DFO 147429/1/83

1. THE WORLD IS GETTING INTO A MESS & WE CAN BE THANKFUL WE'RE GOING TO SOON GET OFF—BUT WE'RE ACCOMPLISHING A LOT IN THE MEANTIME! PTL!—Making it easier for our Family to survive & be useful as long as we're still here‚ amen? What's the old song?—"Got a lot of livin' to do!" We've got a lot of learnin' to do too!—1000 years of Millennium!

2. WE'RE GOING TO HAVE A LOT MORE TO LEARN, BUT I THINK WE'RE GOING TO ENJOY IT A LOT MORE! With the Devil & all of our enemies out of the way & supernatural power & no more physical body, that's quite a relief! That's more than half the battle, with ourselves & the Devil out of the way!—That is our bad selves, you might say‚ & our physical fleshly bodies that cause us problems. As supernatural beings with supernatural immortal bodies with supernatural power & supernatural intellect I think it's going to be a lot easier!—Especially with the Devil & his gang out of the way.

3. BUT I REALLY AM CONVINCED THE MAIN JOB IS GOING TO BE EDUCATION, TEACHING, & I THINK SOME OF THE FIRST ONES THAT ARE GOING TO BE EDUCATED IS US! We're going to want to learn from the Patriarchs & the Prophets & the great men of God! Just think, you'll be able to ask'm: "What did you mean by that, Paul?" I have an idea on some of the things he's going to say, "Well, now I know better! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have put it that way." So we've all got a lot of learnin' to do, but it's going to be a lot easier, TTL! Compared to now it's going to be a rest!—No more sorrow, crying, pain or disease or devils to fight, no more flesh to fight, no more gravity to fight!

4. THAT'S ONE OF THE THRILLS I GET OUT OF SWIMMING‚ I JUST IMAGINE I'M FLYING! That's the one place on this Earth you can be weightless, & I just love to slide through the water, a little sample of Heavenly bodies! (And we have several here!) So we've got a lot to look forward to! PTL! He says, "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Ro.8:18) The Lord doesn't let us suffer too much, thank the Lord—hasn't yet anyway, & He's promised never to give you more than you're able to bear—but even these sufferings we have are not to even be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us in the Future Heaven on Earth!

5. I'M AMAZED HOW LITTLE THE PREACHERS EVER PREACH ABOUT THE NEXT LIFE OR THE SPIRIT WORLD OR HEAVEN! I mean, that's one of the most wonderful glorious subjects you could possibly preach about, that's what it's all about! That's why you're able to endure what's going on now. That's why Moses was able to endure, because "he had respect unto the recompense of reward, as seeing Him which is invisible!" Seeing the invisible World of the future he was able to count the sufferings of the present as nothing compared to what the reward was going to be. (He.11:24-27)

6. THAT HELPS YOU BEAR THESE PRESENT EARTHLY TRIALS & TRIBULATIONS WHEN YOU THINK OF THE REWARD WE'RE GOING TO RECEIVE, IF NOTHING ELSE!—Even here & now! It's all this & Heaven too! Like the old lady said, "If I never get to Heaven, I sure had a good time getting this far!" (Maria: Most Christians are really afraid of the Afterworld & the Afterlife.) The churches really don't teach them enough about Heaven, they don't seem to know enough about it, they're not sure about it.

7. (MARIA: I HAVE AN OLD GRANDMOTHER ABOUT 95 & she has glaucoma & all kinds of things, she should be dead already, & about a year ago I wrote & told her, "I'm really praying you'll be able to go & be with the Lord pretty soon & be out of your sufferings & misery, & won't it be wonderful!" And my mother, a preacher's wife for 30 years, was just horrified! She said, "Oh Honey, we don't want her to do that!" Here she's having to take care of her, they have an old folks' home, you'd think they'd want these poor old people to go to be with the Lord! But she said, "Oh Honey, we don't want her to go yet, we're so happy to have her here & she's so happy to be here!" They're really afraid. I think they're afraid to meet the Lord, for one thing, because of their failures.)

8. WELL, IT'S AN AWESOME EXPERIENCE THINKING YOU'RE ABOUT TO FACE THE LORD, I MUST CONFESS, but it is certainly compensated by the feeling of release & freedom. I just felt like I was lighter than air that night, just light as a feather‚ released, free! (See No.679:37.) I mean, in this body—except out there in the water—you're constantly heavy & being pulled down. You're uncomfortable in your seat right now, your bottom gets tired. It's like you have the weight of the World on you, the weight of gravity, the weight of your body. And one of the first most immediate wonderful feelings when you die is that sudden relief from gravity, lighter than air! That's the first physical sensation & I think that was proven in most of those afterdeath experiences too, that suddenly they just floated! Relief‚ release!

9. BUT I'M SURE THE LORD'S PRETTY BUSY & I DON'T KNOW THAT HE'S GOING TO BE ABLE TO FACE EVERYBODY! He's probably got plenty of angels busy doing that. A lot of these guys interpreted that Angel of Light as being Jesus‚ but I think the Lord is in a way, like Davidito used to say, "Way high up!"—And He's given His angels charge over those things.

10. THE OMNIPRESENT POWER OF THE LORD IS AN AMAZING THING, HOW WE ALL FEEL HIM & HIS SPIRIT PERSONALLY. We can actually know Him personally even now. And yet when it comes to going to "meet the Lord", as we say‚ it would be quite a job to meet as many people as die every day! The Lord would have to be pretty busy meeting every one of those Himself personally! I just don't think that would be practical.—Maybe it could be more likely like a Papal audience once a day with all who died that day?

11. IF YOU WANT TO USE A SIMILE OR PARALLEL OR PARABLE, WHEN WE BEGAN GETTING DISCIPLES RIGHT & LEFT EVEN ON THE ROAD & AT TSC‚ I DIDN'T MEET EVERY ONE OF THEM PERSONALLY‚ I couldn't possibly, & it wasn't even good security. I had officers in charge who did all that. About the only ones I met personally were those who either got to the top in officership as top leaders, or they were the worst troublemakers, one or the other‚ & I was the last stop on the way out!—Or en masse in class.

12. I'M SURE THAT'S MOST LIKELY WHAT'S KNOWN AS THE DEATH ANGEL OR GREETING ANGEL THAT GREETS THEM, & Dr. Koger was obviously my guide & I guess he was taking me there. But anyhow, I don't think you'd feel like it's too much less awesome an experience to meet an angel that's judging you than it is to meet the Lord, when he's going to show you your whole life & really have you judge yourself‚ which is what he really does in that experience. Every man, in a sense, becomes his own judge.

13. I KNEW I WAS GOING TO FACE SOME KIND OF JUDGMENT, especially since I'd just said no to the Lord & disobeyed the Lord, & I sure didn't want to go that way! Boy, I'll tell you, I was never so thankful when I woke up back in that bed again! It was a thrilling exhilarating feeling to be so light, just like I was floating, & to see Dr. Koger, but I was so ashamed I couldn't really enjoy it too much. So PTL! We've got a lot to look forward to, amen?

14. SO WHY SHOULD WE EVER FEAR DEATH WHEN IT'S OUR RELEASE, OUR GRADUATION, OUR PROMOTION? There is one thing I have asked the Lord, if possible, that He would relieve me of, besides not having to go through the Tribulation. At my age or the age I would be then, it would be pretty rough! This World as it now is is rough enough on old folks, without getting more tribulation! But I've asked the Lord to spare me, if possible, from any prolonged illness, anything where I'd have to be incapacitated & taken care of for a long time. But Maria argues with me about that too. (Maria: I hope the Lord spares you from that too‚ but I don't mind taking care of you.) I think if it was a choice between my being sick & my going, I think she'd rather I be sick as long as I'd still stick around, figuring at least I'd still be able to talk or something! (Maria: I figure if you could survive you'd be better later.)

15. WELL, I'VE ALREADY TOLD THE LORD, WHEN HE TAKES ME, I HOPE HE'LL TAKE ME FAIRLY QUICK. I want to hang around long enough to say good-bye, but I don't want to hang around too long. He let me go through that experience in Switzerland, being so sick when people had to really take care of me, even take me & put me on the toilet & wipe me & everything else. But after I saw my father like that‚ I really asked the Lord I hope I never get like that. I don't know why he had to go through it‚ I suppose to humble him or humble my Mother or prove her love for him or whatever it was. It was a real test for her because here she believed in healing, & her own husband had a stroke & was incapacitated, couldn't talk, couldn't take care of himself, couldn't even take himself to the toilet‚ couldn't feed himself. That's when Ho at 12 years of age did almost everything for him.

16. BUT IT'S FUNNY‚ MY FATHER STILL SEEMED TO BE MENTALLY CLEAR, HAD GOOD HEARING & GOOD EYESIGHT. They'd sit for hours & watch television together & he seemed to understand it all. They'd laugh to each other about things & enjoyed sitting there watching TV, but his speech was just impaired to where he was very difficult to understand. My Mother & Ho were about the only ones who could understand him, I couldn't understand him at all! I do hope I never get like that & you have to take care of me like that—unless I have to be humbled that way or you have to have such a trial to show me how much you love me, I don't know.

