Sunsets Into Sunrises
Bishop Martin - The Progress of a Soul in the Beyond
- Chapter 15 -
THE DIVINE SKIPPER'S PENITENTIAL SERMON TO BISHOP MARTIN.
Now I speak again as the skipper: "Listen carefully to what I shall tell you!
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I know very well what the world is like, and if it had not always been like that, the Lord would not have been crucified. Therefore, the Lord's words, as quoted in the Gospel, have once and for all to be applied where the world is concerned, namely:
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In these days, that is, the time of this world - the kingdom of heaven needs force; only those who apply force will possess it. However, you, my friend, have never applied this moral force where the kingdom of heaven is concerned. Therefore, do not accuse the world too much, for I know that you were at all times more concerned with the world than with the spirit. In this respect, you were one of the chief opponents of enlightenment, an enemy of the Protestants whom you persecuted for alleged heresy with bitter hatred.
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Your slogan was never Si mundus vult decipi! - but just a merciless, Mundus decipi debet! (the world must be deceived) - and that sine exceptione (without exception)! I can tell you that the world is nowhere as bad as in the sphere of you and the likes of you who have, at all times, been enemies of the light. There were even times when you burnt at the stakes those who were only a little more enlightened in their thinking.
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You were one of those who spread darkness in the nations, not the worldly rulers whom you excommunicated if they dared to think with more enlightenment than suited your darkest tyrannical despotism. If some rulers are ignorant, they are your work; but never the other way round.
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I am quite aware of the fact that in some countries it would be particularly difficult to promote enlightenment; but for this, nobody can be blamed but your church.
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Who told you to erect idolatrous temples and altars? Who directed you to establish your so-called divine service in Latin? Who invented the indulgence? Who banned the Scriptures and substituted the most absurd and untrue legends of the so-called saints? Who invented the relics? Who invented the millions of holy images? Not an emperor or prince, but your church, which at all times has spread darkness to increase its power.
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Most princes are obedient believers in your doctrine, but what faith did you have, being well versed in the Scriptures? And whom did you obey, or how often did you pray without being paid for it?
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Since you had a bad influence on the world around you, and not the world on you, how can you expect any consideration from the Lord?
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And as to the martyrdom you have mentioned, you would much rather have been crucified for your tyrannical love for the darkness than for the pure light of God. You would have had little to fear from the princes, even less from their overseers, for I know only too well how you dealt with the princes if they opposed your absurd and degrading demands.
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I know only of very few cases where truly enlightened priests, teaching the pure Word of God, were jailed or even put to death as per your very grave accusations. However, I know of numerous people who suffered thus from you because they dared live in accordance with the Word of God.
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Do you think the old God has weakened since the time of the disciples, and cannot help him who is "clever as a serpent and as harmless as a dove", should he be threatened by the world?
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Look, I could name many brothers, besides Luther, who, in the darkest of times, still had the courage to own up to the true Word of God before all the world. The princes of the world did not behead any of them, but if they fell into your hands, they fared badly enough.
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I do hope you will understand that in this world nothing counts but pure truth combined with eternal love, and all your excuses are futile except your Mea quam maxima culpa (my greatest possible guilt). You must admit that God alone knows the world in its minutest detail from eternity. Therefore, it is absurd of you to try and describe the world to the Lord, in defense of your attitude, for His consideration, without realizing that you were one of those mainly responsible for the world's deterioration.
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To what extent you, as a prisoner of the world, deserve consideration, it will be afforded you. What the world owes you before God will be only a minor account. However, your debt will not be so negligible unless you repent and confess that you - who have always been bad - can do absolutely nothing, but the Lord alone can redeem and forgive you.
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You have a great fear of hell because your conscience tells you that this is where you belong, and you think God will throw you into hell like a stone into a chasm. But you do not realize that you fear only your imagined hell, whilst you enjoy being inside the real one.
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Behold, all your thoughts so far represented were more or less hell literally. For wherever there is a spark of egotism, arrogance, and blaming of others, there is hell; where carnal desire has not been dispelled voluntarily, there is still heli. As all this is still part of you, you are still very much in hell. Do you see how idle your fear is?
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The Lord, who has mercy with all beings, wants to save you from this hell and not condemn you deeper into it - as per your Roman maxim. Therefore, don't claim the Lord may say to those who want to go to hell: 'If you insist on going to hell, let it be so!'
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This is a sacrilegious claim! Though you do not wish to renounce hell, when did you ever hear the Lord condemn you to it?
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Ponder over these, my words, and change your attitude accordingly and I will pilot this boat that it will take you away from your hell into the realm of life. So be it!"