"OUR MESSAGE"--By David Brandt Berg
I. OUR SAMPLE PROVES OUR SERMON
1. WE ARE HERE TO PREACH, NOT A 50% OR A 70%, BUT A TOTAL,
100% LIVING FOR GOD: Living in a totally new society, loving
one another and having the truth. Our message will go over the
whole world. They have heard from the church that Jesus
saves, but they don't want any part of churchianity. But they
will hear about Jesus from you because you will be living
it.
2. YOU WILL BE A LIVING ENSAMPLE OF THE TRUTH. You are
preaching it in the greatest way of preaching-by living
it! 1 Jesus' last prayer for His disciples was that "they
may be one...that the world may believe...and know that
Thou [God] hath sent Me." 2 In other words, Jesus was saying
that this unity with each other and God is the sample
that will prove to the world the reality of His Message.
3. IT'S TRUE WHEN IT COMES TO THE FINAL SHOWDOWN THAT ONLY
THE MIRACLE-WORKING POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT of God Himself
can really do the job of winning their hearts--but they
must see Him doing it through us first of all! They must
see this miracle-working power at work in our lives,
as a genuine living sample and proof that the sermon
can happen! 3
4. JESUS NOT ONLY PREACHED HIS MESSAGE, BUT HE LIVED IT!
He was not only the Living Word, the Sermon, but
He was also the Living Work, the Sample. 4 For
He said He had not only "spoken unto them",
but He also had "done the works that none other
man did." 5
5. HOWEVER, DON'T PUT THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE, THE SAMPLE
BEFORE THE HORSE, THE SAMPLE BEFORE THE SERMON; Remember,
the words are the cause, and the kids and
Colonies are the effect! 6
6. COLONY LIVING IS NOT OUR MAIN MESSAGE. It's just
a sample that proves the words. 7
7. WITNESSING HIS WONDER-WORKING WORDS TO THE WORLD IS OUR
MAIN TASK, 8 and our main motive should be to obey
God and get the message out.9 But remember, the sample
sells the sales talk. You are product and proof that it
works! 10 So, "Let your light so shine before men that
they may see your good work, and glorify your
Father which is in heaven." 11
II. OUR MESSAGE OF LOVE AND DISCIPLESHIP
8. OUR MESSAGE OF LOVE IS TAKEN FROM OUR REVOLUTIONARY HAND-BOOK,
THE BIBLE, and is simply that "God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son [Jesus], that
whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life"12
9. FOR ALL HAVE SINNED and come short of the glory of
God." 13 "There is none righteous, no not one."
14 "All we like sheep have gone astray, and the
Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all." 15
10. "THE WAGES OF SIN IS DEATH, BUT THE GIFT OF GOD
IS ETERNAL LIFE through Jesus Christ our Lord." 16
"Not by works of righteousness which we have done but according
to His mercy He saved us." 17.
11. "FOR BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH, and
that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: not of
works, lest any man should boast." 18 "If we confess
our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us."
19 "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be
saved." 20
12. "YE SHALL RECEIVE POWER after that the Holy
Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto Me."
21, 22
13. WE ALSO BELIEVE THAT ALL THOSE WHO WISH TO BE JESUS'
DISCIPLES SHOULD: "Go... into all the world and preach
the Gospel to every creature! 23 "Go out into the highways
and hedges and compel them to come in!" 24 "Sell
all that thou hast and give to the poor...and come
follow Me!" 25
14. "HE THAT FORSAKETH NOT ALL THAT HE HATH, CANNOT
BE MY DISCIPLE." 26 "Seek ye first the Kingdom
of God and His righteousness and all these things shall
be added unto you." 27 "Warn the wicked of
his wicked way to save his life." 28
15. "ALL THAT BELIEVED WERE TOGETHER AND HAD ALL THINGS
COMMON." 29 "And they continued steadfastly
in the Apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and
in breaking of bread, and prayers." 30 "And
daily in the temple and in every house, they ceased
not to teach and preach Jesus Christ." 31, 32
16. SO THERE'S NOTHING NEW ABOUT OUR MESSAGE--GOD'S MESSAGE
THROUGH US! IT'S THE SAME MESSAGE JESUS PREACHED, the same
message His disciples preached; but they not only preached it--they
also lived it, just like we're doing. That's the difference!
The scribes and Pharisees were preaching it, but they weren't
practicing it.
17. THAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CHURCHES AND US! 33
Jesus said to the common people: The scribes and Pharisees [the
church leaders] sit in Moses' seat: "All therefore they
bid you observe, that observe and do, but do not ye after
their works: for they say and do not." 34
And that goes for today's churches too!
