absolutely no basis in fact. But if he can't find anything that we're doing that will raise an outcry from the System, then he'll just make something up, something wild, outrageous & criminal that will get the public & the authorities in a real uproar, like charges related to drugs, child abuse, trafficking babies‚ etc.

Spiritual Truths Incomprehensible to Flatlanders!

55. The System is never going to understand or agree with the way we handled that whole situation we faced with [this person] …. How can Flatlanders ever understand or relate to the terrible spiritual battle we encountered with [this person] during that time, when the Devil was literally taking her mind over? The System is so propagandised & brainwashed against that sort of thing nowadays, they think that demons & exorcisms are from the Dark Ages or some kind of science fiction or something.

56. If you try to explain that sort of thing to most Systemites today they'll think you're nuts, & they'll probably think, "You're an absolute quack!—Why didn't you immediately rush the poor girl to a psychiatrist or to the mental hospital?" The whole idea of deliverance from demons is something they can't comprehend at all. I don't know if I would even have the faith to try to explain those kind of details to someone outside the Family & expect them to understand—unless they're really genuine Christians, old-fashioned Bible-believing Christians who believe in demons & deliverances.

57. "The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit, & the carnal mind is enmity against God, not subject to the Will of God, neither indeed can be."—1Cor.2:14; Rom.8:7. So I just don't think we'd be too successful in trying to explain those kinds of details‚ things that are based on spiritual principles, to unbelieving, unspiritual, carnally–minded Flatlanders!

Judases, Past & Present!

58. Dad has often said that there are always going to be Judases, those whom you've taken into your care & into your confidence, whom you've loved & cared for & nurtured, & then they stab you in the back. Every great man has had his Judases, sometimes more than one. And in this Endtime, that's certainly what we can expect‚ & what the Lord has promised & what we have learned is the normal course of events for those who stand up for the Lord & His Truth‚ & stand against the lies of the System. In His description of the Last Days in Matthew 24, the Lord warned us that it would be like this now, "And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another."—Mat.24:10. So all those things are certainly coming true now.

59. Actually, these kinds of attacks are nothing new. We have suffered very vicious attacks for years now.—Not only on the Family as a whole, but also on Dad personally. So we shouldn't be surprised about it. Some of the people who were closest to Dad have attacked him & have been Judases, we've had quite a few of them. Rachel, Timothy & some of them weren't as vengeful, but things are getting worse all the time, & the Enemy knows his time is short & he is pulling out all the stops & just giving it his best shot. We had Deborah & her initial attacks quite a few years ago.

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Bad Pictures: Resist the Devil!

63. We don't want to imply here that anyone in our Family who has bad pictures is insane & off their rocker. But if they're getting hit with those kinds of pictures, it's a warning that they'd better really get on the attack, & that the Devil is going about as a roaring lion seeking to devour them! Even with normal sane people who are close to the Lord, the Enemy is often permitted to test them with violent pictures, to see what they'll do about it. He sometimes puts those kind of pictures in their minds to try to convince them that they're crazy, & that there's something seriously wrong with them.

64. Of course, if people don't resist & fight, but just yield to the Enemy's thoughts & evil pictures, then those things just take them over more & more, & they can really go off the deep end! There may soon be something seriously wrong with them, because giving place to those kinds of devilish pictures & thoughts will just take them over & overwhelm them & drive them off the deep end!

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The Enemy's Tactic of Mixing a Little Truth with His Lies

73. Many of the charges that a lot of these backsliders bring up against us are not "all lies." As Dad has always said, the Devil tries to use as much truth as he can, because if he didn't have at least some truth in his accusations, nobody would believe him. But when he can mix in some truth with his lies, it makes them all the more damaging & all the more powerful. So he usually tries to use as much truth as he can.

74. Of course‚ the Devil twists that truth & misinterprets it‚ misconstrues it, exaggerates it & wrests it, just like he did in the beginning in the Garden of Eden. He told Adam & Eve that if they would eat the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge that their eyes would be opened, & that they would be as gods, knowing good & evil; & that was a tremendous truth! But he twisted that truth to mislead & deceive them into disobeying the Lord.—And he threw in a big outright lie along with it, "Ye shall not surely die!" (See Gen.3:1-7.) So although he may start out with some bit of truth, some detail that is true, he completely rewrites the story on it so that it comes out completely different than it started out to be.

