Prophecies and Scientific Predictions
It says that even a worm will turn when trod upon. Well, the mighty of the church and the world have trod on the worm long enough, endeavouring to completely subjugate it und let human dignity begin only with them. But they went too far. This they feel and are now - in their fear of the consequences - looking for means to stop this development. But in vain! As once in Jerusalem, also these mighty of today will reap what they have sown. At that time I advised My followers to be moderate in everything, to retain their souls and bodies pure and not to misuse them, so that they may stand purified before the Son of Man when He shall come. The same admonition applies also today: "Watch and pray that ye enter not into temptation!" Keep yourselves pure, gain strength through your faith in My love and My divine care which, even if it allows the most terrible things to happen, will never punish those who have followed My teaching with childlike trust and practised it with faithful zeal. The signs of the time will pass you by when you have learned to adapt your body to a minimum of physical needs, but instead are more concerned with the building up of your spiritual being. Then - as once My followers did - you will praise My greatness, love and mery even over smoking ruins of worldly splendour and battlefields, where matter has been defeated, but the spirit liberated. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 1) As it was once, it is also today and shall always be: The Kingdom of Heaven must suffer force! With force the old Adam must be driven out and the new one put on with a firm will, otherwise all efforts at reform are futile. A compromise, partly to adhere to My teaching and partly to rites of obsolete institutions, will not work. I am a spirit, and he who wants to worship Me must do so in spirit and in truth. To worship with truth means: with unshakable faith - with force. And whoever seizes heaven with force shall also take possession of it (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 2) PEOPLE WILL NOT RECOGNIZE THE LORD. DESTINY OF HIS TEACHING BEFORE THE SECOND COMING Men want to find Me, but do not know how to seek. Both, those who lead and those who are being led are still prejudiced and, like Moses, they have a threefold cover over their eyes. And even if I want to lift it and call to them: "Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest!" - they do not understand My call. They do not yet know the voice of their shepherd and are like lost sheep that shall reach the light of love, truth and full awareness only after a lengthy groping in the dark. What I once said will apply also today: "These things will be hidden from the wise and prudent, but revealed to the simple who seek with their heart." All the reformers now leading the believers and hoping for better spiritual conditions will have to relinquish many of their pet ideas, and so will their followers. They will have to go through many a bitter experience until they comprehend the words I once spoke: "My yoke is easy and My burden is light!" Learn from Me meekness, gentleness and the love of your fellowmen or, where religion is concerned, tolerance, then you will find peace of mind and be able to pass this peace onalso to others who still lack it. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 2) As in those days I was nailed to the cross, My teaching mocked and My disciples abused and persecuted, so it will be again. Instead of My person, My teaching will be crucified and mocked. My fighters will also have to battle with all kinds of injustices but they, too, will be victorious and see Me transfigured at My next descent. Then the voice of their conscience will proclaim: "Blessed be you because you remained true to Him, listened to His words, applied them and passed them on to others the way He wants them to be understood." Then the transfiguration will not end - as once with My disciples - but My pioneers will be able to see Me face to face everlastingly and rejoice over My victory and theirs together with all those who passed on before. Such is the symbolical meaning of the transfiguration. Make sure that you, too, may participate in it, so that you may be counted among those who, disregarding all that is of the world, have made Me and My teaching the principal purpose of their life and aspirations. Then, in moments of supreme delight when your spiritual vision is opened, you will be able to see The One in person, tansfigured, Who already for so long has been showering upon you His words of grace and wants to make you His children. Amen. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 14) Everything that happened in those times, at the beginning of My ministry, My spiritual birth on our earth, will repeat itself now and is already doing so daily. Now, too, there are John the Baptists and Johns as My favourites and apostles, only the procedure of their activity is different. At that time only Moses and the prophets counted with the Jewish people. They were not to be revoked, but their words were to be protected from disparagement - the ore freed from slag - and it was to be proven that I, as Christ, did not want to bring a new teaching, but only wanted to interpret spiritually and apply in practice that which was taken literally. At the present time, however, on the eve of My Second Coming to this earth, men's cultural and intellectual level is quite different. Now I am faced with reasoning philosophers and bookworms, or with fanatical stickers to the word in its literal sense, with people who are too fond of a pleasant life to submit to a religion that demands of them sacrifices and self-abnegation instead of pleasures and entertainment. I am now coming again among you people as I did once. "And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." Already for quite a while voices are being heard preaching the need for repentance and the searching of one's soul. The sleeping human spirit is being awakened in many ways. But also today the Johns are preaching mostly to deaf ears. Even those who have established themselves as My representatives on this earth are deaf, often even deafer than the others upon whom they want to impress My teaching. Now, too, these leaders are loosing their followers, who are seeking the light, the Word, as the manifestation of their God, - who are seeking what their own leaders are unable to give them. Thus, there arises a general striving towards the light, towards spiritual life, love and a heart-warming and truly spiritual teaching. There is a spiritual tendency in spite of all the resistance from those who, until now, were only concerned with their own interests. The trend is more and more towards freedom of thought, spiritual freedom. And although the open-minded in your world, with the light of their intellect, do not see the spiritual torch burning above their heads, the dusk of scientific life will soon he dispelled by them, and the "babes" will clearly see what so far has remained hidden to those who think themselves spiritually mature. It is again the Word that in the beginning created heaven and earth, as Moses expressed it, the Word as actual life and light beaming from on high and pouring warmth and love into your hearts. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was I, and in the end the Word will keep sounding on and on, and I shall continue forever spreading light, life and love and guiding the children that are Mine in spirit. Once the Word became flesh and those who were then living saw Its glory, but did not recognize it. And the Word shall once more become flesh, that is, spiritualized flesh, and shall be recognized and comprehended by the living in Its glory, and they shall receive grace upon grace of Its abundance. John once baptized with water, but now there will be baptism with spirit. Streams of heavenly water will be pouring into people's hearts, softening and awakening many of them; but many will also remain untouched or will hide from this rain. Happy he whose heart is still receptive for the water from on high, who is directed upwards and does not resist the heavenly blessings! On all these people the divine light of grace will be poured - as once a ray of the divine light came down onto Christ in the form of a dove - and it will spread peace and tranquility in their hearts and all their surroundings. Many will preach and spread My teaching as did once John the Baptist and My favourite disciple, John. Already there is some movement and, as the small breakers on the seashore are the forerunners of greater waves, so the present religious movement is the first beginning of a bigger one brought about by the stirring of the spiritual life which, as it were, squeezed in between matter and spirit, wants to find a way out. The spiritual has the property that it can also be compressed, but it will burst its bonds when the pressure gets too heavy. You, too, My children, who are called to testify by word and deed that you are guides on the spiritual path of life, will often be asked: 'Who are you? What do you actually want?' The world is not going to believe immediately everything you say, as was once the case with John. But be of good cheer! Sow the seed, give willingly to those who ask you for food, and do not be concerned if often the seed you have sown does not bear the fruit you would wish for! Also in a forest not all the trees grow straight. There are crippled, bent and sick trees, but the forest with its trees still gives thousands of living beings shelter and food and even the bad trees and plants have still some use. The same applies to the spiritual forest of human souls. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 3) As I once evaded My murderers in the temple because My time had not yet come, My teaching, as you are receiving it, is still evading its critics. And even if here and there one or the other wants to condemn it to death, as the Jews did with Me, and squirts his venom over it, he prejudices only himself; for time will teach him, too, and prove that what I want will happen and not what he with his limited insight wishes. Many a stone is still going to be thrown at My teaching in the form of harsh words meant to squash the gentle precept of love under their weight. But do not fear for its victory! For as at that time My Self was destined to pass even harder tests until My glorification had been accomplished and the end of My mission reached, thus now My teaching will be stonded, condemned, mocked, crucified and then - apparently dead -put in a grave from which, however, - as I once did, conquering death - it will rise triumphantly. This you must realize: The more ground My teaching will be gaining the more obstacles will be building up against it; for it attacks many in their material and even more in their spiritual comfort, in their habitual way of living and thinking. It has to be like this, so that until My next coming to the earth everything may repeat itself that once visibly constituted the essence of My three years of ministry. There I sowed the seed of My teaching among thistles and thorns and not much of the soil that received it was fertile. It still grew rankly in some spots. Now, too, My Word that wants to make men free falls on stony ground, heeded only by few, mostly trampled underfoot and threatened with destruction by the foxes that scent it as harmful to them. But it is still going to ripen and grow into the celestial flower that I once brought to your small earth Myself and which I handed to you like a rose that delights the senses with its fragrance, but may easily hurt a careless hand with its thorns. The rose is the loveliest flower on your earth for it combines fragrance with the most beautiful colour, one expressing love, the other wisdom. As the rose in its charming raiment combines beauty with fragrance, thus also My Word, the word of love combined with good deeds, makes every admirer sense the charm of My Divine Being. