—MO January 13, 1971 NO.37

Dear Kids: Remember Justin's prophecy at the end of NBC: His paraphrase of 1Sam.18:7. "Saul hath slain his thousands, and David is ten thousands."? Well as I was looking at a letter from Saul, I got this the following vs.8: Saul is saying "And what can he have more but the kingdom?" in his letter, and as I read Saul's prophecy (Vs.10): "The sword is within inches of the vital organ," I got: a picture of David dodging the javelin (vs.11). Vs.13 is significant, too. In the following reply‚ David is again singing to Saul: We sent Saul a copy, so he'd know you were scolded.—I'm still singing to him for you! As you can see, this letter was written not only for your benefit, but for Saul's!

WORKING WITH KINGS—REQUIRES MUTUAL RESPECT, COMMUNICATION, AND FAITHFULNESS.

MY DEARLY BELOVED CHILDREN: Greetings in Jesus' Dear Name!

1. I HAVE JUST RECEIVED A VERY PERSONAL LETTER FROM BROTHER SAUL URGENTLY AND SINCERELY REQUESTING MY HELP IN A PROBLEM INVOLVING YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM‚ upon which I feel it necessary to exhort you, admonish you and advise you.

2. HE THANKS ME FOR BEING FRANK WITH HIM, in sharing our thoughts with him in our epistles to you. In our 18 years of association with him, I have always tried to level with him and tell it like it is. In all the time I was working with him on radio and television, I never missed a faithful weekly report and was rarely ever even late with one. When I would strike a particular snag that required urgent attention, I would even call him long distance collect, and he would gladly accept the calls‚ and discuss the problem with me at length‚ even on long distance.

3. IN ALL THOSE YEARS, HE AND I TRIED TO KEEP OUR LINES OF COMMUNICATION FULLY OPEN AND BE PERFECTLY CANDID WITH EACH OTHER. In all our years of business association with him in the Lord's Work‚ we never had one single written agreement or formal contract between us yet he was always a man of his word. His word was better than bond or contract. If he made me a promise‚ even on the telephone, he always stuck to it, even if it hurt, and I knew I could count on him to keep his word. In all those years I believe I can say he never failed to do so!

4. IN ALL THOSE YEARS I TOO TRIED TO BE PERFECTLY FRANK WITH HIM AND TELL HIM LIKE IT WAS, EVEN IF IT HURT OR HE MIGHT NOT LIKE IT—SOMETIMES EVEN AT THE RISK OF MY OWN RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM IF I THOUGHT IT WAS FOR HIS OWN GOOD OR THE GOOD OF THE WORK. I must say to his credit, that he took all of this very well and appreciated my being honest with him even if he didn't always agree with me although he usually accepted my suggestions and recommendations‚ because he knew that I was in the field and felt that I understood the situation there better than he did and therefore, trusted me to do the right thing.

5. NOT ONLY THIS, BUT PERHAPS PARTLY BECAUSE OF IT, WE LEARNED TO LOVE RESPECT, AND EVEN ADMIRE EACH OTHER, and built up a relationship of mutual understanding which has endured, thanks to the Lord and for the sake of His Work! We have learned to love and trust each other, each to be a man of his word, and have developed a bond of faith, in the Lord, between us—which is stronger than any so-called legal agreement. I know what he'll do, and he knows what I'll do, and we expect it of each other, and I believe we've never been disappointed in each other.

6. IT REMINDS ME OF A STORY TOLD OF WORLD WAR I TRENCH WARFARE, ABOUT TWO BROTHERS‚ ONE OF WHOM WAS LYING WOUNDED IN ACTION IN "NO-MANS'" LAND‚ a deadly, dangerous area as you recall, between the opposing forces. When the older brother in the trench heard of the plight of his younger brother in the field, he said to his officer, "I've got to go get him!" His officer said‚ "It's impossible!"—"You'll be killed the minute you stick your head out of this trench. You know the enemy always starts shooting the minute we go over the top!" But the older brother tore himself loose from the officer's grip, scrambled out of the trench and plunged into "no-man's" land to find his kid brother, despite the withering fire of the enemy, and there he found him‚ mortally wounded, and whispering, "I knew you'd come! I knew you'd come!" The older brother, himself now wounded, barely managed to drag his younger brother back to the Allied lines‚ both of them falling into the trench dying. With tears streaming down his face, his officer said to the older brother, "Why did you do it? I told you‚ you'd both be killed!" But the older brother replied with a final smile, "I had to do it! You see—he expected it of me, and I couldn't fail him!"

