Feigned Value of external Progress and Path to spiritual Perfection ❤️ The Great Gospel of John

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Feigned Value of external Progress & Path to spiritual Perfection

THE GREAT GOSPEL OF JOHN – Volume 7
Revealed by Jesus Christ thru the inner Word to Jacob Lorber

Introduction
The Lord tells of His deeds as a 20-year-old, which are recorded nowhere else…

Chapter 222 – The feigned value external progress

1. (The Lord:) “And so we continued to eat and drink, but in moderation of course. Cyrenius spoke to us about many things relating to architecture, and the other guests listened to us and agreed with Me and Joseph in everything.

2. Eventually, a general, who had not spoken a single word up until this point, was of the following opinion: ‘In relation to the art of architecture, it should be considered if the sea-faring vessels could not be constructed in such a way that they could better resist the storms than was the case until now. On top of that, it seems to me that the larger ships would be better off without oars, because if the oars are attached too high above the ship’s rail, then the required handles would be too long and difficult to manipulate. A great number of strong and capable rowers are needed to operate them, and despite that, the oars exert only little force in the water, and they easily break during storms. On the other hand, if the oars, as is the case with smaller ships, are attached further below, then the water could easily enter the ship through the apertures if the waves are only a little too high, and at that point there would be nothing else to do but continuously scoop the water out to avoid sinkage. And finally, our larger ships still possess the deficiency of requiring too many rowers, so there is only little space left to accommodate other passengers, and despite the many rowers the vessel would nonetheless not move an inch in the presence of a bit of headwind.

3. Behold, my dear, young, profoundly wise and wonderfully mighty Man, in regards to this You could give us Romans some good and true advice! The old Phoenicians are said to have had vessels with which they could safely and quickly sail far into the great ocean. We Romans must limit ourselves to sail along the shore, and we may only dare to sail into the open sea on quiet days. What do You think of this?’

4. Said I: ‘Well, My friend, it would be rather difficult to give you some potent advice on this, for of what use would it be to you if you simply could not put it into practice in the end?

5. For proper and safe navigation of the sea, above all, accurate knowledge of the stars in the sky is required, as well as knowledge of the earth and especially of the status of the ocean, its size and depth. However, you are still far from having this knowledge, and you simply could not have it, because your foolish priests would rail against your efforts with all their might. Therefore, more efficient and well constructed ships would be of no use to you, because you would not be able to use them anyway.

6. The ships of the Phoenicians were certainly more useful, but not by a large margin. When the wind was favorable they could handle their sails better than you can, but they avoided the open sea as well and sailed only along the shore.

7. If you wish to improve your navigation of the sea, then you must learn from the Indians who live by it. They know how to handle their sails, even if it is by far not perfect.

8. First and foremost, however, see to it that your souls achieve unification with the divine Spirit, for then it will certainly show you how you may greatly improve your navigation!

9. Besides, your ships are good and useful enough for this time. Your descendants however will build even more wonderful and ingenious ships upon which they will be able to travel all across the sea, and at the speed of a bird. However, this will not add to the bliss of men, neither in body nor in spirit, on the contrary even, it will diminish it enormously. Therefore, stick to what you have now a while longer, because too great an improvement in earthly matters always brings with it a lasting decline in the spiritual, which, truthfully, is the only thing man must cultivate with all the powers of his life.

10. Of what use would it be if man could obtain all the treasures of the world for himself, but would thereby incur great damage to his soul?! Do you still not know of the short lifespan and ephemeral nature of the flesh? Whether you die as an emperor or as a beggar does not matter in the beyond! He who possesses much here will have to lack much in the beyond, but he who possesses little or nothing here will lack little or nothing in the beyond, and he will sooner and all the more easily acquire the inner, solely true and living treasures of the spirit.