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 17) THE NEED TO AWAKEN HUMANITY AND THE MEANS FOR IT What John did and preached at that time, I have now been doing for a considerable time. I, too, admonish mankind to repent - in different ways - with words as well as through events. As then the advent of the actual teacher was announced and prepared, the same has been done already for quite a while in preparation of My next coming. As the Jews were thinking and acting then, they were not fit to properly accept and comprehend My teaching. And with the people of today, who are caught even deeper in the mire of selfishness, it is all the more urgent to awaken and warn them. There is not much time left now to consider what to do and where to turn. Just as for the sleeper the time of his dream-life passes with great speed and hours pass like minutes, thus time is now rushing past for him who, without thinking, lives only for the present. Therefore, the events, illnesses, looming social revolutions are all necessary to shake up mankind from its deep worldly sleep. […] At that time John said that One would come "whose fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly purge his floor and gather the wheat, but burn the chaff". And now, when you have invented machines to clean the grain with the help of strong fans, I am replacing the winnowing-fan by speedier methods in order to achieve My purpose and separate those of good will from the indifferent and indolent ones. Already the wheel is spinning in My spiritual wind- and cornsiftingmill. Whirling, it stirs the masses, tossing away from it the easygoing, shelllike rabble, which indulges in the pleasures of the world deaf to all warnings. As then, John reproved even Herod, the Tet-rarch of Galilee, for the way he was living, so today public opinion is reproving the ambitious plans of many a ruler. In the past, Herod had John imprisoned, and now, too, the rulers would like to check the tongues and cast out the thoughts from people's heads. But now - as it was then – these efforts are in vain. The Word, the spiritual carrier of My will, is far more powerful than weapons and force. As an immaterial being it passes over all barriers of the material world and dominates everything in the spirit, since I Myself am the Word. […] John already foresaw this mental torment, when he endeavoured to awaken the Jewish people urging them to change their ways. And today, when nearly all the noble qualities of human nature have been buried and only egoism with all its characteristics is ruling, this warning-call is again sounded, supported by accidents and troubles in order to achieve by forceful means what so far could not be achieved gently with the majority of people. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 4) THE LORD’S CALL FOR REPENTANCE In those days a forerunner was needed who could prepare mankind for My coming. Today it is I Myself Who extends to you the hand of peace in order to guide you in all the troubles which will be descending upon mankind due to its obstinacy. Do not push away this hand, because you will not find a stronger one. Every human arm is too short, only Mine suffices for all distances and is able to reach the one asking for help, even beyond those spaces where the last star is shining and the realm of spirits begins. Even there this hand is available to guide and draw towards Me the one who has love. Heed the voice that - as once the voice in the wilderness - is now calling to you in the wilderness of worldly activities: "Do not forget Him Who reigns above the stars, but also wants to dwell in every man's heart!" John preached in the wilderness. He did this because the wilderness which is barren of vegetative life would not distract his listeners. Now I am preaching to you in the wilderness of the spiritual life which, because of the arrogance of human intellect, has become barren of all that revives the heart. Thus I, like John, am endeavouring to plant the spiritual flower of love in the midst of sand and rock which, not drawing nourishment from the soil, obtains its nourishment only from above. And now, on the ground of a speculative world of the intellect made barren through egoism, in the wilderness of the divine spiritual life barren of deeper thought, I once more call out to you: "Awake! Go into the depths of your being in order to find the source of never-ending joy, comfort and love as the fundamental principle of all created and animated things. Recognize Him again Who, through gardens full of flowers, through shady forests and on lofty mountains and up to the most distant universal sun, is always the same, never changes and -since He has created everything - expects of His created beings only the one thing that a mother, a father expect of their child as a first sign of kinship - love." Whilst your weak worldly rulers try to enforce your respect for them through many laws, I set you as free beings into creation. You may choose freely between love or hatred, life or death, light or darkness. At this stage everyone is still free to choose, but the time when a decision must be made is coming closer and closer. Just as once the warning-call sounded before My coming, now My second call is sounding, so that the events may not take you by surprise while asleep, but that you may face fully conscious and with a calm heart the events meant only for those who could not be awakened by more gentle means. Whilst your hearts are receptive for the soft harmonies of love, trumpets must be sounded for others as is mentioned by My beloved disciple John, when angels will be pouring out the vials of wrath upon those who are hard of hearing and who, notwithstanding all warnings, do not listen to My words of love. I have already repeatedly proclaimed that bad times will be coming. I once more repeat: Bad times are ahead of you. Make already now every effort to change for the better so that in the knowledge of this you have a shield against all the bitter events. Actually, they are bitter only for those who, used to the honey of a worldly material life of pleasure, do not regard the bitter remedy as a medicine, but as a destructive poison. This is the meaning of that sermon of repentance for you and for the coming times. Who has ears, let him hear! Amen. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 4) THE LORD WILL ALSO PERFORM MIRACLES AT HIS SECOND COMING Do you believe that at the time of My Second Coming there will be better comprehension among men? Not in the least! Then, too, there will be many admirers who will regard Me as nothing more than a man inspired by God. At My Second Coming I will, of course, not come as a child, but as a mature man, and there, too, will be many doubters to whom I shall have to prove My Deity through miracles as the power of the Word would not convince them. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 6) PURPOSE OF THE TEACHING OF THE LORD. THE NEW WINE AND UNIFICATION OF ALL CHRISTIAN CHURCHES So it had to happen that at the time of My ministry, when human kinship was coming to an end making room for the great spiritual kinship of mankind with the great realm of spirits, My Self had matured to enable Me to fully accomplish My mission, in that My soul, united with the Divine Spirit, taught and did what you find recorded in the Gospel of John and what, since that time, has been written with indelible script upon the great plan of all creation with the words: "Establishment and right conception of the divine attributes, explanation and proper comprehension of human and spiritual dignity in relation to the Creator of all things and their correlations." This was the purpose of the teaching I then established, which is divine and permanent, because it was given by God, left by God to His divine descendants as a yardstick, showing how God can be loved as the Lord, the Creator, but also - as the Father, and how one can approach Him. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 7) Behold, what I told you about the marriage bond of two people shall now take place spiritually between the various Christian sects, based on the teaching of love as defined in the Gospels. They, too, are to unite through love to one only family. Approaches are already made and spiritual communication is improving. The small differences in opinions and interpretations of the ever invariable Bible, which were the cause of the division, are gradually beginning to diminish and will one day disappear altogether. At the present time preparations for a life together are being made and will be leading to the celebration of a union, a marriage, for which it is truly the highest time. Once this unification nears its goal I shall again change the present water of faith into My spiritual wine of love. And as once the steward at the wedding asked, those who have been waiting will then ask: "Why did we drink the poor wine first and save the best until the end?" - And I shall reply: "Because earlier you were incapable of properly appreciating My wine of love and the result would have been misuse. But now when you have drunk your fill of the poor man-mixed wines, now, when your drinking-urge has calmed down and you are able to distinguish good from bad, - now I am coming to give you something that is not new to you but actually the same wine you used to drink, only purified - a divine drink, which only those deserve who have left sensuality and what is matrial far behind, have recongnized their spiritual nature and crave only for spiritual drink and food." Men are now fed up with the poor brew offered to them as a divine drink. They feel that there is something better, each believing the other has what he lacks. This seeking and questioning is removing the obstacles of religious fanaticism making a union possible. Then I shall come and there will be only one shepherd and one flock. This is the spiritual meaning of the wedding in Cana. Watch the religious movements and see how like-minded spirits find each other to celebrate the wedding day when all, united, will strive towards Me to earn that name which I have reserved for those who practise My teaching and have adopted the basic principle of My entire spiritual and material creation, to become worthy .spiritual children of the heavenly Father. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 8) Do you know why I, Myself, communicate to you My will through My servants and scribes? The reason why My direct messages have been flowing more abundantly during the past few years than they did in former times and why I am giving you so much bread from the heavens, as has not happened since I lived on earth, is the fact that the time is now approaching when the world will reach its culmination in erring and deviation from My original crea-tional purpose. Lest all men be lost, I have ordained - and this is required for My Second Coming - that from now on My Word and teaching shall be given to a few in an unadulterated form, as I once gave it to My disciples, not veiled as in the prophets, but as clear and comprehensible as My disciples once taught it to the people. In those days the spreading of My teaching was more difficult, but today, through the invention of the art of printing, the spreading of My teaching is by far easier, so that the brilliance of My eternal light of love and grace can be carried to wherever the darkness of the worldly power threatens to assert itself. Now I will open the eyes of the unbelievers and explain to the literalists the true meaning of My Bible, so that nobody can use the exuse that he had not known the truth and could blame me whilst he alone is to blame. Therefore, be strong you few who, scattered throughout the countries, are still keeping My pearls in your hearts! Put your trust in Me! I dwell near and within you, and I shall guide you and stand by you as long as you love Me and keep My Word. Through many communications I have revealed to you everything: Myself, My creation and man's relationship to both. For you there is no excuse that you had not known it. Only some of you do not yet grasp the deepest spiritual meaning of My Word. But I shall send My Comforter and Holy Spirit in the form of bitter experiences and doubts in order to remove also this last dark side from the hearts of those devoted to Me, for he who is called to influence others must be firm in himself and know exactly what to do and what not to do. My words are simple and clear, provided they are not interpreted and wrongly expounded by selflove; for in that case, many a thing would be excused by you which cannot be forgiven by Me. Therefore, test yourselves carefully! Consider this: I do not make sport of you and I do not want you to deal with Me only once in a while when it suits you. Life is earnest and My cause is sacred. Behind this fleeting, deceptive earthly life, there is an eternal, true life, in which no subterfuge, no excuses can or will be valid, for it is the kingdom of the true God Who knows only one truth and the love of it. So be diligent in loving Me and keeping My Word! Thereby you are rendering yourselves the greatest service; for through this love you gain the calm consciousness of the noble deed and a better position and easier progress in the beyond. (Ser mons of the Lord, chap. 26) THE SPIRITUAL LEPROSY OF HUMANITY AND ITS HEALING Actually, what kind of a disease is leprosy? What is its cause, and how can it be cured? Before we can clearly understand the spiritual correspondence, we must first answer these questions. Leprosy is caused when - be it through debauchery, through unnatural eating and drinking or through uncleanliness - a person has absorbed into his organism so many foreign and poisonous substances that the entire human clock movement cannot go on working. In order to restore the normal and natural action and administration in all parts of the body, human nature projects all the foreign substances and poisons, which have been taken in for years, onto its largest and