The Household of God
Volume 2
Rise and spiritual prime of the first world empire Hanoch
- Chapter 205 -
LAMECH AND THUBALKAIN GIVE THANKS FOR GOD'S POWER IN MAN. KISEHEL'S SPEECH ON THE TEMPTATIONS OF MAN (6th December 1842)
After the tumult had thus died down and quiet and order were reigning instead, Lamech and Thubalkain fell on the ground glorifying and praising God for graciously endowing man with such power, and entreated Him with His holy power never to forsake them but to remain with them all their lives, and with this grace also to bless their descendants and graciously keep sustaining them in the same forever.
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After this glorifying, thanksgiving and entreating Kisehel went across to the two still lying on the ground, raised them up and said to them:
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"Friends, brothers! The holy, most loving Father takes great pleasure in you, of this you can be quite sure; for you have now given threefold strong proof of your pledged loyalty.
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"However, believe us when we say that as long as we humans carry this mortal flesh, we also carry around our constantly renewing temptations and are thus never free to say: Now there is an end to the temptations.
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"Indeed, the more we approach perfection, the more we become aware that our flesh, the world and the ambition of our physical heart keep putting new stones under the feet of the awakening spirit trying to come to life, just so that it may again fall back into its sleep of death.
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"However, should this make us anxious and faint-hearted?
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Go by no means, my dear friends and brothers! For in this very fact lies the great merciful love of the holy, immensely good Father in the heavens; for through such trials we are first awakened in our spirit and then kept awake until such time when a new, eternal day will dawn for our spirit, which will then no longer be encumbered by any sleep nor threatened by temptation.
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'This blissful condition will certainly follow one day after the shedding of the body, but it can become a just reward already during the physical life of that person who has in all things adopted the divine will as his sole guideline.
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"How can this be done? - In the most simple way of the world! One has to regard all the world as nothing, and God as All in all; one must not love whatever is of the world, but God alone above all, and out of this holy love regard all one's fellowmen as brothers and sisters, - and the entire, seemingly difficult life task is fully solved!
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"If someone would object to this and say: 'Yes, this is easier said than justly achieved!', to him I say only: 'Friend, what good is there in the world for you that you respect and love it so much and dread to tread it with your feet, destined to become immortal?
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"'Look, nothing but a scanty stuffing of your stomach and belly, a miserable cover for your skin, a curse-ridden service on the part of your brothers and sisters - and finally, after a short time, the most painful death temporally and eternally.'
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"Behold, these are all the advantages offered us by the transitory world.
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"Tell me, do they deserve that a human being even remembers them?
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"How easy it is for him who keeps an eye on the world to turn his back on all the world and follow with a brisk and cheerful heart the holy call of the eternal, holy, most loving Father in and out of the heavens of the most blissful eternal life!
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"If you had a dream in which you were literally revered like a God from all sides, and had eaten the sweetest morsels and then had the most beautiful and voluptuous harlots, would you sigh after the dream upon awakening?
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"Only a fool would do this; but a wise man knows that it was only an idle dream, and will therefore not sigh.
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"This applies also to the world; it is nothing but an idle, empty dream which fades away as soon as the spirit has awakened on the new day. So do no longer cling to the world, which is nothing, and you will conquer all its temptations as easily as the waking up in the day conquers easily all the futile dreams of the night
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"Heed this and do accordingly, and eternal life will be your share; and now be again cheerful and bright. Amen."