CHAPTER 98
The Sermon on the Mount, continued. Jesus reveals to the twelve the spiritual aspects of the seventh, eighth and tenth Commandments.
The law forbids adultery; but in the eyes of law adultery is an overt act, the satisfaction of the sensuous self outside the marriage bonds.
2 Now, marriage in the sight of law is but a promise made by man and woman, by the sanction of a priest, to live for aye in harmony and love.
3 No priest nor officer has power from God to bind two souls in wedded love.
4 What is the marriage tie? Is it comprised in what a priest or officer may say?
5 Is it the scroll on which the officer or priest has written the permission for the two to live in marriage bonds?
6 Is it the promise of the two that they will love each other until death?
7 Is love a passion that is subject to the will of man?
8 Can man pick up his love, as he would pick up precious gems, and lay it down, or give it out to any one?
9 Can love be bought and sold like sheep?
10 Love is the power of God that binds two souls and makes them one; there is no power on earth that can dissolve the bond.
11 The bodies may be forced apart by man or death for just a little time; but they will meet again.
12 Now, in this bond of God we find the marriage tie; all other unions are but bonds of straw, and they who live in them commit adultery,
13 The same as they who satisfy their lust without the sanction of an officer or priest.
14 But more than this; the man or woman who indulges lustful thoughts commits adultery.
15 Whom God has joined together man cannot part; whom man has joined together live in sin.
16 Upon a table of the law, the great lawgiver wrote, Thou shalt not steal.
17 Before the eyes of law a man to steal must take a thing that can be seen with eyes of flesh, without the knowledge or consent of him to whom the thing belongs.
18 But, lo, I say that he who in his heart desires to possess that which is not his own, and would deprive the owner of the thing without his knowledge or consent, is in the sight of God, a thief.
19 The things that men see not with eyes of flesh are of more worth than are the things that man can see.
20 A man’s good name is worth a thousand mines of gold, and he who says a word or does a deed that injures or defames that name has taken what is not his own, and is a thief.
21 Upon a table of the law we also read; Thou shalt not covet anything.
22 To covet is an all-consuming wish to have what is not right for one to have.
23 And such a wish, within the spirit of the law, is theft.
CHAPTER 99
The Sermon on the Mount, continued. Jesus unfolds to the twelve the spiritual aspects of the ninth Commandment.
The law has said: Thou shalt not lie; but in the eyes of law a man to lie must tell in words what is not true.
2 Now, in the light of spirit law, deceit in any form is nothing but a lie.
3 A man may lie by look or act; yea, even by his silence may deceive, and thus be guilty in the eyes of Holy Breath.
4 It has been said in olden times: Thou shalt not swear by thine own life.
5 But, lo, I say, Swear not at all; not by the head, the heart, the eye, nor hand; not by the sun, the moon, nor stars;
6 Not by the name of God, nor by the name of any spirit, good or bad.
7 You shall not swear by anything; for in an oath there is no gain.
8 A man whose word must be propped up by oath of any kind is not trustworthy in the sight of God or man.
9 By oath you cannot make a leaf to fall, nor turn the color of a hair.
10 The man of worth just speaks, and men know that he speaks the truth.
11 The man who pours out many words to make men think he speaks the truth, is simply making smoke to hide a lie.
12 And there are many men with seeming double hearts; men who would serve two masters at a time – two masters quite adverse.
13 Men feign to worship God upon the Sabbath day and then pay court to Beelzebul on every other day.
14 No man can serve two masters at a time no more than he can ride two asses at a time that go in different ways.
15 The man who feigns to worship God and Beelzebul is foe of God, a pious devil and a curse of men.
16 And men cannot lay treasures up in heaven and earth at once.
17 Then, lo, I say, Lift up your eyes and see the safety vaults of heaven, and there deposit every gem,
18 Where moth and rust cannot corrupt; where thieves cannot break in and steal.
19 There are no safety vaults on earth; no place secure from moth, and rust and thieves.
20 The treasures of the earth are but illusive things that pass away.
21 Be not deceived; your treasures are the anchor of the soul, and where your treasures are your heart will be.
22 Fix not your heart upon the things of earth; be anxious not about the things to eat, or drink, or wear.
23 God cares for those who trust in him and serve the race.
24 Behold the birds! They praise God in their songs; the earth is made more glorious by their ministry of joy; God keeps them in the hollow of his hand,
25 And not a sparrow falls to earth without his care; and every one that falls shall rise again.
26 Behold the flowers of earth! they trust in God and grow; they make the earth resplendent with their beauty and perfume.