very important organ, the skin, which provides the most extended contact with the external world, thereby not only ridding itself of its foreign and troublesome burden but also, with the help of this poisonous irritant, stimulate the skin to support the whole organism with increased activity, thus helping to restore its former health. Naturally, this disease can best be healed in the same way as it arose, that is, it came from the inside to the outside, and the healing must be effected in this way, too. The spoilt blood, which has deposited its bad substances in the skin, must be replaced with new and healthy blood. Of course, externally the wounds must als be kept clean, so that all can be removed that is decayed and no longer of any use to the body and the way cleared for the poisons, which may still have to be eliminated. Thus healing can take place when, by observing a natural way of living, the body can renew itself and ensure full strength for its organism and a long, healthy life for the respective person. Here you have a short outline of the nature of leprosy as a physical disease. Now let us look at it in its spiritual correspondence to enable you there, too, to recognize the characteristics of the disease and its remedies. Here the miracle worker, however, who can heal this disease through mere touch or a word, cannot be counted on, for every leper in the spiritual sense must heal himself. Behold, the greater part of mankind, is 'leprous', i.e., full of poisonous boils. But because the majority of people are leprous, this is not considered offensive. The few who have been cleansed do not withdraw from those who suffer from this disease but tend them with the love and patience of Christian faith in order to help the sick, if they themselves are too weak to regain their lost moral health, by advising and supporting them. Leprosy is a disease which no one can hide; it openly reveals itself on the human body. In the spiritual sense this means that all the bad points, all the evil passions and habits, which are the result of bad notions and neglected upbringing, are displayed openly. If, spiritually, a soul is so depraved in its innermost being that it has almost lost its spiritual value altogether, then the spirit, the divine spark placed in it by Me, drives it to a point where it is no longer ashamed to reveal its soiled inside to the outer world for everyone to see. Through this process the soul is, as it were, forced to reveal its conscience to the people around it and because of its way of living and thinking, brought about by absorbing false principles, it will give offence to the world, provoke bitter experiences and finally realize that only better and higher moral aspirations and actions will lead to true peace. To speed up the healing of these spiritual lepers, I allow events to take place in the world thanks to which the process of elimination takes less time and more powerful and spiritual elements can penetrate the inner life of the soul for the purpose of healing. Just as the physical healing must come from within, also the restoration of spiritual health must set out from within. When what is bad has become public, has in the association with others been broken up and absorbed by the outer world, the vacuum inside is again filled up by moral-spiritual remedies, and thus such a person is brought back to his normal state, as image of his Creator, and has been reclaimed for the realm of spirits. As physical leprosy is contagious for those who come into contact with it, so is spiritual leprosy, because through its evil principles it leads also others to wrong actions. And thus, by one catching the disease from the other, this world became as immoral as you see it now. What I did then, that I healed a leper by touching him because his spiritual inside did not correspond to his skin, is now not possible in the spiritual sense. My touching often consists in bringing about conditions where a person will be relieved more quickly and forcibly of the impurities attached to him; but to make him suddenly spiritually clean would amount to interference with the dignity of human freedom If I were to turn devils suddenly into angels, and this transformation took place without their own effort and self-abnegation, where would be their merit? This kind of miraculous healing will therfore not be performed now, nor in the future. But that still happens frequently, what happened to the centurion of Capernaum, who with a strong faith and conviction relied on the power of My word and by his words: "Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof... say a word and my servant shall be healed", showed what a proper Christian should be like who, notwithstanding adverse circumstances, has faith in Me and My guidance, believes My words and - publicly testifying to My greatness - remains aware of his own unworthiness. Souls who speak to Me like that, who come to Me with their supplication humbling themselves - those I touch with My finger and heal with My Word, pouring comfort and peace into their heart, which cannot be obtained in any other way. To these souls also applies what I said in Capernaum, that the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those with such humble faith but not to those who take pride in their leprosy. These must first allow themselves to be purified and cleansed, otherwise they will have to recognize the darkness of their heart through sad experiences and realize that it would have been better to rid themselves of their bad attributes (their spiritual leprosy) which they not only did not hide but even showed off, and that this was not the way to the spiritual, to eternal life, to Me. As long as they will not comprehend that meekness and love, combined with unlimited faith, are the keys to attain everything with Me and to make the best progress, sickness and all sorts of troubles will be affecting them until their leprosy has vanished and is replaced by elements of life, faith and love. You, too, have still many a leprous boil on the skin of your souls, which often clearly shows that you are not cleansed by far as yet and have not by far realized right into your external life all the spiritual nourishment I have been sending you for years. There is a lot that you read and sometimes also believe but it has not yet shown its effect on the outside of your life-skin proving that this food of grace and love has penetrated that far. Only a few of you recognize your unworthiness, as did the centurion of Capernaum, to make you exclaim: "Lord, I am unworthy of so many graces! Just a word of comfort is sufficient but even this is too much for me, poor weak and fickle child!" Most of you believe, as did the Jews of that time, to have done everything if you only cling literally to My commandments and teachings. But you are still far from actually practising the words of your Father. As the Jews observed only what materially appeared to them most important, so it is with you. You have a ready enthusiasm for My Word and are always prepared to convert others. You are always prepared to remove the rubbish from other people's doors and wait, like the leper of the Gospel, that I may come past and promptly, through My touch, make highly moral beings of you.This is where the great error lies. Because you are not aware of your boils, you do not endeavour to heal them. Now I am admonishing you: Examine the life-skin of your soul! And if you discover such leprous boils, take this as a sign that you are still harbouring within you many a thing foreign to you and not part of your spiritual nature. Make every effort to eliminate it and replace it with new, powerful substances of life so that you do not need My touch but only My Word for restoring the health of your soul. Amen. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 9) THE OLD-AGE HUMANITY – BEFORE LORD’S SECOND COMING – AND ITS STRUGGLE FOR CHANGE Now I am coming again in mankind's old age when he has matured toward a spiritual transformation. Again I am looking for labourers and am finding already quite a number. Although in the old age of mankind - just as in the old age of the individual - there are many habits which are not easy to root out, the power of circumstances will considerably contribute towards stamping out all that refuses to make way for something better with gentleness and love. Thus I hired and sent out My labourers. And when they once arrive in My Kingdom, they will be joining those who have gone before them, celebrating with them the feast of victory and sharing the crown of merit. I had called all men to walk this road to purification but only few succeeded in becoming the elect who - triumphant over misery, grief, worry and struggle - kept holding high My banner of faith. Some have also suffered and endured in their pious but misconceived thinking that had degenerated into fanaticism. These will be the grumblers in the beyond when they see first rewarded those on whom, during their life on earth, they had looked down upon with contempt. True, they too were chosen ones but lacked the strength to become the elect. Hence, they will have to watch the last become the first and the first the last. Yet Eternal Love, Who evens out everything, will know also there how to heal the wounds of selfpride which were based on false notions. You, My children, and all mankind have now entered the period of old age. The time of dissolution - in the spiritual sense - and of My last advent is approaching. Therefore the restlessness in the hearts of people because they sense the imminent change ot temporal and spiritual things. Therefore the hurry to eradicate the evil still before that time, so as not to be surprised by events in which the beliefs of today will not suffice. Therefore the zeal of the labourers in the evening in order to catch up in these few hours of spiritual life with the things that have not yet been accomplished. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 10) The spiritual wind preceding My coming in order to clean the air from miasmas, stimulates activity in everything as the gentle breezes of spring act in material life. Everywhere the questions are heard: "Why am I actually here?", "What am I actually?" and "What is my final destination, or where am I going?" Once taken unawares by such thoughts, the thinking person will, of course, find himself placed between two worlds, a visible and an invisible one. He will no longer be satisfied with the few clues offered by the transitoriness of all created things, to give him comfort and peace of mind. Everything that comes into existence before his eyes, he sees again passing away, changing. And these examples make him ask the things he sees arising and passing away before his eyes, as well as himself: "Whence are you, all you wondrous and mysterious created beings, and whither do you go?" Thus he greets that which is arriving and thus he asks the departing. And he is also compelled to ask himself the same questions, since he, himself, if only he devotes some thought to this, is an even greater and more complex enigma than all the other visible things. These questions, which keep emerging time and time again, do compel people, or at least many of them, to a better judgment regarding the existing things and what they have acquired by study. And where the final results of such exploration do not offer sufficient truth and clarity, many doubts arise that, not satisfied with the results, demand more certainty, more clarity. This striving has always been the beginning of spiritual and worldly evolutions. It is the inevitable spiritual wind, which keeps awakening human nature every time it is on the verge for sinking into a comfortable sleep of worldly pleasure. Two things have once again stirred up this wind: Firstly, My coming in the near future as the completion and crowning of the mission I once carried out on your earth; and, secondly, all mankind's propensity - from the highest to the lowest - to indulge in worldly pleasures and disavow the spiritual. And the call is once more sounded in all minds, of which many are unaware: "Whither are we going?" and "Why are we here?" It is the unsatisfactory answer the present spiritual trend is giving to this question that causes the overthrow of all established things, the yearning for something new; not illusions, however, but the truth. People feel that the invisible realm cannot be denied. Some scholars' fforts to prove that there is only matter and the spiritual does not exist, are in vain. People feel that the emptiness in their hearts is not being filled by all the gross material thrown into them by the intellect. It vanishes as in a bottomless barrel, and the old question is facing them again. Thus mankind is compelled to free itself at last from its shackles, from the leading-string which many are inclined to use only for their own advantage. This situation, this conflict, had to precede My coming, so that in the end I would have to deal only with those who preferred the spiritual to the material and know whence they have come, why they are here and whither they are destined to go. These will be the ones that, surviving all storms, will have kept themselves pure in the filth of worldly egoism and thoughtlessness. For these alone I shall be the shepherd and they shall be My sheep. