- Sermon 21 -
Second Sunday After Easter. The Good Shepherd St. John X, 1-16: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth, not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers. This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they were which he spake unto them. Then Jesus said unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers; but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture. The thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth: and the wolf catcheth them, and scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because he is an hireling and careth not for the sheep. I am the good shepherd and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." (March 9, 1872) This chapter speaks about the true leader to the light of truth and the false leaders who claim that the path to light leads only through them, whereas, in fact, they themselves are the very epitome of darkness. For what here is described as "thieves and murderers", spiritually denotes the striving to steal or even destroy the spiritual which is part of the human soul. The "door" that I represent, as referred to in the Gospel, denotes the only proper road to true cognition and means to say: Only those people who did not lose their spiritual instinct through the world and its goings-on, or who did not let it be taken from them or, if it was once taken, regained it - only those are capable of distinguishing My voice and My teaching from the voices and wrong teachings of false prophets. And only those will follow My call because they recognize My voice and can distinguish it from other seductive voices. 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.
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- Sermon 16 -
Fourth Sunday in Lent. The Feeding of the Five Thousand St. John VI, 1-15: "After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias. And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased. And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples. And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat? And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred penny-worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him, There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone." (February 17, 1872) Here you have one of those deeds which created a great sensation among the Jews, even to such an extent that those who witnessed it wanted to proclaim Me king, thus forcing Me to evade their intentions by withdrawing alone to the solitude of a mountain. For Me, the Lord and Creator, the act as such was not so great and important, when I caused the five barley loaves and two fishes to continuously be replaced or complemented out of the substances of the air in such a way that they easily sufficed for five thousand people and of the bread there still remained twelve baskets full of leftovers. For the people encamped around Me it certainly was a miracle that strikingly proved My divine descent and might. However, by the Jews it was not regarded spiritually but according to their material interests, since following this act they wanted to proclaim Me king. I had to withdraw from them, for first of all, that was not the purpose of My life on earth and besides, My time for "being lifted up" had not yet come. That expression, whenever I used it, was likewise never understood until the crucifixion explained it and My ascension fulfilled the "being lifted up" also spiritually. The act of distributing the barley loaves and fishes had, however, its spiritual correspondence which actually is the essential. I told you already on another occasion that my whole earthly sojourn, especially My years of teaching and My words and deeds during that time, will be repeated at My Second Coming, although spiritually. Therefore, also this act is one of those now taking place in their spiritual correspondence. What once applied to the five thousand people, now applies to mankind in general. Then My sphere of action was the Jewish people, My contemporary and more receptive part of mankind, also its land as the world chosen for My activity. Now that My teaching has spread over the whole earth, lthough followed only by few whilst known to many, - each act from those days must now be regarded in the greater, spiritual, sense when repeated as I already mentioned to you earlier. - Sermon 32 -
Sixth Sunday After Trinity. The Feeding of the Four Thousand St. Mark VIII, 1-9: "In those days the multitude being very great, and havingcnothing to eat, Jesus called his disciples unto him, and saith unto them, I have compassion on thecmultitude, because they have now been with me three days, and have nothing to eat: And if I sendcthem away fasting to their own houses, they will faint by the way: for divers of them came from afar. And his disciples answered him, From whence can a man satisfy these men with bread here in the wilderness? And he asked them, How many loaves have ye? And they said, Seven. And he commanded the people to sit down on the ground: and he took the seven loaves, and gave thanks, and brake, and gave to his disciples to set before them; and they did set them before the people. And they had a few small fishes: and he blessed, and commanded to set them also before them. So they did eat, and were filled: and they took up of the broken meat that was left seven baskets. And they that had eaten were about four thousand: and he sent them away." (April 7, 1872) This chapter deals with another feeding of the multitude gathered around Me, namely, four thousand people. In the end seven baskets with bread are left over, whilst at the start there were only seven loaves of bread and some fish available. Once before I worked a similar miracle, feeding five thousand people with five loaves of bread and two fishes, when twelve baskets with bread were left over. [7] If someone in this world will not have paid back every last cent, he will not be capable to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. That is why it is so important here to zealously go through every old book of debts. Especially those which carry the word ‘love’. Debts of love are the hardest. A robbery of millions will be more easily erased from the spiritual memory than a debt of love. Why? Because such robbery of millions is only an outer great debt which does not affect the spirit, but the debt of love is mostly related to the whole spirit because all love is the actual nature of the spirit. Therefore, nothing is as dangerous in this world as the so-called ‘falling in love’, for this condition seizes the whole spirit. If there are then obstacles by which the premature sexual love between both sexes is not accomplished, the offended spirits retreat and let the inflicted wounds be superficially cured through all kinds of worldly pleasure, but they are not healed in the least.