17. IT WAS HARD FOR ME TO UNDERSTAND WHY THE LORD LET MY FATHER GET IN THAT CONDITION, BUT IN SOME WAYS IT BROUGHT OUT THE BEST IN MY MOTHER. They hadn't gotten along too well for years & all of a sudden he was sort of dumped on her in that condition. And also it was probably good for him because he'd been awfully independent‚ just like an old bachelor practically. So I suppose it did his pride some good & hers too. And of course all those two or three years she prayed & prayed he'd be delivered, she wanted him to be healed as a testimony. But it sorta repaid the years he took care of her.

18. YOU'VE HEARD THE STORY I'VE TOLD ABOUT HOW SHE JUST COULDN'T UNDERSTAND WHY THE LORD WOULDN'T HEAL HIM & kept asking the Lord, "Why don't You deliver him?" The Lord finally just flat out told her: "Because you won't let him go! You won't release him!" She was sitting at "Bit of Sweden" in Huntington Beach. A very dear friend of hers, a Swedish couple ran this Swedish cafeteria, one of the most popular places in Huntington Beach where we often ate‚ & she was sitting there for lunch one afternoon. He was in the hospital by this time—she couldn't take care of him anymore—& she'd been to see him & he looked so bad, in an oxygen tent & tubes in his nose & mouth & he couldn't talk or anything, more dead than alive, & separated now from her for several days. She had just come back from seeing him & she was so depressed & so discouraged.

19. SHE'D JUST BEEN THERE AT VISITING HOURS & HAD LEFT & IT WAS JUST BEFORE THREE O'CLOCK, & SHE WAS AGAIN ASKING THE LORD, "WHY, LORD‚ WHY?" He said, "Well, you won't let him go. Why don't you release him? You keep praying that he'll stay & keep praying for his deliverance in this life." So she sat there & she finally made a definite commitment to the Lord, "Well, Lord, all right, I yield him to You, You do whatever You want to with him, I release him. Have Your way. Heal him or take him or whatever!" And just as she did that, she heard the town clock striking three & she just had a sort of a feeling like he had died. So she called the hospital & they said, "Yes, he passed away at three o'clock."

20. JUST THINK OF THE YEARS OF SUFFERING SHE COULD HAVE SAVED HIM IF SHE'D JUST LET HIM GO! The Lord didn't see fit to heal him, but she was just insistent on him being healed. So all she was doing was just holding him here when she could have let him go & spared him all that. But apparently she had a lot to learn too. It was a real humiliation for her after being a faith healer & preaching faith healing & all that, to have her husband completely disabled with a stroke for about two or three years. He was partially paralysed & couldn't dress himself, feed himself, go to the toilet or hardly anything. He was almost totally paralysed on one side & partially paralysed on the other.

21. ANOTHER THING MY MOTHER SAID WAS WHEN SHE WAS IN THAT CONDITION, HE HAD SO MUCH PATIENCE & LOVE & COMPASSION & TOOK SUCH GOOD CARE OF HER FOR SO MANY YEARS, that she thought maybe the Lord was trying to help her appreciate him more, to show how much love he'd had for her. She never really appreciated it until she had to take care of him, how much it took, how much love & hard work & patience, etc. She always had to have someone to help her with him, nurses & whatnot, because she couldn't lift him or anything, although he could still sort of shuffle along with somebody's arm around him to help him to get to the toilet & back to bed & that sort of thing. They'd even go out to eat once in awhile, but she'd have to just feed him like a little child. So he wasn't totally paralysed or totally incapacitated, just pretty crippled up.

22. SO I GUESS THE LORD TAUGHT HER ABOUT ALL THE LOVE & PATIENCE HE'D HAD ALL THOSE YEARS WITH HER WHEN SHE WAS SO SICK. You don't always understand what the Lord's trying to teach you until finally you wake up & get the point. Sometimes it takes years apparently. TYL! But I hope you don't have that trouble with me. I think the Lord's already shown me how much you love me, He doesn't have to put you to that test. He showed me when I was sick before & that was enough. I don't care to go through that again!

23. I HAVE ALWAYS PRAYED THAT I'D BE ABLE TO SORT OF DIE LIKE THE PATRIARCHS, if possible, & the Lord once told me that was the way I was going to die, in peace, in bed, & with my family gathered around telling me good-bye, & me giving you your final instructions. You don't have to cry now, I'm not dying yet! Ha! You notice how many times it says in the Bible the Lord told them to "set their house in order"? In other words, finish up your affairs, etc.

24. THAT'S ONE THING I HAVE TO SAY ABOUT EVE'S FATHER, he was a very sincere Christian & he really had strong faith in the Lord. And when he came to die in his 70's he just sort of set his house in order & all his business affairs, made sure his will was taken care of & discussed all these things with his son just like he was going away on a trip & tended to everything. And when he got it all done & had seen his family & told them all good-bye, he just took off! That's what I think is a nice easy way to go! I hope I can go like that, God willing. Maybe I'll have to die fighting, I don't know. The Lord has never quite revealed to me exactly how I'm going to go‚ & maybe it's just as well.

25. WELL, I DIDN'T INTEND TO GET ON ANY GLOOMY SUBJECT TO MAKE YOU LOOK SO SAD, FOR GOODNESS SAKE! There's one thing for sure, the time is going to come I'm going to go, but you don't have to worry about it, I'm sure the Lord knows the best time & the best place, & the Lord told me a long time ago He would not suffer me to be cut off before my time. I think the Devil really tries to cut some people off‚ & succeeds with some. But of course with some people, the wicked & those who reject‚ the Lord says, "Your time is always ready!" (Jn.7:6) Others He preserves & He has a set time for you to go.

26. AND THAT'S ONE OTHER THING I'M PRETTY SURE OF‚ THAT THE LORD'S GOING TO LET ME FINISH MY WORK. I've already finished more work than I expected to finish. I could almost die now & feel like I've accomplished a lot, but there are still some things I want to finish up before I do. This History Book was one of them‚ quite an accomplishment, & quite a few pubs that Maria would like me to help her finish up. I'd also like to see those NROs all well-organised & functioning.

27. I WAS REALLY PLEASED TO HEAR THE NEWS THAT THE NROs OF THE EAST ARE ALMOST ALL ORGANISED & FUNCTIONING!—And most of those of the West are either already functioning or about to function, with their leadership picked out, etc., etc. The slowest, of course‚ are the North‚ people who are where they don't belong anyhow. In Europe, however, they're beginning to have some fellowships & they're going to have some NAFs, which is necessary as a step toward such an organisation which we advised long ago but they hadn't done it.

28. THEY HAVE NOT HAD MUCH FELLOWSHIP IN EUROPE & NOT ORGANISED LIKE WE TOLD THEM TO DO. Some of those outfits in the East have been organised almost two years now, & Europe & North America still are not organised! And like Maria says, that's where most of the problems are too. North America has got more problems than anybody anywhere & more problem cases, of course, because many're out of the will of God & not where they belong, most of them! And yet they're the ones most anxious to have their NROs as quickly as possible because they don't have anybody to go to to solve their problems for them!

29. NOBODY CAN SOLVE THEIR PROBLEMS! I mean‚ how can you solve people's problems when so many are backsliders & out of the will of God & refuse to obey the Lord & refuse to obey us & refuse to get out of the North?—Of course they're going to have all kinds of problems! Nobody can solve'm, not even God, when they won't obey! So I don't know whether it's even any use for them to have NROs, they'll just pester the life out of them & cause them nothing but trouble!

30. WE ABANDONED VSs IN THE NORTH because we figured, why should we be paying for Visiting Servants to go around & mollycoddle & pamper them & mother them when they're not even supposed to be there? So that's still a moot question we need to discuss. If they ever manage to get organised enough to do it on their own, well, I might think maybe God's having mercy on them.

31. (MARIA: SOMEBODY FROM CANADA HAD THE AUDACITY TO SAY: "I think the NRO was a great idea. In the past I haven't put down any suggestions or comments or questions or problems on my TRF because I figured that somebody on the other side of the World wouldn't really have any use for it anyway or wouldn't even read it or wouldn't be able to help me anyway." In other words, now they'll be closer & they'll be able to deluge'm with all their problems.)

32. IT REMINDS ME SO MUCH OF CHURCH PEOPLE & CHURCHES! They want a pastor there that they can get ahold of & bellyache to & complain about & criticise & voice all their doubts & murmurs to & everything else & blame everything on instead of themselves! So I don't know, we'll wait & see what happens. We may not have to make any decision about it if the war comes soon enough, that's one problem the war would solve! I hate to think about it, but it's the truth! Like the debt problem with the Southern Third World nations, the war will solve that problem, & it will also solve that problem for us, whatever we owe those folks in the North. Of course, it will also create a few other problems too. I will say that for them, they've still been pretty good supporters for the field & the missionaries, GB'm! Well, pray for'm anyhow.