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 23) THE SECOND COMING – LORD’S RESURRECTION IN HIS TEACHING OF LOVE In the beginning I, too, compelled the world around Me, partly through My miracles, to believe and then educated people like children. And once they began to understand Me, they found through their judgment the truth of what they had previously only believed, that is, they entered adolescence. When in this way their belief and knowledge had been strengthened, they became mature, stood by My teaching and by Me with conviction, corroborating with word and deed what to them seemed the holiest, the supreme knowledge. The history of My religion, the way it was later on spreading, presents to you the same stages, with the sole difference that at the time I Myself was teaching there was no reason for eliminating or protesting. However, when people, driven by human passions and guided by worldly opinions and interests, wanted to imitate Me, they turned the divine into what was worldly, gave men only the outer bark instead of the core of spiritual life and, as a result, the good was rejected together with the bad when men had matured and could use their own judgment. This is what brought about the extremes of people who believed everything I taught and those who believed nothing. Now, as the spiritual stirring is getting stronger, when the corpse in the sepulchre, sealed and covered with a stone, is preparing to rise, now they still want to begin – like once Mary Magdalene - to prevent the corpse's decay by means of spices and scents. But as at that time Mary Magdalene was disappointed because she found the sepulchre empty, the guardians of the spiritual sepulchre of My teaching will be disappointed, too. They will find the sepulcher empty with only the shroud left behind wherein they had wrapped the body of My teaching. But the One Whom they believed to have kept there under lock and key will have risen, will find His disciples and adherents Himself and give them new courage and zeal through His presence. The closer this time is approaching the greater becomes the zeal to preserve and guard the corpse. As once My sepulchre was guarded by Roman soldiers who were unbelievers, there is this tendency also now to have an armed foreign power support those who defile and condemn My teaching of love. But in vain. Already the first ray of light is breaking through onto the stone cover of the sepulchre. And as every stone begins to vibrate when the first ray of the morning sun falls onto it and this vibration continues until the stone is warmed and extends this warmth to that which is underneath, the coffin-lid is already starting to vibrate. This vibration will keep increasing the more the reaction would like to condemn it to eternal rest. The ray of the spiritual love-sun is going to roll away the stone, drive off the powers that are spiritually asleep and, leaving them and their helpers only the shroud, once more revive the "corpse" and guide it on to its perfection on the path of light. It is dark in the sepulchre, but the Light-God of divine truth wants only light; and light gives warmth and warmth, life. Thus also the corpse of My teaching will rise from the sepulchre into which it had been put by worldly selfishness and lust for power. It will increase the light, warmth and life where they are already glowing in human hearts and spread with blessing these three elements where they may ave been lacking completely. This is the spiritual picture of My resurrection in My teaching of love, which I actually performed almost two thousand years ago and which will soon once more be taking place all over the world. As My disciples and followers once rejoiced at My rising, this resurrection too will be celebrated by all humanity and every individual in his own heart. Thus I am going to rise in the hearts of My faithful when they shall have thrown away the shrouds in which they had wrapped Me, leaving all worldly ceremonies and religious rites far behind them, believing only in the spiritual meaning of My teaching and actually practising what they believe. This resurrection in the hearts will be the rebirth, the final step towards breaking with the world and the first step or beginning of a spiritual life where material ties will no longer have the power to lead man astray or delay him on his road to spiritualization. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 19) THE ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM – IN ANY HUMAN HEART – PERSECUTION FROM THE WORLD What Jerusalem was for the Jews, My creation shall become for My spirits and souls. And what the temple represented as the abode of Jehovah in the Holy of Holies, one day every living heart shall become, - the temple wherein I can dwell unashamedly. As I then fared, people shall fare generally and individually. The more a person will begin to turn to Me in his heart, the more opposition will he experience; for with spiritual progress also the number of opponents, who want to fight and hinder it, keeps growing. After My last appearance in the temple 1 had to face the greatest suffering a human being can endure. Thus also man is faced with ever growing difficulties in his progress on the spiritual road. The world keeps becoming more and more alien to him, and it will take revenge for being neglected. Obstacles will be piling up high in the social world and influences from the spiritual world will make it difficult for the frightened soul to walk My ways. It will all present a faithful picture of My own suffering and struggles until, when the great turning-point has been reached, the world must be completely relinquished and the spiritual kingdom seized forcefully. Then the banner of spiritual triumph on the one side and that of worldly pleasures on the other will lead a man either towards Me or away from Me. If he follows My example he, too, will rise from the dead in his spiritual rebirth. But if he follows the world, his fate will be that of Jerusalem which, continuing to enjoy the pleasures of the world, soon turned into a heap of debris, and its inhabitants had to live dispersed all over the world as slaves to other nations. The entry into Jerusalem has a far greater spiritual significance for all mankind than is realized. It signifies My drawing closer to mankind and is the actual consecration of living men and spirits. Through My entry into Jerusalem I hallowed those walls, acknowledged them publicly as My property and proved that I, the Lord of creation, did not consider it beneath My dignity, riding on an ass in simple clothes, to ask humbly and gently to be received by the people. Spiritually this entry has the following meaning: I want to make the human heart My abode. There I want to be worshipped and loved through having My teaching observed. Just as the temple in Jerusalem was built as a House of God in My honour with all the splendour and magnificence available in those times, the human heart and soul shall also be adorned with all the spiritual virtues that a true human is meant to possess as My spiritual image for which I once created and destined him. The temple in Jerusalem was an edifice of worldly splendour, and spiritual glory was to have dwelt therein. Thus man shall become a being placed on the boundary between two worlds, with his feet on the material ground, but his gaze and his heart directed towards the spiritual. This purification from the material and attracting of the spiritual is man's mission in this world, is the mission of the spirits. It was My mission and is still yours. The spiritual wind is now blowing everywhere to cleanse the human hearts of worldly vapours, for the Lord and Father is close. Leaning against His she-ass, the symbol of meekness, He is waiting for the right moment when He can triumphantly enter your hearts, so that you, too, may receive Him with 'Hosanna'! The great time of spiritual rebirth is at hand demanding entrance into those places that since the beginning of creation have been prepared solely for the Lord of all that is. Open the doors wide that the wind of love may cleanse your hearts from money-changers and vendors of pigeons, that is, from worldly, selfish activities. The time is coming when the Lord will be asking you to account for the values He had entrusted to you, for the spiritual gifts all of you have received on loan. As the temple in Jerusalem was meant to be a House of God, also your heart is destined to be My dwelling place. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 18) THE LORD’S DISCIPLES AND PIONEERS OF HIS TEACHING AT THE SECOND COMING Therefore, everyone, before he decides to follow Me, should ask himself whether he possesses strength and perseverance to confess and defend My teaching of love and faith under all circumstances. As I have repeatedly reminded you, - to follow Me, to hear My words and live accordingly, is a serious matter which must not be taken lightly, for only those who know the law, or My will, and still offend against it, although their conscience warns them, are responsible in the strictest sense and, therefore, sinners. In view of this, it also says at the end of this chapter: "Who has ears to hear, let him hear!" In other words: My words should not be heard and then disregarded, but should be taken to heart, pondered well, and then complied with. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 28) When I appeared to My disciples - as I did to Mary Magdalene at the tomb - one of them was so unbelieving that he would only convince himself of My resurrection by touching My wounds. All that happened in those times, including the other signs Jesus did before the disciples behind closed doors, signs of which you will learn later, too, - all this will gradually happen before people's eyes when I next come to the earth. The more the number of believers in My pure teaching, as I am giving it to you now, will grow, the more will they have to experience all the stages of enthusiasm, doubt, disbelief and all the violent emotions of spiritual life, for circumstances will often bear witness against Me. People will be misleading My followers in their belief, they will persecute them, hate them and, wherever possible, take revenge on them. At that time there will also be doubting people, like Thomas, who, misled and discouraged, have thrown all their former peace of mind and faith overboard and will only be able to be healed through My personal appearance. What at the time of My life on earth were the houses with locked doors, in future will be the hearts of those people who will allow entry neither to the world nor to the spiritual. There, too, I will have to call gently to the hearts of My followers: "Do not be afraid!" and "Peace be with you!", because they, too, without support, are at the point where they may lose everything and perish in eternal doubts. There will be many who, like Thomas, do not believe at all. They do not ven listen to My voice any more and can only be led back to their previously entered road by factual proofs. Thus also My believers and future children will have to pass the last crucial test of true faith, for if they - like once My disciples - are to be sent out to inspire others with trust and faith, they must necessarily possess these themselves, from the outset, in the highest degree. I once said that I shall be known by My words and deeds. In the same way also My cildren and future disciples must be recognized by their actions and words, thereby proving to the others that trust and firm belief are the prerequisites it they want to become worthy of Me. At that time, I said to Thomas after he had felt My wounds with his fingers: "Because thou hast seen Me thou hast believed; blessed are they that have not seen and yet have believed!" You, too, My children, to whom I have already given so much spiritual bread, are not in the least better than My disciples. You, too, are discouraged and faint-hearted, you begin to doubt, brood over My words and turn to the world with its seductive attractions if everything does not immediately work out as you would like it. You, too, shut yourselves away, like the snail in its house, and try to ignore both the inner and outer world if there seem to be contradictions when you cannot reconcile certain actions and events with My all-embracing love. Then I must call to you: "Why do you cry? Save your tears for other occasions; He, Whom you believe to be separated and distant from you, is quite close, but not physically, only spiritually!" […]And as I then had to put My seal to My work with My resurrection, My repeated appearances among My disciples during forty days and My ascension, thus I must