27 Look at the lilies of the field, the messengers of holy love. No son of man, not even Solomon in all his excellence, was ever clothed like one of these.
28 And yet they simply trust in God; they feed from out his hand; they lay their heads to rest upon his breast.
29 If God so clothes and feeds the flowers and birds that do his will, will he not feed and clothe his children when they trust in him?
30 Seek first the kingdom of the soul, the righteousness of God, the good of men, and murmur not; God will protect, and feed, and clothe.
CHAPTER 100
The Sermon on the Mount, continued. Jesus formulates and presents to the twelve a practical code of spiritual ethics.
There is a rule that carnal man has made, and which he rigidly observes:
2 Do unto other men as they do unto you. As others judge, they judge; as others give, they give.
3 Now, while you walk with men as men, judge not, and you shall not be judged.
4 For as you judge you shall be judged, and as you give it shall be given to you. If you condemn, you are condemned.
5 When you show mercy, men are merciful to you, and if you love in such a way that carnal man can comprehend your love, you will be well beloved.
6 And so the wise man of this world does unto other men as he would have them do to him.
7 The carnal man does good to other men for selfish gain, for he expects to have his blessings multiplied and then returned; he does not stop to note the end.
8 Man is himself the field; his deeds are seeds, and what he does to others grows apace; the harvest time is sure.
9 Behold the yield! If he has sown the wind, he reaps the wind; if he has sown the noxious seeds of scandal, theft and hate; of sensuality and crime,
10 The harvest is assured and he must reap what he has sown; yea, more; the seeds produce an hundred fold.
11 The fruit of righteousness and peace and love and joy can never spring from noxious seeds; the fruit is like the seed.
12 And when you sow, sow seeds of right, because it is the right, and not in way of trade, expecting rich rewards.
13 The carnal man abhors the spirit law, because it takes away his liberty to live in sin; beneath its light he cannot satisfy his passions and desires.
14 He is at enmity with him who walks in Holy Breath. The carnal man has killed the holy men of old, the prophets and the seers.
15 And he will buffet you; will charge you falsely, scourge you and imprison you, and think he does the will of God to slay you in the streets.
16 But you may not prejudge nor censure him who does you wrong.
17 Each one has problems to be solved, and he must solve them for himself.
18 The man who scourges you may have a load of sin to bear; but how about your own?
19 A little sin in one who walks in Holy Breath is greater in the sight of God than monster sins in him who never knew the way.
20 How can you see the splinter in your brother’s eye while you have chunks within your own?
21 First take the chunks from out your eye and then you may behold the splinter in your brother’s eye and help him take it out,
22 And while your eyes are full of foreign things you cannot see the way, for you are blind,
23 And when the blind lead forth the blind, both lose the way and fall into the slough.
24 If you would lead the way to God you must be clear in sight, as well as pure in heart.
CHAPTER 101
The Sermon on the Mount, concluded. The concluding part of the code of ethics. The Christines return to Capernaum.
The fruitage of the tree of life is all too fine to feed the carnal mind.
2 If you would throw a diamond to a hungry dog, lo, he would turn away, or else attack you in a rage.
3 The incense that is sweet to God is quite offensive unto Beelzebul; the bread of heaven is but chaff to men who cannot comprehend the spirit life.
4 The master must be wise and feed the soul with what it can digest.
5 If you have not the food for every man, just ask and you shall have; seek earnestly and you shall find.
6 Just speak the Word and knock; the door will fly ajar.
7 No one has ever asked in faith and did not have; none ever sought in vain; no one who ever knocked aright has failed to find an open door.