11. That is why the first fathers of this earth were such happy men, because they provided for their earthly needs in the simplest of ways. But when the people, especially those living in the valleys below, started to build cities, pride took possession of them. They became effeminate, lazy even, and soon they fell into all kinds of vices and accrued all sorts of misery. What good did that do them? They lost God from the sight of their souls, and all the life force of their spirits left them, so that, like many of you, they no longer believed in a life after the death of the body.

12. Was that not a terrible exchange; to almost completely lose the spiritual for a greater comfort of material life?

13. So, whoever among you is wise will seek to once again exchange the needlessly comfortable material life for what is pure, true, and spiritual. This will be infinitely more beneficial to you than to create even the greatest of inventions, such as safely and quickly travelling all across the sea. At some point you will have to die anyway. Of what use will your great inventions be to your soul?

14. With this in mind, stick to what you have now! Put no value to it, and, above all, consider how you could walk increasingly in the ways of the spirit. With this you will have created the greatest invention, navigating from this earthly life to beyond the threshold, to the other kingdom, to the spiritual!

15. That which lasts forever; strive to reach it with all your strength and means at your disposal, and take care of your body only insofar as is reasonably necessary. The fact that man must eat and drink, must protect his body from the cold and the great heat, is completely natural, but he who cares more for the body than for the soul, which is meant to live forever, and, in the end, cares only for the body; truly, he is a blind and utterly ignorant fool.

16. Yes, should someone be able to procure an eternal life for his body, which goes against God’s will, and is impossible, then must he only take care of the wellbeing of his body. But otherwise, may he only take care of that which will and must last forever, because God has ordained it thus!

17. Should you all have understood this now, then do not ask Me anymore how you may greatly improve vain and earthly things, for I have only come to this world to show you the ways that lead to eternal life, and to prepare them well, so you may easily and safely progress along them.'”

Chapter 223 – The way to spiritual perfection

1. (The Lord:) “When all had heard these words of Mine, they spoke amongst themselves: ‘He is completely right, and nothing can be said against it; since our very birth we have already been too deeply immersed in the world, and we will not so easily be able to wholly detach ourselves from it. According to His well argumented speech, everyone must, by the actions of one’s own free will, raise oneself above this material existence, up to the free spiritual state. Moreover, we cannot hope for extraordinary help from the true God, for with this the will of man would already experience a certain coercion, yet it must remain free forever. However, to be purely autonomous, men such as ourselves apparently lack the necessary strength, courage, will and persistent patience, so it will be rather difficult for all of us to make progress along the path He has shown us, that is, without tiring and stumbling repeatedly.

2. Indeed, it would be infinitely more beneficial for us to reach the purely spiritual state than all the treasures of the entire earth, but the road to it seems quite long and bumpy. With this in mind, it would certainly not be superfluous to ask Him how long it would take to reach the purely spiritual state, should one consciously, diligently and faithfully walk the ways of life He has advised us to take. Surely it is much easier to work if one knows approximately how much time will be spent on a task, with proper effort that is, before it is finished; to labour away at something is and will remain difficult if we cannot see beforehand how much work is necessary to complete it. Let us present to Him the aforementioned question!’

3. I was asked this question, and I gave the following answer to it: ‘Spiritual tasks and pathways are not measured in hours and meters, but according to the power of the will, the faith and the love for God and one’s fellow man.

4. He who could at once deny himself in such a way, giving up everything that is of the world, share his treasures with the poor, in the right measure, out of a pure love for God, and not yield to the flesh of women; truly, he would be perfected in no time at all! But he who obviously requires more time to purify himself of the earthly dross and attachments, must wait longer until he may reach the state of true and complete spiritual perfection and bliss.

5. You are high ranking statesmen however, and you must exercise your profession; but before God this is no obstacle that could keep you from properly walking in the ways I have shown you. On the contrary even, this gives you precisely the means with which you may reach true spiritual perfection sooner, and all the more easily at that.