now guide and strengthen you, My children, in your faith and trust. If at that time I gave My disciples the Holy Spirit by breathing on them, if I invested them with the power to remit or retain sins - a power later on so much misinterpreted and misused by the clergy - 1 did this only because they had gained the firm conviction that there is only one God Who, superior to all that is material, is a spirit and can only be comprehended as such, and that this God, Jesus, was their guide. Thus also My might could be transferred to them, and it had to work, for My disciples only used it for noble purposes and aspired only after My spiritual aim to make people My children. Just as My disciples could work miracles and heal the sick solely by the power of the Word, you and My future followers, if you have a firm faith in My might and participation, shall also receive the power to perform acts which are impossible to the ordinary person but will be easy enough to the one reborn in the spirit. The times and circumstances will educate you towards this. I have called many for this work, but whether you belong to the chosen ones depends on you alone. Do not shut off your heart to My fatherly voice! Even when the last rays of hope are fading, do not lose heart! I am and remain always with those who want to stay with Me at all costs. Do not wait for My personal appearance like Thomas, but prepare yourselves to believe and trust firmly, so that My appearance will be only a confirmation of that which you have already believed and hoped for. Then you will be able to help Me, yourselves and your fellowmen as I once helped My disciples during My life among them. Do not allow doubts to attack your heart nor brooding to weaken your faith! My children shall not keep their hearts shut. With their gaze directed upward above all worldly things, they shall always remember My sacrifice, My love and fatherly care for them and all living creatures so that their heart, as a permanent temple of My love and with unshakable faith in My infallibility, may be a true support in all life's difficulties and against all temptations through doubts and disbelief. Then you will always be hearing within you: "Peace be with you!" For, where through faith in Me and My love peace is already dwelling in a heart, I do not have to bring it, but can just confirm it. Therefore, I am calling to you: Peace be with you and may it never leave your hearts that I may always gain free entry into them and do not have to force My way through locked doors with the power of My will, but find your hearts prepared to accept Me as the One Who, also to His disciples in those times, was nothing else but their leader, guide and Father! Amen. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 20) At the present time you are in the midst of this spiritual movement where – metaphorically speaking - thieves and murderers are climbing through all the windows and entrances into My house in order to seize the treasure which is hidden there. Nowadays in particular you notice the religious stirring in the roused minds, how it takes hold of the hearts, awakens them, draws them hither and thither and how, because of all the advertising, it is not easy to recognize where the true door and the true shepherd really are. The more their instinct is leading the believing hearts to Me, the more the others, who pursue only their self-interest, resist so that not I, but they may be victorious. This pushing, defaming and hating will continue to increase. The more My influence grows, the more the resistance will increase. This will mean severe trials for My children when their endurance is tested and mostly their faith and trust attacked. My teaching consists only in one thing, and that is love, whereas the doctrines of the others preach a variety of things: Hatred instead of love, pride instead of humility and intolerance instead of tolerance; and all this is practised by those leaders themselves. Thus what you can read in Chapter 8 of the Gospel of John, namely, that the Jews persecuted Me and wanted to stone Me, that is, kill Me, will be repeated. Now, too, a similar situation will arise. Stones will be thrown at Me and My teaching; the false intepreters of My teaching will ascribe it to Satan and proclaim their own doctrine as coming straight from heaven. Minds will become heated instead of hearts warmed. Ideas will be driven from heads into fists, and where peace and love should have been preached, fanaticism will wave its torch of blood, and many victims will be sacrificed to the doctrine held to be the true one. In this way My Word must be fulfilled as spoken in those times, when I said: "I have not come to bring you peace, but the sword!" Just as everywhere in creation through friction light and warmth are created, the two factors through which the universe exists and is maintained, spiritual friction must also bring about the process of purification, so that the light of truth and warmth of love may develop. It is actually the striving of 'thieves and murderers' that will speed up the victory of My teaching and My plans. Through their passionate actions they will stimulate the minds to ponder and compare. And even if at first many followed the call, their attention will be drawn to the teaching they are told is false, and they will give it more of their attention than they would have done without this counter-pressure. Then they will not find in this maligned teaching what they had been told it contained, and as a result many will find the right leader and the right door only because those other leaders wanted to prevent them from seeking. Thus, the efforts of My adversaries will work into My hand and in the end achieve for Me what they wanted to prevent - the unification of My children with Me, the unification of My sheep with their sole shepherd. My adversaries will be withdrawing like hirelings in the face of great danger, whereas I will protect My true children well. Through this protection My followers will recognize the true shepherd and mighty protector of His own. This is what will happen! Therefore, do not be frightened or despair if, when you feel especially close to Me in faith and trust and are convinced that your number will be growing, your greatest adversaries put very strong and mighty obstacles in your way in order to ward off the danger facing them. Also do not be too zealous in the seeking of like-minded or in wishing to convert! It is not so easy as you often believe, to guide others onto the path to the pure teaching of love. My teaching demands renunciation of the things people find most pleasant in the world, since My teaching is not of and not for this world, but for My great spirit-world. Great love and great dedication are needed to relinquish old habits, old beliefs and comforts, and to commence the ever-increasing altercation with oneself and the world. I gave you an example of this during My ministry when I suggested to a man who wanted to follow Me to sacrifice all his possessions, but he sadly walked away. You will often experience this when you encourage a person to become active, a person who you think could become a follower of the teaching you believe to be the only true one; but he leaves you and perhaps, instead of a friend, becomes even your greatest opponent. Behold, this happens when people still lack the maturity to accept My teaching. Therefore, wait until the hungry come to you of their own accord. Then give them bread, but also that only in accordance with their capacity for comprehension, otherwise - like any material food - it would not be digested and prove detrimental instead of beneficial. It is not easy to get others to hear My voice and follow My teaching. Even you, whom I have guided and nourished already for such a long time, often behave in a weak and shortsighted manner, as if you had never received a word from Me directly. How often you want to combine the material with the spiritual in your foolish delusion because to obey the latter would cost you too much effort or demand of you too much self-denial. If you already act like that, what can you expect of others who, only just having reached the door, still lack the courage to cross the threshold and leave behind all that used to be so important to them? Therefore, be careful when you choose your friends! Do not worry about the opponents! The farther time progresses and the more the number of My sheep increases, the less My teaching can remain unknown, and all the greater will the opposition to My teaching and its followers become. The fight has to flare up. Only the persevering will be victorious, and these will be My children, because they not only believe My voice and My teaching, but also know that only this leads to the goal and that I am the door and the only way by which to enter the infinite realm of the spirit and not have to suffer there, but be rewarded with great bliss for the struggles endured. This is the way the process of life develops. The spiritual must be freed from matter, man's soul must be separated from the influence of the world and not only man's actual, spiritual destination reached, but also My past sojourn on this earth with its suffering and struggles must find its fulfilment. There shall be only one shepherd for his sheep in the world; it is impossible to serve two masters. He who pays homage to matter must step down to matter; but the one who strives towards the spiritual will relinquish all that weighs him down. Matter is too dense and light cannot penetrate it. Only the spiritual is capable of receiving My love-light from the heavens, and only this light produces the warmth of life and develops the divine spark which was placed in the human soul, guiding it back to its source, to ME. That was to be the purpose of My teaching, of My descending to earth in the past and of My Second Coming in the near future. The closer My Second Coming is approaching, the more conflict there will be between light and darkness. However, just as every morning the rising sun defeats the dark night, so will My rising love-light be driving off the 'thieves and murderers' that work by night, and not by day. They will have to retreat, become converted, or sink back into eternal darkness until in their minds, spontaneously, the light gradually dawns. As it happened in the past, the world will want to resist My plans and intentions. However, this opposition will speed up My ultimate goal, and in the end My children and I shall be the victors. Perseverance leads to success. And the name 'My child' must be won through self-denial and sacrifice, for the prize is worth the fight. Therefore, all of you should be prepared to hold on to ME. Let the world and its people go their way; do not worry about events and political complications. Remember that millions of people have to be guided to the right door of light, and to achieve this, many different events and circumstances have to exert their influence in order to guide to a common destination individuals on different levels of intelligence. This is a task beyond your comprehension, and God alone can accomplish it, Who also there - as everywhere else – is able to achieve the greatest effects through the smallest things. This much for your better understanding of the Gospel of John, to enable you, at this time, to properly comprehend My past ministry and to recognize that already almost two thousand years ago, during the time I walked on earth, the entire history of mankind's development on your dark earth was pre-determined. This is why the Bible was preserved in order to prove to you clearly that at that time everything was already predicted which in later times had to develop gradually. However, only the reborn, the one with spiritual vision, is able to see it all clearly, as in a mirror reflecting the future. Therefore, rely on Me confidently, remembering the word: "I shall not desert the one who does not desert Me!" Stay with Me, and more and more will you be hearing the voice of the shepherd. And as a result you will keep growing ever more capable of showing through word and example the only road to salvation also to other blind people, so that in the end there will be only one shepherd and one fold! Amen. