KEYWORDS: system, judas, place, family

Sorry, Judas--It's Too Late to Quit!

David Berg

—The Dangers of Backsliding! NRS1624 Jan. 1979DFO 772

—By Father David

[HomeARC note (10/98): The Charter states the Family's current policies regarding membership, and outlines the procedures of any full–time member who wishes to change or terminate his or her membership status.]

1. WHEN YOU POOR PEOPLE DO GO BACK & GET DEPENDENT ON PARENTS, RELATIVES & THE SYSTEM, THERE IS A TENDENCY TO COMPROMISE, RIGHT? There is a tendency to have to agree with the parents & the relatives & the family & the Systemites. And I wouldn't be a bit surprised that after the relatives have voiced some of their complaints, you've had to say:

2. "WELL, YES, I AGREE THEY WERE SO-&-SO—and yes, & besides that, do you know what else we had to do?"—blah blah blah! I would not put it past the parents to call in the newspapers & say‚ "Listen to what my daughter has to say! Listen to what they made her do!"

3. THEN WHAT COULD SHE DO? Would she sit there in the presence of her mother who is supporting her & giving her room & board, & refuse to tell the newspapers what she had already told her mother? I think the relatives actually "set you up" for this betrayal sometimes. We've heard a few stories of how they set them up to betray!

4. I WONDER HOW THEY GOT JUDAS TO DO IT? I wouldn't be surprised maybe if he quit & came back to the System & wanted a job, huh? But how do you suppose they got him to betray Jesus? Do you suppose he went back & said, "Listen, I think things are getting a little too hot & I'd like to get back into your System.—Would you please give me a job?" They probably said:

5. "YES! WE'LL GIVE YOU A JOB! Here's 30 pieces of silver.—Now show us where He is!" In other words, when you put yourself at the mercy of the System, you are almost compelled to deny & betray! When you go back & put yourself in their hands, when you compromise & you backslide & you go back on their territory, then you are their victim! You have to do what they say.

6. I BELIEVE THAT'S HOW THEY HAVE GOT A LOT OF THIS INFORMATION OUT OF BACKSLIDERS. The poor backslider's compromised that far, they have gone that far, they have agreed with the System & their parents & relatives that much, & they're dependent on them for room & board & whatnot, so they feel like they have got to go ahead & go through with the whole thing!

7. THE RELATIVES INVITE IN THE REPORTERS & SAY‚ "LISTEN TO WHAT MY CHILDREN HAVE TO SAY! Listen to what they have been through! Here's the proof." What can they do? You would have to be stronger than the average backslider to say, in the face of your parents, "Well, … I'm not going to say [bad] anything about them!"—When you have already been doing it yourself to your mate & to your parents or your hosts or whoever!

8. THAT'S THE ONLY PLACE YOU HAVE TO GO: BACK TO THE SYSTEM! Don't think that if you backslide & defect you're going to be able to stay somewhere out in no-man's-land between the two, that you are not going to have to go back to the System! I warn you, there is no place else to go! There is no alternative if you turn against us.

9. SOME OF THESE ANTI-FAMILY GROUPS ARE STARTING COLONIES with our backsliders & saying, "We're furnishing an alternative. You don't have to go back to the System. You can join our home! We're a group of backsliders & defectors too‚ but we're in-between! We don't like the System either, but we don't like the Family too.—Join us!"

10. BUT WHERE DO YOU HEAR ABOUT THOSE DEFECTORS' HOMES?—IN THE SYSTEM'S MEDIA BLASTING THE FAMILY! So who do you belong to?—The System! You become fools & tools of the System, just like Judas! You didn't intend to.—Maybe you didn't even want to! But you've got no place else to go!—Why?—Because you've become dependent on the System for your support & your protection & your very existence!

11. YOU HAVE GONE BACK TO THE SYSTEM. You say, "No! We're not going back to the System!" Nearly every backslider we ever had said, "No, no! I'm not going to go back to the System! Never!" But that's where they land, because they have no place else to go, because there is no place else to go! Jesus said:

12. "YOU ARE EITHER FOR ME OR YOU ARE AGAINST ME!" (Mt.12:30)—One or the other! There is nothing else. There are only two kinds of children in the world: The children of God & the children of the Devil! There are no in-betweens. … You either work for God or you're going to have to go back & work for the Devil! So it's up to you. The choice is yours.

