DO 954-824 December 1980

1. I WAS ALMOST DYING THE LAST COUPLE DAYS. I was very foolish & I overdid & I got upset about some things that were happening. It's so sad when people fail you when you put so much into them & have done so much for them & they go back on you & turn against you.

2. YOU'VE LOVED THEM SO MUCH & YOU THOUGHT THEY LOVED YOU & they throw it all over for selfishness & the Devil & their own personal private interests & forget the Lord & forget His Work & forget His people & His Family. They forget the whole World just for themselves & their own selfish interests.

3. IT'S SO SAD & SO PITIFUL, THESE SAULS, THE FAILURES, THE DISAPPOINTMENTS TO GOD. They must truly break the heart of God like they break my heart. I was really upset & I just let the old Devil sort of get me down & discouraged & to murmur & complain & feel almost like giving up, thinking what's the use when people that you've loved so dearly & have done so much for, turn on you & turn their backs on you & throw it all over for the husks!

4. THEY THROW OVER THE REAL GRAIN & THE MEAT & THE GOOD FOOD JUST TO WALLOW IN THE HUSKS & MIRE & THEIR OLD VOMIT AGAIN! It's so heartbreaking to see these failures, so heartbreaking to see them go back. As the Lord Himself said‚ "My soul abhorreth him that turneth back!" (Heb.10:38.) God hates to see people's backs! It's pitiful, really pitiful! And He said, "He that having put his hand to the plow & even looking back is not worthy of Me!" (Lk.9:62.)

5. THEY'RE REALLY A HEARTBREAKING SIGHT, THESE THAT TURN BACK, THESE BACKSLIDERS. They always say, "No, I'm not leaving the Family, I'm not really turning back‚ I'm not backsliding. I'm not going to turn against you, Dad, I'm not going to do anything, I wouldn't think of it!"

6. JUST LIKE JUDAS, HE WOULDN'T HAVE THOUGHT OF IT EITHER, but he finally sold out his own Lord for 30 pieces of silver, & most of all for the praise of the System. At that he lost the whole works, including his life, & worst of all, his ministry that he could have had for the Lord that the other disciples had after he was gone, of winning tens of thousands of souls to Jesus for an eternal reward of seeing those souls again in Heaven not many years after that. Think of it!

7. MY, WHAT IT COST JUDAS! What is 30 pieces of silver?—That was no bargain! That was a real cheap deal, selling his Lord for 30 pieces of silver & losing his life & his reward! I believe he was saved, believe it or not. Some people don't think so, but I think that's why he was so remorseful & repentant that he went out & committed suicide; he realised what it'd cost him, he realised what he'd lost.

8. HE HAD LOST EVERYTHING & GAINED NOTHING! He even threw the 30 pieces of silver back at the feet of the torturers & crucifiers of Jesus—the religious Jewish leaders, the scribes, the Pharisees, the chief priests—threw it back at them & they refused to even accept it. They didn't want to touch blood money. What self–righteousness! What hypocrisy!

9. THEY HAD PAID IT FOR THE BLOOD OF JESUS, "BOUGHT WITH A PRICE"—pretty cheap price at that‚ considering what that blood has done for us! It has bought us & billions of others eternal salvation! That's what I call a bargain! Not 30 pieces of silver for the blood of Jesus! But they didn't even want it back, so they bought a potter's field, a place to bury the poor, & Judas went & hanged himself, poor fellow. How sad! (Mt.27:5-10.)

10. EVEN IF HE DIDN'T LOSE HIS SALVATION, SURELY HE'LL BE ON THE BOTTOM OF THE TOTEM POLE somewhere down in the basement, raised to everlasting shame & contempt. What a horrible reward! Well, at least it's better than going to Hell, but sometimes I wonder!

11. I THINK SOME PEOPLE WOULD PROBABLY BE MORE AT HOME IN HELL than having to be in Heaven facing the Lord & His children & constantly remembering how they failed—how they failed God & how they failed His Family & how they turned traitor & treasonable & betrayed their own Lord & their own Family & their own leadership.

12. WHAT A SAD, PITIFUL DANDY BAD EXAMPLE SOME OF THESE HAVE SET! How pitiful! They've turned back like the hogs to their wallowing in the mire‚ the dogs to their vomit. (2Pet.2:22.) They've gone back to what didn't satisfy them in the first place, which is why they came to us.

13. LIKE THE RICH YOUNG RULER, THEY HAVE GONE BACK. Jesus had told them to "forsake all, give to the poor, & come follow Me" (Mt.19:21), but they have gone back sorrowful because of their riches & the riches of man, material riches of this life, & considering them of more value than the riches in Christ & the riches in souls.