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 21) If sometimes I call to the people: "Do not lose heart if you will not see Me for a little while!" it is to say: "My child, do not despair when there are moments in which the world and its events overwhelm you and you no longer feel My hand or hear My voice! If, for your submission, the world awards you with mockery, hatred and persecution, persevere. Soon you will be seeing,feeling and hearing Me again - recognizing Me in the language of nature, feeling Me in the control of events, and hearing Me in the gentle voice of regained peace within your heart!" As I predicted to My disciples that they would experience bitter hours of sorrow, this applies to every believer who is more attached to Me than to the world. However, My re-entry into the severely tried heart of a person, the firm conviction he will have gained after prolonged conflicts that the sun will be shining once more through the clouds, victorious and glorious, benefiting everything around, will help him to forget all the bitter suffering and strengthen his faith and trust in Me. My disciples' mission after My death was too serious not to train them in the utmost endurance. They had to get used to My absence to enable them to act independently. The same school through which My disciples had to go is also now the path of everyone who wants to follow in My footsteps and those of My disciples. I told the disciples: "The world will hate and persecute you, because you are not of the world!" And the same I must tell My present-day children; for the more they love and follow Me, the more will they be in opposition to the world and the majority of men, until through the coming events I will prepare them, too, that they may become receptive for something better. These consequences are not only natural, they are also necessary, for it is not so simple to become a child of the Creator of all visible and invisible creation. If a child makes spiritual progress, it must keep getting into more and more conflict with the world and the ordinary people. The world's hatred keeps growing as the love for Me keeps growing. Therefore, do not be discouraged if you do not see Me for a little while; soon you will be seeing Me again. Sometimes I have to leave you so that you may depend on your own strength; you must try out whether you ar really capable of publicly confessing unafraid that which sometimes delights you so much when My Word is read. You must face the question, how much you fear the world. […] Do you think you are really as heroic as you sometimes believe you are? Look at My disciple Peter! In the Garden of Gethsemane he defended Me with the sword and soon after he denied Me. If a Peter can do wrong, you can imagine how in the moment of decision it would be with your courage. Therefore, such circumstances have to arise from time to time that may fortify you and strengthen your faith in Me. If he, who knew Me personally, disavowed Me, what can be expected of you, who have never seen Me, but only know Me from the gentle voice in your heart?! Therefore, I have to leave you from time to time to struggle with situations and the world so that you may realize what you have attained and what is still missing. Remember the words: "The will ist strong, but the flesh is weak!" They are important and characteristic of human nature. In a moment of enthusiasm you believe yourself capable of carrying an elephant on your shoulders, but when it comes to real action, a fly is often too heavy for you. Therefore, diligently search your heart to see how much love and faith you possess, so that when you sometimes seem to feel My absence, you do not despair, but await with confidence the return of your guide and Father. When you have recognized your own weaknesses, you will know how much love it needs to carry out in practice what in your emotional life appears so easy; only then will you know for sure the road that leads to Me. Then you will also know as My disciples once did - trained through My absence - how much is needed to carry out your mission as a human being and as My child in the strictest sense of the word. This I am telling all of you as a warning, that you do not in a state of dreamy audacity believe yourselves capable of carrying burdens that are beyond you. And as a consolation, so that you may remember it when in difficult situations your heavenly Father appears to be absent, be reminded of what He once said to His disciples: "A little while, and ye shall not see Me; and again a little while, and ye shall see Me." (Sermonsof the Lord, chap. 22) This very serious question is also put to you, My children, whom among so many I chose that you may - guided by My direct communication - lead the way as an example also for others. The lifespan that is still allowed you on this earth is posing this question to you: "Where are you going?" This means: Remember the responsibility you have taken upon yourselves by wishing to hear the Word of God, your Father. Through this listening you have also accepted the obligation to practise this teaching, for, hearing but not practising it is quite useless. You, who hear My Word, have been taught and are aware how it is to be followed; you are twice as culpable if you fail to practise it. My disciples' hearts filled with sadness as I spoke about My departure to Him Who had sent Me. How will you be feeling when you have to go to Him Who sent you? Make sure that you return to My Kingdom having well used and invested the entrusted capital and do not bury it like the lazy servant. Otherwise, you will be arriving immature in a world where you would find it a burden to live as immature among the mature and as unhappy among the happy. When you have to go to Him Who sent you, be sure to enter that spirit-realm at least with the conviction to have done all that could be expected of you considering all the knowledge you received. Strive to use My words and My teaching in such a way for yourselves and others that the balance of your life will show many good deeds and only few mistakes. Then you will be able to proceed peacefully and, when asked by your brother: "Where are you going?", point to the morning of the eternal love-light, saying: "I am going whence I have come and where an eternal spiritual progression and drawing ever closer to my Creator and Father is possible!" […] I also said: "I go to My Father Who sent me!" But I went fully convinced that I had fulfilled My mission in every respect, although as a man the hardest part was still awaiting Me. You, too, should one day be able to say the same and already now look forward to the triumph when, after struggles and conquered temptations, you may confidently stretch out your hand for the palm of victory. Those who have only vague concepts or no knowledge at all of My Word, I cannot make as much responsible for their actions as those who know My teaching and understand how and when they have to act in accordance with it. When they intentionally sin against it, they deserve punishment and will be accused - not by Me, but by their own conscience - of fickleness and faint-heartedness because of their great lack of strength and because they, notwithstanding all the aid from above, let themselves be ensnared in the net of worldly pleasures to such an extent that they lost their spiritual dignity. Therefore, do heed My words! Pleasant as it may be just to hear them, do take them very seriously, for only the strictest observance of My two sole commandments of love can make you children of the Creator of all infinity, My children. You are not yet able to comprehend in its full significance and depth the prize I am offering you since you do not know My spiritual kingdom. However, if you could see how angels and great spirits envy you this privilege, you would be proud of the fact to have come from Him and be able to again return to Him Who is the essence of love, a love a human heart cannot comprehend. What inconceivable love reveals itself in the fact that Supreme Divine Love wants to make you Its children, that this Love chose the lowest status on your earth in order to prove, as Jesus once said, - that after the accomplished mission It would as Wisdom reunite with Love, out of which It originated, and where also you could come if you made yourselves worthy of It! (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 23) THE COMFORTER OR THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH TODAY. SECOND COMING HAS SPIRITUALLY ALREADY STARTED Also in your century there is no lack of such inspired people and now, as mankind is straying moreand more into worldly interests, now - with the end of this trial period for mankind approaching -the number of those keeps increasing who follow My true teaching and who are destined to furnishCthe first building stones for the establishment of My Kingdom, so that I may already find faithful hearts on My advent. For I am not going to preach a second time to deaf ears! The morning must already be dawning and the spiritual eyes of My adorers must be prepared, so that they are able to bear the full light of My love and My appearance unharmed. As in those days I promised My disciples the Comforter, thus also today I allow to flow into every heart devoted to Me the comfort that only My teaching, only the true religion and true confession of faith in accordance with My Word can give. Now the true Comforter comes to dwell within man when he correctly comprehends and fulfills My two commandments of love. To speed up My work, I have condescended to explain through direct messages quite clearly all that - as My disciples once said - was too difficult and incomprehensible for men. Now, when My messages flow so abundantly, I have actually already descended spiritually to your earth and am teaching and guiding My children as I once did. Only My visible appearance is still- missing, but this would only compel the doubters to believe and would be against man's freedom of decision. I am now again choosing My disciples who shall sow the golden seed of My teaching of love, but there is no longer any need for Me to guide them the way I once did. At that time I had to use other means; I had to come Myself and prove to them by words and deeds the actual existence of God. Now such forceful means are no longer necessary, for science, with its discoveries in the domains of My cosmic creation, has opened up enough ways for those who observe with spirit and heart to find Me everywhere and to recognize My actual existence. Today, teaching through conviction is running parallel with the religious teaching. Only a person who wants to be blind will deny the existence of a God manifest everywhere in creation, below and above, even in man's own heart, despite all counter-evidence. Only such a blind person will deny the existence of a God, a law-giver and - as your Bible teaches - a loving Father Who, notwithstanding all man's errors and aberrations, always exercises forgiveness instead of retaliation, patience instead of severe judgment and at all times wants to further life instead of spiritual death. Also now the Comforter is put into your hearts and you are masters of your own peace and tranquility. I no longer have to send him to you since you already received him from Me. It is now up to you to practise diligently in word and deed what you have been taught, thereby showing that you are My children, My disciples of the present time. Do not be concerned about the transgressions in the field of religion all around you. It is true, they are awakeners, but their followers will sooner or later miss the principal factor, the Comforter, whom once I promised only to those who were My true disciples. They may erect as many buildings for religious instruction as they like, but he who does not return to My simple house where only love guided by wisdom rules, will not have the Comforter in his difficult moments, for he lacks true conviction as well as true faith. He is without the spirit of truth, which I once promised and also sent to My disciples and which everyone receives, who comprehends Me in spirit and in truth and in this way also practises My teaching. As I proved to you a short while ago, there is only one truth. He who disregards this, has built upon sand. When the great worldly and spiritual storms come that have to take place on this earth for the purification of the spiritual soul substance, such a house, built upon the shifting sands of rational thinking, will disappear without a trace, together with its foundations. The only building that will firmly stand, resisting all storms and proving itself to be the sole truth, the only firm foundation, is the one that is erected upon My Word, the word of the God and Creator of the entire universe. For what a God spoke and actually proved to His entire spirit-kingdom with such sacrifices as I did on earth, cannot be fallible, cannot deceive. The deceived are only those who refuse to listen to all the admonitions and calls from visible and invisible nature, seeking the Comforter through reasoning, whilst he can only be found with the heart. Therefore, keep in mind the words I once spoke to My disciples and which are recorded particularly in chapters 15, 16 and 17. They are the most important, consequential and profound words, for they were your Father's farewell words Who, before He had to perform His last act of love, laid another stone, the corner stone of His spiritual edifice, which He left behind on earth and the significance of which extends far beyond this age. What I promised to My disciples as the "Comforter" that I would send them was already contained in these words which were recorded by My favourite disciple John. My disciples did not understand them, but you, who are already