33. BUT I WOULD LIKE TO SEE EACH FIELD ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF ITSELF & WITH GOOD LEADERSHIP, well-organised & able to be indigenous, self-governing, supporting & propagating & getting along independently if necessary. We don't all want to be independent, it's best to be interdependent & to work cooperatively when we can, but it's good to be able to be independent when you have to. Interdependent means to be free & govern ourselves‚ but at the same time dependent on each other. So I'd like to have each nation be as independent as possible to be able to take care of themselves, just like a mature grown child, & not have to be completely dependent on us any more. But at the same time it's better that parents & children still can work together & cooperate & accomplish a lot more that way. Amen? Brothers & sisters in the family as well.

34. WHAT WOULD I LIKE TO SEE DONE BEFORE I DIE? I don't even like to use the word "die" because it's not really death. Actually‚ we don't really die, because "whosoever liveth & believeth in Me shall never die." (Jn.11:26) It says in another place "they shall not see death." (Jn.8:51) And another place Paul says‚ "Death, where is thy sting? Grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin." (1Co.15:55,56)

35. FOR US, DEATH WILL HAVE NO STING BECAUSE OUR SINS ARE FORGIVEN, & the grave will have no victory because we have won the victory over the grave through Christ & our salvation & our eventual resurrection. Our spirits are immediately free to go to be with the Lord, so it's not really death for us in the same way it is for others. We don't really die in the sense that they die. That's why I don't like to call it "dying" or "death", I prefer to call it graduation‚ passing on or promotion. It's just like passing from one room to another, & as you can see & have read, it's a very beautiful experience for most people who know & love the Lord.

36. MOST OF THE PEOPLE THAT DOCTOR MOODY DEALT WITH OBVIOUSLY MUST HAVE BEEN SAVED‚ GOOD PEOPLE, & THAT'S WHY THEY ALL HAD SUCH GOOD EXPERIENCES. Since then I understand he or some other lady doctor has written some other book in which she talked to all kinds of people‚ some of them not so good & criminals & whatnot, & some of their experiences were not so happy‚ it was more like a bad drug trip!

37. SO NOT EVERYBODY DIES HAPPY! I've heard they kind of hush up the death of some of the atheists & things like that of the past. Was it Voltaire who died screaming, "I see the flames of Hell! I feel the heat!" & that sort of thing? So some of those boys, they saw where they were going before they left! Obviously the people who have been stubborn & rebellious & disobedient & rejected the Lord, they're not going to die any happy death or go any happy place.

38. BUT FOR US WHO LOVE THE LORD, IT'S A RELIEF, RELEASE, FREEDOM, PROMOTION, GRADUATION & PASSING ON TO A BETTER REALM‚ THE NEXT STEP, THE NEXT GRADE! I don't like that word "die" because He Himself said we don't really die! That means our kind of death is so different from theirs that He doesn't even want to call it death or dying. Many times when they said somebody was dead or died, Jesus said, "He sleepeth!" (Mt.9:24; Jn.11:11) He didn't even want to say that they were dead or died. At least apparently their body was sleeping & probably their spirit had an afterdeath experience or life after life. I kind of like the way Doctor Moody put it: "Life After Life!" I thought that was good, because that's what it really is, but the common Worldly expression has been for so many ages "life after death."

39. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU GO? I'm sure you want to do the Lord's will & accomplish fully the purpose for which He sent you here & finish your mission on Earth, whatever the completion of it may be. And obviously He has a lot left for us to do & for the Family to do if we're going to live right on through the Tribulation & be star witnesses for the Lord even during that troublous time!

40. AND OBVIOUSLY OUR YOUNG CHILDREN ARE GOING TO BE TEENAGERS THEN, THINK OF THAT! Boy, I'll tell you, teenagers are red hot revolutionists! You've seen pictures of these guerrillas all over the World, they're just young kids, teenagers! It's pitiful! There they are standing with their rifle or their machine gun, girls too, just kids.

41. WELL, OUR KIDS WILL BE JUST ABOUT THAT AGE WHEN THE ROUGH STUFF REALLY IS ROLLING! Praise God! They'll be young enough & dynamic enough & Spirit-filled enough to be able to take it & carry the ball, carry the torch, whereas even some of you guys are going to be getting a little too old to stand very much! Imagine, look at you, you're getting old! Ha, ha! Well‚ I really never expected to live this long, I'm kind of surprised, because I was sickly in my youth‚ had heart trouble & was skinny & never very strong in some ways. I was very very active & athletic & all that, but I wasn't big & husky like a lot of the other boys.

42. I WAS IN A DANGEROUS BUSINESS, evangelistic work with my Mother, & it just never occurred to me that I would ever grow to be an old man‚ isn't that funny? I just thought of course I'd probably die fighting for the Lord sometime somewhere as a martyr or something‚ & I'm sure it's been for your sake the Lord kept me here so long. He let me be an old man so you could be a young man in His service! PTL?

43. SO WE HAVE A LOT TO BE THANKFUL FOR when you think how many there are of the Family now‚ including the Club Members all over the World & how many people we've witnessed to, how many souls we've won—you could almost die happy right now! We have accomplished more than most people, & won more souls & witnessed to more & published more & litnessed more & reached more & broadcast more. It's just absolutely colossal when you think what the Lord has done! That's one thing reading that History Book ought to do for our Family‚ to show them it's amazing how much we've accomplished in such a short time! We have accomplished so much already, if it were God's time you could almost die happy now!

44. BUT WE'RE NOT FINISHED, DON'T MISUNDERSTAND ME‚ DON'T QUIT, BECAUSE WE'VE STILL GOT A LOT OF LIVIN' TO DO! I'd like to see you all grown up enough, mature enough, strong enough, learned enough, taught enough & experienced enough! Of course, naturally my main desire is that I will feel rest-assured that you'll be able to carry on without me here in the flesh‚ & I'm sure the Lord will let me do all I can for you in the spirit when I'm gone. I don't think He'll take me until you're able to carry on without me & until I've just had about all I can take & accomplished about all I can accomplish!

45. I DON'T EXPECT TO LIVE AS LONG AS MY MOTHER, THAT'S FOR SURE! She just finally got tired, tired of living, & she certainly deserved to go! She really sort of accomplished her purpose in getting us out to California & getting us started with the hippies. That was her last mission on Earth & her last heart's desire, to try to get somebody to do something for those poor kids, & when she saw we were into it & at it & doing it & succeeding, she just took off!

46. SHE WASN'T VERY SICK, she just had a little cold, sort of a little attack of flu, hardly anything, I'm sure she just told the Lord she wanted to go, that's all. So if I get that tired & that old & that sick, I may feel like it's the Lord's time for me too! But I don't think the Lord will let that happen until I'm sure you're pretty well on your feet.

47. I CAN SEE IT COMING, I CAN SEE HOW WE ARE BETTER PREPARED RIGHT NOW THAN WE WERE A YEAR AGO. And you can see how Maria's getting into her ministry more & more, more & more able to manage & direct & organise & with projects & inspirations & ideas! She's almost beginning to run circles around me already! Managerial-wise she's already doing well, & when I depart she'll also receive the additional blessing & mantle of power & the anointing to be your spiritual leader. She's already your spiritual leader, but will really have the anointing that God gives His Prophets & Prophetesses to be leaders & to hear directly from the Lord & receive the same revelations that I receive.

48. GOD IS NO RESPECTER OF PERSONS IN THAT SENSE, THERE'S NO MALE OR FEMALE IN CHRIST JESUS & there's no reason why she shouldn't hear from the Lord then when I'm out of the way, just like I do now. Well, maybe not exactly the same way, because I think the character‚ nature & personality of the Prophet in a sense colours his ministry. Mine's been quite colourful! And you'll notice the different Prophets in the Bible had a different style, a different beauty of expression. He's like a tool‚ & there are different kinds of tools for different purposes.

49. SHE'LL HAVE HER MINISTRY THEN & IT'LL BE HER MINISTRY, NOT MY MINISTRY! She will be anointed for that hour & she will have the victory & the anointing & the power & the leading & the guidance & the revelations that will be hers, uniquely hers, but the same Spirit‚ same God, same Family! And God will use her probably in a way that He wouldn't be able to use me, because it's obvious that the day of women is here‚ almost here, & women are being more & more used to lead the World.

50. AS MEN HAVE BECOME SO WICKED‚ THE WOMEN HAVE LAGGED A LITTLE BIT BEHIND THEM IN THAT. Because they are weak & mothers & more concerned about children etc. they seem to have kept a little bit more moral & a little bit more pure & a little bit more idealistic, & now there are more women leaders in the World than there ever have been in the whole World's history!—Prime Ministers, Presidents, Governors‚ all kinds of women leaders. My Mother was one of the early pioneers of women's leadership in the Ministry, I'm sure Maria is going to be a real flame of fire to light your way in the dark days ahead when I'm gone! (See Nos.706‚837,1267, etc.)