14. THANK GOD FOR MEN LIKE MOSES WHO FORSOOK EGYPT! "He had respect unto the recompense of the reward." He looked beyond because he saw Jesus & had an eye on Eternity & its great rewards. Thank God for Moses & Moses' men, Moses-like men like you & others that have been faithful. PYL! Hallelujah! TYJ!

15. "FOR HE COUNTED THE RICHES OF CHRIST GREATER THAN THE RICHES OF ALL EGYPT!" (Heb.11:26.)—The greatest & most powerful richest nation on the face of the Earth in that day, of which he could have been Pharaoh‚ & of which he was the pharaoh junior, couldn't compare to Christ!

16. FOR HE COUNTED THE RICHES OF CHRIST GREATER THAN THE RICHES OF THIS WORLD‚ "for he had respect unto the recompense of the reward"—far greater than all the riches of this whole World combined‚ & all of its selfish pleasures & selfish interests. TYJ! PTL! TYL! So "he chose to suffer affliction with the children of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of this life for a season." (Heb.11:25.)

17. WHATEVER THIS LIFE & THIS WORLD HAS TO OFFER, IT'S ONLY FOR A LITTLE WHILE! But salvation, souls, children & the service for the Lord are forever, they are eternal! "For this World passes away & the fashion thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth forever! For the things which are seen are temporal, & the things which are not seen are eternal." (1Jn.2:17; 2Cor.4:18.) Hallelujah! So "love not the World neither the things that are in the World, for he that loveth the World, the love of the Father is not in him." (1Jn.2:15.)

18. SO IT'S SAD TO SEE SOME GO BACK FOR THEIR LOVE OF THE WORLD. As Paul once said of the young man Demas, "Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present World." (2Tim.4:10.) He had gone back, & you never hear anything about Demas again. He went back—what for? To save himself? To maybe save his relatives? Maybe to save his sweetheart & future family, children, mother, father, home? To save his life? For himself? My God help us!

19. "HE THAT SAVETH HIS LIFE SHALL LOSE IT, BUT HE THAT LOSETH HIS LIFE FOR MY SAKE & THE GOSPEL'S"—JESUS HIMSELF SAID—"SHALL SAVE IT!" (Mk.8:35.) So how much better to die for something than to live for nothing! TYJ! TYL! Amen! That's what I call a bargain, to give up this terrible old life in this horrible old World for a beautiful eternal life in Heaven! Amen?—With all of our friends & family & fish & folks we've won to the Lord forever! What could be better than that? I'd call that a bargain!

20. I CALL THAT A REAL CHEAP PRICE TO PAY FOR THESE ETERNAL DIVIDENDS, these eternal rewards & life with the Lord & His Family in the Heavenly places forever! Hallelujah! TYJ! PYL! Well, MWM's music sure brought me back to life tonight, GBY, & the prayers of many others, when I was really suffering & really down & a bit discouraged.

21. I THOUGHT‚ "WELL, MAYBE I'VE DONE ENOUGH, maybe I've accomplished all I can, maybe you folks don't appreciate me any more & maybe I might as well go home to be with the Lord." I'll tell you, it wasn't Maria's fault & it wasn't the folks around here by any means.

22. BUT I REALLY GET A LITTLE DOWN SOMETIMES WHEN I HEAR ABOUT BACKSLIDERS & loved ones who've gone back & gone astray, no longer serving us or the Lord or the Family or souls, no longer serving Heaven but serving Earth & its brief pleasures. But thank God for those of you who have given up this World for Jesus! TYL! (Sings: )

23. "YOU CAN HAVE ALL THIS WORLD, GIVE ME JESUS!

Give me Jesus! Give me Jesus!

You can have all this World, give me Jesus!"

Hallelujah! TYL! PYJ! In Jesus' name, give me Jesus! Amen! (Sings:)

24. "I'LL TAKE JESUS FOR MINE!

Yes, I'll take Jesus for mine!

You can have this whole wide World,

But I'll take Jesus for mine!

I'll take Jesus for mine!

I'll take Jesus for mine!

You can have this whole wide filthy World,

But I'll take Jesus for mine!"

PYJ! TYL! Hallelujah! Amen?

25. AND ALL THE FOLKS WHO LOVE THE LORD SAID: AMEN! What a small price to pay for all we're getting in return—Jesus, happiness, souls & eternity! TYJ! PYL! Hallelujah! (Sings:)

"It will be worth it all when we see Jesus!

Life's trials will seem so small when we see Christ!

One glimpse of His dear face,

All sorrows will erase,

So bravely run the race,

Till we see Christ!"

—Amen! TYJ!

—WHAT'S YOUR PRICE?

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family