Towards Becoming
a Wise and Compassionate Nation
By: Arnulfo Y. Laniba
Agape Foundation [Agasoft]
Saturday (Sabbath), October 07, 2006, Badbad Oriental, Loon, Bohol, Philippines –
We are a people strong in the 7th character trait of God, namely: meekness.
Our still ‘uncivilized’ brothers in the hinterlands are described to be gentle ‘tribes’. Many foreigners praised our hospitality; some abused it and made our meek women hospitality girls. Ask Dr. Jose Rizal. Ask our women PO, Gabriela.
Our national animal ‘carabao’ (buffalo) reflects our more obedient and servile nature, which was abused and exploited by foreigners like the Spaniards and others who found our innocence and humility a key to exploit and outwit us. Our national bird had been the gentle harmless little Philippine weaver (maya) whose voice and character are so harmless as if they are a replica or cousin of the dove.
While others equate “meekness” as weakness, thus, they hate this trait, yet Jesus Christ holds this quality as synonym to perfection. Here’s the proof. The verse in Matthew 5:48 “Be you merciful [meek] even as your Father in heaven is merciful [meek]” is rendered in other translations as “Be you perfect even as your Father in heaven is perfect.” So, as far as Jesus is concerned, mercy = perfection! A merciful man has attained perfection, although it may not yet be the highest level.
This gives us a hint that mercy or meekness, humility and gentleness which are similar trait differently named when expressed to different recipient, is the trait of perfection or the key to perfection.
Of God’s seven qualities, we are weaker compared to other races in the first three qualities: love, wisdom and will.
This means that in our heart, our love (even love for self) is weaker than those of other people. That is the reason why we do not thunder when our honor or name is maligned. When our women are abused or turned into prostitutes, we resort to resignation or to crying.
But try insulting a German or a Russian or an American or a Japanese, then, you will understand what I mean. Try hanging an American like they did to our Flor Contemplacion who was hanged in Singapore. We had detected America’s fury and pride when one of America’s youth was caned in Singapore for minor violation!
While we choose to bow down when maligned or harmed, instead of taking revenge, proud nation will go to war for a mere insult.
In comparison with other nations, we, as a people have lesser amount of pride or arrogance because we are more humble than them, not to mention weaker. This is where they connect humility [meekness] to weakness. Because weakness usually produces meekness, or because weak people are usually meek people, they make meekness synonymous to weakness.
The truth is: meekness is the fruit or effect of weakness, but not the weakness itself. Meekness is a virtue, weakness is not. But just as a pearl is begotten by a mud, and a diamond by (black) carbon, so is meekness given birth by weakness and adversity. A person, who realizes his weakness, humbles himself down, becomes meek.
But it is wrong to think that meekness is always a result of weakness. There are men, although few, who are strong and great and yet they are meek. Abraham was great but he produced a meek son in Isaac. Meekness too begets meekness, even if you are in royal palaces.
Among the great yet meek men and women in the past are: Mahatma Gandhi of India, Mother Theresa of Calcutta, Moses, prophet Isaiah, John the Baptist, Mary, the apostles, above all, our Lord Jesus Christ – these men and women were great but were humble and meek. And their greatness was true greatness.
As a matter of fact, they were great or made great because they were humble and meek. For it was this trait that made them teachable – trainable – willing vessel of the wisdom of God.
So it is wrong to always associate meekness to weakness. However, it is more often true that WEAKNESS PRODUCES MEEKNESS PRODUCES GREATNESS!
One has to start weak, or made weak, and once he realizes it and at the same time acknowledges God as the source of strengths, he becomes humble enough to ask God for strength, and once he has it, to thank Him, and now that he has strength from God, HE IS NO LONGER WEAK BUT STRONG.
We might say that weakness (and its realization) is the key to meekness and meekness is the key to greatness. Weakness is the mother of meekness is the mother of greatness.
Jesus once uttered a living principle which, ever since, regulates every man and woman, every family or nation, company or association, government and empire. He said, “The humble [meek] shall be lifted up; but he who is proud shall be abased.”
Meekness [humility] too is associated to greatness. It is the mother of greatness – true greatness.
And another thing that we should take note, especially those of you who have now attained a certain degree of greatness due to initial humility: HUMILITY IS A FAITHFUL WIFE. DO NOT REJECT HER ONCE YOU ARE ON THE TOP. BE FAITHFUL TO HER TOO. SHE WAS THE WIND BENEATH YOUR WINGS IN YOUR FLIGHT TO THE HEIGHTS. AND SHE IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SUSTAIN YOUR FLIGHT OR MAKE YOU STAY ON THE TOP. SO BE A GRATEFUL HUSBAND TO HER; LOVE HER AND APPRECIATE HER ETERNAL WORTH TO YOU. REMEMBER: SHE WAS NOT ONLY USEFUL DURING YOUR ASCENT TO SUCCESS; YOU NEED HER THE MORE NOW THAT YOU ARE IN THE HEIGHTS. FOR ONLY SHE CAN SUSTAIN YOU AND PREVENT YOUR FALL. MANY WHO BECAME GREAT, FELL BECAUSE THEY FORSOOK HUMILITY, THEIR FIRST WIFE AND MARRIED MS. PRIDE. THE MOMENT A HUSBAND BETRAYS HUMILITY, IT IS THE MOMENT THAT HIS FALL HAS BEGUN!
So, let us be humble and meek to become great in our own chosen fields. But stay humble to remain great. This is the hardest – even harder than the previous act of climbing up the ladder of success. Many had fallen victim of sophisticated and materialistic pride, that woman who seduced every great man in history to abandon Meek-Humility-Mercy and take Pride-Lust-Materialism as his new wife!
King Nebuchadnezzar whom God compared to ‘gold’ while other succeeding kingdoms were described as silver, brass, iron and clay, was the greatest and is probably the greatest of all gentile kings of all time, came face-to-face with these two figurative women named HUMILITY and PRIDE.
In the book of Daniel, we are not told about HUMILITY’s role in the rise of King Nebuchadnezzar. In this world, PRIDE can make her advocates rise too. As a matter of fact, most worldly greatness were a work of Pride. But this kind of greatness is momentary. The Great King of Heaven may allows Pride and her man to rise, for future lessons, but surely this Great Judge will act once Pride and her man reaches the measure of their arrogance.
This is the experience of Nebuchadnezzar King of Babylon. As soon as he became aware that he was the head of gold of the great statue he saw in his dream, he soon decreed that a replica be erected and that all people should bow down before it, which is tantamount of worshipping Nebuchadnezzar.
Three officials did not. They argued that only God is worthy of such worship. They were the three Jewish friends of Daniel. And look and see the great pride of this king. “Then Nebuchadnezzar was furious with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and his attitude towards them changed. He ordered the furnace be heated seven times hotter than usual.” He also made sure that the strongest men would bind and throw the three to the raging furnace. So hot was the fire that some of them who threw the three were eaten up by it and died!
But, as this famous story goes, the three friends of Daniel, were walking in the fire unharmed!
That was the first blow against Nebuchadnezzar’s pride. It was first time he acknowledged God: “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. Therefore, I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, FOR NO OTHER GOD CAN SAVE THIS WAY.”[1]
Now, you’d think Nebuchadnezzar had learned the lesson of meekness and humility fully?
Nay, not yet. He was still proud in some aspects, although he acknowledged God and no longer lifted himself to be worshipped like Him. His relationship with God had improved. But he was still merciless to his fellowmen. He still thought himself great and the one who built the kingdom. One day, while he was walking on the roof of his royal palace in Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar mused: “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”[2]
Personal pride and mercilessness towards the poor were akin. These were the main sins of Nebuchadnezzar.
A warning was in order. It was done through a dream. A mighty majestic tree whose branches and leaves extended to great distances and upon birds took their shelter, was suddenly cut down, its mighty branches trimmed off, its leaves stripped off and its fruits scattered!
Daniel spoke to the king and told him that he was his tree. Seven years were to pass, if he would not immediately humble down, when he would became insane and lived in the forest among wild animals until he would acknowledge the sovereignty of God – or until he would learn the lesson that “THE MOST HIGH IS SOVEREIGN OVER THE KINGDOMS OF MEN AND GIVES THEM TO ANYONE HE WISHES AND SETS OVER THEM THE LOWIEST OF MEN”.[3]
What was the antidote of Pride? Humility! That is, meekness (e.g., Acknowledgement of God’s sovereignty over all human kingdoms) and mercy (e.g., kindness towards the poor and the oppressed.)
As soon as Daniel finished interpreting the dream to the king, Daniel earnestly advised the king, “Therefore, O king, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by BEING KIND TO THE OPPRESSED. It may be that your prosperity will continue.”[4]
But instead of meekness and humble acknowledgement of God’s all-sovereignty, he instead prided and say, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?”[5]
To man, especially when you are in some heights (degree of success and greatness), two things are most difficult to do: 1) complete humble acknowledgement of God’s reign over man; and 2) showing compassion to the poor.