7. THIS IS THE KIND OF MUTUAL FAITH AND TRUST WHICH HAS EXISTED BETWEEN SAUL AND ME FOR YEARS: I KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT OF HIM, AND HE KNOWS WHAT TO EXPECT OF ME, and we've rarely if ever been disappointed in each other. I have tried to be faithful to him, and he has always tried to be faithful to me. We know this‚ and that's why we're still able to work together after all these years, despite minor differences and very few misunderstandings.

8. ONE OF THE MAJOR REASONS FOR THIS IS THAT WE'VE ALWAYS TRIED TO KEEP IN GOOD COMMUNICATION AND BE AS FRANK AND OPEN WITH EACH OTHER AS POSSIBLE, just as I have tried to be with you, although it has not always been easy, and all has not always been sweetness and light. Nevertheless, I believe you must agree that such a relationship that has lasted for most of 18 years, is a pretty good one.

9. AND I SAY AGAIN, THAT MUTUAL LOVE, RESPECT, FRANKNESS, COMMUNICATION, AND THE LORD HAVE DONE IT, BECAUSE IT WAS ORDAINED OF GOD FOR THE SAKE OF HIS KINGDOM. God loves us, we love Him‚ and we both love His Work and each other, and as a result of this partnership in the Lord's ministry, we have both accomplished some tremendous miracles of the Gospel, both in the field of television and of youth today. It's a long and wonderful story and I wish I could tell you all of it.

HONOURING KINGS WITH LOYALTY AND OBEDIENCE

10. SUFFICE IT TO SAY THAT HE HAS BEEN GOD'S CHOSEN KING AND I HAVE BEEN HIS FAITHFUL SERVANT, and together we have fought and won many battle for the Lord and have greatly strengthened His Kingdom and increased the number of it's citizens! Praise the Lord! He did his job, and I did mine, and we tried not to interfere with each other, but to cooperate together as much as possible. We did not always exactly agree, although we usually did, thanks to the Lord, and I'm sure that each of us was not always exactly right but he was still the king.

11. RIGHT OR WRONG, HE WAS THE BOSS, AND THE RIGHT OR WRONG, IT WAS MY DUTY TO OBEY. His was the responsibility. If I disobeyed and things went wrong, I had no one but myself to blame! Thank God, I think he will tell you, I was nearly always faithful to do what he requested, even if I didn't like it. Thank God we nearly always agreed because we were Spirit led. Praise the Lord! Thank the Lord! God never fails! "Though we are faithless, yet He remaineth faithful—He cannot deny Himself." (II Tim 2:13) God doesn't make mistakes, even when they look like it to us.

12. DID GOD MAKE A MISTAKE WHEN HE PUT SAUL AND ME TOGETHER‚ OR HASN'T HE GOTTEN A LOT OF WORK OUT OF BOTH OF US AS A RESULT? "One can chase a thousand—two can put ten thousand to flight!" There is tremendous strength in unity. I think you'll have to agree we've made a good combination over all these years‚ and the world had heard about it!

13. HE HAS BEEN LIKE A FATHER OR OLDER BROTHER TO ME‚ AND I HAVE BEEN HIS SON IN THE LORD‚ AND TOGETHER WE HAVE WON TREMENDOUS VICTORIES WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN IMPOSSIBLE OTHERWISE! We have needed each other‚ and the Lord has needed us, and God knows we've needed Him, and He's helped us each to meet these needs! He has done what I could not begin to do, and I have done that which it was impossible for him to do! We've made a good combination, thank the Lord!