51. FOR ONE THING, I THINK THE LORD WOULD PROBABLY REMOVE ME, I HOPE, BEFORE MY ENEMIES EVER GET AHOLD OF ME! I'd just as soon go to be with the Lord than to give them the satisfaction of doing me any harm! But that's up to the Lord. If He wants me to be a martyr & if it'll do you any good or the Kingdom any good if I could die in some way that would be a great testimony, a great inspiration, a great witness to the World or to you‚ that would be worth it! But I think right now I'm a little more valuable to you alive than dead! As Paul said, "For me, it's better that I go, but for your sake it's better for you that I stay here." (Ph.1:23,24)

52. I CERTAINLY DON'T WANT TO BE LIKE THE MAN IN THE LITTLE COMMUNITY WHERE I BUILT THE CHURCH. I think I told you the story about the spastic girl who was the Post Mistress & Chairman of the Board who finally helped get me kicked out. The way they got rich was in the depths of the Depression when they had nothing & everything was just going to pot. They didn't even have enough to eat, didn't even have enough money to pay their grocery bills etc. Her father was disabled & unable to work, unable to earn any money to support the family anymore etc. But he had a pretty good insurance policy, worth something like $20,000, so one day, I don't remember whether it was she or her mother who got disgusted with him & caustically said,

53. "OH, YOU'RE NO GOOD TO US ANYMORE, YOU'RE WORTH MORE DEAD THAN ALIVE!" So he went back in his bedroom & shot himself so they'd get the money! And that's the money with which they bought their little grocery store & post office & became the richest people in town. Of course, it wasn't hard to be the richest people in that town! Ha!—Former sharecroppers & cotton-pickers & migrant workers whom Eleanor Roosevelt had set up in business. But anyhow, they were the town leaders & that's why they wanted a church & sent for me to build it & all this sort of thing.

54. AS IT PROVED LATER, I'M NOT SURE THEIR MOTIVES WERE COMPLETELY UNSELFISH OR BECAUSE THEY WERE SO CONCERNED WITH THE SALVATION OF THE COMMUNITY! There are certain kinds of moral people, leaders of communities who just think every community should have a church, & of course they want to be leaders of the church too! They want to not only run the kingdom of this Earth, but they want to run the Kingdom of Heaven as well, which is the local church! And that's sort of the way they turned out to be. Well, he was more good to them dead than alive, that was true.

55. BUT I DON'T HAVE ANY INSURANCE POLICIES & I DON'T OWN A THING EXCEPT THE CLOTHES ON MY BACK & THE STUFF IN MY DUFFLE BAG, my flee bag, & I don't really own that, you gave it to me! I don't have anything but what you gave me, it's all yours! I don't have anything to leave you except what I've already given you! Right? Or except what Maria still has up her sleeve! Don't worry, she's still got plenty. (Maria: When that's all used up, you'll have to stay & get more!) Well, Honey, if it is used up, which I doubt, when I'm gone the Lord will give it to you, so I'm not a bit worried about that at all.

56. I KNOW THE LORD WILL TAKE CARE OF HIS CHILDREN, HIS KINGDOM & YOU & MARIA & YOUR LEADERSHIP & YOUR GUIDANCE & FOOD & REVELATION & WHATEVER YOU NEED! You know the Lord's going to give it to you, you know the Lord's going to inspire her & anoint her—He said so! Why don't you get a little enthusiastic about it & say, "Amen! PTL!" The Lord's promised that a lot of times! Don't be afraid to say "amen" for fear I'll take it that you're trying to rush me off! I don't mind your being enthusiastic about her, I think she's great!

57. SHE'S DOING A TERRIFIC JOB NOW! She's pretty much helping to run things & she & Peter have taken a lot of the burden of management & the business off my back so that I can devote more time to the Word, feeding you & the Family. That's been a big help, a big blessing‚ & I just couldn't have done it all otherwise. For awhile there it got to where I was spending half my time just on business, but I think we're beginning to teach the whole Family how to take care of themselves. We hope even Maria & Peter won't have to carry all their burdens & tell you every little move to make & everything to do!

58. YOU'VE LATELY BEEN ALMOST HAVING TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES, ESPECIALLY THE WEST & SOME OF THOSE PLACES. You've just had to make your own decisions. Sometimes I've wondered a little bit about some of the decisions you made, but you made'm‚ & if they're wrong, well‚ you'll have to find that out. But you took that load of decision-making off our backs about some things. If it has anything to do with the Worldwide Family, of course, that's a different story & you can consult with us, but I've told you it's time you learned how to take care of your own tables & be your own deacons & take care of yourselves. While we continue to give you spiritual guidance & food & leadership & the overall plan‚ you certainly should be able to tend to your own local details. Amen? And you're getting more able in that direction all the time.

59. SO ALL THE THINGS THAT I HAD HOPED & LIVED FOR ARE BEING ACCOMPLISHED BY YOU & THE FAMILY! We're going into all the World & we're preaching the Gospel to every creature we can possibly reach! We're now reaching millions‚ not only by literature, but by radio & television. We've got thousands of missionaries in hundreds of places in over a hundred different countries we have been in, all the continents & most of the major islands of the sea.

60. WE ARE EVERYWHERE! Well, not quite, but everywhere this many people can be!—Except some of those rascals who won't leave the North who could be everywhere! But who knows‚ maybe when they get some of these latest Letters & warnings‚ they'll leave! I don't know whether the Lord's going to have to give them another "Great Escape" revelation or another "40 Days" or what! I'll tell you, if that "40 Days" didn't do anything else, it got a lot of people out of the U.S.A.! That's one thing it really did!

61. SO WE'RE GETTING THERE, & I'm sure when the Lord feels I have accomplished all that I can do & done you all the good I can do you & you're able to carry on without me, that'll be the time! But don't get scared‚ I don't think it's yet. I have a few more things I would like to accomplish. I have seen a lot accomplished in my day, & you have too, & I marvel at what the Lord has done. PTL? But I'm sure He's going to do some more & we may yet be amazed at what He's going to accomplish!

62. I THOUGHT 1980 WAS OUR GREATEST YEAR! I thought, "Well, we'll never do more than we've done in 1980"—when we were rushing all those pubs to get out of France & all those books & everything & I thought maybe we'd never get to do the same thing again. Well, we never did the same thing again, we've done a lot more! Neither was '81 our greatest year, nor '82! Each one has been our greatest year & I have an idea this is going to be our greatest year too!

63. EACH YEAR'S BEEN GREATER THAN THE LAST ONE, ISN'T THAT MARVELLOUS? Each time I thought: "Well, we couldn't possibly accomplish more this year than we did last year! Look at all the books we published, all the magazines, all the GNs & all the things we did & all the Family we've got & the radio programs & everything, how could we possibly accomplish any more? We've just about reached our limit!" Well, you have no idea how much dear Maria has planned for you this year!

64. TO HER THERE ARE NO ALPS, NO LIMITS! She tackles the most monumental tasks & projects that I don't think I ever would have tackled or had the faith for, but she tackles'm!—Like our History Book, this was her inspiration. (Maria: It just sort of grew!) She had the vision for it, therefore she had the faith for it & she had the initiative to push it & the courage to see me through! Ha! Push me through! So you can thank her for that History Book, I just did what I was told!—Ha!

65. SO SHE'S GOT IT, BOYS & GIRLS, SHE'S GOT IT, & YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THAT! I think you folks who have conferences with her & do business with her everyday, you know she's got it! You know she's got that drive & that anointing & that power of the Spirit & wisdom & managerial ability the Lord's giving her & learning through experience. She's got it, & whatever she hasn't got yet, she will get, the Lord will teach her. I feel a little bit better every day about how things are going‚ that they're going to go smoothly & operate well & you're getting more & more able to do without me everyday. You've got computers & typists & proofreaders. (Maria: They'll never take your place!)

66. WELL, NOBODY WILL EVER TAKE MY PLACE, BECAUSE MY PLACE WAS JUST FOR ME!—BUT NOBODY WILL EVER TAKE YOUR PLACE EITHER, YOURS IS JUST FOR YOU! Everybody's got their own unique ministry & something that only they can do, believe it or not. Nobody can ever take your place unless you fail, as a few people have—then somebody can steal your crown. A few people have failed in the Family, sad to say, isn't it pitiful? Think how they failed! Some of you should be thankful because some of you stole their crown, because they failed. If it hadn't been for that‚ some of you wouldn't be here. TYL!

67. ESTHER WROTE ME A LETTER—I THINK SHE FEELS LIKE SHE REALLY MISSED THE MARK WHEN I VIRTUALLY PROPOSED TO HER. I'll never forget we were sitting on the grass in the park & I was convinced then that Mother & I were through & I was really looking for another wife. Eve was away most of the time & Esther was beautiful, she sang like an angel, played gorgeously & looked like the kind of help we needed to reach the hippies & all the rest. She was about the best thing we had then outside of my own children & she looked like she would have been it if I was going to have another helper.

