The Great Gospel of John
Volume 3
Jesus' Precepts and Deeds through His Three Years of Teaching
Jesus near Caesarea Philippi
- Chapter 43 -
On life and death.
Mathael says, "An honestly good intention is as much as the job half done; but man must not rely on a good intention alone for too long, instead he must put it into action as soon as possible, otherwise the intention cools off with time, loses its vigor and in the end becomes too weak and powerless to perform a good deed.
2
You see, as long as the water in the pot is boiling, one can boil various fruits soft and transform them into dishes which are easy to digest; but when the water in the pot becomes lukewarm and in the end quite cold, softening of fruit is no longer possible!
3
That"s why the will of a person is the same as boiling water in a pot. Love for God and for all good things in the life from God is the correct fire which brings the water of life in the pot to an active boil; but the fruit which should be cooked soft are those deeds and actions which we accept as good and true but which we have not yet put into action, for which reason we must put them into the water now while the water is boiling powerfully, otherwise they remain rough and indigestible and are therefore of no use for life.
4
Whatever one wants one must do, otherwise the will remains constantly a lie in comparison with life, and in all eternity the lie will not become the truth!
5
But life is truth, and the lie is death; so seek the truth in all things, it is life, and flee from the lie in and around you, for it is the real death!
6
Or what do you have if you imagine that you own something? You see, it is nothing but the nothingness of your imagination! And what is that? You see, it is nothing, and this Nothing is the real death!
7
But if you want to build and you don't have any materials or any builders, how will this house look that you want to build? You see, it will never take form! But the material is the actions and deeds of a living will, but the builders are the powerful will; these then construct a correct house from your good will and this house is your true life in God which will be eternally indestructible. But no house is built with a tiny effort, and least of all the house of life; thus it is written: be active in all fullness of the power given to us, otherwise it must go badly with the building.
8
When Noah built the ark, he is supposed to have begun his commanded work very dilatorily in the beginning. When his adversaries noticed this, they constantly destroyed by night what he had built during the day. Only after many years did he begin to work on the ark day and night and placed guards there; only then did the construction proceed towards its completion with swift steps and offered protection in the time of the flood, as we know, to those who were inside and kept them from an otherwise certain demise.
9
I tell you that we are basically all Noahs. The world with its lies and deceptions and all the temptations that come from this are the perpetual flood. In order not to be consumed we must most diligently build the commanded ark; this ark is the consolidation of the life of our soul for the maintenance and final complete education of the life of the spirit of God in the soul.
10
When the flood of enticing world temptations then finally sinks into the depths of emptiness, the life of God will come out in all strength in and around the soul and will begin a new work in the pure and new sphere of life in the most unrestricted freedom without any hostile highwayman and thereby bless through and with God the whole infinity from eternity to eternity! Do you understand this image?"