75. The Enemy knows that when he mixes in a little truth with his lies, it makes it much more difficult for us to refute those lies. It's much easier to refute something when you can just say it's all lies. But some of these latest allegations are not all pure fabrications & lies. Of course, in these backsliders' accounts, everything is so absolutely distorted & misinterpreted, all of our good is being evil spoken of. They turn all of our good into evil, & try to make it all look evil in the eyes of the public, & even in the eyes of the Family.

76. It will probably be hard for the poor public & even our friends to believe that [these backsliders] could make up such detailed stories that sound so credible. Even for the Family‚ it might be hard for some people not to believe some of the stuff that [they] are saying, especially since so much of what they say seems to corroborate what we've published in the … Letters.

77. So a lot of the problem is that the Enemy usually tries to use as much truth as he can when presenting his lies. You just need to remember that when he, the "father of lies," takes things that are true, he twists & misinterprets the truth, distorts it, exaggerates it & throws in a lot of outright lies as well.—Which is certainly the case in these recent "horror stories" from our enemies!

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Fictional Fantasies Are Very Common!

82. But how many novels or fictional stories & books are there in the World? How many people have virtually done the same thing that [some of our backslidders are] now doing? If you just take a look at all of the novels & movies & 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 & totally imaginary stories, making them sound very believable & true-to-life! Compulsive liars can make up the most believable lies right on the spot, & they even start to believe their own lies. They get so into playing the part, like an actor‚ only it's all a made-up story concocted to get attention.

83. Making up stories & 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 & small. Remember the Howard Hughes hoax, when that writer announced to the World that he had Howard Hughes' autobiography, & 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, & they proved to be a total forgery. (Note from World Book Encyclopedia: "In 1971, the McGraw–Hill Book Company paid about $750‚000 to Clifford Irving, a writer, for a manuscript he presented as Hughes' autobiography. Irving claimed he worked on it with Hughes, but Hughes denied knowing Irving. In 1972, Irving and his wife admitted to misrepresenting the manuscript to the publisher. They were fined and imprisoned.")

84. Not to mention the huge lies & fabricated stories that governments frequently cook up to deceive & 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 & 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 & 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.

85. 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 & then I said that. He did this & I did that," it usually sounds pretty believable. It's just hard to believe that somebody could make up things like that!

86. And sad to say‚ people usually want to believe the bad & 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, & 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?

87. 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 & the unselfishness & the sacrifice & has obviously been greatly used of the Lord over the years? And who is this little shrimp, this little nobody who is trying to exalt herself by telling vicious lies against God's Prophet? If you just consider the source of these accusations, you certainly shouldn't be swayed by them!

88. Of course, if you're as honest as can be‚ & you would never even think of making up a story or telling a lie ... well‚ you must have told some lies in your life, but if you've never concocted a big story like [some of our backsliders have], then maybe you just can't understand how people could possibly say such things unless they were actually true. Well, as I said earlier, people do it all the time!—All the time! And a lot of them sound so credible, so realistic, they get away with it. They can sound so sincere. A lot of them get to the point where they almost believe it themselves because they're so filled with the Devil, & they've so misinterpreted, misconstrued & misconstructed things.

89. Besides‚ when they open themselves up to the Devil, they live in a world of fantasy! That's usually why crazy people are crazy! They believe something that is not true. They live in a world of imagination, of fantasy. And [this backslider] lived that way all her life. And while she was with us, she daily proved that she was living in a world of fantasy, until it got so bad she told us she was fucking the Devil & throwing horrible violent curses on everyone around her, describing these in vivid, gruesome detail!

The Dilemma of Explaining Spiritual Problems to Flatlanders!

90. We're faced with a bit of a dilemma, to know whether to describe [this backslider's] problems to others in System terms or spiritual terms. It's certainly true that she was living in a fantasy world, in a daydream world. But the problem is‚ from there, things start becoming real, real in spirit. If you start to fantasise & you start to live in a world of daydreams, the Enemy can get in & make it very real in the spirit. But the System isn't ever going to understand that, they would say it was all pure fantasy. She boasted of how she was fucking the Devil & she had her little "friends" in the spirit world that she was playing all kinds of games with, but of course, the System would say it was all in her imagination.