68. IT SHOWS YOU HOW DUMB I WAS & HOW SMART SHE WAS!—Because when I hinted at proposal she immediately parried it off. She sensed what was coming & she said, "You know, I'm very much in love with your son & he & I have been talking it over‚" etc. Of course that let the curtain down right there, bingo‚ period! So I turned to Becky & I was kind of hinting to her the same thing, & she tells me immediately she's in love with Miguel! And there were a few others I could probably name, Lydia for one.

69. THEY WERE ALL GOOD WOMEN‚ WONDERFUL WOMEN‚ BEAUTIFUL WOMEN‚ TALENTED WOMEN WHO HAVE REALLY MADE THEIR MARK IN THE FAMILY & been outstanding Family leaders & would have made good wives, loved me & had each their own talents & abilities & ministries they could have shone in, public ministry or whatever, but none of them had everything that I needed, because then I didn't even know what I needed!

70. ONLY DEAR MARIA HAD WHAT I REALLY NEEDED, & GOD KNEW IT! He probably knew she was the only one who could write shorthand in the dark & still be able to read it afterwards! And the only one who treasured the Words so much she never let one drop, not one. She loved the Word. That's the kind of woman I always wanted to marry, one who loved the Lord & the Lord's work, & in this case where she even loves the Word more than she loves me! She might argue a little bit about that & say, "Well, you are the Word to me!" But she really loves the Word & she really pushes it.

71. SHE WAS JUST THE ONE, THAT'S ALL! I really fell for her when she came, I don't know why‚ she wasn't any flaming star or anything at that time, she was just a real sweet & humble little preacher's daughter. It was just the Spirit of God, I felt so drawn, & we just clicked together like a couple of magnets! And I didn't even yet then know why! I didn't even have all the gifts then, I wasn't getting prophecies, messages or anything, but the Lord had to get us together before He could start pouring out the Word, so she could record it!

72. AND WE MADE THE PERFECT TEAM, THE TEAM HE HAD BEEN PREPARING FOR YEARS! If you wonder why I stuck those two pages of Maria's childhood into the "Book of Remembrance" right after I married Mother Eve & they may look like they're out of place & maybe the printer got it misplaced or something, you'll find that that is chronologically right about the time when Maria was born. In fact, I ordered her right about then, because I hadn't been living with Eve more than a few weeks when I began to realise she was not the one! I asked the Lord, "My God, deliver me from this woman!" That was my actual prayer, believe it or not!

73. I HADN'T BEEN MARRIED BUT A FEW WEEKS WHEN I REALISED EVE WAS NOT IT! She was spiritual & she loved the Lord, she wanted to serve the Lord & was already serving the Lord & doing a good job & she made a good mother of children & she had her place & her ministry, & nobody's going to be able to take that away from her either! Don't minimise Mother Eve! Because if it hadn't been for Mother Eve there wouldn't have been a Family.

74. EVERYBODY'S GOT THEIR PLACE! EVERYBODY'S GOT THEIR MINISTRY, & UNLESS YOU FAIL IN IT, THE LORD'S NOT GOING TO TAKE IT AWAY FROM YOU!—As long as you're faithful & diligent & you do your job. And as long as she was faithful & diligent & did her job & helped me & was a helpmeet to me & trained up her children the way they should go & made good witnesses out of them & literally helped to start the Family, as long as she did her job, God kept her in it!—Despite the fact that I had only been married a few days or weeks when I ordered a new wife! I said, "Well, Lord, this isn't the kind of gal I dreamed of!" But she was the kind of gal the Lord knew I needed to be married to then to do that job that she did! GBH! Give her credit for that.

75. AND WE STUCK IT OUT FOR ANOTHER 25 YEARS, TRY THAT ONE ON FOR SIZE‚ some of you people who want to change mates every time some little thing comes up that you don't like! It's a different story for some of you who had to change mates for the Lord's work's sake. Some of you have almost become eunuchs for the Lord's work's sake‚ especially you here. Well, you're not exactly eunuchs, you've got more sex here than you probably ever had before! But you may not have quite the same private wives & situations you might have had before. Here, nobody exactly owns anybody, except you guys own me & Maria, & in a way, I own you.

76. MATE-WISE WE DON'T EXACTLY HAVE ANYTHING VERY PERMANENT WHERE IT CAN'T BE CHANGED TO SUIT GOD'S WILL & THE LORD'S WORK‚ & most of you have made that sacrifice right here at this table & had to change mates in order to be here‚ or give up mates‚ sacrifice mates. As I look at you, that's nearly everyone here except Alf. How about that? Every one of you have given up either husband or wife‚ right?

77. THINK WHAT THE LORD ASKED OF YOU, TO LITERALLY GIVE UP YOUR MATE IN ORDER TO SERVE THE LORD & PUT HIM FIRST! I guess the only reason the Lord didn't ask Alf to do that is I don't see how he could have possibly gotten along without Sara!—With all these kids! And I don't see how we could have gotten along without Alf & Sara too!

78. I'LL TELL YOU, THE TRUTH IS STRANGER THAN FICTION! IF ONLY THEY KNEW! Thank God they don't! I mean, to the outside World‚ the System, they think we're screwy enough as it is! If they only knew how absolutely radical, revolutionary, crazy & different we are, they'd probably put us all in the madhouse. But that's the way the Lord is, praise God, He's different. He doesn't mind changing things as long as it suits His Family, His Bride, His marriage! We're all His Bride, we're all One Wife! TTL! Isn't that wonderful? All of you are married to the Lord & His Work & that's why you're here, & if you weren't, you wouldn't be here. I'm just showing you how much nearly all of you have given up & made a real sacrifice to be here. And yet, like Livingstone said, it's really not been a sacrifice, has it? The Lord has more than rewarded you.

79. IT SEEMS THAT THE LORD HAS CERTAINLY BUILT THE PERFECT TEAM OUT OF NOT ONLY MARIA & ME, BUT US & YOU, & we are accomplishing more now & faster & putting it out quicker & better than we ever did before, thanks to every one of you! Every one of you has a part in His plan. And I have a feeling that because Maria seems to have the faith for it, that we'll probably get these other books out too before we're done, whether it be more "Heavenly Helpers" or Quote books. My goodness, you have no idea how many different projects she's got up her sleeve! She's working on'm too! She doesn't just talk about them, she goes to work on them & she's pushing them along in the pipeline. And if I get in the way‚ she just pushes me along too with it!

80. SO PTL! I THINK WE'VE HAD A WONDERFUL LIFE & A WONDERFUL HISTORY & I KNOW I'VE GOT A WONDERFUL WIFE & YOU'RE ALL MY WIVES! In a way, I'm even married to the boys, because we're all part of the Bride, amen? One Wife! So we have lots to be thankful for. But there's a few more things I'd like to accomplish & I believe the Lord will let me accomplish—to see you & the children & my grandchildren mature enough & strong enough to carry on!

81. I KNOW MOST OF OUR FAMILY ARE STRONGER TODAY THAN THEY WERE YESTERDAY OR LAST YEAR & CERTAINLY THE YEAR BEFORE! They're maturing & it's marvellous to me what some of them are doing, thinking of outreaches & ministries that we never dreamed of! We've got geniuses in the Family! We've got brains & talent & even education & training & skills that we never dreamed of getting from that bunch of rag-a-tag Gypsies & hipsies!

82. WE THOUGHT WE WERE GETTING THE WORST & THE DREGS OF SOCIETY & the drugsters & the criminals & everything you could possibly imagine! The hippies were the worst there was, there just wasn't anything lower than hippies in those days. Whoever would have dreamed that behind all those funny clothes & hair-dos & weirdy-beardies there was all this terrific talent & gifts & skills & even education to do these jobs!

83. WE HAVE GOT BRILLIANT PEOPLE IN OUR FAMILY! We've even got an astrologer now who sent me some kind of a biorhythm forecast built on my birthsign—Joseph Daniels. He worked it out on the computer somehow. I don't even understand it, but maybe if I study it a little more I'll understand it. It's kind of like I used to read Joel's stuff, I couldn't understand it, I just hoped he could understand it! But anyhow, it looks interesting with all those patterns going around across the page. It's pretty to look at! Ha! What it means, I don't know, but anyway, I suppose he meant it for good & it means something good.

84. I IMAGINE THAT'S WHY HE SENT IT TO ME, TO SHOW ME THAT THINGS ARE GOING WELL & MY BIO-RHYTHMS ARE WORKING PROPERLY, SOMEHOW! Well, I could have told him that anyhow because I'm sure the Lord is making sure my biorhythms are OK. Of course, I never even knew I had biorhythms, but now that I know‚ it's nice to have'm!—Especially as I understand they're good things to have! So PTL! I never used to know I had an aura & ESP & a lot of other things‚ but now I know! PTL!