6. But do not think you are the office, nor its honor and reputation. The honor and reputation of the office is the law, and you are merely its labourers. However, if you are faithful, good and honest, then you yourselves will partake of the honor and reputation of the law, as well as its merit in regards to the people who are protected by it, safe and sound, and you will stand in good stead with God.

7. You are exceedingly wealthy men as well, but even these your riches are no obstacle for the attainment of the purely spiritual state, should you handle them well and not be stingy in your support of the poor, coupled with a true love for God and your fellow men, as good and wise fathers are towards their children; for in the same measure you show love to the poor, God will always reward you spiritually and, in times of need, even materially.

8. And if you think God does not at all help those who diligently walk in the ways to God’s kingdom and the life of the spirit, should they tire and grow weary, then you are gravely mistaken. I say to you: Once someone has earnestly set foot on this path, he will unwittingly be assisted by God, so he might safely reach his goal.

9. Of course, God will not compel the unification of the soul with His Spirit by means of His omnipotence, but He will continue to enlighten the hearts of men and saturate them with the true wisdom of the heavens. By that man will grow in spirit and become stronger, more easily and confidently conquering all obstacles he might encounter along the way, all in service of his great test.

10. The more love man has for God and his fellow man, and the more mercy has become part of his nature, the greater and stronger has then become God’s Spirit in his soul. The love for God and, from it, the love for one’s fellow man is the very Spirit of God in the soul of man. To the same extent this love grows, so will God’s Spirit grow within him. When the entire man has transformed into pure and merciful love, then the complete unification of the soul with God’s Spirit within him will have taken place, and man has then finally reached the supreme goal in life, that which God had set for him.

11. God Himself is, within Himself, the supreme and purest love, and the same is the case for the spirits God has given to each and every man.

12. If the soul, by its own free will, becomes akin to the love of the Spirit out of God, then it is clear that the soul will become one with the Spirit out of God dwelling within him. When this has come to pass, the soul will have been perfected. However, for this no clear point in time can be determined; the soul itself must instinctively indicate it.

13. The true, pure and living love is, in itself, completely selfless. It is permeated by humility, it is active, full of patience and compassion. It will never unnecessarily burden anyone and will gladly tolerate anything. It does not take pleasure in the hardships of others, and with unceasing effort it helps all who are in need of assistance.

14. And so, pure love is chaste to the highest degree and does not take pleasure in the lustfulness of the flesh; conversely, the purity of the heart is all the more pleasing to it.

15. If the soul of man will take this form through the efforts of his free will, then the soul will be as his spirit, perfected in God.

16. And now you know precisely what you have to do in order to attain the purely spiritual perfection. He who will diligently strive for all this will be perfected soonest.

17. He who will diligently and earnestly do his best to walk this way will surely always be assisted by God, so he may reach the supreme goal of life, and may all of you rest assured of this; if God has already come to your aid through Me now while you have hardly even suspected that there existed such a way, how much more will He come to your aid when you will walk this way of your own accord! Have you understood this?’

18. All listeners were utterly astonished at this teaching of Mine, and even Joseph said: ‘Rarely have I ever heard Him speak as wisely and truthfully as now!’

19. Then he turned to Me and said: ‘Why have you never taught our priests this way? If one of them had been present here he would have certainly started to think differently of You!’

20. Said I: ‘I would sooner dare to convert the fish of the sea than our rabbis! I advise you that neither James nor you should make anything of what has happened here known at home, for if this should happen, you would get into great trouble with the rabbis. Their hearts are more hardened than even the toughest stone, and their souls are more sullied than even a swine in a stinking puddle, and I would rather build 1000 stalls for the swine of the Greeks and other gentiles everywhere than to waste even a single word on our utterly foolish, sinister and malicious rabbis in Nazareth, Capernaum and Chorazin! Eventually though there will come a time for Me to open My mouth there as well, not to comfort them however, but as a judgment of them, when their wicked measure will be brimming!'”