III. OUR MESSAGE OF DOOM AND JUDGMENT AGAINST THIS WORLD'S
SYSTEMS
18. IN EVERY AGE GOD HAD HIS LAST PROPHET who gave them
God's last words. Today they are being given it through
us, before God gives it to them. 35
19. THE MESSAGE OF JEREMIAH, the Prophet of Doom, was
revealed to us in December of 1961, when I was very ill,
and God said this was to be our message from now on--the Doomsday,
Endtime Warning Message. 36 We are to become as a red-flashing
warning light to the World, a somber warning of serious danger
ahead. 37
20. AS WITH JEREMIAH, GOD HAS "SET THEE OVER THE NATIONS
and over the kingdoms to root out and to pull
down, and to destroy and to throw down [their
idols with the spiritual weapons of God's Word]
and to build and to plant [God's spiritual kingdom in the
hearts of men]." 38
21. "AND I [GOD] WILL UTTER MY JUDGMENTS AGAINST THEM
[through you] touching all their wickedness who have forsaken
Me and have burned incense unto other gods and worshipped the
works of their own hands." 39 "But if they will
not obey [our warnings], I will utterly pluck up and
destroy that nation, saith the Lord!" 40
22. GOD HAS ALSO CALLED US, EVEN AS HE DID THE PROPHET EZEKIEL,
TO BE WATCHMEN unto the House of Israel, those who
were supposed to be His Church; therefore we're
to hear His Words and give them warning from the Lord.
41
23. AS HE TOLD EZEKIEL, GOD HAS TOLD US: "Son of
man, I have made thee a watchman unto the House of Israel:
therefore hear the word at My mouth and give them warning
from Me. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die;
and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn
the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked
man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require
at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he
turn not from his wickedness, nor form his wicked way, he shall
die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.
42
24. OUR MAIN WITNESS (WHICH INCLUDES BOTH OUR WAY OF LIFE
AND OUR SERMON) IS THAT WE ARE AGAINST THE SYSTEM; that
is 95% of our witness. It is a damning witness against
them. 43 By the System, I'm not talking about the legal laws--I'm
talking about the damnable Satanic principles of which
the damned System is built, its laws of selfishness and do your
own thing and keep on living just as you did, refusing any change.
44
IV. A TWO-FOLD MESSAGE
25. OUR MESSAGE IS TO "FEAR GOD AND GIVE GLORY TO HIM;
for the hour of His Judgment is come: and worship Him
that made Heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains
of waters." 45
26. IN OTHER WORDS, WE TELL PEOPLE TO FOLLOW GOD OR RECEIVE
HIS JUDGMENTS. So in a way our message is two-fold: against
the rebellious System and for God's Sheep.
27. OUR MAJOR JOB IS TO STAND UP AS GOD'S STRONGEST WITNESSES
before both the Church and the whole world, and to explain to
them what's happening and to lead and encourage and feed God's
Children to the very End! 46
28. WE'RE THE MIGHTY ARMY OF CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS FIGHTING
A RELENTLESS WAR FOR THE TRUTH AND LOVE OF GOD, AGAINST THE
CONFUSION OF BABYLON--the anti-God, anti-Christ System of
this World, whether Godless educations, Christless religions,
vicious economics, or the hellish wars of the traditions,
boundaries and prejudices of selfish, greedy and Godless man.
47
V. WHY WE PREACH REVOLUTION, NOT REFORMATION
29. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE, AS JESUS SAID TO REFORM THE OLD, FOR
THEY WILL NOT ACCEPT IT, and in the attempt the bottle will
be broken and the contents lost.
30. THE OLD RELIGIOUS AND ECONOMIC SYSTEMS CANNOT BE PATCHED
UP, for they are tattered, threadbare, and rotten and must
be cast upon the fires of His judgement that He may create "a
new Heaven and a new earth" in which "old things are
passed away and all things are become new." 48
31. SO IT'S ALWAYS NECESSARY TO ROOT OUT, PULL DOWN, DESTROY
and throw down the old in order to build and to plant
the new: there just isn't room for both. 49
32. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS THE PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE OF
GOOD AND EVIL! I came not to bring peace, but a sword! One
or the other has to conquer. One or the other has to be destroyed
that the other might live. "Ye cannot serve God and
Mammon. Ye cannot serve two masters."
33. YE CANNOT BELONG TO BOTH THE SYSTEM AND THE REVOLUTION,
the forces of reaction and the forces of change!
It's impossible; as Jesus said, You'll either hate the
one and love the other hold to the one and despise
the other. You'll either stay in the System
or drop out. There's no such thing as hanging somewhere
in between, suspended between Heaven and Hell in some kind of
compromiser's limbo!
34. YOU'VE GOTTA DROP OUT IT YOU'RE GONNA LIVE, or else
you'll die with the old, and the worn out System will collapse
on top of you! 50
35. HOWEVER WE ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT PHYSICAL, VIOLENT REVOLUTION
that doesn't do anything but a lot of damage, and that doesn't
change the hearts of the System one tiny little bit,
51, but just creates another System where things are just as
bad, if not worse. 52
36. WE'RE TALKING ABOUT A SPIRITUALLY VIOLENT REVOLUTION
that absolutely rends your heart right out completely and
gives you a new Spirit, the Holy Ghost of God!
53 "A new heart also will I give and a new spirit
will I put within you." 54
37. WHEN JESUS WENT SAYING "REPENT, for the Kingdom
of heaven is at hand", He was saying "Revolt, revolute,
have a Revolution!" 55
38. THE BIBLICAL WORD "REPENT" COMES FROM THE
GREEK WORD "METANOIA"", which means a complete
change of mind or a total turning around and going
in the opposite direction--or to "revolute"--so
repentance is a revolution. 56 It means to change your direction--change
everything.