[8] When later the bad weather comes up again, these wound will open again. This second condition will be much worse than the first, as the Scripture shows where it is written about the 7 spirits that were driven out. Also in this case the house is cleaned up with outer means after which the evil enemy wanders around through dry deserts and steppes, but since he cannot find any accommodation there, he takes another 7 spirits who are worse than him and moves again into his old, cleaned house. [9] The old, cleaned house is the spirit in this world that is cleaned by outer means. The evil spirit is the bad condition in which man has ever lived on this Earth. This is cleaned completely by outer means. Now he wanders around through dry deserts and steppes. That means: the spirit of man heals his wounds and they become scars, so that his wounds dry up and do not bleed anymore. But the evil spirit returns with 7 others. That means: in absolute spiritual condition all wounds become visible again and open again with much greater intensity, and this is the condition which is worse than the first one. (The Spiritual Sun vol. 2, chap. 116) [6] Why does the Lord here ask the demon what his name is, since it should be known to the Omniscient that these obsessed men had not only one, but a whole legion of demons tormenting them? The Lord certainly did not ask for it, as if He wanted to know the name of these evil spirits; Why did He ask for it?
[7] He asked this demon to tell who he is; for the question makes it easier to recognize the nature of a being than the answer. Ask a fool, and he can give you an answer that will make you hesitate; But let the fool ask you something, and you will immediately recognize him by his question! But in the spiritual, a question is the only way of knowing oneself; and so the Lord did not ask here to get an answer, but to reveal who He is to the demons, in this spiritual way. [8] You also know similar situations and have already been able to observe them in the so-called somnambulists. For if you ask a somnambulist a question, it is not about getting to know the character of the somnambulists' life, but your question has the character of exposing your life to the somnambulists; then the somnambulists looks at you, recognizes you and then supplement the deficiency found in you with their life activity. [9] To be sure, this kind is only a middle stage between a purely worldly and purely spiritual question; nevertheless, it already has the spiritual character for the deeper thinker. [10] So, then, this question of the Lord to the demons is called as much as when He said, "Behold! I expose Myself", which says: "there is no evil in Me!" [11] And the demons behold this holy transparency, and they immediately recognized in Him the Lord of Eternity; and therefore they then say, "Ours is a legion!" - by this they do not indicate their actual number, but only manifest in a spiritual way that in the presence of the highest purity of God, their evil is overwhelmingly apparent. [12] The purity of the Lord, however, compels them to yield to Him. But even in the midst of Divine purity, the wicked see the Divine compassion and turn to it. At this moment they take refuge in humility and, according to their evil character, demand to be allowed to take up residence in the pigs; and the mercy of the Lord grants them what they ask, because of their humility. [13] But when they went into the pigs, only then does their pride, which they hid from the Lord, awaken, and they drive the pigs into the sea, that they perish and let them, the demons, free to roam about in the waters as monsters. [14] This is what this picture looks like. But who is this possessed person? - This possessed person is directly, the world in which these legions of demons dwell, as they inhabit this man. [15] The Lord comes to this obsessed world in His Word. The world wants to be free from its secret plague, and the Lord is making the world free. But its inner evil activity is worse in its free state than bound in her. [16] When it is bound, it complains of pressure and plague; but when I make them free, their activity flies into the pigs and plunges itself into the sea of destruction, and the slightly better people in the world also seek to take Me away on top of it all, because I do not care for their world industry commitment. Because these Gerasener (Gadarener) say the same as the carriers of the world, or even German (more clearly) spoken: they are the actual industrial grid. 57. THE DEATH OF LAZARUS
[1] THEN the evening meal was finished I told those who belong to Me that I intended to leave very early in the morning, going deeper into Judea towards Jerusalem. [2] The disciples who were more close to Me were frightened for My sake, and they whispered among each other, till Peter turned to Me, because he made himself the spokesman for the others, and said: “Lord and Master, each time the Jews in Jerusalem wanted to stone You when You spoke to them, and now You want to go to them again?” [3] On this, I answered: “Are there not 12 hours in a day? Can anyone stumble when he walks during the day and stands completely in the light? I am standing completely in the light and know when My hour will come. So do not worry about Me. However, he who walks at night while it is dark around him and in him will soon stumble and can easily go to ruin. For you know that no one has power over Me unless I give it to him.” [4] Then the disciples were no more worried about My plan, and I further said to them: “You know that our friend Lazarus is sick and that his sisters sent someone out to Me. Would I now not grant their request out of fear of the Jews?” [5] John asked Me: “Lord, You know about everything. How is our friend Lazarus?” [6] I answered: “He sleeps, but I will go to him to wake him up.” [7] Then the disciples thought among themselves that I spoke about the physical sleep, and said: “Lord, if he sleeps, his sickness will soon leave him, because nothing is better than a healthy sleep for a sick person to bring back his strength.” [8] I answered: “You are right about this, but you still are mistaken, for Lazarus does not sleep the sleep of the body, but he died.” [9] The disciples were startled about this statement, moreover because it was not so long ago that they saw Lazarus fit and healthy. A loud murmuring of condolence arose among them and finally fearful questions whether it still would be possible to help, because he only might be apparently dead, and if My power would awaken him. Chapter 30 - The Magi Worship The Baby