85. ANYHOW, WE'RE GETTING THERE! Like Paul said, we don't count ourselves to have arrived‚ we haven't gotten as far as the Lord wants us to go, & we've got a ways to go yet, but I'm not going to say we've got a long ways to go because I feel like the longest part of it is behind us, even in years. We've got about 14 years behind us now, & I've got a lot more than that, 64! Even my first little family are 30 or 35 years old! So I think the heavy end is behind us.

86. WE'RE GETTING TO THE FRUITFUL END WHERE WE'RE ENJOYING THE FRUITS OF OUR LABOURS & WE'RE SEEING THE RESULTS! The farmer has to be patient, he has to work sometimes many long weary hours & days, weeks & months, as some of you dear old farmers know. I kind of became a farmer by adoption out on the Ranch, I didn't know much about it but at least we learned how much we didn't know‚ if nothing else!

87. FARMERS ARE THE SMARTEST PEOPLE ON EARTH, THAT HAS GOT TO BE THE TRUTH! They know more about more things than anybody else there is. I don't think any scientist knows any more about anything than farmers. You almost have to be born on a farm & raised on a farm‚ because it takes so many years to learn so many things you have to know to be a farmer‚ really‚ the old-fashioned family-type of farm where you raise all kinds of crops & fruits & vegetables & animals, a completely self-contained little World all its own within itself that furnishes you with everything you need.

88. SOME OF THESE NEW AGROCOMBINES & AGROCORPORATIONS WHERE EVERYTHING'S DONE BY AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE GRADUATES WITH MACHINES & DEGREES‚ THEY'RE SPECIALISTS, & some of them, that's all they know is one particular field or one kind of crop or one sort of agrobusiness! Big huge corporations! But the old family farmer, boy, I'll tell you, he had to know a little bit of everything—kind of like me!—Not much of anything but a little of everything!

89. SO WE'RE SEEING THE FRUITS, THE RESULTS, & IT'S VERY SATISFYING TO WATCH THE CROP MATURE, because then we're seeing the harvest fields & are watching them being harvested! So it's really satisfying, it's really fulfilling, it's really really...what can I say? It's the satisfaction I'm sure the farmer gets after all his many months of hard labour & sees that crop mature & being harvested & put into the barn & the garner & the job is done! Well, we haven't harvested them all yet, don't get misled, don't misunderstand me, we've got a lot of harvest to go & a lot of souls yet to reap, amen? And a lot of fruit yet to mature. But we're getting there! We're beginning to see the end results‚ & as I say, I think the heavy end‚ the biggest end‚ is behind us.

90. IN A SENSE‚ ALTHOUGH YOU'RE WORKING HARD & YOU'VE LABOURED HARD ON IT, YOU ARE NOW ENTERING INTO A LOT WHEREON YOU BESTOWED NO LABOUR & YOU'RE REAPING OTHER MEN'S LABOURS—the labours of the pioneers who helped start the Family. A lot of you in some ways are Johnny-come-lately because you weren't right there at the very beginning. There's not one of you sitting here at this table who was at the Huntington Beach Light Club, right? Not one of you are Charter Members, you all came later—except one!—Maria! So in a way you're all reaping the labours of those pioneers.

91. DID YOU HEAR ABOUT WHAT I DID AT HOCKLY? Every time I surfaced, I blew it‚ & I blew us right out of that place! I got up there & exploded one Sunday night & the preacher & some of his Board members were there & we were informed to move on the next day or so. That was a little too much for them. They didn't mind harbouring a few helpless hippies‚ but these redhot seemed-to-them violent revolutionaries who were going to, they thought, destroy the churches & tear down the country, they didn't want us there any more! You remember that, don't you? That's when they made their big mistake, whenever they called on me to speak!

92. I'M THE GUY THAT BLEW'M OUT OF THE MONTREAL WORLD'S FAIR! Did you hear about that? They had this regular meeting & exhibit in one of the little outdoor amphitheaters where they put on their program several times a day‚ & everything was going just fine—until one day I visited there! I was just taking a backseat, as usual, & then I think Big Josh or Faithy made the mistake to call me up on the platform.

93. AND YOU KNOW WHAT HAPPENED—I EXPLODED! And of all things, the guy who was one of the Fair officials happened to come by with his wife & little daughter that day & heard it. That was our last program. Or almost our last program. The thing that really finished us off was when one of those "dirty hippies" of ours tried to rip off his eight-year-old daughter & tried to get her to join! He really blew his stack & practically threw us out! But praise God, we then eventually got to go to Dr. Martin's place & all that. Like the old guy said, "The Lord never let me get kicked out of anything but what He got me kicked into something better!" Every time! PTL! I think every year has been better, every place has been better, every job's been better‚ every pub's been better, it's getting better all the time!

94. SO PRAISE THE LORD, I REALLY BELIEVE WE'VE GOT THE WORST BEHIND US, & THE MOST BEHIND US, THE HARDEST PART IS BEHIND US, & WE'RE SORT OF GOING DOWNHILL NOW!—Not downhill with accomplishments, but I feel like it's really easier-going now than it was back in the early days, wouldn't you say? In some ways we've got it a lot easier than we had then. We had a hand-to-mouth existence then, we never knew where our next meal was coming from! We were on the road & we had no certain resting place, we had no place to lay our heads, except we had our camper, thank the Lord! I think life in many ways was much harder, even when we went to Europe & we stayed in all those pensiones & tenth-rate hotels & whatnot! We almost froze to death in Israel. I'll tell you, the spiritual climate there was cold as well! So in many ways things are easier now!

95. ONE THING WE'RE NOT WORRYING SO MUCH ABOUT ANYMORE IS THE FUTURE! Well, we didn't worry too much then about it either, but we didn't really know what was going to happen, & in a way, a lot of our future is already behind us! We have already accomplished a lot of what we were going to do. Now we know what He got you & me together for & now we know what He was planning to do with us—He's done it! Right? Now we know what His design & plan was, we're doing it & we're completing it!

96. IN A SENSE, THE MACHINE IS BUILT, ALL YOU HAVE TO DO NOW IS SORT OF DRIVE IT‚ JUST RUN IT, THANK THE LORD! We pioneered it, built it, & with the Lord's help all you have to do now is run it! So in a way, although it's a bigger job & involves more people & a lot more responsibility in every way‚ you don't have to wonder what kind of machine you're building or what you're going to do or what it's going to look like or what it's supposed to do, you know! We're doing it!

97. WE DON'T HAVE TO WONDER WHERE WE'RE GOING TO GO FROM HERE‚ WE'VE GONE! We've done it! Into all the World to preach the Gospel to every creature! We're here! We've done it! All we've got left to do is sort of keep on doing what we're doing right now & wind things up‚ keep on trying to survive until the end. And from the looks of things and from the things the Lord has told us‚ at least my interpretation of those things, it looks like we've only got about ten more years till the Lord comes. So I'd say in some ways the biggest part of our job is behind us.

98. THIS LITTLE TALK HAS A FAMILIAR RING! I think I gave this same talk & we made it a Letter back in about 1978 in Switzerland when we got back from Malta: "A Job Well Done!" (No.766) We almost thought that was about the end when the persecution of the sects came. We thought‚ "Well‚ praise God, we've gotten this far & maybe this is the end!" I was trying to encourage everybody & cheer everybody up, that they shouldn't feel too bad about it because we'd already accomplished an awful lot. That was the end of '78 & we'd hardly even begun compared to what we've accomplished since then! We were putting out micro Letters then about that time for security & safety's sake. We went from micros to magnums!

99. SO IF MY LITTLE TALK TONIGHT MAKES YOU FEEL SELF-SATISFIED THAT YOU'VE ALMOST ACCOMPLISHED ENOUGH, WE MAY HAVE TO LAUGH AT OURSELVES IN ANOTHER FIVE YEARS AT HOW MUCH MORE GOD IS ACCOMPLISHING! And as far as I can see, you're certainly going to be here that much longer, at least, because the Antichrist hasn't been revealed yet! Of course he may not be actually revealed as World Emperor until the middle of the seven years, if you know what I mean. We don't know exactly how the Lord is going to do that, but certainly he should appear on the horizon before long or I don't see how he could very well take over the World! Except, of course, with the Jews' help, that's possible too. They could be keeping him undercover & under their hats‚ even right now preparing him for the job—probably are!

100. SO YOU HAVE A LITTLE WAYS TO GO YET, BUT IN SOME WAYS THE HARDEST PART OF THE JOB IS BEHIND & all you have to do now really is "just keep on doing what you're doing", as the old song goes, "because I love what you're doing to me!" It's a rather risqué song Groucho Marx sang to his lady love, but that's really in a way the truth. We have a pretty well-built organisation & machine that God has built & we have been His tools & instruments to help build it, to do His will & do what He wants us to do!—And we're doing it, we're producing what He wants to produce—the Word—& it's reaping the results, the souls! And thank God, I really believe most of it is behind us.—Now all you gotta do is keep it runnin'!

