PROBLEM CASES!   DO954-8  12/80
--Dad's Christmas Message

         1. IT'S SO SAD WHEN PEOPLE FAIL YOU when you put so much into them & have done so much for them & they go back on you & turn against you. You've loved them so much & you thought they loved you & they throw it all over for selfishness & the Devil & their own personal private interests & forget the Lord & forget His work & forget His people & His Family.
         2. It's so sad & so pitiful, these Sauls, the failures, the disappointments to God. They must truly break the heart of God like they break my heart. They throw over the real grain & the meat & the good food just to wallow in the husks & mire & their old vomit again! (2Pe.2:22)
         3. The Lord Himself said, "My soul abhorreth him that turneth back!" (He.10:38) God hates to see people's backs! It's pitiful, really pitiful! And He said, "He that having put his hand to the plow & even looking back is not worthy of Me!" (Lk.9:62)
         4. They're really a heartbreaking sight, these that turn back, these backsliders. What a sad, pitiful dandy bad example some of these have set! How pitiful! They've gone back to what didn't satisfy them in the first place, which is why they came to us. Like the rich young ruler, they have gone back sorrowful because of the material riches of this life, & considering them of more value than the riches in Christ & the riches in souls. (Mt.19:21,22)
         5. THANK GOD FOR MEN LIKE MOSES WHO FORSOOK EGYPT! He looked beyond because he saw Jesus & had an eye on Eternity & its great rewards. "For he counted the riches of Christ greater than the riches of all Egypt!" (He.11:26)--The greatest & most powerful richest nation on the face of the Earth in that day, of which he could have been Pharaoh, couldn't compare to Christ!
         6. "For he had respect unto the recompense of the reward"--far greater than all the riches of this whole World combined, & all of its selfish pleasures & selfish interests. TYJ! So "he chose to suffer affliction with the children of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of this life for a season". (He.11:25)
         7. Whatever this life & this World have to offer, it's only for a little while! But salvation, souls, children & the service for the Lord are forever, they are eternal! "For this World passes away & the fashion thereof, but he that doeth the Will of God abideth forever! For the things which are seen are temporal, & the things which are not seen are eternal." (1Jn.2:17; 2Co.4:18) Hallelujah!
         8. "He that SAVETH his life shall LOSE it, but he that LOSETH his life for MY sake & the Gospel's"--Jesus Himself said--"shall SAVE it!" (Mk.8:35) So how much better to die for something than to live for nothing! PYJ! That's what I call a bargain, to give up this terrible old life in this horrible old World for a beautiful eternal life in Heaven! Amen?--With all of our friends & family & fish & folks we've won to the Lord forever!
         9. I REALLY GET A LITTLE DOWN SOMETIMES WHEN I HEAR ABOUT BACKSLIDERS & loved ones who've gone back & gone astray, no longer serving us or the Lord or the Family or souls, no longer serving Heaven but serving Earth & its brief pleasures. But thank God for those of you who have given up this World for Jesus! (Sings:)
         10. "You can have all this World, give me Jesus! Give me Jesus! Give me Jesus! You can have all this World, give me Jesus!" Hallelujah! TYL! (Sings:)
         "I'll take Jesus for mine!
         Yes, I'll take Jesus for mine!
         You can have this whole wide filthy World,
         But I'll take Jesus for mine!"
PYJ! TYL! Hallelujah! Amen?
         11. And all the folks who love the Lord said: AMEN! What a small price to pay for all we're getting in return--Jesus, happiness, souls & eternity! TYJ! PYL! Hallelujah! (Sings:)
         "It will be worth it all when we see Jesus!
         Life's trials will seem so small when we see Christ!
         One glimpse of His dear face, all sorrows will erase,
         So bravely run the race, till we see Christ!"
--Amen!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family