This was Nebuchadnezzar’s sins: He could not love God above all or above himself, and he could not love his poor fellowmen enough so as to stop maltreating them!
His sins are our sins: lack of love for God and lack of love for the fellowman. In short, excessive love for Self which, when opposed, offended or not pleased, manifest as anger and cruelty!
We can say, with all truthfulness, that NEBUCHADNEZZAR LIVES IN US. HE IS ALIVE IN US. WE ARE NEBUCHAD-NEZZARS. Little Nebuchadnezzars, to say the least. For we too do not acknowledge God’s complete godship and fatherhood over us; we still defy Him in many aspects and stand as one greater and better than Him!
We, too, do not show genuine mercy to the poor. We treat the beggar outside our door coldly. They experience the same coldness that the night gave them. Instead of giving them warm reception and the best hospitality we can give, we sent the beggars away after a token of superficial compassion. This is the dictate of pride that lurks inside us!
As with Nebuchadnezzar, so it is with us. There is no other way but to LET HIM/US EXPERIENCE THE MISERY AND POVERTY AND THE SAME PAIN OF THOSE HE/WE HAD REJECTED.
Nebuchadnezzar became poor – as a matter of fact, poorer than the poor. He became insane and dwelt among the wild beast of the forest for 7 years, in fulfillment of the prophecy and warning.
After only when he tasted what it was to be a poor, did he develop the kindness for the poor!
I have often told my family who has a stronger inclination towards success and greatness: “There are two roles here on earth that each of us should play: that of the benefactor and that of the beneficiary. If you cannot play the first one effectively, then, God will give you the second role.”
Meaning: if you cannot be a compassionate [rich] benefactor of the poor, then, you shall be given the role of the beneficiary [that is, the poor]. And then you will feel how painful is it to be treated poorly and coldly.
We have only two choices: the benefactor or the beneficiary, the rich (that is, the able) or the poor (that is, those who are not able and who need help).
Nebuchadnezzar’s biography ended WELL, because he now humbled himself before the Almighty. And true to His promise, God LET HUMILITY, so to speak, RESTORE NEBUCHADNEZZAR.
Chapter 4 of Daniel is King Nebuchadnezzar’s letter to all mankind regarding his experience with God. It is his testimony of God’s greatness and goodness. He ended his letter with this beautiful note:
“At the end of that time [that is, seven years of insanity], I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified Him who lives forever.
“His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him: ‘What have you done?’”[6]
Each of us is either king or queen of our own “I Empire” or “I’mpire” which members include the “I”, “Me”, “My” and the “Mine”. This is a small kingdom. Many call it family. But they do not know that each family has become a Kingdom of Self-love which is hostile to the Love of God and the Love of Neighbor. They reject and hate these two kinds of love. To them, there is no other love but LOVE OF SELF. This is the true philosophy and attitude that is reigning over every family here in the nation and the entire earth, with very few exceptions who let Divine Love (or the love of God and love of neighbor) co-reign with Self-love.
At best, they used these two loves as the means to SELF-LOVE – to attain their selfish ambition, goals and interests.
When shall we learn that in order to become Christ’s true disciples, we need to advance farther and beyond SELFLOVE? When shall we come to understand that unless we take the next steps of loving God above all and our neighbor, we have not fulfilled the law of God, and that we have not worn the badge of true Christianity? That unless we fulfill these two loves, we remain pagans whose main pursuits and pre-occupation are these material things, which their BLIND LOVE OF THE SELF demands?
When shall we come to understand that this kind of SELFLOVE is a farce? When shall Filipinos come to realize that this kind of isolated selflove is not the correct kind of self-love because this will provoke the all-powerful God, stop His blessings, let curses fall upon us, and will offend others who will be forced respond with hostility and hate?
When shall we come to realize that we are in the state which Paul foreseen, namely: “biting one another, devouring one another, and destroying one another”?[7]
When shall we come to wake to the truth that this civil war or self-destruction is caused by our refusal to “serve one another in love”[8] as Paul and the other apostles and above all, our Lord had exhorted us?
When shall we come to grasp that in the absence of love, hate and indifference is present. That it cannot be left in vacuum?
So, we must actively fill the space of our heart and the whole world with love, then, there will be left no space to accommodate apathy, pride, hate, hostility, mercilessness, cruelty.
LET US FILL OUR HEART WITH LOVE, AND IT SHALL BECOME EMPTY OF HATE! Let the water of mercy fill the glass half-filled with air, and the air [of arrogance] will dissipate.
Then this nation shall at last become great – but a different kind of greatness. It shall be a greatness founded in deep humility. It shall be greatness based upon the acknowledgement of God the Father’s reign over us. It shall not be greatness based on our strengths without acknowledging that such all strengths come from God, therefore, all praise, glory and honor solely belongs to Him. To us shall be enough to receive the thanks and the love of our fellowmen, who became beneficiaries of the services of love the God made possible for us to render to them.
It shall be greatness based on three foundations each properly measured and apportioned: love of God, love of neighbor and [proper] love of self.
In talents, we shall be great. These shall give us great wealth. But such talents-produced greatness and wealth shall not be used to serve Self alone; for above all, most of our greatness and wealth shall be used to ‘love Jehovah our God above all and our neighbor.”
And when this is done, Self will enjoy its greatest joy and satisfaction which cannot be found anywhere else!
That is the correct kind of Self-love. Proper self-love is loving God the Father above all and our neighbor as ourselves. This is the only correct form or means of selflove because in this way only do we please the Father who will be urged to be merciful, kind and generous in His blessings to us, and our fellowmen too will love us, because we love them.
But our love for Him and our fellowmen should be genuine, not based on future gain or profit. To love them because we expect something good for them is selfish. This is bad because when such expectation is frustrated or delayed, as sometimes God will allow that such as to test the strength of our love, we’d become sour towards Him and our fellowmen.
Yes, we admit we expect always good from them. But not in the form of material rewards or gain. That future good shall be mainly seen as their friendship and love without depending on their material capacity, but solely in their heart and soul. The gain that we should not fail to expect and pray is this kind. But even then, if one fellowman or even our wife or husband shall repay our faithfulness with their unfaithfulness, our love for them should not wane, but goes beyond the pain and should dare to hope that someday perhaps in this life but surely in the beyond, she or he will return to love us again.
This is not human love. Carnal love is not capable of doing this. It is divine love, possible only with Jesus.
Our love should not be too-dependent on what we can get or gain in the future; instead, our love should be based and be motivated on WHAT WE CAN GIVE OR DO EVEN TO THE ONE WHO BETRAYED US. For example: forgiveness. Forgiveness is a sweet gift we can give. It is one of the sweetest gift we can give to our fellowmen. It assuages so much pain. It gives the heart suffering from guilt so much healing. Forgiveness is a healing balm. All of those who had offended and hurt you – will never be at peace in their guilt, bearing the wounded emptiness in their hearts as a result. It pierces like a knife. Only your forgiveness will heal and remove the scar; so that without scar and completely healed, there is no tendency for the same pain to recur or relapse, unless new wound is done.
Someday, in some dot in the span of eternity that person who had hurt you, will come to you to ask for your forgiveness. No, not today’s superficial kind of apology which does not heal, because it is still impure with some form of pride. But the genuine heart-felt one! For this is the only one – this sincere humble request for forgiveness – is the only one that will also trigger genuine forgiveness that, not for our sake, but for his genuine healing. We can forgive him in advance, even long before he’d admit his sin and come to us. Yes, that we should do as soon as possible, even without his knowledge. But our offender will not heal in his own self-inflicted wound (called guilt) unless he comes to the one against whom he has offended and ask for sincere apology! That one might have forgiven him long time ago, but his own pride and refusal to humble himself before him would remain a heavy burden on his own shoulder, unless he repent and ask forgiveness from the one he had offended and then also from God Whom he also had hurt when he hurt his fellowman who is the Father’s child. To these two individuals (God and fellowman), he must apologize and repent, that is, resolve never to commit again the offense.
This is the right path. Take it.
* * *
Generally, as a people, we did not have great ambition. We get easily contented. We did not aim to walk on the surface of the moon. We did not aim to rule the world. Or to be the richest men on earth. Our heart’s desire was simple. Peace and to be with our family. Deep also in soul, as was more evident with our ancestors, was the desire to commune with the Creator. That is why we heard that they were worshippers of Nature (animists), which may be a misunderstanding of our ancestors’ closeness to nature as they were seen praying in front of a tree or on a hill or on a summit but actually deep within their heart to the One who created Nature. I do not say there was no possibility that their worship was also corrupted somehow. But still, such life of our ancestors reflects meekness and humility.
The Filipinos or the Negroid or the brown race was never known to be a conquering, colonizing people. We were not racist. And we are not! We did not hold ourselves as the superior race over and above others.
But the Germans under Hitler’s time considered themselves to be the superior race and attempted to annihilate the lesser races by genocide.
