Sermon on the Mount 5

September 779 in the year of the Romans-5

Excerpts from the Sermon on the Mount in authorial form

To His Own

(September 781 A.D.)

A Defence of John the Baptist

Some of you were disciples of John the Baptist; yet all of you were baptized by him, and I also, though he refused to baptize Me, knowing who I am. But I bade him baptize Me, for eternal witness and true knowledge unto many.

Ye asked John what the words he spake at every baptism might mean, and he told you that God Himself had come to bring eternal truth unto men, Himself, and to baptize them with the Holy Ghost, that they might know Him and His Spirit as the only true God, and forsake the lusts of Satan. John also said that he baptized through preaching and water unto the knowledge of sins, which men commit against the true eternal God and against their fellow men, that the baptized might know their wickedness, do penance through good works and repentance, to be worthy to receive God and His Holy Spirit of truth.

But ye understood him not at first, nor all things, and asked Me what the words of John might mean. And thereafter others, many others, asked the same. And when I had fully explained unto them the meaning of his words in the spirit of eternal truth, which is My Spirit, many of the circumcised turned away and said:

What maketh this man of himself? He exalteth himself above heaven, claimeth powers he hath not, and blasphemeth our God, as none hath blasphemed before, whom he calleth the evil spirit, liar and murderer from the beginning. He should be banished and slain – stoned should he be on the spot where he speaketh such things!

Thus they received My word, and John dieth because he hath spoken unto them in My Spirit!

They also asked him why he spake at baptism: I baptize thee in the name of GOD, the all-good Father, Who is JESUS CHRIST in the Holy Spirit of truth! And they set before him the "Scriptures," that he might take their God from them and believe in the darkness of the scriptures. But John said:

God is eternal truth, and eternal truth is JESUS CHRIST alone, Who is come and Who is the Redeemer awaited by men – not by the Jews alone – Who will lead men out of the wilderness of soul-spiritual darkness.

Many have asked me who I am, and I have ever said that I am the voice crying in the soul-spiritual darkness, that all might prepare the way for Him, the Lord! But their eyes are blind, their ears deaf, their hearts closed, and their spirit so dark that the light, which He, CHRIST, is, cannot pierce them, and their wickedness is like the wickedness of that spirit who is your god, who speaketh unto you through the "Scriptures"!

Then they cried out, smote him in the face, and spat upon him; but he said:

Do so, for a witness unto your descendants and unto all peoples; for thereby is the wickedness and falsehood of your god made manifest, his spirit ruleth you, and ye are his slaves. But with and in me is the Holy Spirit of eternal truth in CHRIST JESUS, the Spirit and Holy Being of GOD! And this Holy Spirit of eternal truth speaketh:

God is the Father of all men, and no single people is greater in His sight than other peoples. But your god hath chosen you alone, that ye might confirm his lies and wickedness, his bloodthirstiness and also his vengeance, and rob and destroy other peoples; for so he commandeth through the "Scriptures."

Thus have ye done until this day, wheresoever ye have come; first your forefathers singly upon their neighbours, then greatly in the land of Egypt; upon all peoples ye met on the way to this land, and thereafter without ceasing upon the neighbours of this land. The heathen had to come and overcome you, to put a stop to your abominations!

The gods of the heathen are idols of earth and ore, made by human hands, and have no soul, no spirit, no life, and therefore neither good nor evil will. But they are visible forms of those notions to which the spirit of men cleaveth, and the very image made showeth what will and intent the spirit is of, to which men cleave, and which ruleth their spirit.

Among such images are forms which bear witness that the spirit which caused them to arise is not evil; yet, since it knoweth not God and God's Holy Spirit, there are forms among them which bear witness that the spirit of the being they should represent is very evil, and the god of this people urgeth men to set up for him only such images whereby his true being remaineth hidden from them, or he forbiddeth any image at all.

