- Sermon 9 -
Third Sunday After Epiphany. The Healing of a Leper St. Matthew VIII, 1-4: "When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him. And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them." (January 11, 1872) This chapter of My disciple Matthew deals with several healings and miracles during My first years of teaching. These acts were necessary to give the orthodox Jews a different idea of their mosaic laws and their Jehovah-Zebaoth. I had to perform acts for them, as words alone would have been insufficient. Here it is mentioned how I healed a leper by just touching him. This kind of healing is now no longer possible or not in accordance with My will; for if you would take "leprosy" in the spiritual sense, I would have to make angels out of many people suddenly, and not the best ones either, and this would not be of benefit, neither for Me and My spiritual realm nor for the suddenly transformed spirit or soul. 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.
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[3] I said: “This originates from man’s better and right feeling of life. Morning resembles the cheerful and innocent youth of man. Therefore it makes any pure and right feeling person feel youthful and cheerful.
[4] Midday resembles the strong man who must work for his bread in the sweat of his face; therefore midday does not awaken such tender feelings as the morning. Since in the serious man’s age the juvenile life poetry has come to an end, and only the certain anxious seriousness of life has taken its place, and this really does not awakens a charm in one’s right feeling soul, but only a certain seriousness, about which the heart does not have a particular joy, although it must be present for the attainment of true life. [5] And finally evening as the symbol of earthly death and vanishing of all things cannot leave any other impression on a right feeling soul than gloominess, although the evening is just as necessary as the morning and midday. For if there did not existed any evening of life for man, the everlasting life-morning could never emerge and become an everlasting truth. [6] See, therein lies the simple reason of your quite right feelings, which however is not similar in all people! Because there exist people for whom the evening is way more pleasant than morning; yes, there are people for whom morning does not at all leave a pleasant impression, midday somewhat better and the best by evening or especially night. Although, these people belong mainly to the wrong kind and it is difficult to teach these people anything better and to bring them on the right track of faith and feelings; since they in this world gathered only those treasures which are attacked by rust and which can be consumed by moths. And once they are having such a viewpoint, it is difficult to get them to another. [7] Therefore I say to you all: never gather such treasures in this world which can be attacked by rust and which are easily consumed by moths! Do not worry about the coming day, about what to eat and what to wear! It is sufficient that each day produces its own worries. The Father in heaven knows precisely what you need. Look at the sparrows on the roof and the flowers in the field! They do not sow and harvest anything and still are provided for by the Father in heaven with everything abundantly. Did the sparrows not have their dress and food and are the flowers in the field not dressed more delightfully than Solomon in all its splendor? Are you then not a lot better than the sparrows, of whom you can buy a dozen for a pfennig, and better than the grass on the field, which still blossoms today, but is mowed tomorrow, then dried and thrown into the oven and burned as bad animal food?! But if you know this from Me, behave and act accordingly, and you will as My chosen disciples manage your offices quite well! [8] Didn’t Moses say, when determining the tenth for the priest tribe Levi: ‘Who serves the altar, should also live from the altar?’ And I say to you now the same with other words. Therefore I have said this only to you and does not thereby want to give to you another commandment, according to which no one will work the fields anymore and no one will maintain the vine in the vineyard anymore, but this applies only to you My chosen workers in My spiritual vineyard; since to the others I say: Who doesn’t work, should also not eat! But who searches for My kingdom and its justice, to him, just as to you, everything else will be given as a free gift.” [9] Then especially John thanked Me for this teaching and asked Me if he also should record this. [10] And I said: “Absolutely, but mainly for your successors, since if this would apply to all people, it soon would look quite desolate on earth.” (GGJ Book 15 , chap. 64) - Sermon 45 -
Nineteenth Sunday After Trinity. Parable of the Marriage Feast St. Matthew XXII, 1-14: "And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, And sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding: and they would not come. Again, he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, Behold, I have prepared my dinner: my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready: come unto the marriage. But they made light of it, and went their ways, one to his farm, another to his merchandise: And the remnant took his servants, and entreated them spitefully, and slew them. But when the king heard thereof, he was wroth: and he sent forth his armies, and destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. Then saith he to his servants, The wedding is ready, but they which were bidden were not worthy. Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shallfind, bid to the marriage. So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnishd with guests. And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: And he saith unto him, Friend, how earnest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. Then said the king to the servants. Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen." (April 26, 1872) Here you have before you the parable of a marriage feast with which I intended to draw the attention of the Pharisees to their own machinations and their consequences; for they were under the delusion that no one saw through their games. But since I was anxious to achieve their betterment, I veiled My words and warnings to them on many occasions by parables, which the Pharisees did understand, but the people not always. I did not want to completely destroy their image with the people whilst they were still capable of betterment. However, since I always hit the nail on the head, their anger against Me kept growing until, as was ordained, they were given the chance and power to fulfil, with regard to Me, what the prophets had predicted for ages and what I, too, had prophesied to My disciples as My future fate and end on earth. In this parable I compared the Kingdom of Heaven, or the Father in Heaven, with a king who sent invitations to the feast for his son to friends and acquaintances, but received everywhere evasive or negative replies - Sermon 14 -