The Americans have no other obsession except to rule the world and enjoy its benefits, at the expense of the poor of the vast humanity.
This special trait of gentleness which I nickname “Mehumer” (meekness-humility-and-mercy) did not come as a free lunch, however. It is the result of mind made dumb (emptied of wisdom) and heart impoverished of love, so that like empty containers, our mind and heart became weak, and so, we hungered and thirsted. Consequently, in our hunger and thirst and as long as these are not satisfied, we are thus rendered weak in the third trait called WILL. Because mind plus heart or wisdom plus love = will. A weak-willed person cannot make wise decision and cannot bring any decision of his to good fruition. He is a bad decision-maker if he ever makes a decision. For he is often coward and timid, so that he does not often make decision, but dwells in hesitation, confusion, doubts, fear, and anger. This is because he is unsure of things. He does not know where to go. Love knows the destination. He, being weak in love, even in self-love, does not know the destination. That is why thick population of Filipinos especially those in the countryside and even those in the cities are seen to be aimless. They are like driftwoods, just victims of the forces that tossed them to and fro or sweep them to nowhere.
There is a great need to restore LOVE in the hearts of the people of this wretched pitiful nation. Love that is not confined to the self; for self-confined love or the so-called self-love is myopic and often blind – biased. Love must be complete, perfect – all-encompassing, all-embracing. And this is the Love of God and love for mankind as well as to self.
This three-object love is what is desperately needed TO GIVE MEANING TO OUR EXISTENCE -- TO GIVE US VISION OF THE FUTURE -- TO DRIVE US TO MEANINGFUL ENDEAVORS -- AND TO GIVE US THE LIFE AND INSPIRATION IN OUR WORKS AND RELATIONSHIP.
This will restore our lost WILL. But love is not enough. Love only sets the goal – the vision and the mission. But it does not lay-out the plan or the way. It does not draw the paths to take. It is wisdom’s task!
And so, after we have LOVE in our hearts, we also should have WISDOM in our minds. And mind you, as surely as LOVE is not sourced from us nor from the world, then, this WISDOM is also not found in the world. We can find this wisdom – we can obtain its overflowing knowledge only from God. To Him shall we ask, seek and knock. And it shall be given, what we seek shall be found and the door (e.g., opportunities and possibilities) we knocked shall be opened.
To be once again strong in will, we need to fill our emptied mind and heart with wisdom and love, respectively.
Those who are strong in willpower (decision and implementation) are those who are intelligent in their mind and whose heart is strong in its feelings and desire-ambition.
Look at our native forefathers, who were not yet mixed with the blood of stronger race, be it Chinese, Spanish, Japanese or American. They are so meek and so simple. And so peaceable. I know that because my father is pure native Filipino! They were and are so easily contented with the basics of life in their lowly occupation as farmers, or fishermen or as mountain people. So easy to resign the decision of fate, as they term it. I know that because my father is like that.
Criticize that as lacking in ambition. But ambition – proud ambition I mean – is not good either.
He was yet an infant of 2, when the Child Jesus said, “Great thoughts other than love [for God, neighbor and self] are vain.”[9] Borrowing the language of King Solomon, high ambition and great accomplishment are “vanity, vanity, it is just like chasing after the wind”!
Call our un-ambitious forefathers dumb. Call them naïve. Call them coward. Call them ‘uncivilized’. Call them simpleton. Call them ignorant. Call them stupid. Call them with all such names, and yet, you cannot deny if God loves them for their being meek, gentle, humble, peacemaking, hospitable, submissive, servile, obedient.
Remember what God says in the book of prophet Isaiah? “I make my dwelling in the heart that is humble and in whose spirit is contrite.”[10] God makes His abode in the heart of the meek and humble.
Unknown to many, our patriarch Cain repented, but not until after he had suffered so much for his sin against our uncle Abel.
“And behold, Cain wept and departed with his wife and four children, two sons and two daughters, and after forty days came to the shores of the sea. Seeing the great expanse of water he became frightened and thought in all earnest that he had come to the end of the world. "If Enoch now followed me, whither could I flee?" he thought.
"Before me is the end of the world and left and fight are high mountains where I am forbidden to go, and the Lord's gracious eye and ear are closed to me. Besides, I see here all kinds of strange and unblessed fruits; who would dare eat them? And the provisions we brought with us have now been consumed. Whatever shall I now do?
"I will once more attempt to cry mightily to the Lord. Either He will hear me or let us perish. Then we will at least finally fare according to His will which in our great blindness we have certainly not recognized during all this long time."
“And behold, after a period of seventy-seven years Cain again began to pray to Me. He prayed for three days unceasingly day and night, crying all the time: "Lord, You just and loving God, look graciously down upon Your greatest sinner and do to me according to Your holy will!" These words he kept repeating many thousands of times.
“Since he was crying so mightily and miserably I took pity on him and sent Abel to him in a flame of fire who spake the following words to him as if coming from Me: ‘Cain, rise from the ground and look at me and then tell me whether you still recognize me!’
“Then Cain rose full of fear and looked at the flame, but did not recognize it, neither the voice nor the form and shaking with fear asked: "Who are you strange being in this flame?"[11]
Now through the angel Abel, brother of Cain, God the Father has a special statement He told our patriarch Cain, for our humble (humbled) Negroid (black and the brownish) race:
And Abel answered: "It is I, your brother Abel, in the flame of divine love before you. What do you wish to be done to you?" -"O brother," said Cain, "if it is you, behold I have no longer any will. My son Enoch has taken everything from me, also my will. Now I no longer have a will and, look, all of us here are now entirely without a will. Therefore, I can only say: Let it be done to me and us all according to the holy will of the Lord!"
This is very significant. Try to imagine the woman who has just suffered the greatest of all tragedies of life, for example, having you and your whole family (husband and ten children) falling into the river with the bus you are riding, and having your three smallest ones died – imagine the loss of all strengths due to unimaginable sorrow that mother feels – or try to imagine a husband who has just lost his most beloved wife – picture the loss of the will to live – the sorrow which would cause other men to drown themselves in wine until they waste away – this somehow give you a hint on what it means for father Cain to have ‘lost his will’. It resulted from his suffering resulting from the maltreatment that his own son, Enoch, bestowed on him.
Enoch he made the king of his people. But as soon as Enoch became the king, Enoch ordered that father Cain and his mother as well as his young brothers and sisters should not eat unless they would work as slaves like the others! So severe was Enoch to them, and so unmerciful was his treatment of all the rest, who were also his brothers and sisters, cousins and nieces and nephew or kin, that it broke the heart of the father of them all, the patriarch Cain. The stone heart of Cain that made him kill Abel was thus melted and subjected to pain he never expected.
???
Then Abel said: "So listen! It is the will of the Lord, my Father and your God, that you eat of all the fruits you find here without fear. For the serpent has driven you to this place and has stayed at home with your children in the city of Enoch with all its venom and will have no more dealings with you. Once a person has relinquished his will [surrendered to the Lord and says, Let you will be done unto me. Kayo ang bahala sa akin, Lord.], there is no more to do for the evil brood, but he who has subjected his will to the serpent is its captive and the end of his free actions has come.
"But to him who has escaped from its powerful fangs and thus has saved the last spark of his will and laid it down upon the earth before Jehovah, He will give a new will out of Himself that in the future he may work as His tool. [NOTE THAT VERY IMPORTANT STATEMENT VERY WELL!] Thus, it is the Lord's will for you too that in the future you act in accordance with His will. If ever the descendants of Enoch should find you and your people, they would not recognize you, for the love of the Lord will burn you permanently black.” [THUS, BLACK SKIN!]
"The name of 'Cain' will be taken from you and you will be given another name, which is 'Ethiope', meaning 'the one without a will after the will of God.'”
We, Negroid (also the derivative brownish people) are no longer descendant of the sinner wicked Cain, but the converted Ethiope!
“Now you and your people must make a very large basket out of rattan and reed which must be seven man-heights long, three wide and one high, very strong and stopped with resin and pitch. Having completed this with great diligence, you must place it near the great waters and for forty days gather fruits, put them in the basket and, finally, get all in.
"Then the Lord will send a great tide from the large waters. This will lift the basket with you in it and carry you to a distant land in the middle of these great waters where you will be completely safe from the persecution of Enoch.
"In these great waters you will see small islands [IN THE PACIFIC] all around you, and when there have become too many of you on one island, proceed to the next one, and so on. Thus you shall gradually, in accordance with the Lord's will, populate all the islands in the great expanse of water.” [PACIFIC ISLES and THE SO-CALLED THE OCEANA, composed of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Borneo, Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, Marshall Island, Vanuatu, Tonga, Kiribati, Cook Island, New Zealand, Hawaii, French Polynesia].