Many men, despite their own wickedness, would turn from such a spirit with loathing and abhorrence, did he reveal himself unto them as openly as he hath revealed himself unto your forefathers and your prophet whom ye acknowledge. The evil spirit hath fully revealed himself unto them, and they received him. He told them that for the price of blood and burnt offerings and the blood offering of the foreskin he would be their "god," and thus they made him their god and lord!

This lord is not the eternal, true God of heaven and earth and God of all men, but your "god" alone, who is no god, but the worst adversary of eternal truth! He hath chosen you from all the peoples of the earth, and ye have followed him willingly, because your spirit cleaveth to his. He hath made a covenant of abomination and shamelessness with one of the forefathers, renewed the covenant with the other forefathers, and entered into further covenants, all for abomination and blood! As the images of the heathen give witness unto the spirit of the being they represent, so doth your "Scripture" give a greater, even a full and whole witness unto the spirit which holdeth the forefathers, your prophets, and you captive.

The forefathers made covenants with this dark, evil, and lying spirit for themselves – against all other men. They wrote much down, and the rest they told their sons, who wrote it down and passed it on to their descendants – and none hath lied, for the covenant and its abominations were and are there! Moses took the traditions, made the "Scripture" from them, and spread the abominations, because he heard the evil spirit speak through his invisible ones better than the forefathers, and he also became his most devoted servant.

But God, the eternal, all-good Father of all life, Who is now Himself here in CHRIST JESUS, sent His own, and these made known to Moses and his people on the mountain some commandments of truth. But Moses rejected them, because his god spake otherwise, demanded quite other things, and gave new promises. Yielding to the influence of the angels of eternal truth, Moses wrote down the commandment of truth, but not as it had first sounded, then laid it at the bottom of the ark, wrote the bloodthirsty law of his "god" in the dark, and laid it at the top of the ark, that the commandment of God "Thou shalt not kill, murder, rob, steal, and usure" might be buried under the law of the evil spirit. This spirit pleaseth himself best in the "Scripture"; he strictly forbiddeth and threateneth everyone with the basest curses and the most terrible vengeance who should think of making his image, and he hath truly every reason to do so!

Read ye, Tetrarch, High Priests, Scribes, Sadducees, and Pharisees, the "Scripture," John spake to his tormentors, let those heathen men also read it who know how to make such artful and meaningful images of earth and ore, and then ponder day and night which image could most clearly represent the spirit of the "Scripture"; ye will hardly find it, for such an image cannot be made!

I, John, whose father Zechariah – if ye think he is my father – ye slew before the altar of the same spirit, because he would not circumcise me, who was dumb from the time of the announcement of my coming until the hour I was born, who named me John, of whom ye have said that he is an Aschai-Essaier and only made himself dumb so that he would not have to read the statutes and the prophets; I, John, whose old mother ye also sought to slay with me, and who for my sake fled with me into the wilderness, ye who have slain true prophets and will also slay me, I say unto you:

Ye have caused me and several of my disciples to be arrested, and Antipas delivereth me into your power, "because I am of the Jews," according to your claim. But these three disciples, over whom ye have no power, have heard my charge, and they will deliver it to Him who was before me, Who is, Who remaineth in eternity, and Whom ye will not know!

Not only two among those whom ye call your prophets have spoken of the coming of the "Messiah" and of the incarnation of God; many true and great prophets have foretold in truth that God Himself would come as man, to lead mankind out of the darkness of soul-spiritual wilderness and the abyss unto the light of eternal truth. But I, John, cannot proclaim like them, God will come, but I must say, He is here in CHRIST JESUS, and ye will not know Him! We have seen Him and heard His word! I know Him! But ye ever ask: "Art thou he that should come? Art thou the awaited Messiah, who will exalt the people of Israel over all peoples according to the promises and by virtue of the covenant, and finally make them our servants?" And I, John, say unto you further:

He is in His holy eternal being, spirit, life, and light the eternal truth, the greatest goodness, the purest love, infinite forgiveness and mercy, the all-encompassing justice – and He will offer Himself as a sacrifice, for eternal witness and knowledge unto all spirits of good will, that He, CHRIST, in the eternal spirit of true life, is God become man, who through the living word of His living being and spirit of eternal truth showeth unto men personally who and what the true, only, eternal, and all-good GOD is!