101. IN SOME WAYS THE MOST DIFFICULT YEARS MAY BE YET AHEAD, the war years, aftermath of the war, the Antichrist reign, Tribulation—some of those years are not going to be easy by any means. They may be the most difficult years. But in a way, by the time those years come & such restrictions & limitations & even persecution comes, what is this usually a sign of on a smaller scale in almost any city or country today?—You've done your job! You've done the job or they wouldn't be persecuting you. You have accomplished your mission & harvested the souls or the Devil wouldn't be so mad & trying to get you!

102. SO REALLY, BY THE TIME THAT TIME COMES, I REALLY BELIEVE THE MAJOR PART OF OUR JOB WILL BE FINISHED! We will have reaped the harvest! Then comes the sifting to separate the wheat from the tares & the sheep from the goats & to see who really has it & who hasn't & who will stand!—Our final witness in order that the Lord can pin on some final medals & a few final crowns & rewards for really excess bravery almost beyond the call of duty in those last years!

103. BUT WHEN THAT TIME COMES, THE HARDEST YEARS COME, I THINK YOU NEED TO ENCOURAGE YOURSELF & REMEMBER, & maybe that will encourage you to think back about that. Praise God? "Most of our job is done, most of our years are behind us, most of our harvest has been reaped & most of the crop is in the garner & safely in the barn before the storm struck!" Isn't that what the Northern farmer usually does? If you go by the pattern of a farmer's year, there is a last minute rush to get the last bit of harvest in & the last bit of threshing done, the last bit of grain sacked & everything safe in the barn before the big Fall & Winter storms start! When the storm comes you can hardly do anything in that cold & that snow, so it was a fight & a struggle to make sure you got everything done before Winter in the North—or extreme South too!

104. I THINK IN A WAY WE'RE ENJOYING THE SUNSHINE OF THE SUMMER OF OUR MINISTRY RIGHT NOW—as well as the Tropics—& the cold winds of Fall are coming soon, & the Winter & its storms are coming. And if we take the life of the farmer & the farm as any prophetic allegory—the Lord often used such parables—then by that time most of the crop, most of the harvest should be in the barn, we should have harvested most of the grain & most of our job should be behind us.

105. PROBABLY ABOUT THE ONLY THING GOD WILL DO WITH US THEN IS USE US AS THE LAST WITNESSES & ENDTIME MARTYRS & WITNESSES AGAINST THEM, THE PROPHETS OF DOOM FOR SURE! They will have seen the sample of doom in the atomic war, only we're going to tell'm that that's not the end of it, that this is a false fake millennium & a false Christ & the whole thing is a phoney & a counterfeit & that the worst is yet to come for them, & they'd better get saved to escape it or they're going to go down the tubes with the Antichrist & into the horrors of the judgements of God!

106. HASN'T THAT PATTERN WORKED OUT ALMOST ALWAYS IN OUR MINISTRY‚ RIGHT HERE & NOW & IN THE PAST? We went out of some churches & some towns yelling doom & destruction! I can remember a few towns that we left where we got outside the city limits & actually took off our shoes & shook the dust of our feet off against them! And that's sort of what you'll be doing in the Tribulation, you'll be giving your last blasts, & God's going to supernaturally miraculously protect you while you sock it to'm so they'll be without excuse.

107. YOU CAN EVEN CALL DOWN FIRE FROM GOD OUT OF HEAVEN TO CONSUME YOUR ENEMIES! Think of it! It's there, it's in the Bible‚ it says so! (Rev.11:5) You don't have to take my word for it. So that'll be just your last blast & your last gas, in a way, as you blast your enemies in the process of your departure when you're just getting ready for Him to stop the World so you can get off! PTL?

108. SO THESE ARE THE GLORIOUS SUNNY DAYS OF SUMMER & HARVEST AS WE SEE THAT THINGS ARE ABOUT TO HAPPEN. We can see the signs of Autumn, the signs of the chilly winds of Fall as we garner in the final harvests—particularly in the East where there are so many more millions, hundreds of millions, billions compared to the West where we have been—& I believe God's going to give us a real harvest‚ is already doing it, especially through radio‚ behind the curtains that we can't get through any other way.

109. AND WHEN THE HARVEST IS ALL IN, THE CHILDREN ARE ALL IN SAFELY & THE NIGHT IS COME & the cold long dark days of Winter are about to set in, don't you have a sort of a sense of satisfaction? It's a great sense of fulfilment, satisfaction & completion when a farmer has finished his last harvest & got it in the barn‚ & all the livestock are taken care of & you've got sufficient room for'm in the barns to bear out the Winter, & you've got enough feed & you've got enough fuel stockpiled & you're ready to endure, really survive the Winter. So that's about all we have to do‚ there's not an awful lot of work left then during the Winter.

110. WELL, THERE'S PLENTY OF WORK, YOU STILL HAVE TO TAKE CARE OF THE LIVESTOCK & MILK & FEED THE COWS & ALL THAT, there's always plenty of work to do on a farm, but it's not as heavy & as urgent & as pushing as when you're gathering the harvest, the last harvest before the storm & before the rain, before the snow etc. There's a certain sense of accomplishment when you've really got the last crop in & everything secured & you just kind of go undercover then & prepare to try to survive & wait out the storms & the Winter.

111. AND I THINK THAT'S SORT OF THE WAY IT'S GOING TO BE IN THE TRIBULATION WITH THE FAMILY. Most of the crop & the harvest will be in, & the Lord will find us some secure places to sort of wait out the storm. He says Himself to "go into thy chambers & shut thy doors & windows until the storm be overpast" & we will just sort of watch what God is doing to our enemies. (Isa.26:20) Because those monsters in the Tribulation are for their persecution & their downfall, their punishment & their judgements. We're going to get some satisfaction even in the Tribulation to watch what God is doing to His enemies, & we'll just sort of be waiting out the storm, waiting for the sunrise, praise God?—Waiting for the night to be over & waiting till Jesus comes!—HAL!

112. WE'LL BE COUNTING THE DAYS‚ JUST SORT OF LIKE YOU COUNT THE DAYS TO THOSE FIRST SUNNY BEAUTIFUL DAYS OF SPRING when everything comes back to life again & the sun comes out & gets warm. It's like the Resurrection, like the Coming of Christ! The great Sun comes & warms the Earth & the Earth begins to rise & bring forth life, spring to life—flowers, buds, sprouts, resurrection after the death of Winter! And that's sort of like what it's going to be like, I really believe it. We're sort of hitting our zenith in a way, but I say that every year & the Lord surpasses it the next year!

113. BUT ONE OF THESE DAYS—& I THINK IT'S GOING TO BE PRETTY SOON—WE'RE GOING TO HAVE REAPED OUR LAST HARVEST & WE'LL BE BOARDED UP FOR THE WINTER! That reminds me of that beautiful poem about "when Earth's last picture is painted" & when Earth's last this & that is done & it's all over! Praise God! It'll all be done & time for the coming of the Son & the Resurrection & the Eternal Spring that will arise forever!

114. OH YES, THERE'S A LITTLE TROUBLE AT THE END OF THE MILLENNIUM, but that's just a mere little throwback to kind of show you how wicked the wicked can be even after that thousand years, to still follow the Devil, to sort of sift'm out & purify & weed'm out & show'm up!—Deliberately bring'm out just to show who's who. And then show you why God's justified in wiping'm all out & destroying the Earth‚ purifying it by fire! And you can see why He has to do that too with all these pieces of junk flying around overhead & poisons in the insecticides below! I mean the World is a mess, so He's gotta come pretty soon!

115. BUT DOESN'T THAT GIVE YOU A THRILL & A FEELING THAT YOU'RE REALLY ACCOMPLISHING SOMETHING & WE'RE REALLY ROLLIN'? And I think we're really on the downhill grade, sort of like the snowball gathering momentum. The Lord gave us a vision one time of that, that we were going to snowball like a snowball on a downhill grade. So praise God, we haven't hit bottom yet, that'll come with the crash, but in a sense, that'll be our hittin' the top! TTL!

116. SO I REALLY BELIEVE THE BIGGEST PART OF THE JOB IS BEHIND US! Does that make you feel good or bad? At least the longest part of the job, because it took a lot of years to prepare. Look how long it takes the poor farmer to prepare, from Spring all the way through Summer & part of the Fall until finally he really finishes the job right up against the Winter. It takes him months & months & months to really be able to finish the job, & then he just goes in & closes his doors, in a sense, & weathers out the storm of Winter until the resurrection of Spring, & I think that's about the way it's going to be.

117. WELL, I THOUGHT MAYBE THAT WOULD CHEER YOU UP! I know that most of my job is behind me, & yours too, in a way. But I'm not meaning that the biggest part of your job is behind you, we may yet do the greatest publishing we've ever done! We may yet reap the greatest harvest we've ever reaped right here at the end just before the Winter & in the biggest field that we've ever reached!