13. IF TOP LEADERS CAN DEFECT, WHO KNOWS?—MAYBE YOU COULD DEFECT TOO!—If I offended you enough, … didn't give you enough love, did something you didn't like. It doesn't take much to offend some people sometimes. I might just spout off some doctrine you didn't agree with. So you look around for some loophole, or some place to get out, or some place else to go, or some other job. Well, I'll tell you right now:

14. IF YOU HAVE EVER BEEN A MEMBER OF THE FAMILY, YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE A HARD TIME GETTING BACK INTO THE SYSTEM!—Unless you do what?—What's the price they will ask you to pay? what was the price they asked Judas?—Denial & betrayal!—They'll say, "Deny & betray the Family—then maybe we'll give you a job!" There is no place else to go, Beloved! If you don't like it here & you don't like the Family & you don't like me, well‚ there's only one other thing you could like, & that's the System! But you say,

15. "BUT I DON'T LIKE THE SYSTEM EITHER, THAT'S WHY I'M HERE!—I got out of it. But now you are not doing what I like, & you are doing things I don't like‚ & I don't like my job, & I don't like the way things are & the way things are going. So, I'm going to find something else."—What else? Well, there are a lot of kids who left us & didn't want to go back to the System, but they did!—Where else is there? Maybe you'd say: "I know a place!

16. "—SOME OTHER CULT?" Okay, which one do you want to join?! Do you want to shave your heads & join Hare Krishna? do you want to take your posy & go down the street with Mr. Moon & declare that he is the Messiah? How many of you have heard me declare that I am the Messiah? Have you ever heard me declare that I'm the Messiah?

17. HAVE YOU EVER HEARD ME DECLARE THAT I AM THE MESSIAH OR JESUS, OR THAT I AM GOD? NEVER! Do you want to join Transcendental Meditation? Maybe you tried that & it didn't transcend you! I mean, if you don't belong to the Family of God, the true Family of Christ, there is only one other place you can go besides the System, & that's into some false cult or false religion or some really screwy sect!

18. —AND YOU'LL FIND MOST OF THE OTHER CULTS ARE VERY SYSTEMITE! They haven't really left the System! They are still Systemites at heart, really. They are not that antagonistic to the System, they are not that different from the System. Most of the cults we've had any experience with, they were just Systemites by another name! I mean, they had had no real change of heart or change of attitude or change of life, nothing!

19. SO IF YOU GO BACK, TO WHOM WILL YOU GO? Apostle Peter was a pretty smart boy! Things were getting pretty hot where they were‚ & everybody was leaving, so Jesus looked around at the first 12 & said‚ "Are you going to leave too?"—and Peter just asked, "To whom shall we go? Thou alone hast the Words." (Jn.6:67,68)

20. SOMETIMES I LOOK AT SOME OF YOU, MY PERSONAL STAFF, & WONDER IF YOU COULD.—Others have! I mean, we are all human, everybody makes mistakes.—Could you? Would it be possible? What would happen if you did? I tell you one thing, I'll warn you right now! If any of you guys leave, so do I! Don't think you are going to be able to tell them where I am, because I'll be gone almost before you are!—Ant it won't be the first time!—God helping us!

21. BUT WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO GO? Peter was pretty smart: He as good as said, "Well, Lord, things are getting pretty hot & uncomfortable here right now, but I can't think of any place else to go or that I would rather be!—To whom shall we go? Thou alone hast the Words of eternal life!" If you think you can find the truth better somewhere else, for God's sake go!

22. WHY DID YOU COME HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE? If you don't like what we teach‚ if you don't like FFing & you don't believe some of the things I say, why in the world are you here? Why do you follow? I have a hard time believing some of them myself! But I have to believe them, because I know I got them from God! I have no choice‚ really. I know it's the Lord! PTL! Consider the alternative:

23. TO WHOM WILL YOU GO? You say, "Well, I would never do that!" (Referring to the couple, Jacob & Melody from India‚ who went back to the States & turned against us, & their defamatory article appeared on the front page of the International Herald Tribune today!—Gone from the Family only one month now‚ & already in the international newspapers!—Their betrayal & denial!—And yet they were some of the leaders in the Family in India!) You say: "How could that happen?

24. "I WOULD NEVER DO THAT!"—Oh you wouldn't? Yes, you would!—If you go back! You have no choice. There is no place to go but back to the System!—And they won't have you unless you deny & betray us!