91. For System purposes, we could say she was living in a dream world, fantasy, imagination, a state of mind that they call insane, mentally unstable, unbalanced, crazy!—A world where she was constantly seeing visions of harming herself & harming others‚ & doing the most horrible‚ vicious things to those who loved her & were taking care of her & trying to help her. Terrible things!—So terrible we didn't want to publish anything about them because it was very frightening & demonic! And for our purposes, our understanding of her problems, she was spiritually communicating & in tune with the Enemy, consorting with demons. So however you look at it, whether she was simply crazy or demon-possessed—or both‚ [this ex–member] certainly is not a reliable witness!

Insane Backsliders Under the Enemy's Control!

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93. But if you would go to any psychiatric hospital & ask the attendants, they would tell you that there are many mental patients who are completely wacky & out of their mind who can appear to the public to be perfectly normal, can talk perfectly intelligently, carry on very sane conversations, & can go on for quite some time, & you'd never know that anything was wrong with them! But there's something terribly wrong with them, & if you stay around long enough, you'll find out!

94. "Man looketh on the outward appearance, but God looketh on the heart," & inside there is something terribly wrong! …

95. Some of our insane backsliders can look so sane. In cases where they've pretty much flipped out because they turned their backs on the Lord & on His Word, the Enemy can help them to get back on their feet as far as outward appearances go. Some of them … have gone from being very obviously mentally upset to becoming seemingly stable & in control of the situation, being able to talk very intelligently about things, & express themselves very articulately.

96. Of course, the Enemy controls them‚ & he can make them do whatever he wants them to do, whatever is in his best interests! So he can make them seem completely sane & well-adjusted now that they're out of "the group." On the other hand, if it's to his advantage, he can make them seem completely off their rocker to demonstrate‚ "Look what this terrible group did to me!"—Just whatever suits his purpose at the time. They're under his control & he will make them be & do whatever suits his purposes for the moment. (2Tim.2:26.)

Our Enemies' Charges of Psychological & Emotional Abuse

97. Our enemies are now trying to pull out these charges of "psychological abuse" & "psychological damage." They think they've really hit on something they can use against us. The sexual abuse charges aren't making it, & 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 & our commitment to Him is completely insane from their anti-God perspective. So from their viewpoint, they could say we're all psychologically damaged!

98. According to their Flatlander System definitions, they've got us & we're guilty. 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! (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!

99. 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, suicide cases, etc., 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 & emotional anguish is because they have failed the Lord & turned their backs on Him, & betrayed His Work & people‚ & 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 & refusing to yield to the Lord. Or in [another] case, who was in mental institutions before coming to the Lord & the Family. I suppose our enemies would say that it was Jesus' fault that Judas went out & 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 & dramatically after he left!

100. Because we believe in having exorcisms & casting out evil spirits, etc., they'll probably try to charge us with quite a few things, maybe even including practicing medicine without a license! They've brought this ridiculous charge against religious groups before, & because there weren't actually any medicines involved‚ it was easy to discount the accusation. Maybe a new updated charge will be that we're practicing psychiatry without a license. (—Ha!)

101. 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, & He has not given us a spirit of fear, like most of the people in the System have, but of power & of love & 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 warranted institutional care. The vast majority of our members are wonderful, happy & well–adjusted people who are extremely healthy mentally & emotionally & spiritually, etc.

102. But our enemies will probably try to claim that the majority of people who have left the Family have been psychologically damaged & are now in sad shape, having been traumatised, tortured, mentally & emotionally manipulated, etc. Because they're starting from the premise that all of our people are more or less nut cases anyway, 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 & 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 & forsaking of the Lord & His Work—& it'll all be blamed on the Family!

Our Backslidden Enemies' Culpability (Guilt)

103. It's amazing how [our enemies] can spend all their time fighting us! Here we're doing our best to win souls & do what Jesus wants us to do, & they're doing their best to try to stop us! Meanwhile, [some of their own] kids are an absolute mess, mixed up with drugs & crime—like most of our enemies' offspring. And they accuse us about our children?! Boy, they're going to have a lot to answer for!—Not only keeping us from being the witness we should be, & 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 & He's used them to make us even stronger witnesses, then His judgments will fall!—D.)

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family