118. I DON'T BY ANY MEANS MEAN TO SAY THAT WE HAVE REACHED THE END OF OUR JOB‚ I'm just saying that I believe most of it‚ in a sense, is behind us. Maybe the biggest part of it is ahead of us, just like it's right at the end of the Summer & the beginning of the Fall that you reap the crop & have the greatest reaping. Some places you might reap one or two crops of alfalfa during the Summer & you might get some early wheat, but the last harvest of wheat or oats or whatever it is you've got that you're raising, that's at the end of the Summer.

119. SO WHAT I'M TRYING TO SAY IS—I THINK MOST OF OUR YEAR IS OVER & I THINK EVEN MAYBE MUCH OF THE SUMMER IS OVER. Maybe we'll have a little Indian Summer, a little late Summer, a little more special sunny days & harvest & accomplishment to help us finish the job. At least I feel that way. Maybe you don't because you're young & you feel like there's a lot you need to accomplish yet‚ & there is‚ & that's why you should feel that way. But I really feel like certainly the longest part of the job is behind us. After all, if 64 years or 238 years is behind us, or 2,000 years or 6,000 years, that's the longest part of the job if we've only got ten years to go! So PTL! Amen? Doesn't that encourage you?—Or does that discourage you?

120. THE WHOLE IDEA IS: WE HAVEN'T GOT MUCH LONGER TO GO, IT'S LATER THAN YOU THINK! IT WON'T BE LONG NOW! That would be a good title: "It Won't Be Long Now!" Hallelujah! That newsboy, no matter what the news was‚ he used to stand there—kind of a little half-witted—& somebody just taught him to say that: "It won't be long now! Won't be long now!" It sold papers! They all wanted to know what wouldn't be long now!

121. WELL, I REALLY BELIEVE IT WON'T BE LONG NOW‚ that there's not too much yet that we're going to have to do. I think there's going to be a lot we still have to do‚ as Maria will soon tell you, & a lot she wants to do. I don't know whether she'll ever get it all done, but there's a lot we still want to do! We're just really beginning the harvest in the East & I believe we're really going to reap a terrific harvest! Some of our language programs are just beginning to roll, & some of our lit & radio programs are really just beginning to saturate‚ & our roving minstrels etc. really beginning to get out & really harvest the crop with International Harvester Combines!

122. SO WE HAVEN'T REACHED THE PEAK YET, BUT WE'RE HEADIN' THERE, so I really believe we've almost reached the top & from there it's going to be pretty easy sleddin' the rest of the way down & the biggest part of the job will be over. When mountain climbers get to the top of the mountain, that is where they feel like they've really accomplished their goal, right? Coming down is in some ways the easiest part of the job. Except with some kinds of mountains, it's harder going down than it is going up, those where you can't see where you're going, like cliffs where you have to back down.—But we can see! We know! God's already told us & shown us! PTL!

123. SO I BELIEVE WE'RE ALMOST THERE & IT WON'T BE LONG NOW! PTL! When the job is done, then you can just hide in the barn, or hide in the house & close the doors & let'r blow! PTL? Amen? And wait for the Son & the Spring & the Resurrection! PTL! (Prays:) It's all in Thy hands, Lord, & we just ask You to help us to be obedient & do Thy will & accomplish what You want us to do, Lord, Thy will be done. And then You can say to us, "Well done, thou good & faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!" When You take us, Lord, we'll feel like we have accomplished what You sent us here to do! TYJ! PYL! Hallelujah! Amen! TYL! (Sings:)

124. "SUNRISE TOMORROW, SUNRISE TOMORROW,

SUNRISE IN GLORY IS WAITING FOR ME!

Sunrise tomorrow, sunrise tomorrow,

Sunrise in glory for Eternity!"

TYL! Hallelujah! I can't remember the verses but it's something about:

"When I shall come to the end of life's day

And I shall come to the end of my way."

I think I sang it for you in one of the videos, a beautiful song. PTL! Hallelujah! TYJ! PTL!

125. THANK YOU, LORD‚ THAT ALL THIS IS COMING TO AN END VERY SOON, LORD, IT WON'T BE LONG NOW, & YOU'LL BE COMING SOON! The Son of Righteousness will arise, praise God‚ with healing in His wings! (Mal.4:2) Hallelujah! PYL! (Tongues.) "So I have proclaimed it, so I have told it through My Word in many many Words of thy father David!" TYJ! "So it shall be done & fulfilled‚ it shall all be fulfilled!" TYJ! PYL! Hallelujah! TYJ! Amen! PTL! TYL! Amen? He seems like He's almost said it all, I don't know how much more He can say! He always goes back to the Word, He exalts His Word above His name. (Ps.138:2) PTL! TYL! He's already told us, what more can He say? (Sings: "How Firm A Foundation.") PTL! Hallelujah! TYJ!

126. HE PROMISED TO GO WITH US TO THE END OF THE WORLD, EVEN UNTO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH! (Mt.28:20) Amen? And here we are at the ends of the Earth where you can't go much further & you start over again! And He's still with us‚ amen? Praise God! TYJ! Isn't the Lord wonderful? TYJ! So encouraging! I get a little tired sometimes & once in a great while I get a little discouraged because I can't seem to accomplish as much as I should or behave as I should or whatever‚ the Devil tries to get me down, but thank the Lord, he's nothing but a little pest like that mosquito! And once in awhile we get him down too‚ I'll tell you!

127. OH, THAT'S A GREAT SATISFACTION WHEN YOU GET THAT SKEETER‚ HUH? If she didn't do much more than just pester you a little bit & annoy you & give you the itch, boy oh boy, it's great when you get her! And one of these days we're really going to get him for the last time & he's going to have had it! Bam-bam-whsst! Good riddance of bad rubbish! PTL! He'll be in the Pit for a thousand years while we have it all! We'll have it all & got it all & got our way, God's way! PTL? Isn't that wonderful?

128. THY WILL BE DONE ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN! Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done! What a prayer, huh? And that's when it'll happen! His Kingdom will have come & His will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven! PTL? It's comin' soon & you're gonna see it & enjoy it! Well, you kind of have to go through a little dark place, the valley of the shadow of death, a little dark door & a few trials & tribulations to make it, but everybody's got to go through something like that to make the grade. Then you're going to come out in the sunshine on the other side, really beautiful!

129. IT REMINDS ME OF THAT VALLEY OF MOSES THAT I SAW IN THAT DREAM THAT TIME, IT WAS BEAUTIFUL! ("City of Buried Treasure!" No.324.) We're sort of looking through the rocks & the holes in the rocks right now, but we're going to come out on the other side, thank the Lord, & we're going to enjoy the City that was being built in Moses' day in its fulfilment, really‚ all the way! You know? That's sort of a parallel. You'll have it all, get it all, all the gems, all the jewels, all the gold! I think I will have grown so big I'll crack the tomb & we'll all be together! PTL!—Crack open the cave & it'll all roll out! PTL? TYL! Well, I never intend to keep you this long, but something always happens—the Preacher comes! JESUS! TYL!

130. WELL, MAYBE THAT'LL BE SOME ENCOURAGEMENT TO SOMEBODY: IT WON'T BE LONG NOW! TTL! Amen, does anybody have any questions? Any comments? Any ideas? Any messages? Prophecies? Tongues? Interpretation? I guess you had enough, huh? I guess the Lord knows when to sign off, even if I don't! So PTL! TYJ! Hallelujah! Well, I enjoyed that! TTL! I always enjoy it when the Preacher comes. I get as big a kick out of it as you do! It's just marvellous to me how the Lord does it, praise the Lord, but I guess it must have been needed for some reason for somebody. Maybe I needed it as much as anybody!

131. I'VE BEEN KIND OF TIRED LATELY. I don't know if it's the weather or what. I guess I'm just gettin' old, that's all. After all, I've got a right to get old someday! I've worked pretty hard, I'm a pretty good old workhorse, the Lord's going to turn me out to pasture one of these days. That's what you do with a horse when he gets too old to work very much, you turn him out to green pastures where he can just graze & enjoy the rest of his life as long as he lasts. We finally had to do that with our old horse on the Ranch.

132. SO‚ PTL! ONE OF THESE DAYS HE'S GOING TO TURN ME OUT TO PASTURE & I'LL HELP'M GET IT READY FOR YOU! I've got to make sure He's got plenty of room up there for all of you! Now that I know what kind of a place you like, I'll fix it up right! I think He loves you enough He's going to be willing to give me just about anything I want there just like He does down here! TYL!

133. I'M GLAD THERE'S ONE OTHER OLD FARMER IN THIS HOUSE THAT CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT! Well, you're all farmers, really, you're all working on the crops, preparing the seed & the machinery & we're all working on God's Farm!—Amen? GBY all! ILY! It won't be long now!—Are you ready?