Ask Him not – "Art thou he that should come?" – Go, go with Him, see and hear Him! Whithersoever He goeth, the blind see, lepers and other sick are made whole, the deaf hear, the dumb receive their speech, the lame walk, the erring or evil spirit departeth from the possessed, the dead are made alive, and even the beast, the tree, the water, the fire, and the storm obey His voice!

Ye await a Messiah who shall bring you the promises of your covenant! But the fulfilment of these promises lieth in your greed and the greed of that dark evil spirit through whom your scriptures arose, and by this spirit alone shall his promises made unto you be fulfilled upon yourselves. For where ye gather earthly goods and possessions, he giveth you also the power to exercise violence over the robbed, as ye have hitherto done to all whom ye could not exterminate and destroy.

But God, the eternal truth, the true God, regardeth all men as equal, He hath no "chosen" peoples. But ye are chosen of a spirit that is a spirit of lies, wickedness, and darkness; therefore the true, eternal God, in His mercy, His love, and justice, hath Himself come in CHRIST, even unto you, to open your eyes, ears, and hearts in His Holy Spirit of truth, that ye may know the eternal truth in Him, in His words and works, and through Him, and not remain slaves of Satan, who leadeth you to eternal perdition. Not only your "Messiah" is here in CHRIST, but God Himself is come in Him! He telleth it unto all, He speaketh the living word of the Holy Being and Spirit of God, and He doeth works that only God can do!

Praised, glorified, and blessed be He, Who hath come unto us as man, GOD from eternity, JESUS CHRIST, In the Holy Spirit of truth, Who alone He is eternally!

Thus and more spake John, when Herod caused him to be examined before the assembly, for his death was already decreed in revenge before they seized him, even as My death hath long been decreed among them. And John is the first man, save My earthly mother, who hath truly and fully known Me. And none born of woman is so great as he in spirit, yet now the least spirit in My kingdom is greater than he, so long as John beareth the earthly upon him.

I say unto you:

John spake the truth, he is a great seer through My Spirit, and his dying shall be brief. But much that he knoweth now and that he seeth in the future shall be truly much worse than he saith. The spirit of the Hebrew scriptures shall work much evil until the times be fulfilled.

To His Own

(Mid-October 781 A.D.)

Three disciples of John, who are not of the Jews, had fulfilled his wish and sought the Lord to report unto Him concerning the examination before Herod Antipas by the Jewish elders. Thereafter the Lord spake unto His own:

Ye have heard from them how John spake before the assembly of those who had set themselves up as judges over him. Ye know now also how the Tetrarch, but more the Jewish elders, mocked John and derided Me. They spake unto him:

Is thy CHRIST a god who raiseth the dead, perchance he can help thee that thou needest not die for thy blasphemies, which thou hast publicly uttered here against our god? For this we say unto thee: Thou art banned according to the law of Moses and mayest not be released. But thy dying shall be commensurate with the duration of the blasphemies of our god. Thou hast long and unprecedentedly blasphemed our god, the Lord Zebaoth, and thy death shall also be so unprecedented and thy dying long. What sayest thou to this?

And John answered:

I fear neither you, nor much less that which ye call death. I shall live even in "death." But ye, being alive, are already dead, and shall feel in the life to come that ye are dead and cannot awake from torment; this is the difference between life and death. Would I keep that which ye call life, verily, ye are all too powerless to take it from me, without my first having to ask Him whom ye outrage, blaspheme, and deride. But I die gladly, that my witness and I may live in Him!

And this also I say unto you, that my dying shall not be as long as yours; I shall enter into true eternal life in moments, against your will, and shall, because I am allowed to abide with Him, plead for you murderers, for I know that ye act but half of your own accord. It is the spirit of your scriptures that seeketh to triumph by the shedding of innocent blood, and it shall celebrate great and greater triumphs; it shall rejoice over its power and dominion, which is transferred to others through the scriptures and through you, but it is already judged by itself, and its time cometh surely!

