The Great Gospel of John
Volume 3
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi
- Chapter 112 -
How to thank God.
I say, "Oh, dear Helena! What should you sacrifice from the world for Me that is not Mine already, and that I hadn't already given you before the beginning of the world?!
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You see, that would be a very vain demand from Me then and would be in complete contradiction with Me and My eternal order!
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You see, love does everything! Whoever loves Me above all else, also brings Me the greatest sacrifice and the very most pleasant thanks; for he sacrifices for Me the whole world.
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But besides the love for Me there is another love, namely the love for the neighbor. The poor in spirit and the in the temporal necessary earthly goods are the true neighbors whatever someone does in My name, he does it for Me.
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Whoever takes in a poor person in My name, takes Me in, and he will be rewarded on the last day; and whoever takes in a wise man for the sake of their wisdom, will also reap the reward of a wise man; and whoever reaches a thirsty man even a beaker of fresh water, will be rewarded with wine in My kingdom.
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But if you do good deeds to the poor, do such a thing in secret with all friendliness and do not show it to the world; for the Father in heaven sees it, and the gift of a friendly giver will be pleasing to Him, and He will reward the giver a hundred times.
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But whoever wants only to flaunt themselves before the world with his good deeds, has also already taken his worldly rewards and in the future has nothing more to expect.
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You see, in this consists the only manner of sacrifice and thanks that is pleasing to Me, and apart from this there is no other; for all the burnt offerings and other types of sacrifice are an evil smell before the nostrils of God, and all lip-service is an abomination before God, with which the hearts are far from the true love for God and the neighboring poor brothers!
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For whom can the senseless bawling in the temple be of any use, if the thousand poor and hungry brothers outside the temple are not considered?!
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Go and strengthen first the needy, feed the hungry, quench the thirsty, clothe the naked, comfort the sad, free the imprisoned and preach the gospel to the poor in spirit, then you will do endlessly better than to blare day and night in the temples with your lips, while your hearts were cold and unreceptive to your poor brothers!
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Look at the air, the Earth, the sea; look at the moon, the sun, the stars; look at the flowers of the field and the trees, and observe the birds in the air, the fish in the water and all the animals on the dry land; look at the high mountains and all the clouds and the winds; you see, all that proclaims loudly the honor of God, yet God, unlike man, never looks at all this like full of conceit, but instead only at the human heart that recognizes and loves Him the only true, good, holy Father. How should He then like a twisted heart or a vain ceremony with all sorts of lip-service, behind which lies nothing but the greatest selfishness, pride, lust for power, all sorts of whoring, falsehood and deceit?!
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Therefore you now know that firstly God does not need to accept the honor from blaring people; for the whole infinity is full of His honor.
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But what kind of honor, then, foolish, blind man can give to God then, since he himself has no other than that which he received beforehand from God through the mercy of being a man?! Or can this redound to God's if men sacrifice an ox for Him but at the same time they hold on to their sinful hearts and after the completed sacrifice they are ten times worse than they were before the sacrifice?!
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Oh, I take no honor from the people; for there is the Father in heaven who honors Me more than enough! But if the people keep My commandments and love Me above all else, then they honor Me and My Father thereby, and I and the Father are completely one.
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If it is so, as it is according to the fullest and most eternal truth, he cannot dishonor Me Who does the will of God as Moses and all the other prophets have announced, and as I announce it Myself to you all.
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Do you now understand how we have to thank God and praise Him for all the goodness we have received?"