The Household of God
Volume 1
The early history of mankind
- Chapter 187 -
SUPPLEMENT
1
"Behold, I will call them all by their name: H1 L V1 T S S A A S S." Chapt.3, 12. Concerning these ten letters which have not been understood so far, the salvation of the sun and the moon does not depend on it and the stars continue in their paths without letting themselves be confounded through this lack of understanding. You all know that for life eternal only one thing is needed, and he who concentrates on that and strives after it has chosen the best part for the spirit, - everything else comes as a free gift when the time is right. Actually every one of you could have had this little secret revealed already long ago if he had earnestly and full of faith turned to Me in his heart. Instead you have often pondered on this with your intellect rather than with your heart and that is the reason why you still do not understand this easy secret, simply because such things are not given to the intellect, but only to the heart and spirit.
2
But in order that your in purely spiritual things still considerably ignorant heart shall no longer send out the tiresome intellect as a scout into the precinct of spiritual mystery like a blind hunter who has never as yet brought home any plump game, but instead only some half-decayed carcass, I will now explain to you who the friends symbolically denoted by these ten letters are. So listen and comprehend it well. H1 signifies hell as a fleshly appendage to the soul; the number 1 stands for the arrogance, tyranny and pride of hell in every person and thus in you, too. Hell is every mortal's closest friend, for it provides him with all the things that flatter his nature and fill it with all kinds of enticements pleasant to his flesh.
3
If I want to take someone into My Kingdom and educate him for life eternal, I must take his friends too from whom man, as long as he lives on earth, is never able to part completely. Therefore sin, as part of these friends, must appear before My eyes as fully eradicated, for otherwise a further education of your spirit is unthinkable. This means that if I want to preserve you I must with My holy fatherly hands embrace your personal hell too, thus to lift you up to My bosom together with your so far still most intimate friend. - Here you have now the first letter, which so far I had not explained to you for very wise reasons.
4
The L signifies all kinds of passions resulting from the H. That the passions, also as friends of men's sensual nature, must be seized, lifted up by Me and ennobled if man's spirit is to qualify for everlasting life, goes without saying.
5
V1 signifies reason coupled with the intellect, as given to the external natural man by the world or hell. It is hardly necessary to point out that this couple ruling the world together with hell is most popular with every human, for he would let go all other things rather than these his best and most intimate friends. Even if a man is sometimes not particularly happy with his other inner world friends, he seldom has any argument with these two.
6
However, if I want to raise men towards Me, there is no other choice but to accord amnesty to these most intimate friends of his house as well. I think this should be very clear to you as you too still have a high opinion of these old friends of your house although you also understand that one would not be able to achieve much with them in the realm of the spirit.
7
The 1 signifies the talent that sprouts simultaneously with the intellect, through which man can achieve various states of distinction in which the S (self-love) chiefly dwells and together with it the second S as gloating (and self-satisfaction), - all of them man's worldly friends which I have to accept too if I wish to save his spirit.
8
From these there results the faithful attachment to all worldly splendor and the ambition to rise ever higher in the favor of the world and its advantages and to raise oneself as much as possible above all in one's field for which friend T has prepared the way. It goes without saying that when man is raised spiritually, the two friends A and A cannot be left behind and has to be admitted too for the sake of man's conversion and spiritual refinement. And since everything is already admitted, the last two S, S, as all kinds of sensuality, of which everyone has a legion, and finally the well known worldly, extremely stupid social proprieties, as fashion, compliments, etc., can also not be left behind.
9
Behold, these are the in the main work mentioned friends and brothers within you, as well as in My servant, by which everyone is to be understood. To these you shall within you proclaim clearly that I have stretched out My hands towards them, washed what was evil, removed the sin and tuned them to the true interests of your spirit, so that you can now, if you so desire, progress unimpeded on the faithfully shown road of light and life. But should you still remain more faithful to these old friends than to Me, Who granted you this immense grace and fatherly favor, you are free to do so. The salvation of the sun and the moon will not depend on this either and the stars will not miss their paths. However, as I have done already so much for you, I think that you will do this little, namely, henceforth adhere to Me more and more with your love and not leave your brothers in the lurch.
10
I could have long ago explained to you the ten friends of your earthly life in the flesh if that had been good for you, but as I saw that these old friends of yours would have raised a considerable alarm if I had prematurely made them known in detail, and this only in the person of the servant, I have delayed revealing them. But since you now have them, it is up to you to ponder very seriously on this matter and with all your might accomplish the task demanded of you in the main work concerning these ten letters. For while you did not know the meaning of these letters, I did for you what I in the person of the servant demanded of the servant himself and of every one of you, and what I am still demanding.
11
As this secret is now revealed to you, it is your duty to fulfill the task within you; otherwise you could not be fully fit for My Kingdom. For here it means to put the hand to the plough and not look back. I have also in other ways always shown you what natural man is like and what he has to do in order to gradually transform the natural man into a spiritual one; and so you could do well without this present revelation, have not missed out on anything and have been able to walk the right road without hesitation which will be the case henceforth, too, as long as you faithfully observe what I faithfully show you.
12
Above all stick to love; this will not forsake you. Everything may pass, but love remains forever. Where there is love there is everything, for love preserves all things and is everywhere the foundation of all existence. Therefore do not be faint-hearted nor sad or morose, but in everything brave, serene and cheerful, of a pleasant mind, heart and spirit, then you will walk your path with ease and always behold the gates of heaven wide open before you. This will make it easy for you to lead your earlier revealed world-friends, ennobled, into My Kingdom. This is the most ardent loving will of the One Who is here showing you this immense grace through the servant. Amen
(Translator's note: The initial letters of the German terms were retained, although in the translation some of them would obviously differ as, for instance, in the L, the V and the last S.)