8 When men shall ask you for the bread of heaven, turn not away, nor give to them the fruit of carnal trees.
9 If one, a son, would ask you for a loaf, would you give him a stone? If he would ask you for a fish, would you give him a serpent of the dust?
10 What you would have your God give unto you, give unto men. The measure of your worth lies in your service unto men.
11 There is a way that leads unto the perfect life; few find it at a time.
12 It is a narrow way; it lies among the rocks and pitfalls of the carnal life; but in the way there are no pitfalls and no rocks.
13 There is a way that leads to wretchedness and want. It is a spacious way and many walk therein. It lies among the pleasure groves of carnal life.
14 Beware, for many claim to walk the way of life who walk the way of death.
15 But they are false in word and deed; false prophets they. They clothe themselves in skins of sheep, while they are vicious wolves.
16 They cannot long conceal themselves; men know them by their fruits;
17 You cannot gather grapes from thorns, nor from the thistles, figs.
18 The fruit is daughter of the tree and, like the parent, so the child; and every tree that bears not wholesome fruit is plucked up by the roots and cast away,
19 Because a man prays long and loud is not a sign that he is saint. The praying men are not all in the kingdom of the soul.
20 The man who lives the holy life, who does the will of God, abides within the kingdom of the soul.
21 The good man from the treasures of his heart sends blessedness and peace to all the world.
22 The evil man sends thoughts that blight and wither hope and joy and fill the world with wretchedness and woe.
23 Men think and act and speak out of the abundance of the heart.
24 And when the judgment hour shall come a host of men will enter pleadings for themselves and think to buy the favor of the judge with words.
25 And they will say, Lo, we have wrought a multitude of works in the Omnific name,
26 Have we not prophesied? Have we not cured all manner of disease? Have we not cast the evil spirits out of those obsessed?
27 And then the judge will say, I know you not. You rendered service unto God in words when in your heart you worshipped Beelzebul.
28 The evil one may use the powers of life, and do a multitude of mighty works. Depart from me, you workers of iniquity.
29 The man who hears the words of life and does them not is like the man who builds his house upon the sand, which when the floods come on, is washed away and all is lost.
30 But he who hears the words of life and in an honest, sincere heart receives and treasures them and lives the holy life,
31 Is like the man who builds his house upon the rock; the floods may come, the winds may blow, the storms may beat upon his house; it is not moved.
32 Go forth and build your life upon the solid rock of truth, and all the powers of the evil one will shake it not.
33 And Jesus finished all his sayings on the mount and then he, with the twelve, returned unto Capernaum.
CHAPTER 102
The Christines at the home of Jesus. Jesus unfolds to them the secret doctrine. They go through all Galilee and teach and heal. Jesus brings to life the son of a widow at Nain. They return to Capernaum.
The twelve apostles went with Jesus to his home, and there abode for certain days.
2 And Jesus told them many things about the inner life that may not now be written in a book.
3 Now, in Capernaum there lived a man of wealth, a Roman captain of a hundred men, who loved the Jews and who had built for them a synagogue.
4 A servant of this man was paralyzed, and he was sick nigh unto death.
5 The captain knew of Jesus and had heard that by the sacred Word he healed the sick, and he had faith in him.
6 He sent a message by the elders of the Jews to Jesus, and he plead for help.
7 And Jesus recognized the captain’s faith and went at once to heal the sick; the captain met him on the way and said to him,
8 Lo, Lord, it is not well that you should come into my house; I am not worthy of the presence of a man of God.
9 I am a man of war; my life is spent with those who ofttimes take the lives of fellow men,
10 And surely he who comes to save would be dishonored if he came beneath my roof.
11 If you will speak the Word I know my servant will be well.
12 And Jesus turned and said to those who followed him,
13 Behold the captain’s faith; I have not seen such faith, no, not in Israel.
14 Behold, the feast is spread for you; but while you doubt and wait, the alien comes in faith and takes the bread of life.