14. IT WAS BROTHER SAUL WHO FIRST HELPED TO OPEN MINE EYES TO THE FAILURES AND NEEDS OF THE CHURCH AND ITS ONLY REMEDIES: Not only a return to the pristine purity of the faith and doctrines of Jesus Christ, but also to the policies‚ practices and methods of Jesus, His disciples, and the Early Church in winning the world for Christ and reaching this generation with the Gospel. He preached and practiced it himself and he and his spiritual children taught it to me, and much of what you hear from me today was given to me by him from the Lord in the beginning of our comradeship together.

15. YOU AND I KNOW THAT HE LOVES GOD AND HAS SERVED HIM FAITHFULLY THROUGH THE YEARS‚ AND HIS WORKS ARE MANIFEST BY THE FRUITS OF HIS MINISTRY, OF WHOM I AM ONE—AND YOU TOO, THROUGH ME AND MINE! As Jesus once said, "Believe me for my works sake."—And his works have brought good fruit!—Fruit that remains‚ and will till Jesus comes! Hallelujah!

16. IF WE'VE HAD ANY MISUNDERSTANDINGS, THEY'VE BEEN OF THE MIND AND NOT OF THE HEART. If there have been any differences, they have been of opinion or degree, and not of the Spirit. You know that we both love souls with a passion and will make any sacrifice to see them saved, but you must remember that each has his own unique ministry in this field, each is dependent on the other, each has to rely upon the other to help get the job done! We need each other! We are all a part of His Body, and no member can say to the other. "I have no need of thee." (1Cor.12:21)

17. GOD HAD DESIGNED EACH OF US FOR OUR PARTICULAR JOB! We each are a part of God's Plan, each is a thread in the tapestry, a cog in the machinery, a piece in the jigsaw puzzle of God's great work of art, His Church, without any one of which, something would be missing, but, "God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect." Hallelujah!

18. FOR YEARS BROTHER SAUL AND I HAVE LABOURED TOGETHER AS BROTHERS IN ARMS EXPECTING FAITHFULNESS OF EACH OTHER, and we have seldom been disappointed, as I have said, but when there was a difference, I have never forgotten that he was the king, and I his warrior, and that if the difference could not be reconciled, it was my duty to obey, and his the responsibility‚ and God's to judge—no other! If we parted company for a time, it was only that I might go far afield to recruit a mighty army for the Lord's service, with which we have now returned to place them at the Lord's disposal.

19. WE HAVE COME TO THE KINGDOM FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS AND I BELIEVE OUR MIGHTIEST VICTORIES LIE AHEAD IF WE CAN CONTINUE TO WORK IN PEACE AND HARMONY, TRUST AND UNITY WITH EACH OTHER, THAT SOULS MAY BE SAVED. You want this, you know that I want this, and we both know that Saul wants it! Only the Enemy tries to divide and conquer! United we stand and can win the world—divided we could fall apart, or be seriously handicapped, to say the least! You know what God wants! Are you willing to make some accommodations and sacrifices to help make this possible?

PROPHETS AND KINGS MUST COOPERATE TOGETHER TO DO GOD'S WORK

20. AS I HAVE TOLD YOU BEFORE, EVERY PROPHET AND MAN OF GOD FROM THE APOSTLE PAUL TO MARTIN LUTHER—NAY‚ BOTH BEFORE AND SINCE!—HAVE HAD TO HAVE THEIR PATRONS‚ PROTECTORS, AND PROVIDERS, IN ORDER THAT THEY MIGHT ACCOMPLISH GOD'S WORK! If it had not been for the king and his God–given protection and provision, Martin Luther could never have survived and accomplished as much as he did; although this created many problems for both Luther and the king, it solved many more. The powerful king stood like a bulwark between Luther and his enemies, and would not let them touch him till his work was done. He provided his kingdom as a secure place in which God's prophet could work freely and without fear. The king provided much of his material necessities, so that Luther could concentrate on his spiritual labours. Together they made a terrific and unbeatable team, and the Great Reformation of the Church, a genuine spiritual Revolution, was the result, from which you are still reaping benefits in faith and practice and freedom of religion.