"And if you will not forget the Lord, He will some day give you a large continent [AFRICA!] to inhabit where you will remain until the end of the world. But this will first have to be cleansed from the curse by floods [DURING NOAH’S TIME] which will rush down upon it choking and killing the descendants of Enoch and also many children of God who will allow themselves to be enticed by the beautiful daughters of Enoch.
"However, you who have no will of your own shall not be touched by the torrents of these floods because the will of the Lord has set you upon the waters of His great mercies. - And if there is anything you should need, you know anyway where to find the great Giver Who will not forsake you if you will not forsake Him within your hearts.
"And now come closer, Cain." And behold, Cain stepped up to his flaming brother and Abel embraced him and he became jet-black and his hair became curly like fur. And this was done to the other five, too.
Then Abel said: "Now, brother Ethiope, you are free from any guilt, which has remained at home with Enoch, and so act in accordance with the will of the Lord! Amen."[12]
THE DEVELOPMENT OF CAIN'S LINE
And behold, Abel disappeared and Ethiope ate of the fruits, entirely happy for the first time in his life. And he did exactly as commanded.
2. Thus the last branch of his line has right to the present time populated all the islands and, following the great destruction of the serpent's brood by the floods from the heavens, also the large continents which you today call 'Africa', 'America' and 'Australia'. His line was not extinguished in the floods and is still the same in this last era as a testimony to the atrocities committed in the past and present time by My children and those of Enoch.
Remarks: “As a testimony [e.g., recipients] to the atrocities committed in the past and present time by My children and those of Enoch” refers to slavery of the Negroes and Negritos by the White race and Arabs.
3. And so this Ethiope is still today living naturally and spiritually as a constant observer of your actions, hidden on an island in the middle of the great waters, which no mortal will ever discover.
Remarks: Get that? Cain is still alive today! And so, he is now 6,000 years old!
What you are reading is God’s own narration – his own dictation to an Austrian Jew in the 1840s to 1860s!
4. And he ate and drank of all kinds of fruits and begat still 700 children during a thousand years. Thereafter he was renewed by Me and ate and drank no longer because he became filled forever with My love, which is the best food. For whoever is filled with that will not ever see, taste and experience death, and he will never hunger for food and thirst for a drink. His death will be a living departure from life to life into the life of the life of the living through the Living Who is I Myself.
REMARK: CAN YOU BELIEVE THE POWER OF LOVE?
5. Thus Ethiope is still living physically as the first son of man in the wide face of the earth, able to watch the actions of all men and is, therefore, an ancient witness of all My deeds fight to the present time.
6. He knew Noah, Abraham, Moses, all the prophets and Melchizedek, the high priest.
7. He witnessed My birth and My new creation through the greatest of all My works, the work of salvation. And so he will remain until My Holy City has fully descended, which is now beginning to happen. Then he will be fully received there as a faithful gatekeeper for, except Me, nobody has such a thorough knowledge of the serpent as he has who has suffered through it so much.
REMARK: CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT? CAIN KNEW AND SAW GOD’S BIRTH AS JESUS!
8. This is the history of Cain, made known to you that you may ponder on yourselves and more easily and sooner recognize the roots of evil within you [REMARK: THE SERPENT MEANS SELF-LOVE WHICH BECOME EVIL, PROUD, LUSTFUL AND PERVERTED] and destroy them completely so that you may then in My love find again the long lost Paradise and at last become true, faithful citizens of My new, great and holy City, just as I am your truest, holiest and best Father from all Eternities of eternities. Amen.
QUESTION: What is the antidote of perverted Self-love (with its pride, selfishness, lust, greed)?
ANSWER: LOVE FOR GOD AND LOVE FOR NEIGHBOR!
Returning to our discussion about this much oppressed and much abused black and brownish race. Note: Much more discussions and testimonies will follow about the sufferings of this race in the land of America and in the hands of the Arabs (as Filipino OFWs, domestic helpers, or slaves)
As many can attest, their lack of superiority complex is impressive. They always hold a foreigner in high esteem.
Our race, especially the pure of us, e.g., those still jet-black and curly haired, who are not yet corrupted by the pride of power (who wants to rule) or the lust of material wealth and fame, which diseases the Spaniards and the Americans had brought to us, by way of their tempting example or way of life and by their business, is quite a simple, meek race.
But we were corrupted by their liquors and their opium, their drugs and their gambling. Alcohol, nicotine, drugs, and gambling corrupted us. In Africa, our fellow Negroid brothers were being pitted against each other to kill each by the aid of the opium and liquor and guns that the foreigner brought them.
When Nong Aaron, an African slave in America, managed to escape slavery, this is his eye-opening narration in his book The Light and Truth of Slavery:
“When Aaron was in Athol, I fell into a house where there were several in the house, and among them was a sea captain about 70 years old. He had been dealing on the African coast, I had a long talk with him, and he told me the blacks were better off in the United States with their masters than they were in Africa. Says he, when the King's daughter dies, they will slay two or three hundred to honor the King. Aaron says it is a willful and malicious lie. The bible says, "no drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of God." Also, "cursed is he that puts the cup to his brother's lip." Also, "no murderer shall inherit eternal life." "Cursed is he that imbues his hands in his brother's blood." They carry liquor into Africa, and that ain't bad enough, so they carry guns and powder there, also shot and balls, and the sword, make them drunk and then compel them to fight. Whichever tribe conquers will bring to the whites those whom they conquer, and they will buy them by giving in exchange ribbons, beads, red shirts, and one foolish thing and another. Aaron asked the above named captain, who he is afraid is going down to hell with a bundle of sin on his back, if he didn't think God would bless the nation ten-fold, if they would carry bibles and hymn books there, and send missionaries and teach them that there is a holy God above. Aaron thinks that God would bless Africa ten-fold, and England and America would be blessed ten-fold too. Some says, "Where is the nation that has been treated as bad as the poor Africans? Who inhabits the south part of Africa?
Something like two hundred miles of Africa is inhabited by the white men. The natives are cut off and driven back. And what ain't driven off are stolen away, and brought here to America and the West India Islands. Their children are scattered among the white folks and held in bonds. It's true the Indians are cut off from their country and driven back, but they ain't catched and made slaves of, and the women taken away from them and forced by white men, the way the poor Africans is.”
Nothing could surpass the sufferings of the Black Race.
And during their sufferings, their faith and patience as well as humility were remarkably great!
The ambition to rule or to live a life of materialism and luxury had cause us to short-change our fellowmen so that this led to some quarrels and civil war. This sickness also the foreigner brought to us.
The foreigners’ tactic is to cause us what the apostle Paul said “to bite one another, to devour one another to ultimately destroy each other” (Galatians 5:13-15).
Let us not allow ourselves to destroy our divine quality of mehumer (meekness, humility and mercy). In this way, we have fulfilled the Father’s will “be blameless (gentle) as a dove.”
But based on our own experience, proud and arrogant foreigners take mehumer as a weakness and so, instead of respecting us, they exploit and oppress us. But to teach the proud nations like Germany and Japan a lesson, they had to go through a severe humiliation during the first and second world wars, you see, it required two great wars to destroy the pride of these nations, and one great war (WW I) to humble Italy and to let them espouse humility and reject pride.
True to God’s purpose, the Japanese and the Germans took the path of humility. And they rose again to greatness. Because “the humble shall be lifted up, but the proud shall be abased”[13] is the law of the Universe. This law spared and spares and will spare no one. Not even Lucifer!
The black people all throughout the world, such as the Negroes in America, Australia, Africa and the negritoes in the mountains of the Philippine and other Pacific isles, and their derivatives, the brown race in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Hawaii, Borneo, etc. – all of them descended from Cain, as his last line. As can be recalled, Cain in his fateful encounter with his murdered brother, Abel, who was at that time made already an angel, was turned jet-black when he was embraced by Abel, and his hair made curly.
The great misery that Cain suffered as a result of his sins, made him very weak and will-less – powerless. He became totally devoid of pride. He humbled himself before God and God forgave him.
Similar thing happens to every sinner. Even if a particular sinner is the great in this world in terms of intelligence, wealth, fame, self-love and in willpower, so that he could move mountains, that is, accomplish very great things, all these greatness (intelligence, possessions of pride, great wealth, etc.) would at one time suddenly become like trash.
The proud nations in this world will have much to suffer before they could reach this stage. But we, who are the sons of the first murderer, are taking our advantage for granted. We are despising meekness and throwing it and espousing the pride of the eyes, the pride of life, the pride of position and fame, which the apostle John condemned and earnestly forewarned us.
Let us preserve the great quality of “mehumer”. And even increase and nurture it and make it perfect. This is the trait which Christ encouraged all to develop when He urged everyone, “Come to Me, all of you who are tired and are heavily-laden. Learn of Me – that is, My humility and Gentleness. If you have these traits, then, you will throw your yoke (human laws) and burden (hate, fear, worry, revenge) upon Me, and instead you will carry My yoke (that is, obey His gentle law of love and its commandments) which is easy and My burden (sacrifices of a Christian) which is light. Come to Me, and do so, and I will give you rest.”