This shall come to pass, that all who seek God, Who alone is eternal truth, may find Him in CHRIST, truly know Him in CHRIST, and in this knowledge, through the spirit of truth, through which I, John, have also known God in CHRIST, may one day speak after me through the same Holy Spirit: CHRIST alone is the eternal truth, the spirit and being of God, the true eternal light and the way to true eternal life. He alone is the true God, in His Holy Spirit and being, even as man JESUS CHRIST. To Him be praise, glory, and honour forevermore!

Thus and in like spirit spake John many similar things. Ye, who are My disciples, have heard his disciples speak thus.

But behold these disciples of John. They have remained with us for some days, and they asked Me to show them miracles also. But since there are no sick, no lame, blind, deaf, or lepers in this region since I have been here, I spake unto them of the miracles of life, of the soul, and of the spirit and its power. And when they had heard Me, they asked:

Master, art Thou truly He that should come, of whom John saith He is GOD, CHRIST?

And when I had said unto them, Verily I say unto you, I am He, they became very sad and said:

Lord, Thou art a great prophet, greater than John, but we expect great deeds and miracles from CHRIST; why wilt Thou show us no miracle?

And Justus, the youngest of them, said:

Master, Lord, I came as a boy into this land years ago, and when there was unrest and talk of wars, my father took me with him, and we went to Gerasa, where my father's sister lived with her husband. Once when I awoke on the other side of the Jordan, my father told me that he had buried his money while I was asleep, because he did not trust his sister's husband, and he showed me the place; but I was sleepy and too young to remember everything. When we arrived in Caesarea, the man who was my uncle had to travel; my father went with him – and neither returned. I told my aunt what my father had said, and we searched, but I found neither the area nor the place, and therefore not the money either. Canst Thou, Lord, work miracles, call my father to me, wake him from death, that he may lead me to the place where the money lieth; for it was not little, and we would gladly have it. But how shall we obtain it, since John, who could have told us, surely cometh no more?

Then I said unto him: Great is thy faith, thy knowledge, and thy wisdom, O youth! Yet thou needest not call thy father for the sake of the money. Go with these two friends of thine once more across the Jordan towards Gerasa, and take a night's lodging on the further bank of the river. When ye awake early, a partridge will run before you. Follow it, and in the evening of that day, where the partridge shall have settled for a time, dig there – and thou shalt have thy money. But see to it that thou doest good with the money – and now go in peace!

It angered you that these three spake thus at first and then went. But I say unto you again this day: Be not angered; for it is not wickedness that guideth the spirit of these men, but great ignorance and poverty of spirit; they were but a short time John's disciples and heard of the works that I do. So they wished to see a great miracle, and since they are blind to the greatest of all miracles, the very simplest power of the spirit, which is no miracle at all, and yet letteth them find the treasure, will fill them with awe; and they will think more! Did I not know that they will do good with the money, think ye I would have shown them the way?

And I say unto you that they will return. They also shall be witnesses of My resurrection, and ye shall receive them then, that one of them may take the place of that disciple who will betray Me to death and die before Me.

But I say unto you again: Ye have been angered by these three, Bersebas, Justus, and Matthias, because they do not hold Me as great as ye do. They are very young and scarcely know Me through John's word, whereas ye have been with Me longer; I have revealed Myself unto you through word and works without ceasing, I have shown you that I compel the wind, the fire, the water, and the storm, but not men!

I say unto the tree, let it give us its fruit, and it giveth it unto us at a time when it hath no fruit otherwise, I say unto it, "plant thyself there!" and it leaveth its place where it hath grown and groweth there whither I have pointed it.

All power I compel; but the spirit which of its own accord discerneth truth and goodness from falsehood and wickedness, because it hath the power of knowledge and its own free will since it received life from Me, I cannot compel, but only help! Compulsion is the sister of violence, and this is the fruit of falsehood; compulsion and violence are the offspring of the evil and dark spirit. Can I, therefore, who am eternal truth, exercise violence and compulsion? Nay!