25. JUST REMEMBER JUDAS! He didn't intend to kill Jesus. He didn't even want them to kill Jesus. He was just trying to save his own neck & get out of a hot spot, because it looked like if he didn't he was going to get killed himself along with the rest of them! So he thought that he could just go halfway. He never dreamed he'd go that far! I'll bet you when those leaders left India & went home, they never dreamed they would go that far back & betray us! Never! But there it is!—Already in the newspapers!

26. THE SYSTEM WILL NOT ACCEPT YOU BACK WITHOUT DENIAL & BETRAYAL! They will not do it! Don't think you can go back & have the System receive you without paying their price & playing the game their way!—And there is no place else to go! You say‚ "Well, I'm just going to go back. I don't have to be in the Family, but I don't have to join the System either.

27. "I'LL JUST GO BACK & GET A JOB."—Okay: "Please fill out this job application, will you? Name & address. Last job. What were you doing? Your last employer—how many years there? What were you doing? What are you going to say?—"I was a missionary"? "And here's your [income tax] form. Where is your Social Security Card? You have no Social Security Card? …

…

29. BUT WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO WITH THAT JOB APPLICATION OR THAT … INCOME TAX FORM THEY GIVE YOU TO FILL OUT? "Name & address, Social security number, please."—"I don't remember it." "What do you mean, you don't remember it? You don't have a Social Security Card?—You lost it?—Well, then you will have to apply for one."

…

31. YOU CANNOT RE-ENTER THAT SYSTEM WORLD WITHOUT PLAYING THE GAME ACCORDING TO THEIR RULES!—And their rules are that you've got to have a social Security Number‚ Social Security Card & paid taxes all these years if you expect to collect Social Security Insurance & all the rest! I want to warn some of you folks: You may not realise what you are in for!—It might be in further than you figured!

32. I WANT TO WARN YOU: YOU'D BETTER NOT GO BACK TO THE SYSTEM!—YOU HAVE GONE TOO FAR!—IT'S TOO LATE!—If you go back to the System now you are going to be in trouble! Not just in trouble finding a job, but, "What happened to your Social Security? What happened to your Social Security taxes? What happened to your [income tax] forms?

…

38. DO YOU THINK THEY ARE GOING TO BELIEVE THAT OR ACCEPT IT?—Especially if you were with some cult, & they are trying to punish you for your departure from the System! Do you think you are going to get back into the System without paying any price or any penalties?—

39. BUT IF YOU WANT TO GET BACK IN THE SYSTEM, IT'S GOING TO COST YOU SOMETHING!—A lot more than you ever dreamed of!—And they are not going to be very forgiving! …

40. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU DIDN'T HAVE ANY INCOME?—You've been travelling around Europe for five years & you didn't have any income?"—"Well, I mean, I was living on gifts. I was distributing literature, & they gave me nickels & dimes on the street, & so it was just gifts."—"Well, I'm sorry but we don't allow the cults that anymore. We don't count that as gifts.

41. "WE COUNT THAT AS PAY FOR THE LITERATURE. We count that as income, just as the newsboy who sells papers. He makes so much money from selling papers, & we consider that earned income not, gifts.—How much did you say you earned? How much did they pay you for the lit? How much was it? How many days did you live in Europe? So, three years income!" "Well, but I wasn't even doing that!

42. "I WAS JUST LIVING WITH THIS GURU, & he just gave me free room & board & my expenses"—"All your expenses" Well now!—And what did he give you besides room & board? What about your clothes?—"Well, yes, I got clothes, too."—"What about your medical needs, eyeglassesdentistry, etc.?"—"Yes, well, I got these too."—"What about your other necessities? "—"Well, I got those too."

…

44. "SO WE'LL COUNT IT ALL DOWN AS INCOME.—And it's going to be more than $15 a day!"—Are some of you getting the sad news? "Here, I had just thought about going back to the System‚ & now you're telling me this horrible news!"—Hum?—Some of you aren't laughing! "You mean to tell me if things get too hot here, Dad, & too tough here, & all the time I thought I could split anytime I wanted to‚ that I'm not going to be able to go straight back into the System like I was before without problems?"