15 Then turning to the man he said, Go on your way; according to your faith so shall it be; your servant lives.
16 It came to pass that at the time that Jesus spoke the Word the palsied man arose, and he was well.
17 And then the Christines went abroad to teach. And as they came to Nain, a city on the Hermon way, they saw a multitude about the gates.
18 It was a funeral train; a widow’s son was dead, and friends were bearing out the body to the tomb.
19 It was the widow’s only son, and she was wild with grief. And Jesus said to her, Weep not, I am the life; your son shall live.
20 And Jesus raised his hand; the bearers of the dead stood still.
21 And Jesus touched the bier and said, Young man, return.
22 The soul returned; the body of the dead was filled with life; the man sat up and spoke.
23 The people were astonished at the scene, and every one exclaimed, Praise God.
24 A Jewish priest stood forth and said, Behold, a mighty prophet has appeared; and all the people said, Amen.
25 The Christines journeyed on; they taught, and healed the sick in many towns of Galilee, and then they came again unto Capernaum.
CHAPTER 103
The Christines in Jesus’ home. Jesus teaches the twelve and the foreign masters every morning. Jesus receives messengers from John, the harbinger, and sends him words of encouragement. He eulogizes the character of John.
The home of Jesus was a school where in the early morning hours the twelve apostles and the foreign priests were taught the secret things of God.
2 And there were present priests from China, India and from Babylon; from Persia, Egypt and from Greece,
3 Who came to sit at Jesus’ feet to learn the wisdom that he brought to men, that they might teach their people how to live the holy life.
4 And Jesus taught them how to teach; he told them of the trials of the way, and how to make these trials serve the race.
5 He taught them how to live the holy life that they might conquer death;
6 He taught them what the end of mortal life will be, when man has reached the consciousness that he and God are one.
7 The after midday hours were given to the multitudes who came to learn the way of life and to be healed; and many did believe and were baptized.
8 Now, in his prison by the Bitter Sea the harbinger had heard of all the mighty works that Jesus did.
9 His prison life was hard, and he was sore distressed, and he began to doubt.
10 And to himself he said, I wonder if this Jesus is the Christ of whom the prophets wrote!
11 Was I mistaken in my work? Was I, indeed, one sent from God to pave the way for him who shall redeem our people, Israel?
12 And then he sent some of his friends, who came to see him in his prison cell, up to Capernaum that they might learn about this man, and bring him word.
13 The men found Jesus in his home, and said, Behold the harbinger sent us to ask, Are you the Christ? or is he yet to come?
14 But Jesus answered not; he simply bade the men to tarry certain days that they might see and hear.
15 They saw him heal the sick, and cause the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the blind to see;
16 They saw him cast the evil spirits out of those obsessed; they saw him raise the dead.
17 They heard him preach the gospel to the poor.
18 Then Jesus said to them, Go on your way; return to John and tell him all that you have seen and heard; then he will know. They went their way.
19 The multitudes were there, and Jesus said to them, Once you were crowding Jordan’s fords; you filled the wilderness.
20 What did you go to see? The trees of Juda, and the flowers of Heth? Or did you go to see a man in kingly garb? Or did you go to see a prophet and a seer?
21 I tell you, men, you know not whom you saw. A prophet? Yea, and more; a messenger whom God had sent to pave the way for what you see and hear this day.
22 Among the men of earth a greater man has never lived than John.
23 Behold I say, This man whom Herod bound in chains and cast into a prison cell, is God’s Elijah come again to earth.
24 Elijah, who did not pass the gates of death, whose body of this flesh was changed, and he awoke in Paradise.
25 When John came forth and preached the gospel of repentance for the cleansing of the soul, the common folks believed and were baptized.
26 The lawyers and the Pharisees accepted not the teachings of this man; were not baptized.
27 Behold, neglected opportunities will never come again.
28 Behold, the people are unstable as the waters of the sea; they seek to be excused from righteousness.
29 John came and ate no bread, and drank no wine. He lived the simplest life apart from men, and people said, He is obsessed.
