The Great Gospel of John
Volume 4
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi (cont.)
- Chapter 1 -
The true wisdom and the lively worship of God.
When I got up and everyone else who rested with Me rather sweetly for more than three hours, I immediately call the three to Me and ask them, why they did not consent to the strengthening three hour sleep.
2
Says Mathael: "Lord! You Marvellous, You most Wise! Who can sleep, if he through Your word anyway receives the mightiest strength! All three of us are anyway strengthened to such an extend, as if we had slept most well for the whole night! But we have used the three hours - as much as it was possible for us - in Your name and have subject to Your merciful admission learned things, which most likely no mortal ever have dreamt about. For that we would like to give to You our sincerest en warmest thanks; You are the Lord, and everywhere You are all in all; therefore to You alone all our love and highest respect!"
3
Say I: "Good then, I know what you have discussed and learned during the time planned for you! But since you have learned it, keep it for the time being to yourself and also afterwards do not make misuse of it; since the children of this earth cannot understand this, because they are not from the same place where you came from. But you will experience much bigger things; after the holy spirit has come over you, whom I will soon pour out over you, who will lead you into all truth! This will be the spirit of love, the Father Himself, who will draw and teach you, so that you all can come there, where I will be.
4
Since truly I say to you: Nobody will come to Me, if the Father is not drawing Him towards Me! You must all be taught by the Father, thus by the everlasting love in God, if you want to come to Me! Therefore you all must be perfect, like the Father in heaven is perfect! Hence, a lot of knowledge, also the most plentiful experience will not bring you there, but only the living love for God and in the same measure to your neighbour; therein lies the great secret of the rebirth of your spirit out of God and in God.
5
However, everybody will have to walk with Me through the narrow gate of the fullest abnegation, until he becomes what I am. Everybody must cease to be something for himself, so that he can become everything in Me.
6
To love God above all, means: to completely rise and become one with God, - and to love your neighbour also means: to completely know and understand your neighbour, otherwise one will not be able to love him completely; because a partial love is of no use to him who loves, nor to him who is loved.
7
If you want to have a full view in all directions from a high mountain, you must in any case climb to the highest peak; because from any lower vantage point, a considerable section will always remain concealed. Therefore in love everything and the outer must occur from within, so that its fruit can be revealed to you.
8
Your heart is a field, and the active love therein is the living seed kernel; but the poor brothers are the fertilizer for the field. Those of you who will place many seed kernels into the well fertilized ground, will also reap a full harvest. The more you will fertilize the ground with the poor, the stronger it will become; and the more you place good seed kernels into it, the richer the harvest. Who will sow plentiful, will also harvest plentiful; who will sow sparsely, will also harvest sparsely.
9
But therein lies the highest wisdom, that you will become wise by the liveliest love. However, all knowledge is of no use without love! Therefore, do not strive too much for a lot of knowledge, but rather that you love a lot, then love will give to you, what no knowledge ever can give to you! It is quite alright that the three of you have used the three hours for the multiple enrichment of your knowledge and your experiences most eagerly; but all this would be of little use for your souls. If you in future sacrifice your time with the same eagerness to love your neighbour, then only one day will be of greater use for your souls!
10
What use is it to you before Me, if you nearly dissolve yourself because of amazement about My power, greatness and never fathomable magnificence, but outside your house are crying poor brothers and sisters of hunger, thirst and coldness! How wretchedly would sound and to no use would be a loud cheering and praising for the honour and glory of God, if you cannot hear the hardship of a poor brother! To what use are all the rich and most magnificent sacrifices in the temple, if in front of its doors a poor brother perishes of hunger?
11
Therefore your search should especially be directed towards your poor brothers and sisters; to them bring help and consolation! And you will find in a brother, who was helped by you, more, than having travelled to all the stars and have praised Me with tongues of Seraphim!
12
Truly, I say to you, all angles, all heavens and all worlds with all their wisdom, cannot give you in eternity, what you can achieve, if you truly have helped a poor brother, who was in misery, with all your strength and all your means! Nothing stands higher and closer to Me than true, active love!
13
If you pray to God, but does not, while you are praying, can hear the complaining voice of your poor brother who came to you for help during your hour of prayer, then your futile chatter is damned! Since My honour exists in love - and not in the futile twaddle of your mouth!
14
You should not be as Jesajas has shouted: 'See, those people honour Me with their lips; but their hearts are far away from Me!', but if you pray to Me, do this in the spirit and in all truth! Since God is a spirit and can only be worshipped in the spirit and in the truth.
15
The only true prayer in the spirit appealing to Me, does not consists in the movement of the tongue, the mouth and the lips, but only in the active exercising of love. What use is it to you if you have decorated the grave of a prophet with many pounds of gold, but failed to hear the voice of a suffering brother?! Do you think that it can pleases Me? Fool! You will be looked at with angry eyes by Me, because you have for the sake of a dead failed to listen to the voice of a living!"