Those who have tried harboring hate and revenge for years and those who carried the load of worry and fear can attest how heavy these loads are! And those whose loads, yoke and burden Christ carried, they experience the rare peace and the pure joy from Christ. How nice is to be gotten rid of the heavy burden of hate, fear, worry and revenge! How wonderful is to receive the gift of peace! How restful is it to be freed from troubles!
That is what Jesus meant “And I will give you rest”!
Let us the more nurture this quality which resulted from the sufferings of our forefather Cain, as a result of his great sins. We have to continue to be more and more blameless like a dove. But with one change – a major change. What is that?
This change is this: Instead of directing our humility (obedience and submissiveness) to the false masters [be it church authority or any other human masters or leaders], let us start shifting our allegiance to the true Christ.
Let our humility be first and foremost towards the true Christ! Where is He? He is around! Invisible to us but as alive as He was when He walked here on earth with His disciples. He is so accessible. How? Through our cellular phones? Or through some short ride away? No! He is so near. For He is just as contactable via our heart!
This is what the Holy of Holies or the most sacred chamber of the Mosaic Tabernacle stood for. Our heart is the living Holy of Holies where the King dwells. Our heart is most secret place -- the closet -- into which we are to withdraw from the world – the secret “telephone booth” in which we can contact the heavenly Father.
And instead of directing our humility towards the Church leadership, let it be first towards God. How? By obeying His eternal law “You shall love Jehovah [the Eternal Father] your God above all and your neighbor as yourself”.
Do not confuse obedience to God from obedience to the Church leadership. There are many times that these are two different things! There are many times when these two authorities are in conflict! I tell you.
The following will clarify the difference between God and the Church, yes, even His true Church:
[The Lord]: “Tell My friends, they shall not lo ve My servants more than Me. They shall place their salvation fully in My hands, rather than keep it in their own hands, and completely rely on Me…My church on earth is only a bath of purification. Let him therefore who has washed himself come to Me that I may dry him with the warmth of My love and keep him with Me. But he who enjoys the splashing and dabbling [in the church] will fare as do the mill-wheels which never get out of the water.
“So, if someone has performed the works of true repentance, let him come to Me, and I will receive him like a prodigal son and keep him within My strength.”
What is the difference of God from His servant in the church? What is the limitation of the priests or ministers?
“For the servant can advise, but I can do it [what is advised]; the servant can instruct, but salvation is My work; the servant can pray, but I alone can show mercy. THEREFORE, LET THEM NOT FORGET THE LORD OVER THE SERVANTS!”[14]
Referring to the Catholic Church as well as other churches which make commercial use of religion or what Paul termed as using “godliness [or faith, spiritual teachings] as a means to financial gain,”[15] here is the Lord’s stern statements:
“Tell My [church] officials and servants: My offices are not banks and money-changing-offices, for he who serves Me for the sake of money does not serve Me out of love.
[NOTE: MONTHLY COLLECTIONS OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH ALL OVER THE WORLD FROM MASS OFFERINGS AND SERVICES FOR FEES, SUCH AS BAPTISMAL, WEDDING AND FUNERAL, AMOUNT TO COUNTLESS OF MILLIONS. MORE THAN P32,000,000.00 A MONTH FROM THE PHILIPPINES ALONE. VATICAN CITY BANK RECEIVES THESE AND THEN INVEST THEM ESPECIALLY IN THE WORLD BANK AND IMF, MAKING THE CHURCH THE BIGGEST SINGLE NON-GOVERNMENT INSTITUTIONAL OWNER OF WORLD BANK. THEN THE WORLD BANK LENDS THESE BACK TO THE PEOPLE VIA THEIR COUNTRY BANKS AND MONEY LENDERS. IT IS THEREFORE THE PEOPLE’S OWN MONEY THAT COMES TO THEM AS LOANS AND CAUSE THEIR LAND, FARM AND HOUSES TO GET FORECLOSED [READ: SEIZED]! THE PEOPLE ARE BEING COOKED BY THEIR OWN OIL!]
The words therefore of the late Pope John Paul II to the Americans during his visit to the U.S. were good words but he must have spoken them not without some bone in his throat! A bone that chastise him for the church’s hypocrisy!
“[America] Go beyond charity, beyond the crumbs from the feast…Charity is not enough. You must take of your substance and not just of your abundance,” WELL SAID! “in order to help them. Poverty is not a part of God’s design” [Well, surely he must know that very well!] “but rather the result of structural reasons [or systems] in the shape [or the guise] of economic institutions.” Such as the World Bank! Such as the banking system which lends the people’s money back to the people with interest and with the policy to further sequester the borrower’s properties in case of his inability to pay the loan! And how many lands – how many farms – how many houses – have been sequestered by the authorities if you list them since from the beginning? Who has become rich of this system? Who has become poor? No, the poor become poorer! Ever know the family that lost farm, land and house? And can you guess what happened to the young daughters of such a poor family stripped off its source of livelihood? They went to the big city to look for jobs. And they fell into the hands of the flesh traders. They became prostitutes – against their will!
Like the government, the Church has become the hawk in the following story by the Lord:
“Do not follow the evil inhabitants in hell who serve out of selfishness, for everyone there expects to be served.
“They are like the story of the turtle and the hawk. The hawk first eagerly helps the turtle out of its mud-hole in the meadow, only to be grabbed by the hawk in its neck during its search for herbs, carried aloft and smashed into a rock.
“Why did the hawk do that? So that she can enjoy the turtle’s flesh as a reward for its previous eagerness to help. My, children, do not do that!
“Service should be given in love and with true brotherly feeling, as is customary in the heavens.” [16]
She uses friendliness as a bait and a trap! In one place, the Lord referred to foreign missionaries “adopting their converts like their children”. For what purpose? Their friendliness – their “filial love” -- did not come without ulterior motive!
Let us continue to hear what the Lord spoke against the unfaithful church: “And the one who does not serve Me out of love is a stranger to Me in his service as I must be a stranger to him since he does not serve Me out of love. With him My account is already closed.
“And how can he be a faithful servant who sells his master’s treasures illicitly like a thief at shameful prices? – Judas Iscariot sold Me at least for 30 pieces of silver not knowing in advance what would happen to Me; for he was deluded and became lost.
“But now – as already tortured, slain and risen from the dead, I am available every minute for a mere song. Oh, shameful thieves, you murderers, what can I compare you to? You children of the dragon, you brood of vipers! Are you serving Me like this, must I find you such?
“I had My dear Paul tell you that he who serves the altar shall also live of the altar, but only from the works of love which works all that is good. But you have no works of love, and are therefore, robbers and thieves and murderers of the Gospel and all truth. Know then: As the work, so the reward!
“Love cannot be had for money, but only for love. I am the very love and can never be won for any other price but love. I have redeemed all of you with love and, therefore, demand again love from you.
“So, whoever wishes to come to Me, let him come in the love that bled for him on the cross.”[17]
God’s seers foresaw the coming of commercial churches and one of them lamented: “Yea, it shall come to pass in a day when churches established will say: Come unto me and for your money you will be forgiven of your sins.”[18]
Rizal would refer to that as the selling of indulgences.
God says the service that He is after of is that of “love which works all that is good.” Is the foreclosure of a faithful’s farm, land and house a “love which works all that is good”?
Is a member’s getting the more enslaved by vice which the Spaniards brought to the Philippines a “love which works all that is good”?
Is Cardinal Sin’s accepting ‘donations’ from the drug and gambling lords so that the church would at least stay neutral, keep quiet and would not do something that would expose them to the unknowing and unsuspecting people and endanger their lucrative vice business – is this an act of “love which works all that is good”?
In allowing the gambling lords actively tempt the people with the promise of big wins while the priests withdraw to some quiet place, wanting to do nothing with it, and allow the gambling lords devour everything that belongs to the poor gambler: little income, peace, precious time, property, health, wife, children and salvation – all precious things that gambler lost – is it an act of “love which works all that is good”?
In not forewarning the flocks about the real motive of the gambling lord and the drug lord, is the Church doing an act of “love which works all that is good”?
It is not hidden even from the simple-minded that gambling is one root cause of the increasing poverty of the people and the cause also of many political squabbles including the fall of President Erap, are we to say that the church’s allowing the gambling lords to go freely and capture the people an “love which works all that is good”?
How many crimes that the church has committed that she has hidden from the people’s view?
Besides being connivance with the evil vice lords, the church is also manned with sexual immorals! Both homosexuals and adulterers fill the church’s priesthood! My uncle who then 5 years old, fell victim to one of them. He was raped a number of times. My young uncle’s mind could not accept the crime; he became insane and spent 16 years of his youth’s years in the mental hospital. One error of a man of God, meant a whole life being wasted!
I heard that the Church’s punishment for priest committing this sin is just to transfer him to another parish! And there to continue this evil deed?
I heard Jesus saying, “Do not follow their deeds.