21. TODAY BROTHER SAUL IS NOT ONLY OUR SPIRITUAL FATHER‚ GRANDFATHER, AND EVEN GREAT-GRANDFATHER TO SOME OF YOU‚ BUT HE IS ALSO OUR EARTHLY KING WHOM GOD HAD PROVIDED FOR THE BENEFIT OF HIS KINGDOM, and it is our duty to be his loyal‚ faithful, and obedient subjects! He has placed his entire kingdom, forces, resources, domains, reputation and protection at out disposal, as well as providing a measure of our provision, and is laying his life and ministry on the line for us, for God, and for souls.

22. HE IS ONLY ASKING THAT WE SHOW THE RESPECT, COOPERATION AND OBEDIENCE THAT IS DUE HIM AS OUR EARTHLY HEAD, that all parts of the body may be fitly joined together and work together well-coordinated in the Lord's service. I don't believe this is asking too much. He has been very tolerant and lenient with us, even though sometimes we have tried his patience with the extremes of our radical doctrines and fanatical witnessing.

23. BASICALLY WE ARE NO DIFFERENT, BUT PERHAPS ONLY IN DEGREE‚ THE EXTENT TO WHICH WE HAVE GONE TO TRY TO WIN THIS RADICAL, FANATICAL, AND DANGEROUS GENERATION. This he has tried to understand and accommodate to help you win them, but being a wise king, he usually knows how much he thinks you can get away with without endangering the whole army, if not the entire kingdom, as well as the life of the king!

24. SO HE HAS TRIED TO KEEP YOU WITHIN THE BONDS OF THE LAW, AT LEAST ITS OUTER FRINGES, and within the range of some reason under his guidance and protection, that you might operate as safety as possible and last as long as could be hoped without bringing down the wrath of the whole world on your heads prematurely before your work is done.

25. THROUGH THE YEARS I HAVE FOUND HIM A VERY WISE KING WITH BROAD KNOWLEDGE AND KEEN DISCERNMENT OF THE FACTS, AND YOU'LL SELDOM BE ABLE TO FOOL HIM, NO MATTER HOW HARD YOU TRY—AND YOU'D BETTER NOT TRY! You'd better look up all those Scriptures on the good kings in the Bible and see what God expects of you—even with some of the bad ones! "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God—the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God. And they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: For he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. Wherefore, ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake."

26. BROTHER SAUL IS THE HIGHER POWER AS FAR AS YOU'RE CONCERNED, AND HE IS OF GOD, YOUR RULER, THE MINISTER OF GOD FOR YOUR GOOD, AND YOU'D BETTER BELIEVE IT! And you'd better give honour to whom honor is due, fear to whom fear‚ tribute to whom tribute, and the gratitude, respect, and obedience that it is his right to demand! It's God's Word‚ and you'd better obey it. Some of you seem to think he's some kind of jolly old Santa Claus who should only come around once a year, and leave enough at your disposal that you won't have to be bothered with him again for a while—some kind of kindly, over-indulgent father who's going to let you get away with things that are not good for you, much less for him, the house, and the rest of the family, but this is not the case!

27. IF HE IS A GOOD AND FAITHFUL FATHER‚ HE WILL REBUKE AND CHASTEN THEM WHOM HE LOVES! If he is a wise and loyal king‚ he will rule, judge, and control you for the sake of the safety of the Kingdom—not because he hates you, but because he loves you, and wants to see you continue to enjoy its benefits, that you may win its victories!—As long as possible—or you may find it a lot colder outside, than in—and I wouldn't blame him! So behave yourselves accordingly!

28. LOVE, HONOUR, AND OBEY THE KING, for this is good and well pleasing in the sight of the Lord,—and His prophet: I love you‚ therefore I chasten you! God bless you!

29. P.S. PLEASE KEEP TRYING HARDER TO PLEASE THE KING. We sent Saul a copy so he'd know you were scolded. I'm still singing to him for you. As you can see‚ this letter was written not only for your benefit but for Saul's. "Pray your flight be not in winter." Dad.

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family