WHEN THE GOOD JOSEPH heard all this, his oppressed heart became lighter, and since he heard that the captain would come to him, he prepared himself to receive him 2 The captain entered, greeted Joseph and said to him, 'Man in my highest esteem! 3 See, by a wondrous providence these visitors from the East now waiting outside have come here, and I have examined them strictly and found no malice in them. 4 They wish to pay homage to the Child according to the promise of their God, and I am of the opinion that you can let them enter without having the least fear, if it is convenient for you.' 5 Joseph replied, 'If that is the way it is, then I will praise and glorify my God, for He has again taken a heavy stone from my heart! 6 But a short time ago Mary became a bit terrified when the Persians began to encamp about this cave; therefore I will first have to see how matters stand with her, so an unexpected entry of these guests will not frighten her still more than she was already frightened of them.' 7 The captain agreed to Joseph's precaution, and Joseph went to Mary and informed her of everything that he heard from the captain. 8 And Mary replied in a happy mood, 'Peace to all people on earth who are of a good and faithful heart and allow their will to be led by God! 9 They are surely welcome when the Spirit of the Lord will indicate it, and shall reap the blessing of their faithfulness! For I am not in the least afraid of them. 10 But when they enter you will have to stand close by my side, for it just would not be proper for me to receive them in this tent by myself!' “Test all things, and hold firmly that which is good.” (1 Thessalonians 5:21)
The Lord through Jakob Lorber: „He who wants to live properly may accomplish this in any church, because the main rule is as follows: examine everything and keep what is good. I will tell no one: become a Catholic, a Protestant, or an Orthodox! Instead, remain what you are if you so wish; but be an active Christian in spirit and in truth! Because anyone may have access anywhere to the pure word of God, if he so wishes.” (Earth and Moon, chp. 73) The Lord through Gottfried Mayerhofer: "So as to be on the safe side, believe only Me, listen only to My voice in your hearts, which does not deceive, and do not let yourselves be deluded by clever, sell-seeking interpreters of My Word. Here the word holds good: 'Examine what you hear and read; adhere to the good and eliminate the bad.'"(Secrets of life ) [5] From this time on I began to speak more seriously with My disciples about the fact that I would have to go to Jerusalem according to My Father‘s will and would suffer very much there from the elders, the high priests and scribes, would be killed by them, but that on the third day I would raise from the dead again I would then stand there as a victor over all death and over all
enemies of life for eternity, as I had already mentioned on Mark‘s mountain. [6] At this Peter became quite alarmed and, drawing Me aside, said in a commanding, admonishing tone: “Lord, this must never happen to You! You are obliged both to us and to all men to protect Yourself.” [7] But I turned around quickly and said in a very most serious tone: “Away with you, Satan; you are a stumbling-block to Me. You think as worldly men think, not as God thinks.” "Many are called, but few are chosen!"
This is the contents of the parable, but in order to comprehend it in its spiritual sense, we have to examine all the circumstances mentioned until we discover the actual spiritual meaning of this parable and its application to that time as well as to the present and future. You must always keep in mind that there is a much deeper meaning in My words than the listeners at that time suspected and many readers now and in the future will suspect. Let us begin with the form of this parable so that you may see how everything has its deep spiritual meaning if put - spiritually illuminated - before the inner eye of the mind. I compared the Kingdom of Heaven with a king who wanted to give a marriage feast for his son. Well, in the highest sense this comparison refers to the future marriage or complete unification of the material with the spirit-world, or the dissolution of matter and liberation of the spirit imprisoned in matter in order to realize its unification with that which is higher. The first picture - a wedding - denotes the unification of two to one spiritual being, even if separated in two bodies. The wedding represents the great or sublime time when that which is congenial meets and jointly performs what would not have been possible to the individual. To this unification or marriage, which usually on earth is celebrated with a wedding feast, all those who were considered worthy of taking part were invited; but the parable says that those invited refused to come. Behold, this wedding feast denotes the entire period from the creation of man to the deluge. The earth, adorned in its wedding garment, invited all men to spiritual unification. It wanted to invite to this feast men, spiritual beings, as the material image of the joyful evolution-process of all creation. These, however, paying homage rather to the physical world and its pleasures than to the spiritual, ignored the invitation and challenge to strive upwards, but preferred to take the opposite direction. |
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