“But if you hear the church preach or quote God’s word, then, follow her, that is, what she says. But as to what she does (or her priests do) such as drunkenness, adultery, homosexuality, sexual immorality as well as corruption among the priests who receive bribes from gambling lords, drug lords and other vices lords (who gave substantial amount to our priests with one simple condition: that the priests will keep quiet or not oppose their sinful activities or crimes and will talk in the pulpit about anything else save their evildoings nor will they take any action that will endanger their illegal and immoral activities and businesses) – these my brothers, do not follow!”
* * *
We have a short time in this life – whether as individuals or as a nation. If our age and own sickness shall not overtake us, then, the world events predicted long time ago, shall overrun us and destroy us!
And so, it behooves us to direct our mehumer to Christ. Again, how? By now zealously obeying His law over and above other laws made by the church and the government. His law is known to us: “You shall love Jehovah, the eternal Father, your God above all and your neighbor as yourself.” If you make the commitment, then, more wisdom will come upon you so that more and more you will comprehend how the law would be practiced. And above all, you will begin to notice the blessings of peace and joy to flow upon you. Yes, this will mean being freed from all kinds of enslavements, be it economic to debts, or physical enslavement to some sicknesses, or mental enslavement to some fear, doubt, worry, or lust or vice, etc. – Jesus Christ is your Savior from all of these evil forces who were your masters and oppressors!
Do not mistake Christ for the church. These are two different spellings. Remember that the Temple (Church) of Jerusalem persecuted and killed Christ. That is too much a thing to accuse a church of. But it is true. It was the Church of the Jews with its priests that orchestrated the crucifixion of our Lord.
So, do not always think that if you are obeying your priest or minister, you are automatically obeying Christ.
This leads us to the second trait that Jesus Christ wants us to develop in addition to being “blameless [innocent, sinless] as a dove”: BE WISE AS A SERPENT.
Because of our innocence or ignorance of the evil, oppressive, clever ways of Satan and his men, we could be easily caught in its net. And all too often this has happened. For example: how many innocent young men were corrupted into many vices of the cities as soon as they arrive there with the purpose to work? How many of our innocent young daughters and sisters are now enslaved in prostitution dens because they were promised by the crocodile recruiters that a good and decent job was waiting for them in the city?
When my young cousins started to the city, I told them of the warning of an old man aired in one radio soft opera. Here it is:
The old man, warning his academically intelligent young son who was to leave to study in UP having won a scholarly, told him: “My son, beware of the city. It is an octopus with many powerful tentacles. Allow not even one of its tentacles to touch and strangle you. Otherwise, the other tentacles will have occasion to also give you an embrace of immediate death!”
Each tentacle represents a sin or vice.
But the son was intelligent in knowledge of the world taught in the classroom only. He was dumb of the knowledge that leads to life as well as that which could save him from the pitfalls of life – this knowledge of life is called wisdom.
So lacking in wisdom, but growing in scientific and technical intelligence, our young man who graduated valedictorian from his high school class, was met by the first tentacle: pride of life.
This is how it happened.
Many of his classmates were children of rich men. His humility was not enough. And so he was ashamed to be seen wearing a poor man son’s clothes. So, he mounted into a catching up with the Joneses. He pressured his fisherman father to send him more money than he did. His father was surprised but didn’t know what was the additional money for. But trusting his son, he doubled his effort to earn (His mother had long since died. And he is the only child). He is always his father’s inspiration in the dark deep sea at night. He dedicated all his sacrifice to his beloved son.
Looking like a son of a rich man now, his son joined the rank of the rich. So, the tentacle of materialism has now bound him – without him knowing it!
The next tentacle that took hold of him, this time more unprepared that made him to tumble down, is drugs. His rich classmates were more shrewd in using drugs, but he was so lacking in prudence that he became more addicted to it than they were. And this presented a greater problem because he could not afford to support this expensive vice. And so, it harmed him more than his rich friends. His rich friends have enough food to it or can buy enough food. By contrast, his allowance for food was much reduced due to his growing dependence on drugs. In other words, he was now eating less and less, so that his body grew thin and weak and his health was affected; he got more often sick.
Moreover, as a result of the drug and lack of food, his mind was subjected to troubles and his grades were affected. He was losing his scholarship! His friends were supported by their rich parents.
As his demand for more money was being felt by his father, his father began to wonder more and more, most especially that his son had now stopped writing him and had not gone home for two semesters. Too bad, he is too poor and too ignorant to go to the city and find his son. So he waited and waited and prayed. Until one day, his son arrived – very thin and sickly… his eyes red and protruding.
“What happened to you, son?” came the very surprised question of the father.
The son did not answer. His behavior had greatly changed. He was no longer that humble and attentive happy son that he was some two years ago. He is more angry now. He got easily irritated, did not answer his father, and had become very demanding. This troubled his father deeply.
What made matters worse, his son kept on asking money even if he was no longer in the city. And the father was wondering why his son was not coming back to the city for the incoming semester. He did not tell his father that he had lost his scholarship.
The drug dependency has made the worst of him. When he craved for the drug, he would squeeze his father to give him money. And one afternoon came, when his father had lost his patience and was ready to confront his son, by hook or by crook. An argument ensued. Then a fist fight. The bedeviled son got hold of a knife and stabbed his old father!
The son did not find his senses until he realized that he was already in the jail. And it took the life of his father before he recognized that indeed the city is an octopus – so large, so all-encompassing and dangerous an octopus!
And many still don’t recognize its tentacles. If they have not been physically killed by this octopus, I lament for the fact that they are already morally corrupted and spiritually killed by this octopus!
When Jesus asked, “At the time near My return, shall I find faith?” that is already that kind of murder. Faith as well as love would be murdered! Faith and love would die in the hearts of many. For He prophesied that in the end time, “many will turn away from the faith” (e.g., will no longer believe in a God or in Christ so as to do His will) and “because of so much iniquity [immorality and wickedness], the love [for God and neighbor] of many will wax cold.”
While the Lord recognize that the children of this world are more shrewd than the children of God, we should take that as a warning. And not allow that to remain as the case or the norm! We should beware! Be more vigilant. Because this world’s glitters – its gold, its fame, its luxury, its sweet life, are a bait if we are not careful. Each is a tentacle!
Our love for God and our fellowmen should be greater than our love for self. If not, then we will misuse this world’s earthly wealth to make ourselves more and more selfish and indulgent, lustful and greedy, thus, violating the divine law “You shall love Jehovah your God in the persons of the poor and you shall love your neighbors as yourself.” And so we have found ourselves already in the breast of the octopus with its hugs of death!
For this reason, we must add GODLY WISDOM to meekness, so that we will not be outwitted and deceived by Satan and his cohorts anymore.
What is that godly wisdom? It is composed of so many truths that we need to get told and taught. But as a starter, do not go too far from the revealed law (“You shall love Jehovah your God above all with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your might and your neighbor as yourself”) for that is the first wisdom. As a matter of fact, the basic divine wisdom. By it, we derive to know a lot of things.
For instance, by dissecting the law, we can know that:
· “You shall love” means not “fear”. Love, not fear, is what the Father wants from us. If you love a person, you will go to him, more so, run towards him and embrace him; but, if you fear a person, you will run away from him! That is the vast difference between love and fear.
· “Jehovah” which literally and by Hebrew’s two root words means “I am” [hence, exists forever; hence, eternal] and “I cause” [that is, “I create” or “I beget”, hence, the Creator or Father], therefore, Jehovah means “Eternal Father” shall be
· “ your God” and no other. In Exodus 20, He declared, “I am Jehovah [or your Eternal Father]. You shall have no other gods [or masters] before or beside Me.” In Matthew 23, Jesus forbids having a human master or teacher, not even to call our human father ‘father’ because “you have only one father and one master and one teacher who is in heaven! The relationship that He orders and allows among men is that “we are all brothers to one another”. In Hebrew, father is ‘jeoua’ while the word used for human father is ‘jeoutza’ which actually means ‘pro-creator’ [or foster father]![19]
· “above all” means our love for Him must be greater than anything else! And the measure is the feelings, not the profession of the lips! Feelings, not thoughts. Love is first and foremost a feeling!
· “above all” also means “with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your might” which refers first, to all our feelings, then, next, to thoughts and actions. Lip-love is not acceptable. It must come from the deep of our heart, fill our mind and direct our actions. 600fold of our feelings must be love for God;
· “and your neighbor as yourself” which means “33fold love for others and 33fold love for our self”! Or because our neighbors are more in number than our self (including family), it should be 60fold love for Neighbor and only 6fold love for Self, hence, a humble Self.
Do not worry, the Lord says that “6fold love for Self” will never make us starve. It may deprive us of the many amenities and luxuries of the rich but our basic needs will not be endangered (food, clothing, shelter) but in exchange for our sacrifices (or for denying material leisure and sensual pleasure made possible by the money and material things of this world), God will give us true peace of mind and genuine lasting joy in our heart – things which the rich are seeking for without finding, because they did not take the right path to it. Above all, our reward is eternal life in His Kingdom in heaven!