30 Another comes who eats and drinks and lives in homes like other men, and people say, He is a glutton, an inebriate, a friend of publicans and those who sin.
31 Woe unto you, you cities of the vale of Galilee, where all the mighty works of God are done! Woe to Chorazan and Bethsaida!
32 If half the mighty works that have been done in you were done in Tyre and in Sidon they would have long ago repented of their sins, and sought the way of right.
33 And when the judgment day shall come, lo, Tyre and Sidon will be called more worthy than will you,
34 Because they slighted not their gifts, while you have thrown away the pearl of greatest price.
35 Woe unto you Capernaum! Behold, you are exalted now, but you shall be abased;
36 For if the mighty works that have been done in you had but been done within the cities of the plain – of Sodom and Zeboim – they would have heard and turned to God; would not have been destroyed.
37 They perished in their ignorance; they had no light; but you have heard; you have the evidence.
38 The light of life has shown above your hills and all the shores of Galilee have been ablaze with light;
39 The glory of the Lord has shown in every street and synagogue and home; but you have spurned the light.
40 And, lo, I say, The judgment day will come and God will deal in greater mercy with the cities of the plains than he will deal with you.
CHAPTER 104
Jesus teaches the multitudes. Attends a feast in Simon’s house. A wealthy courtesan anoints him with precious balm. Simon rebukes him and he preaches a sermon on false respectability.
And Jesus looked upon the multitudes who pressed about for selfish gain.
2 The men of learning and of wealth, of reputation and of power, were there; but they knew not the Christ.
3 Their eyes were blinded by the tinseled glitter of their selfish selves; they could not see the king.
4 And though they walked within the light, they groped about in dark – a darkness like the night of death.
5 And Jesus cast his eyes to heaven and said,
6 I thank thee, Holy One of heaven and earth, that while the light is hidden from the wise and great, it is revealed to babes.
7 Then turning to the multitudes he said, I come to you not in the name of man, nor in a strength my own;
8 The wisdom and the virtue that I bring to you are from above; they are the wisdom and the virtue of the God whom we adore.
9 The words I speak are not my words; I give to you what I receive.
1 °Come unto me all you who labor and pull heavy loads and I will give you aid.
11 Put on the yoke of Christ with me; it does not chafe; it is an easy yoke.
12 Together we will pull the load of life with ease; and so rejoice.
13 A Pharisee, whose name was Simon, made a feast, and Jesus was the honored guest.
14 And as they sat about the board, a courtesan who had been cured of her desire to sin by what she had received and seen in Jesus’ ministry, came uninvited to the feast.
15 She brought an alabaster box of costly balm and as the guests reclined she came to Jesus in her joy, because she had been freed from sin,
16 Her tears fell fast, she kissed his feet, and dried them with her hair, and she anointed them with balm.
17 And Simon thought, he did not speak aloud, This man is not a prophet or he would know the kind of woman that approaches him, and would drive her away.
18 But Jesus knew his thoughts, and said to him, My host, I have a word to say to you.
19 And Simon said, Say on.
20 And Jesus said, Sin is a monster of iniquity; it may be small; it may be large; it may be something done; it may be something left undone.
21 Behold, one person leads a life of sin and is at last redeemed; another, in a careless mood, forgets to do the things he ought to do; but he reforms and is forgiven. Now, which of these has merited the higher praise?
22 And Simon said, The one who overcame the errors of a life.
23 And Jesus said, You speak the truth.
24 Behold, this woman who has bathed my feet with tears and dried them with her hair and covered them with balm!
25 For years she led a life of sin, but when she heard the words of life she sought forgiveness and she found.
26 But when I came into your house as guest you gave me not a bowl of water that I might wash my hands and feet, which every loyal Jew must do before he feasts.
27 Now, tell me, Simon, which of these, this woman or yourself, is worthy of most praise?
28 But Simon answered not.
29 Then to the woman Jesus said, Your sins are all forgiven; your faith has saved you; go in peace.
30 And then the guests who sat around the board, began to say within themselves, What manner of a man is this who says, Thy sins are all forgiven?