…

48. YOU DON'T HAVE TO REPORT GIFTS & YOU DON'T HAVE TO DECLARE THEM. But when your enemies are out to get you & your anti-Christ System government is out to get you, do you think they are going to accept that? That's my conviction, but they may have another type of conviction in mind! …

49. SO IF YOU GO BACK & TURN YOURSELF IN, BELOVED‚ THEY'RE GOING TO REALLY HAVE IT IN FOR YOU! You're going to have to play the game their way & prove that you are a real genuine defector & really against us if you want to get off the hook!—And even that might not save you! It didn't save Judas! You say, "But I would never go that far!" Yes, you will, if you start back.

50. THERE IS NO PLACE TO STOP, BUT ALL THE WAY BACK!—Like Judas! Every backslider that ever left us told us, "We don't plan to go back to the System. We're not deserting the Lord's work, we're not even deserting you, really. We're just going back. We're just leaving the Family.—At least we don't really plan to. We're not actually against you. We just prefer to live some other way."—But they always wound up going all the way back because there is no "other way" or any place to stop! The Lord won't permit it! He says:

51. "YOU ARE EITHER FOR ME OR AGAINST ME!"—You are either for us or you are against us! You are going to have to be for us & stick with us even if you go home‚ or you are going to go back & be against us just like those other people!—And you are going to pay one God-damn hell of a price for your defection!—Not to us but to the dear System!

52. … They are the ones who are going to punish you for having spent all those years out of their fold of the Devil! Do you think they are not going to make you pay for it? Do you think they are going to let you back in without any penalties, without any punishment, without any price?—Huh?? Don't be a fool!

53. YOU DON'T GET THE BENEFIT OF THE SYSTEM WITHOUT PAYING ITS PRICES & ITS TAXES! You don't dare go back! I warn you! "Ah-ha‚ Dad! Now you're doing just what the System says you do! You're warning us that if we leave, terrible things are going to happen to us!"—Yes! But not because I'm going to do them to you or we're going to do it, but:

54. I AM SURE THE SYSTEM WILL GET YOU!—And if it doesn't, I know Somebody Who will! … God will! Did Judas get by with it? Did he get away with it? Did Judas escape? Did he get back into the System?—Huh?

55. JUDAS ISCARIOT, WHO BETRAYED JESUS CHRIST!—DID THEY TAKE HIM BACK IN THE SYSTEM? (Family: No!) How do you know?—Huh!—They wouldn't even take back the blood money, much less him! So when he threw it down & walked off & left it, they refused to accept it!—But they had to do something with it. … So they bought a potter's field where they could bury poor Judas! That's what the System's High Priests did to Judas! He left it behind & they picked it up & spent it on him.—In a nice hypocritical pharisaical way!

56. DID JUDAS EVEN GET BY WITH HIS OWN CONSCIENCE? Was he able to live with it?—No!—He committed suicide! We've heard that some backsliders have gone back & lost their minds or committed suicide like Judas!—Then the Systemites blame it on us! They say it was our fault! Ha! It's not our fault, but their fault & the System's fault!

57. THEY FINALLY WAKE UP TO THE FACT THAT THEY HAVE NOT ONLY FORSAKEN THE FAMILY, BUT THEY'VE FORSAKEN THE LORD!—And still the System won't take them back! They have not only denied & betrayed us, but they have denied & betrayed the Lord, & they can't stand to live with it!—And rather than repent & come back—their pride won't let them so they go nuts or end it all!

58. OH, PRIDE IS A KILLER!—IT CAN KILL YOU IF YOU LET IT! People die for pride every day! Every day people commit suicide for pride! Every day!—That's why Judas committed suicide! He couldn't stand to face anybody after that! He couldn't stand to face the High Priest, the Scribes‚ the Pharisees, the System Enemies or the former friends.

59. JUDAS COULDN'T STAND TO FACE ANYBODY ANYMORE! He couldn't stand to face the world anymore! So he had to get out of it! I'm sorry to have to give you the sad news, Beloved, but if you go back on us, that's how far you can go! We'll be reading about you in the newspaper!: "Oh, I used to live with him! I know how horrible he is!—and blah blah!" Boy, you will have some tales to tell!—And they will be ready to hear them‚ & that will be the price you will have to pay to get back in!

60. THEN, HAVING DENIED US & BETRAYED US, WHAT KIND OF A JOB DO YOU THINK THEY ARE GOING TO GIVE YOU? Do you think they will ever trust you again?—After they've paid you to betray us, they'll probably say, "Sorry, Judas, but it's too late to quit your cult.—We won't accept you anymore!—Run along & get lost!"—And he did!—Will you?—Not if you stay loyal to the Family & refuse to betray us!—Will you?