With continued meditation as to its meanings, reach, depth and implications, the law will reveal to us much wisdom, more than what hundreds of great universities of this world can give to us.
It can lead us to understand that the opposite is 600fold love for Self, 60fold love for Neighbor and only 6fold love for God; hence, in total contrast to the law of love where love for God should be highest! Hence, it is the perverted 666! And since Self-love rules the world today, in business, in government or even among many Christians, therefore, it is the perverted 666!
Besides thought-influx during meditation or inspiration and additional understanding during application, the Lord has also committed His explanations in writing to expound and further explain the Law of Divine Love.
I am one of the recipients of those volumes of revelations which the Lord personally dictated in voice to the heart of a 19th century humble man named Jakob Lorber, a Jew living in Austria. Many volumes were written. It is found in the internet: www.franky1.com
If Austria and Germany will open their hearts to such rich knowledge as to how to love God above all and how to love the neighbor as themselves, then, these nations as well as any other nation who will do the same, will rise both in prosperity and generosity (charity)!
There were – there had been – great nations or empires but only in prosperity, not in generosity (charity).
To ambition to be great is often an order of pride. Those who had attained such kind of greatness inevitably and ultimately fell! But there is one greatness that will not cause us to fall. And this greatness is the greatness (richness) in humility and wisdom (knowledge from God). Both shall lead us to love God and our neighbor as well as ourselves more and more.
These humility, wisdom and love will lift us to the heights – yes, including material prosperity which is the least among the treasures that the Father has in store for all of those who love Him.
Greatness produced by divine love, humility and divine wisdom shall never fall! Other kind of greatness and fame are false and their foundation are sands, therefore, they shall fall and will never rise again!
Our weakness as some consider “meekness” a weakness, we shall recapture and preserve and be now directed to the invisible yet living Christ. Let us be meek and humble to Him first and foremost. And in our obedience to His law of love, we shall become wiser and wiser in matters regarding our physical, mental and emotional health as well as in matters regulating our relationships with one another.
And let us stop being humble and obedient to anything the church commands that is wrong!
And all the blessings that Jehovah promised in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 shall be ours and our descendants’ if we achieved the goal which the Father set for our patriarch Cain to pursue just before he was sent to become a vagabond in the earth. This goal is: Love [from the Father with its blessings] will be only with those who will seek it in the future not only in their misery and distress, but also in their happiness and freedom [and prosperity].[20]
What exactly was the reason why Israel lost all the initial blessings they enjoyed during the time of Moses, Joshua and the early kings? The same cause: “Because you did not serve Jehovah your God joyfully and gladly in the time of prosperity [but forgot Him], therefore, [you will be held captive or enslaved and] in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and dire poverty, you will serve the enemies Jehovah will send against you [that is, will allow to conquer you]. He will put an iron yoke in your neck until he has destroyed you.”[21]
WE MUST LEARN TO LOVE GOD ABOVE ALL IN TIMES OF PROSPERITY!
That is the goal! The great goal! The primordial angels were all in great splendor! And they, led by Lucifer, left their estate and forgot God, became ungrateful to Him!
* * *
In our present freedom and independence as a nation from other foreign powers (at least to some degree, because partly we are economically and politically controlled by America, et. al.), I am afraid and increasingly becoming more afraid that if we cannot be glad and willing servants of God in our hearts, NOW! then, someone will be too glad to enslave us!
And there are now dark clouds lurking over the horizon!
Some forces are waging and bidding to make us their slaves. First of them are: the vices! They have been already here. But their power is increasing! Their grips getting more choking. These tentacles of the octopus are getting stronger, strangling us to death! We must learn to cry on time, “Help!” Before it will get too late! Before we lost all those that we cherish and hold dear. Have you not seen, have you not understood? These tentacles are making us poor, weak and inutile and are frightening our wives and driving them to the Middle East, to Japan, to American to Canada! And for most of those to whom this tragedy had first befallen, chances are slim that they could hold their beloved wives again in their arms! The best they could have is a short visit, a rare letter and some allotment from their loving wives! But gone were the days they could hold them long! Gone would be the happiness that God granted those who live together and share life’s hardship and happiness together under His protective arms and merciful watch!
As I write this, something sharp pricks my heart. I to am afraid that my wife will leave for Australia. We too are feeling the pressure of poverty and hardship here in the Philippines. Life too is for us a great struggle!
Not that I am vicious. No, I could not have the courage nor the enlightenment to warn you about these tentacles if I were a slave of this octopus or still blinded by its tentacles, but thanks to our Savior, He has emancipated me from the Octopus. But the world has made my life as difficult too. As Jesus said, “Your Christian life will not be easy. If they made My life when I was here on earth difficult, they will make your life difficult too. That is the burden I want you to bear. The Christian burden, not the burden of sin. Not anymore the burden of the sinners. But rest assured, such new burden is a lot lighter and above all, will bring you blessings especially in the life beyond. So, endure unto the end. For only he who endures unto the end shall be saved.”
Only my faith and the Father’s love can sustain me and my family. To Him, I cried, “Father, please spare me and my family. Not that I wish the misfortune will fall upon other families, no, far from it. I also pray and equally desire that You will save them from troubles, but they have their freewill which You want respected. Each shall reap what he sows. And so, Father, I pray for enlightenment to all families. Please help them sow what they wanted to reap or what they do not want to regret reaping. Help them make the wise decisions. Save them, too. Not according to my ways, but according to Your holy, loving and wise will. Amen.”
The tentacles of the Octopus are rendering our men very weak. And forcing our women (mothers and wives) to salvage the breaking marriages and families due to drunkard and gambling husbands and our children are getting delinquent due to their irresponsible fathers!
So, next to vice, the force that is destroying our marriages and families and souls is the evil of force migration or leaving into foreign captivity and slavery!
The third evil that is lurking overhead is the invasion of foreigners into our native land! This is the danger of the move of the present administration to allow foreigners buy and own 100% of our land, waters, and other natural resources. The foreigners’ dollar is very mighty. Only its fractions can already buy a whole lot! So, it will not take many millions to buy out the whole of the Philippines!
If this will happen, where will we depend our livelihood? To where shall our OFWs come home? If we are poor now that we still have our land, will it get better for us when we will have no more land to till and on which to live?
Let us stay humble. As one of our beloved Jehovah’s exhortation made part of a Philippine song, “If My people will humble themselves and pray. Then, I will hear and save them.”
Let us stay humble and pray for His deliverance. And let us come to realize that the church has long gone to the side of the impostor for she was and is attracted by the glitters of gold and the tinkling of silver! By the bid of profit!
Shall we abandon the church? To where shall you go? To another denomination? How can you be that she is not the daughter of the mother? Remember the Roman Catholic Church is the Mystery Babylon the Great (Revelation 17), the mother of harlots, therefore, she has many daughters, e.g., the protestant churches also are harlots!
It will not make much difference to stay or not to stay. The big difference is that you transform your perverted-666 heart into the perfect divine-666! You should now know what I mean. This was already defined and differentiated above.
So, instead of going to another church, here is my advice: Go instead in your heart to divine 666 and leave perverted 666! And in that way, you will also help cleanse your outer church with her priests!
You will not do better to transfer to another denomination only to find errors there. What profit then is it to leave one set of errors (church denomination) behind only to find yourself in another set of errors (church denomination)?
This leaves me to clearly answer a question reader might ask and want to be clearly answered leaving no doubt? Am I advising anyone to leave his church?
My answer: NO, I am not. I am advising them to stay in their outer church AND to proceed to the inner church in their heart!
There is much work to do in the inner church. We are to allow the Christ fulfill the goal revealed to the prophets: I will remove the heart of stone from them, and make them a heart of flesh. And I will write the law in their minds and hearts.
To the inner church! That is the call of the day.
There are two kinds of church, namely: the outer and the inner. The outer church is that which has a corporate name, e.g., Roman Catholic Church, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc. The outer church has at least three value or importance, namely; 1) the outer church, or more precisely her priests or ministers, serves as ‘tutor’ to immature souls; just human father is appointed for the purpose of providing physical food to the young children of God, so a priest is also serving as spiritual provider (guide) of the souls who are still immature, still needing milk; 2) the outer church, being an coalition of more like-minded people in this world where too much differences exist, serves as an excellent place of fellowshipping, where one fears no one to express his thoughts or her feelings most especially her disappointments and heartaches in the world or in the family, etc.
The family is first the place where a person should find solace, but whenever the family becomes ineffective because, for example, it is in the family that trouble exists, such as a conflict with the husband, the next best place to find solace and solution, is the church! Paul has a point when he advised the brethren not to neglect fellowshipping.
3) This fellowshipping is also an opportunity to share joys, such as someone’s new understanding regarding a spiritual topic or subject, share a joyful testimony about the Lord’s faithfulness, His wisdom, His love and His power, which testimony can edify and encourage the listeners!