Second Sunday In Lent. The Transfiguration of Jesus St. Matthew XVII, 1-13: "And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, and was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light, and, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him. Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias. While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him. And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid. And when they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no man, save Jesus only. And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus charged them, saying, Tell the vision to no man, until the Son of man be risen again from the dead. And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you. That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist." (January 25, 1872) Here again you have an event from My earthly career of a deep and heavenly significance. This event was once important for the disciples who accompanied Me, but it is also significant for you and all mankind and in its spiritual correspondence of great importance for the future into which you are now moving. We will now look at this event, explain its significance for My disciples at that time and then study its great spiritual correspondence to find out how, when and where it is repeating itself today and how it will have the same regenerating effect now as it had once on the three disciples with Me and their further life and actions. The Gospel states that I took My disciples Peter, James and John up a mountain where they saw Me transfigured, that is, they saw Me with their spiritual eyes as the One who I really am, was and shall be. They saw Me as a high spirit whose garment - truth - was in its correspondence white and whose face shone like the sun, that is, it radiated love. At My side they saw two mighty supporters of My entire future system of instruction who contributed most to facilitate My work as My forerunners - Moses and Elias, with whom I was speaking. They also heard a voice from a cloud speaking the same words that had once sounded at My baptism at the river Jordan: "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased; listen to him!" Matt chap. 5, 6, 7
{5:1} And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: {5:2} And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, {5:3} Blessed [are] the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. {5:4} Blessed [are] they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. {5:5} Blessed [are] the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. {5:6} Blessed [are] they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. {5:7} Blessed [are] the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. {5:8} Blessed [are] the pure in heart: for they shall see God. {5:9} Blessed [are] the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. {5:10} Blessed [are] they which are persecuted for righteousness sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. {5:11} Blessed are ye, when [men] shall revile you, and persecute [you,] and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. {5:12} Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great [is] your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. {5:13} Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. {5:14} Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. {5:15} Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and itgiveth light unto all that are in the house. {5:16} Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. {5:17} Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. {5:18} For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. {5:19} Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach [them,] the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. {5:20} For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed [the righteousness] of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. {5:21} Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: {5:22} But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire. {5:23} Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; {5:24} Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. {5:25} Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. {5:26} Verily I say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. Sermon 51 -
Twenty-Fifth Sunday After Trinity. The Parable of the Tares in the Field St. Matthew XIII, 19-30: "Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? From whence then hath it tares? He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn." (May 2, 1872) The parables of this chapter contain the whole history of My teaching and also the history of My creation from beginning to end. The history of My teaching, because they show you upon what different ground My teaching and My words fall; and the history of My creation, because they clearly reveal to you how the Divine Word of the highest spiritual consecration, rising from level to level, finds its expression in the millions of worlds. And as the impression which My Word makes upon millions of people is different with each individual, thus also the evolutionary process of each world is different from that of the others. These parables, as I told them once to the people of Israel, were taken from ordinary life so that the listeners could easily understand them. But in spite of this, they did not comprehend in the parable which was chosen for this Sunday, who among them was compared to the good ground, who to the stony places and who to the wayside upon which some seeds had fallen. This parable shows that I do want to convert people through acts and words, but that the good seed, since the world with its pleasures mixes with it, grows only sporadically in some places and does not generally bring forth the fruit that should result through the words from My mouth. It also reveals that the end, the harvest, will separate the good from the bad, and that the good will receive their just reward. The obstinate and evil, however, will have to experience the long road of matter until they have thrown off all impurities and can join the harmony prevailing in My heavenly kingdom of the spirit as a spiritual note. Since the fall of Lucifer, in the whole of creation that which is good or light, which is the spiritual, has its opposite in that which is evil or heavy - the material or physical. This love that embraces everything is to be the standard for the love that should dwell in every man's heart and as a permanent memorial of a higher origin should also rule all thoughts, words and actions. This love, as does Mine, should know no other purpose than acting for the benefit of its fellowmen and fellow beings. Naturally, one cannot grant all one's neighbour's requests, but must refuse some if their granting would be more damaging than useful.