better schooled and prepared to conceive My teaching as I want to have it understood and applied, you can find in these words the "'Comforter" who can enlighten, inspire and strengthen you for all that is coming, just as once My spirit fortified the disciples to enable them to bear their future fates with the strength of soul needed for their mission. Although you will not experience such bitter moments as did My disciples in their missionary work, you still have to battle all the more with the world, its pleasures and with your fellowmen, most of whom have not taken the road you are walking, but the wrong one. What I prophesied to My disciples will happen to you: "The world will hate you because you are not of it", that is, because you follow different principles from the majority of people. But this is where the "Comforter" is closest to you, offering you - to make up for this short trial life – longer lasting, greater, eternal delights as a reward for faithfully persevering with the once and for all established Word of your Father, your Jesus, Who sacrificed His physical life to save mortal beings from spiritual perdition. Therefore, may that be your best comfort which I put into everyone's heart after every good deed, the best reward and reassurance that My teaching and words have been followed which, notwithstanding all worldly glory and power, will be the last supports left to those battling in the great ocean of world events. Do not forsake the Comforter within your heart, - and He Who put this Comforter there will not forsake you! This assurance you are receiving from the One Who has already showered upon you so much heavenly bread, spiritual blessing, and true comfort. Amen. (Sermons of the Lord, chap 25) For those people who really live for Me, follow Me and want to prove by their actions that they love Me, progress is, of course, considerably obstructed because they have to struggle against the opinion of the majority, reaping only hatred and derision for the blessing they spread, as was once the case with My disciples. However, this struggling, this fight against the powerful current of the material world, which was also the lot of My disciples, this struggling is necessary in order to attain the filial relationship to Me. For, if it were not God, the Supreme Being, Who wants to educate you to become His children, -by human standards and requirements it would be sufficient to live as the great majoritiy of people do, that is, to give Me tribute for having given you the best teachings but, otherwise, it be left to you how and when to conveniently adapt them to your worldly needs. But I did not mean it that way, when in those days I said to My disciples: "If a man love Me he will keep My Word!", and when again today I call to you: "If a man loves Me, he must prove it by his deeds!" As in those days My disciples had before them either heathen or fanatical Jews to whom they had to preach My Gospel, you today likewise have heathen or unbelievers, fanatical literalists and narrow-minded ceremonialists. The former do not believe in anything, because it suits them that way, and the latter believe to have done everything they owe Me by keeping the religious ceremonial. As I once promised My disciples to send them the Comforter that would lead and guide them when they met only difficulties and obstacles everywhere, it will also happen now with those who love Me in the truest sense and want to keep My Word. If this were not the promise of God Who wants to reward men abundantly for all they have endured, it might be excusable if even the most zealous failed in their mission and lost every hope to save even a small part of humanity from complete perdition. But since I, as Creator, Lord and Father, am holding in My hands the reins of the entire world, I shall - as I once promised My disciples - make My abode with those who love Me and obey My Word, that is, I shall be their counselor and guide. I shall lead those mature souls to them who have been made pliable through severe blows, have tasted the transitoriness of the world, and who are now longing for something better. I shall increasingly fortify My present disciples in their faith and firm trust in My providence and, by dwelling in their hearts, compensate them for everything they must suffer because of Me and My teaching, so that they, in the midst of the sad confusion of all the human passions, may retain their clear perspective and not lose sight of the object of their mission. Therefore, do follow My words and teaching persistently! (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 26) THE SECOND COMING – LORD BECOMING VISIBLE FOR HIS DISCIPLES, BUT WILL BE REJECTED BY RELIGIOUS AUTHORITIES. DISCIPLES’ MISSION TO SPREAD THE TEACHING AND EXPLAIN THE SCRIPTURES As after My entombment My disciples wandered around lost and desolate, mourning the loss of their leader, even doubting My divine mission, in the same way present-day mankind - believers as well as unbelievers - are undecided as to whether to believe or whether to reject everything. My disciples did not all have the same power of comprehension, nor were they equally zealous concerning My teaching. Not all of them were convinced of My deity. Therefore, I had to use extraordinary manifestations - even after My resurrection - to fully convince also the weak that I was the One I claimed to be, and that My words, My teaching, were meant not for them alone, but for all the world, for the entire realm of spirits and for eternity. It is the same now as it was then. Now, too, I have to awaken those who have fallen asleep through forceful acts in the worldly chaos of your globe. I have to strengthen the partly awake and protect the fully awake, so that doubts and brooding do not hinder the sprouting of the sown seed. For, when I shall appear again visibly in your world today, do you believe I -shall be taken for what I actually am without proof? Not a chance! There will be plenty of doubters, deniers, persecutors and haters. And, as in those times when the high priests had bribed the Roman soldiers to state that My corpse had been stolen, on the occasion of My descen-sion, too, the rationalists, scholars and priests will do their utmost to convince people of the contrary to what I shall tell them. Do not think that all the great many people who now kneel in devotion at the altars in the churches built for Me, will easily accept the idea that I have returned, especially not when they hear where I have first appeared and how My first words will be addressed to them. In those times when, because of elementary phenomena and other miracles, the Jews could have easily convinced themselves that the one whom they helped to crucify was not an ordinary man, I could not show Myself after My resurrection to all the Jewish people, but only to My disciples; and only to those few who truly believed in Me could I actually prove that the words about the conquest of death and about My resurrection, which I had spoken to them - often in plain language, often in analogies – were true. And as it did then, it will happen again. In the beginning only a small group of My true disciples will be able to bear and recognize Me as the returning Jesus, and also as God, the Lord and Creator of infinity. To these I will appear and call, as I did once to My disciples on the mountain in Galilee: "All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and teach all nations and baptize them, that is, instruct them in this teaching in the name of the Divine Trinity, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Also teach them to keep, that is, to carry out in practice, what you yourselves have recognized to be true; and you may be sure that I will be with you from the beginning and in all eternity. Amen." Thus will be sounding the call to the small group which I have chosen for the future spreading of My Divine Word, for which I as a man once paid the price and sealed it with My blood. And these newly chosen will then, as reborn like once My disciples, be endowed with all power from Me, enabling them to prove their words with deeds and prepare the way for Me, so that I may meet only hearts devoted to Me and not estranged ones. My advent is already beginning to take place since I - though not visibly but already spiritually - am exerting My influence towards educating for Myself a number of disciples who will have to prepare the way. And that which was the task of My disciples in those times, which My chosen had been ordained to do when I appeared visibly, My present followers will have to carry out spiritually. To them, as well as to you, I am calling: "All power is given unto Me in heaven and on earth! Do not doubt My love, My teaching and My promise which I made to mankind and, thus, also to you; for I am, I was and I shall always be the Lord Who will protect and guide His children and one day reward them for their perseverance. "I have all the power; everything must obey Me. All that is has gone forth from Me and must again return to Me. Sow My seed in the hearts that show a good soil for it! Increase the number of My followers, instruct them in the understanding of My two sole commandments of love, so that they may distinguish the true from the false and resist the false doctrines. I possess the power to convert and soften the hardest and most stubborn hearts with the gentlest teaching of love. "Baptize your brothers and sisters with the spirit of tolerance, devotion and forgiveness. Teach them the forbearance I have shown you and all mankind since endless times. Teach them to subordinate the worldly pleasures to spiritual ones. Teach them not to forfeit happiness in the great, everlasting beyond through the empty, futile chasing after worldly possessions." You shall sow My teaching as a spiritual seed so that you too may take part in the work of reestablishing My spiritual kingdom, which will reign after I have descended to earth. Thus you will perform spiritually what once My apostles actually carried out. And as I at that time held out to My disciples the prospect of one day all being with Me, you too will acquire the right to enjoy closeness to Me and the love and bliss reserved for all those who have absorbed My Word and My teaching to the extent that they have become their very nature. Behold, I am promising you much, but as I once did, I again say: I possess all the might! I am the Lord and Creator, and at the same time I am your Father, your loving, ever patient Father Who, only in the joys, spiritual pleasures and bliss of His children, finds His own joys glorified. Therefore, those of you who may not be there to experience My personal appearance on this earth will accompany Me from whence I shall be coming and in bliss and satisfaction enjoy with Me My fatherly pleasures to which, as your consciousness will tell you, also you have contributed a little. You will praise Me and My guidance, once you clearly recognize how the words were meant which I once spoke to My disciples. For, you will be seeing Me in all My might, all My love and all My glory, when I shall once more choose a visible form to become the sole and true shepherd to My sheep who have for a long time believed in Me and yearned for Me. Then the material earth will adapt to the spiritual world on it, and when the inner peace of the spiritual Eden will have taken up residence in all hearts, the earth will once more become a paradise. It is impossible to paint a more detailed picture of this enjoyment and celebration, for you can neither bear nor comprehend it, but I can assure you that it is awaiting you, - and My Word is always true. […] There is an incessant striving towards the point when I will speak to My new chosen the words I once spoke to My disciples: The might is Mine - on earth as it is in heaven! Be prepared, My children, wherever you may be - here on earth or in the beyond - to celebrate with Me this feast of resurrection of the spiritual dignity of man. For it is not only the greatest feast for mankind, but also the most important for My entire great spirit-kingdom, when this final act will prove why I once descended to your small earth and why I chose you, unprepossessing and tiny beings on a grain of sand orbiting in infinite space, to become My children. Once again I want to prove that I am greatest in the smallest. If I did not possess all the might, I could not accomplish it; but then I also would not be a God Who thanks to this might is high above all created things, inaccessible even to the greatest angelic spirit. Receive these words, you small children of the great God, as a mark of His love, and remember His words which He spoke as Jesus: "He who is set over small things and performs his duty well will one day be entrusted with great things." As I once performed the greatest act of love in My creation with you poor, little mites, so also you shall endeavour in the smallest things, even insignificant events, to follow My commandments of love and carry them out promptly and conscientiously, so that you, too, may show and prove in the smallest the great strength of your souls. Then you are My worthy children, who one day can be set over great things, where you can then spread peace and bliss on a large scale, since you did that on your small earth under humble conditions. Do heed this! Acquaint also others with the secrets of your heart and teach them to understand and comprehend My Gospel, so that you, like My disciples, may be entitled to enjoy close to Me the full force of love a divine fatherly heart is capable of! Amen. