Sunsets Into Sunrises
Bishop Martin - The Progress of a Soul in the Beyond
- Chapter 33 -
BISHOP MARTIN RECOGNIZES THE LORD IN JESUS. - THE SINNER'S FEAR. - BISHOP MARTIN'S ENLIGHTENMENT.
1
(After a while, Bishop Martin speaks again): "Yes, dearest brother, from whatever side I look at the points you made, I find them sound. The Master of this house is also the Master of Infinity. He is beyond doubt the Son of the Most High also known as the Father! But where then is the Holy Ghost - or so to speak, the third divine person?"
2
(The wise bookseller): "Friend, just refer to the Gospel. Here you have a Bible with the New Testament. Read what John says, namely: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God; . . . and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us [in Jesus Christ]
3
Another passage says: 'In Him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily'; and another: 'He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; for I and my Father are one; I am in the Father and the Father is in me'; and many similar passages.
4
If you meditate on such passages, and altogether the whole of the Old and New Testaments, you will become more and more convinced that Jesus is the sole Lord and Creator of Heaven and earth.
5
When one of His disciples asked Him to show them the Father, since He had told them so much about Him, Jesus said: 'Have I been so long a time with you and yet hast thou not known me? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, shew us the Father?'
6
And you are now asking the same kind of questions the disciples asked the Lord when they were still spiritually blind!"
7
(Bishop Martin): "You are absolutely right! Now I am really convinced! He is the one and only Lord, God, Creator, and Father of Heaven and the myriads of angels, as well as the suns, earths, and all men. He will surely have His reasons why He chose our earth, and I hope one day to understand this, too.
8
But now, brother, the more I think about all this, the more I begin to understand the significance of the fact that the Master of this house, Jesus, is God Himself, the more afraid I am of having to face Him!
9
For what a terrible sinner I am - that you know only too well! And so does the almighty God! And the result will most probably be eternal damnation. Maybe this did not happen until now because I had not recognized the most just Judge. But now that I have recognized Him, the terrible, without doubt I am sure I haven't a chance!
10
Knowing Who He is, we shall have to address Him: 'Lord, Lord!' But He Himself once said on earth: 'Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.' Tell me, friend, have we ever done His will? So heaven is quite out of the question for us!
11
But what else is there besides heaven? Nothing but hell! Barest hell! Oh, I can already picture the flames enveloping me and the devils! Oh, dear brother, a terrible fear has taken hold of me!
12
Whatever can we say if He, the almighty God, the most severe and merciless Judge, should come to us now with His damnation, driving us away into the eternal fire which has been prepared for all the devils?
13
Oh, how terrible! I can already almost hear the thunder of His judgment. What an unutterably dreadful experience that would be! Only I cannot understand how you can be so calm, whilst I am almost fainting from fright."
14
(The wise bookseller): "Pull yourself together, brother, and rest assured that the Lord is better than described by Rome's popes and clergy. However, while we are so foolishly frightened of Him, He will most likely stay away and come to us only when our fear has been converted to love.
15
Just imagine, what pleasure could it give you to take revenge on a gnat which offended you? Wouldn't such a revenge be senseless, worthy only of a fool? How then could you expect anything like that of Divine Wisdom? What are we compared with God? Aren't we in comparison to Him what a gnat would be to us?
16
We must realize that we are nothing before Him. Why should He take revenge on us? Whereto, friend, whereto? Contain yourself! I am convinced that things will not be as bad for us as you imagine. Quiet! I think He is coming! There He is!"