Look at Me! I love all of you with a love which you can neither comprehend nor return, but I still do not say 'Yes' to your numerous requests, - more often 'No'. Why? Because you often desire things that would be detrimental to you. And even if this refusal brings upon you suffering and struggles, misfortune or the loss of dear ones, it is still he result of love, of your heavenly Father's love, Who has created everything for you, has suffered much for your sake, and keeps repaying ingratitude, mockery and disavowal with blessings. This shows you how love must be understood if it is to lead to good instead of evil. This is how the love of your neighbour is to be understood. As a human father does not grant his immature children everything they desire in their lack of judgment, but always keeps in mind the higher purpose of education, thus you should also only do a good turn to your neighbour if you are convinced that, as far as you can judge, this would not promote some vice or encourage laziness in your neighbour instead of diligence. This is the type of love with which I rule the world out of My wisdom. Thus you, too, should restrain and control with your intellectual power your urge to help, so that your noblest intentions may not have an adverse effect. The second point that must be considered is: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself!" This, too, can be interpreted in as many ways as there are spiritual stages in human nature, beginning with self-abnegation right to extreme egoism. And here arises the question: "When is my self-love justified, useful to me and others?" [7] Therefore I say to you all: never gather such treasures in this world which can be attacked by rust and which are easily consumed by moths! Do not worry about the coming day, about what to eat and what to wear! It is sufficient that each day produces its own worries. The Father in heaven knows precisely what you need. Look at the sparrows on the roof and the flowers in the field! They do not sow and harvest anything and still are provided for by the Father in heaven with everything abundantly. Did the sparrows not have their dress and food and are the flowers in the field not dressed more delightfully than Solomon in all its splendour? Are you then not a lot better than the sparrows, of whom you can buy a dozen for a pfennig, and better than the grass on the field, which still blossoms today, but is mowed tomorrow, then dried and thrown into the oven and burned as bad animal food?! But if you know this from Me, behave and act accordingly, and you will as My chosen disciples manage your offices quite well!
[8] Didn’t Moses say, when determining the tenth for the priest tribe Levi: ‘Who serves the altar, should also live from the altar?’ And I say to you now the same with other words. Therefore I have said this only to you and does not thereby want to give to you another commandment, according to which no one will work the fields anymore and no one will maintain the vine in the vineyard anymore, but this applies only to you My chosen workers in My spiritual vineyard; since to the others I say: Who doesn’t work, should also not eat! But who searches for My kingdom and its justice, to him, just as to you, everything else will be given as a free gift.” (GGJ Book 15, chap. 64) [14] Then many fathers and mother hurried to their homes and brought soon a great number of children with them who were sick and weak in a more or lesser degree, and they asked Me if I would like to bless them all and make them healthy again by that.
[15] However, the number of children that they brought with them was considerable and when the disciples heard that I wanted to touch every child separately, according to the wish of the parents, they said: “Well, well, the day will hardly last for 2 little hours. If the Lord has to touch and bless every child separately, the day will be over, and we still have to travel to another place, because it is out of the question that we should stay here, because already along the way He said that He would not stay overnight in the first village. And once He had spoken out something, He never deviates one hair’s breadth from it. Let us send back the children who are crowding with the good remark that it is not necessary for every child to be touched separately. It is sufficient that He speaks outonly one word, then they all will be healed and be completely and entirely blessed and strengthened.” [16] After they had deliberated this, the disciples prevented them to come to Me and warned those who wildly would want to press through. [17] However, I called all these many children to Me and said to the disciples: “Oh, let all these children come to Me and do not prevent them, because for such children is the Kingdom of God. Truly I say to you: whoever does not take possession of the Kingdom of God as a child, will not enter into it.” - Sermon 8 -
Second Sunday After Epiphany. The Wedding in Cana t. John II, 1-11: "And the tird day there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there: And both Jesus was called, and his disciples, to the marriage. And when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, They have no wine. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. His mother saith unto the servants, Whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. And there were set there six water-pots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. Jesus saith unto them, Fill the water-pots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, and saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory; and his disciples believed on him." This chapter of John begins with the wedding at Cana in Galilee, where I performed the first miracle by transforming water into wine. With this event, which took place at the beginning of My teaching years (although I had not yet begun to teach publicly), I wanted - particularly through the combination of circumstances at this wedding - to draw the attention of many toward Myself, because within a short time My way of living in obscurity was to come to an end. The marriage ceremony is, of course, a frequently performed act and, although it holds much spiritual meaning, most people regard it as completely material and celebrate it in that manner. Had this been only such a wedding, one would not have found Me there. However, I had much greater things in view which had to be achieved through not too conspicuous events. The Jews' attention was to be gradually drawn to My forthcoming teaching and activities. As concerns this act and all of the following, their spiritual repetition in these present days must be understood in a greater and deeper sense, because now also the periods of time will be greater than during My short years of teaching and sojourn upon your dark earth. Then I had been given only a short time to achieve great things of eternal duration. Now, when the future perfection of mankind's spiritual education is at stake, the stream of events is flowing more slowly, but all the mightier, - overcoming all the obstacles, which might arise against My plans until My final Advent. |
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