The Great Gospel of John
Volume 2
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
First journey of the Lord: Kis - landing place at Sibarah - Nazareth
- Chapter 8 -
About the Kingdom of heaven.
After they had all rendered Me this morning praise, Faustus who of course was present at the meal and during the praise, briefly asked me, "But where from did Your disciples get those, so worthy of You, so glorious and totally true benedictions? Never have I heard anything so exalted."
2
Say I, "Obtain the Scriptures from the Pharisees and read King David's Psalms therein; there you shall find it all. The Primate Jairus, with whom we shall have dealings still today, shall procure you such Scriptures for sure. Because two days ago his daughter was laid in the grave; she died! He has deeply repented his sin against Me, wherefore he shall also be helped, and he shall not be lost to the Kingdom of God"
3
Asks Faustus, "Lord! What kind of Kingdom is that, and where is same?"
4
Say I, "Well, My dear friend, the actual true Kingdom of God for the true friends of God is everywhere, but nowhere for the enemies of God; because for these in turn, everything is hell, where you can and want to cast your eyes, and other senses. Below and above, all is the same. Look neither up to the stars, for they are all earths like the one you tread, nor sink your eyes down to the earth, because it is under judgement like your flesh, which once must die and decay! But instead, seek diligently within your heart; there you shall find what you are seeking. For into every man's heart is cast the living seed, from which the eternal dawn of eternal life shall bloom.
5
Behold, the space within which this earth floats, as well as the big sun, the moon and the countless stars, which themselves in turn are again nothing but suns and earth, is limitless! You could, with the speed of thought leave this earth and continue at such speed in a straight line - yet rushing along at such speed for eternities upon eternities, then after many eternities of flying at the speed of thought, you would yet come nowhere near to the end! Yet you would encounter everywhere creations of the rarest and most wondersome nature, filling and enlivening endless space everywhere.
6
After death of your body, through your heart you will step into the infinite space of God, and according to the state of your heart you will encounter it as either heaven or hell!
7
Since nowhere there exists a separately created heaven, nor a separately created hell, for everything comes out of the heart of man; and thus everyone prepares for himself either heaven or hell in his heart, depending on whether his actions are good or bad, and as he believes, wants and acts, he will live his believe, out of which his will was nourished and passed into action.
8
Let everyone examine the inclinations of his heart, and he will easily discover what kind of spirit prevails in his heart. If his inclinations draw the heart and its love towards the world and he feels within him a longing to become great and respected in the world, if the heart that is inclined to become proud feels discomfort with poor mankind and has the urge within to dominate others without having been chosen and anointed for it by God, the seed of hell is already lying in the heart and, if not overcome and nipped in the bud, will obviously prepare for such a person nothing but hell after the death of his body.
9
However, if a man's heart is full of humility and he feels happy to be the least among men, to serve all and disregard his own self because of his love for his brothers and sisters; if he willingly obeys his superiors in all things for the benefit of his brothers and love God above all, then in his heart the heavenly seed grows to a true and eternally living heaven. And this man, who thus has already all heaven in abundance in his heart, which is filled with true faith, the purest hope and love, can after the death of his body not possibly get anywhere else but to the Kingdom of God which he has already carried in his heart in all its abundance for a long time. - If you think this over you will easily comprehend what heaven and hell are really all about."
10
Says Faustus, "Most dear and most wise Lord, Master and Friend! Truly, Your words sounded most wisely; however, this time I could not comprehend your words in all their depth! How in a way heaven and hell could be together in one spot so that one would obviously have to permeate the other, that is for me, still a very materially thinking man, an impossibility! How finally from my heart an infinite prosperous or none-prosperous infinity can blossom, is even more incomprehensible than everything else! Therefore I must asked You, to give me a more comprehensible explanation about this; for otherwise I will leave here for home blind despite all the light of the brightest midday of the spirit!"