39. CHANGE YOUR WAY OF LIVING, not just your so-called
heart, but your whole life and the way you live and the
way you work! That's a Revolution!
40. THAT'S WHAT JESUS PREACHED! 57 And that's the kind
of Revolution we've got! 58 For, "the Kingdom of Heaven
suffereth violence, and the violent take it by
force."
VI. DELIVERING THE MESSAGE
41. THE TRUTH FEEDS SOME AND CHOKES OTHERS. 60 To some
we're like a lion, to others, like a lamb. To the wolves
we're as lions; to the sheep we're as lambs.
There are times to roar and times to bleat. Just please, pray
God you'll know the difference! 61
42. HIS WORD NEVER CHANGES, Christ doesn't change, but
God keeps moving every day.
43. IT MAY BE THE SAME MESSAGE, BUT IT IS VARIED EVERY DAY
TO SUIT THE NEED and adapt to the situation. 62 As Paul
himself conceded, we must become all things to all men
in order that we might win some.
44. THEREFORE, THERE ARE CERTAINLY DIFFERENCES IN APPROACHES--To
the Roman as a Roman, to the Jew as a Jew, to the Greek as a
Greek, and to the Japanese as a Japanese. It's matter of communication
in order to make our message understandable and our witness
comprehensible and our lives interpretable in the terms, language
and even gestures that they understand. 63
45. BUT LIKE THE MESSAGE OF EVERY TRUE PROPHET OF GOD, THE
TRUTH OFTEN HURTS, and no matter how lovingly you present
it, some people may resent it bitterly and blame you for
what God said! So use lots of love and wisdom. Be very
cautious and try not to take one side or the other--we're on
God's side! 64
46. SOME OF THESE LETTERS ARE HIGHLY CONTROVERSIAL.
But they have to get out ; people have to know the truth,
and we have to obey the Lord! But you don't have to
convince them. Leave the decision to them. 65
VII. REACTION TO OUR MESSAGE
47. A. ENEMIES: FOR A WHILE WE WILL BE BIG NEWS AND GET
PATTED ON THE BACK FOR OUR GOOD WORK converting the radicals
and dopers; but soon they will realise what a threat
we are to their children and to their System. 66 We are a kind
of Communist that their kids have not been conditioned against--Christian
Communists!
48. THEY CAN TELL THEIR KIDS THAT WE ARE WRONG and evil
and a Marxist Communist front, but their kids will know
better. 67
49. THE COMMUNISTS TODAY SAY, "JESUS WAS A VIOLENT
REVOLUTIONARY." "This is the ammunition that the
leaders of Moloch [education] and Baal [church] will use against
us to link us with the violent, physical revolutionaries
and turn their followers, the common people, against us: and
eventually their leaders will pull a Mt.12:14: "Then the
Pharisees went out and held a council against him, how they
might destroy him." 68
50. BUT ALL THOSE THAT DO LIFT EVEN FINGER AGAINST ONE OF
THE HAIRS OF THY HEADS SHALL PERISH. So ridiculous are those
nincompoops who fight God's Children. 70
51. B. VAST MAJORITY (silent majority): The thousands
to whom He had preached, had healed, and fed were seldom to
be counted on for loyalty or faithfulness or genuine discipleship.
52. THE VAST MAJORITY COULDN'T CARE LESS; they're not
even interested, except when you attract their attention momentarily,
as Jesus did with His miracles.
53. THE VAST MAJORITY ARE ALWAYS WRONG; that is, in
the world at large! And they can usually easily be swayed
by a very wicked minority of enemies, as the religious leaders
did when they persuaded the crowds that Jesus, Who fed and healed
them, should be crucified. They'll do it to us someday too,
and, in a measure. already have upon occasion. 71
54. C. SHEEP: DURING JESUS' 3 1/2 YEARS OF PUBLIC MINISTRY
THE NUMBER OF TRUE DISCIPLES OR GENUINE FOLLOWERS WAS FEW--about
12 to 70, to be exact. The true followers, the true disciples,
willing to forsake all, truly follow His teaching and truly
obey His Words will always be the infinitesimal minority,
72 "Because straight is the gate and narrow is the way
which leadeth unto Life and few there be that find it."
73
55. VERY FEW MEN ARE SO IDEALISTIC AS TO BE WILLING TO GIVE
UP THEIR OWN SINS IN ORDER TO PLEASE GOD that they might
try to save their fellowman!--Only a few! God help us
to find those few! 74
56. A PROPHECY: FOR THEY CRY UNTO ME AND CALL UPON ME IN
THEIR DISTRESS AND THEIR HUNGER, for they are sheep having
no shepherd and they are scattered abroad throughout all the
earth.
57. THEREFORE, I HAVE GIVEN THEM A SHEPHERD that shall
guide them into the fold of the True Shepherd.
58. MY VOICE SHALL THEY HEED THROUGH MY SERVANT DAVID! My
sheep hear My Voice and know My Voice, and they follow Me, and
the Voice of the stranger they will not follow.