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 27) SECOND COMING – THE LORD RECOGNIZED AS KING BY THE WHOLE WORLD The impulse to obey these two laws will keep growing, and the time will come when, filled with the meaning of these seven words from heaven, all mankind will proclaim Me king. However, then I shall not hide, as I once did, to evade the intentions of My children, but come in full glory and might to all who searched, struggled and found Me. Yet they will not find a king, but a shepherd who will guide His sheep to the pastures of light, where every material striving has ceased and in everlasting spiritual progression the forever growing love of God and the fellowman will bring about a never-ending succession of delights and beatitudes. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 16) ATTRIBUTES OF THE DISCIPLESHUMILITY BUT ALSO THE STRENGTH TO CONFESS THE LORS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES On another occasion I said that I have not come to those who are whole, but to those who are sick so that they may be healed. I also showed what they must be like who want to approach Me and My table, that modesty or humility must be the predominant attribute of a person who wants to follow Me. Thus, the further verses of this chapter clearly point out that he who wants to follow Me, must free his heart from all that is of the world and wholly submit to Me. Therefore, everyone, before he decides to follow Me, should ask himself whether he possesses strength and perseverance to confess and defend My teaching of love and faith under all circumstances. As I have repeatedly reminded you, - to follow Me, to hear My words and live accordingly, is a serious matter which must not be taken lightly, for only those who know the law, or My will, and still offend against it, although their conscience warns them, are responsible in the strictest sense and, therefore, sinners. In view of this, it also says at the end of this chapter: "Who has ears to hear, let him hear!" In other words: My words should not be heard and then disregarded, but should be taken to heart, pondered well, and then complied with! (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 28) RIGHTEOUSNESS, LOVE, MEECKNESS, FORGIVENESS AND PATIENCE You, too, should receive this example and parable from My years of teaching as an indication that, firstly, you should put a spiritual mark on every action and, secondly, that only through love, meekness and patience can you awaken trust and confidence. Make sure that peace and satisfaction allow you to enjoy your supper and that you do not have to await the dawning of the great morning of the eternal realm of love with fear and apprehension, when your life's day has ended and you face the great reckoning. Therefore, act every day in such a way as if you would have to depart from the earth today. Ask your conscience every night: "Would I be prepared if the Lord, my God, were to invite me to His supper?" - Only in this way could you slowly, but surely, improving on it every day, build your spiritual house so that it may become, externally as well as internally, the house of a soul ennobled by Me through My divine spark, that will once be worthy and entitled to be called My child, a child of the Lord of the entire creation. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 28) So I am telling you, too: If you do not take the concepts of righteousness, love, meekness and forgiveness more seriously than they are preached to you and wrongly interpreted by many, you cannot enter My Kingdom and become My children. For only those can be regarded as My children who follow My example and willingly carry their cross and who, as did I, to prove their meekness and self-abnegation, put all earthly pleasures far behind the spiritual and adopt My guiding principle which is expressed in the words: "My kingdom is not of this world!" My children must not be children of the world! They must aspire after the highest moral standard that man can achieve. They must master their passions as I did and accept with faith what I send them for their good. They shall not flee the world as dangerous, but judge its ways, its pleasures and temptations by their true worth, so that they do not succumb to them. In thoughts, words and deeds, they must have a clear conscience, so that others may not only believe their words, but see them proved in their actions. They must, as described in the Gospel, shine like a lamp that pours forth its tranquil light far above the difficulties of human life, - the light of love, of trust and of forgiveness. Only if they themselves are more righteous, loving and trusting than many other erring children, can they serve them as guides, and only this way can they, after they have completed the course of their life and trials, claim to be adopted by Me and enter My eternal, great spiritual kingdom, My heavens, where all the blessings mentioned at the beginning of My Sermon on the Mount, will fall to their lot to make up for their sufferings. Take this to heart! Read this sermon often, which I delivered to My disciples and the people almost two thousand years ago! It holds great promises and demands for you and My spirit-world. The life of a person who does not wish to fulfill these conditions is like a nicely bound book that contains only blank pages. Therefore, endeavour to take your book of life with you to the other world filled with good thoughts, words and deeds. In these verses I have shown you how thoughts can already constitute an offence against My commandments of love; for often it is only through lack of opportunity that they are not caried out. If this opportunity were given, the will would carry out what would otherwise have remained but fleeting thoughts. So, first of all, beware of sinful thoughts! They degrade your inner mental being. Further avoid the opportunity to realize them. Fight the thoughts and you have a good chance of controlling your actions. But once you give in to these thoughts, you are already enmeshed in the reign of sin, and it needs just a favourable moment and through an ill-advised action your soul is deprived of all that adorned it - its purity, its peace and tranquility and all its fine resolutions. Therefore, do read all these verses, and do it often! They draw your attention to so much wherein you are still weak and where you often sin against yourselves and against Me. Due to this you are still far from having a share in My.spiritual kingdom. Do not grumble if, through various circumstances, I keep giving you an opportunity to prove yourselves in that which is still your greatest shortcoming, namely, the trust in Me and the constant watch over the emotions of your heart, so that you may nip in the bud all that is evil and bad. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 31) FAITH OF PETER, KINDNESS OF JOHN – ‘WISE AS SERPENTS, GENTLE AS DOVES ’I usually arranged circumstances in such a way that they came to Me of their own accord and followed Me unaware of My intention or My influence. This was the case here, too. I wanted to move My disciples' hearts through a miracle - by your standards - and encourage them to that important step, to leave everything behind and follow Me, which was not so easy as you may think. I had to insist on this condition, for in those times, and considering the future teaching ministry of My disciples, it was impossible to follow Me and at the same time belong to the world and to one's family. Nowadays, I no longer need to impose such hard conditions on My followers, because things have changed; and if I were to demand this, the number of My followers would be extremely small. For in view of the comfortable life in the family and the homes to which people are used from their childhood, most of those who now show so much enthusiasm for My teaching would find it impossible to leave everything and follow Me, as My disciples once did. Also among you, who imagine yourselves full of enthusiasm for Me and My teaching, there are only a few who would have the strength of character to take this step out of love for Me, even if they had Me living and working in their midst as was the case with My disciples. I am now not in need of such means and have other ways of achieving My purpose. Today I expect you, and all who want to follow Me, to have the qualities of Peter, namely, his absolute faith in Me and his clear recognition of his own unworthiness. Because he considered himself unworthy of staying and living in My presence, this voluntary humiliation before Me turned the fisherman Simon into the rock "Peter", on which I intended to build My church, indestructible by heaven or earth. His firm trust in Me, already at our first encounter, kept growing and became a rock of faith. My object in choosing this text for you and all believing mankind is to draw your attention to this man whom you should follow before all else. John, as love personified, is also a guiding-star of foremost magnitude in the spiritual sky. But in order to become like him and be called "My favourite" as he was, you have first to go through the school of Peter, which for you is the world with its temptations. Amid the snags of the world where various circumstances and events make you regard that as good, pleasant and particularly important which glitters on the outside, but lacks constancy and holds decay, - especially amid such temptations - you must first strengthen your faith and trust. There in particular you can realize the brittleness and weakness of your moral strength. It is in the bustle of life that you must always be aware of these two factors: My omnipotence and your impotence. In no other way can you attain the inner peace of John who felt for Me nothing but love and a deep, childlike devotion. Such tender emotions, such surrendering into My hands and living solely for the spiritual is not easy to achieve for men, even My followers, under the circumstances ruling in the world today because the decline of the world and its influence on the spiritual life of men is too powerful for anybody to free himself from it completely. Therefore, it is your duty and that of My present and future adherents and followers first of all - like Peter - to make your inner spiritual self trust in Me with the firm faith that I am not going to forsake anybody, however pressing the circumstances that appear to lead onto other paths rather than to Me. That which I am spiritually as the Son and the Father, as Wisdom and Love, Peter and John represented as My disciples. Peter represented the prudence that has to be observed in the world, John the ever-present kindness of the heart, notwithstanding all the falsehood in the world, which two qualities correspond to My wisdom and My love. Thus you, too, should seek to comprehend spiritually the words I spoke to My disciples: "... Be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves!" The spiritual analogy for the serpent's cunning is the worldly wisdom, and the artlessness of the peaceful dove denotes the virtue that neither thinks nor acts evil. […] Therefore, walking unhurt amid thorns, strive diligently after your goal, that at the end of all temptations and struggles consists in unlimited love which, figuratively in all created things and spiritually in My own presence, will richly reward the trust and faith you have shown during the course of your life. […] Therefore, you too should not imagine yourselves to be already the chosen, the infallible! Trust Me, not your own strenght; for often a slight spiritual gust of wind is sufficient to make the entire edifice of spiritual self-assurance and moral strength collapse like a house of cards at the hands of children. Then you will have learned, as Peter did in My presence, that nothing can be achieved without Me, but with Me everything. Thus also this text, which started with a rich draught, shall be concluded with this important thought: If you - like Simon - are destined to catch not fish, but people in My net of faith, you have to start with yourselves and always keep in mind that noble deeds, and not words, will deliver your fellowmen, your brothers and sisters, into My hands. However, before this becomes possible, you must possess the wisdom of Peter and after that the love of John in your heart, and always keep in mind your own weakness and My strength. (Sermons of the Lord, chap. 30)
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