Hath the power of My will so ordered all things which have no soul, no spirit, and consequently no life, that as power and things they serve the life and soul of the spirit, this was no violence and no compulsion, but a true creation! For the power of My being and spirit, which exerciseth its might upon spiritless and lifeless things, to create a realm for the spirit and life of every soul-spirit-living being, that they may be conscious of their being and life and create therein themselves, is the power of truth and righteousness, but not of violence and compulsion.

Compulsion and violence is the fruit of falsehood; this turneth against the spirit and its free will and against life also by making use of the spirit against the spirit and of life against life – and of the lifeless and spiritless things against the life of the spirit and soul, to spur the spirit to ever greater wickedness, to compulsion, violence, and lies.

I have already told you that every spirit in the soulful being – which had its form in the design – was there from eternity. But as long as it had not received the power of life from Me, all that spirit was smaller than the dust speck in the air, even if the form of the soulful in the design was still so great. But once the spirit had received life from Me and had been placed with its soulful being in a realm where it had to encounter other spirits and other life – namely in other beings as well as things – which attracted it, the spirit grew and with it the soulful being.

This, adapted from eternity to its original nature, enclosed it like the shell the kernel, which the spirit, by virtue of the life received from Me, could penetrate and, according to the measure of its own unfolding ability, so expand that the outer soulful shell also corresponded in its form to the nature and size. This working is like that spirit which, in the power of its cognitive ability, also liveth in your soulful being, through which man hath come to this earth and shall come so long until all the spirit which, where it received life from Me, could not exist or would not exist, hath gone once through the realm of this earth.

That cognitive spirit which dwelleth in man with his soulful body and with his life force, to receive earthly things through the earthly body and to guide the earthly body on its part and to learn to master itself, is the soul, which alone createth man on earth and alone dwelleth in man.

Also, all other soul-spirit-living beings have likewise a spiritual kernel enclosed by their soulful shell; and they could never have arisen in the earthly without this soul-spirit-living kernel being, just as no earthly-living being can arise now and in the future without this kernel. But this other soul-spirit-living kernel is never a soul of cognitive spirit and can never become such in eternity, because it was never a soul of cognitive spirit in eternity, and neither its form and shape nor the nature of its spirit will ever allow it. The non-cognitive spirit remaineth in all its kinds eternally that which it is in the kinds of the animal and plant kingdom of this earth.

The power of all this spirit is strictly limited by the soulful being of the said kinds due to the lack of cognitive power; but the power of the cognitive ability and the unfolding of the will of the spirit of the soul of man is in a certain sense unlimited; and this soul therefore goeth once as man through the earthly, that it may learn to know a limit, set a limit for itself, and recognize that there is a limit for it, beyond which it should therefore not go, because the eternal being of its spirit and of itself is bound to its will and to its properties; but this soul kindles, bans, expands, unfolds the will and the properties of its spirit through its emotional powers, causeth them to revive, and can influence them ever anew differently.

The cognitive spirit is as great as it is changeable – and the changeability lieth in its own free will. Accordingly, it shall recognize that despite its exceedingly high perfection, it can also become deeply imperfect if it seeketh not the greatest and highest perfection of the eternal being and spirit of God, if it seeketh not GOD, Who alone is eternal truth – and will not recognize Me, Who am unchangeable, almighty, all-knowing, and all-good in all eternity, thus also in My incarnation.

I say unto you: The spirit of many men goeth far beyond the limits of knowledge, in that it exalteth itself above God, and since it feeleth that it is impossible to set God lower than itself, it denieth Him, rejecteth Him, uttereth the word GOD with mockery, and hateth those who turn their soul and spirit to Him by seeking Him. Good men therefore seek God because they know not God the eternal truth and themselves. They have "gods"; but the spirit of truth, whose light liveth in their soul, telleth them that these "gods" cannot be truth and therefore no god. But since they know not the true God, they worship that which others set before them as "divinities," because they are mostly also compelled thereto by force and violence.

End of Part 5