There is a 4th usefulness of the outer church: 4) Where a need is too heavy too bear for one, such as when there is a natural calamity or someone needs a business capital, etc., many hearts and many hands and pockets to contribute prayers, labor and money and other resources to solve the problem or meet the huge need.
It is of course wrong to pit one church denomination against another or to brag that your denomination is better or is the only true church on earth. Nay, this is wrong! This shows lack of understanding.
Membership to the true inner church is not by corporate name. Corporate name like Roman Catholic Church or the Church of Corinth or Church at Philadelphia or Church of Corinth, or the Southern Baptist Church, etc. these are all corporate names usually registered in the Securities of Exchange Commission (SEC), and not necessarily in heaven’s registrar!
Different churches by name already exist during Paul’s and Peter’s time. Paul’s many epistles were addressed to many churches. And they did not quarrel one another! But later on, when some more came up reaching now over 2,200 Christian church names, with different leaders, each one calling the others as ‘fakes’, division and troubles came! Even wars! Do you not know that the World War I and II were being fought by Judaists (Israel) on one side with the Protestants (Americans and the Allies) versus the Catholics on the other side (Germans, Italians)? Of course, some Allies were Catholics such as the Filipinos who would have fought against the Catholic Italians (Romans) were they not consigned to fight the Japanese in the Far East.
Anyway, the wars especially WW I and WW II were more than enough proof of our un-christianity because Catholics and Protestants are supposed to be brothers! They study the same Bible. The profess to know and worship the same God and the same Jesus Christ, and so on and so forth. So why such onslaught? This thought or question is too faith-breaking to begin with, and so many would prefer to evade it. But the deep thinking person would dare ask and consider as I do. The wars do not confirm brotherhood. The wars confirm Satan’s ‘divide and rule and destroy’ philosophy.
This should lead us to question the authenticity of many churches including the big ones. For Christ Himself forewarned of the appearance of false christs and therefore, the formation of false churches.
But the true church does not exist in the outer church. It cannot be found by hopping from one denomination to another. From the outer church you can find fellowshipping with like-minded brethren, gain solace and edification, as well as support but the true fellowshipping (communion) with God the Father and Jesus Christ occurs in private, namely: in our mind and heart and this usually is done more effectively alone! In prayers, meditations, and study of His Word. Also in fasting time.
This kind of need cannot be replaced, nor should be hindered by one’s membership or attendance of a church. You may attend a church but never shall you suppose that it is sufficient. No, it is not. The church should not be viewed to be the main source of strength or a replacement of direct personal quiet communication (connection) with God. While it is true that you can expect or even look for edification coming from your brethren, which act can sometimes become selfish or one-sided for it is also your duty to bring something for your brethren, be it an encouraging testimony or material blessing to share, etc., because a church, as in any other human organization, is a mutual relationship, a give and take relationship. You are not there just to get and receive. No, you are there to contribute something for the edification of the whole body. Using mainly your talents and its fruits (e.g., gains), you can greatly help strengthen your church.
But again, that does not make private fellowshipping with God unnecessary. As a matter of fact, all the more should you connect to God because only from God can you acquire the strength that you need to bring to the church! It is a state of immaturity (albeit valid to God) to ask or expect for strength from the church. But for the mature ones, we should come to God for all the strengths and with those strengths go to Church to distribute or share those strengths. We should graduate from the state where in we go to church to get and receive; we should now be able to go to church to give and share. The ‘getting’ and the ‘receiving’ let us leave that to our new members or those who are still weak and young in the body of Christ. It is a shame, to say the least, to stay and remain helpless and dependent on the church. We have to move on and become pillars of the church we belong.
This development is clearly stated in the Bible. First, there is the statement that some members need still milk and that they are to be under ‘tutor’ which first refer to the law or written scriptures which of course means that some minister or teacher is needed. But from that stage, we are to advance to what Jesus said in John 6:45: “It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’
Jesus quoted the prophecy Isaiah 54:13: “All your sons will be taught by Jehovah and great will be your children’s peace”.
There is a time, and it refers to a state of higher maturity, when GOD HIMSELF WILL TEACH HIS CHILDREN, NEEDING NO MORE TUTORS OR HUMAN TEACHERS!
I do not dismiss the importance of human guides, be it parents or church ministers. The fact that God the Father has appointed a human father and mother to each and every child cannot be questioned in its necessity. Can we then question His love and wisdom? We can even say, without blaspheming or insulting Him, that to do otherwise, that is, to do away with parents when they are needed according to God’s wise order, is tantamount to insulting or mocking God’s wisdom and love. It is like saying, “God and Father, your putting and appointing human parents is not a wise nor a loving thing that you do. I think that by doing this, You have become less wise and less loving!”
Can we tell God that? Nay, I would rather say this: That it is less effective for Him to personally tend His children, that is, in their physical state. His invisibility is a great fact that can hinder our growth here on earth. I also doubt that to be physically present everywhere, in each and every home and family, is not too easy nor possible for the Spirit Father. Imagine Him in a many different physical body! That will make Him many beings! Many Fathers! I do not think this will include his definition of omnipresence. Omnipresence means He is present everywhere and in everything through His essence of love which is an element present in all created beings anywhere in the universe. It is revealed that the force that makes something intact, preventing its disintegration, is LOVE itself. That force of attraction. Including that power in electricity that pulls or attracts in contrast to the opposite power that repulse. Also the warmth or that which gives life is LOVE in essence. Love is really everywhere.
That explains God’s omnipresence. Another is His presence in the human heart through His Holy Spirit which is nothing but LOVE substance with its wisdom, patience, earnest and other qualities, but the main quality is LOVE.
The Father’s presence in the heart of every human father and mother in the form of Love-Holy Spirit in their hearts is the better method than for Him to create billions of physical bodies and enter into them Himself! I think that is not possible, despite His omnipotence and great wisdom, for God’s full Self including all of His Mind and essence to be inside one body and at the same time to be in another billions of physical bodies, where each body contains the fullness of God or the complete God! That’s unthinkable! For how can a complete being which is placed in one container be able to be placed in another container, especially billions, if in the first place ALL OF HIM IS ALREADY PLACED IN THE FIRST CONTAINER? HOW CAN IT BE DONE WITHOUT DIVIDING HIM?
That makes God divisible! Many! Not One God! I THINK THAT IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD, DESPITE HIS STATEMENT THAT “NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE WITH GOD” which needs to be qualified in this case. I qualify that “Nothing is impossible with God” really as long as such thing is wise and loving and good! There are exception to the general rule. And I think this one is an exception.
So, the present Order of having human parents to feed the small children physical food among other tasks, and to have human ministers to feed the infant souls of church members is necessary.
There is a time when human parents are necessary – very necessary, to be exact. In the parable in Matthew 24 about a certain master of the Household who went to a far country for some important purpose. And he told his steward, Feed my household in season.
I believe the steward stands for human parents and human spiritual teachers. Of course, human parents are our first spiritual teachers. IT IS IN THIS STAGE that I do not find it useful or wise to do away with our pastors and priest as it is absolutely unwise to remove, if I may use such cruel term, human parents and leave young children orphans. Jehovah does not do that. He is angry at men who kill parents. This makes the children orphans. Jehovah only take old parents by death to bring them to the spirit realm once their mission on earth as parents was finished. If He allows cases where young parents die, that is an exception to His rule and by that He has a more loving and wiser purpose not yet known to us. In that case, we shall trust His love and wisdom as greater than ours.
The right time for children to need less their parents or to use a cruel term, for parents to become obsolete as far as parenting tasks is concerned is WHEN THE CHILDREN WILL HAVE ALL GROWN UP POSSESSING THE NECESSARY STRENGTHS AND ABILITIES THAT THEIR PARENTS AND OTHERS HAVE EQUIPPED THEM WITH!
In that stage, the parents are in a sense irrelevant – obsolete. Does that mean they are no longer important? Nay, ask your heart. I do not mean less or no-longer important. Our heart’s love makes our parents important – read: dear to us. In some portion there “parenthood” is no longer necessary to us, thus, obsolete, such as the breastfeeding or even earning a living for us. That is no longer necessary for grown up children. That is what I mean for parents becoming obsolete. But to be totally obsolete or useless, no, that cannot be possible. Parents, even if they be ‘useless’ by old age and physical disability will always be useful – needed – cherished by our heart – as one of its important irreplaceable content! Take the parent away, and your heart will be painfully empty!
Nevertheless, when children are grown up, many parental functions become unnecessary because the children have themselves have learned to do them for themselves. Like earning a living. Cooking their own food. Washing their own clothes. And it is also unkind for the children to let aging parents continue doing those tasks. Well, we are already beside the point.
The main point is: there is a time when parents and pastors are needed and there is a time when this kind of role or function is no longer necessary. The main reason for this is: they have already done that functions effectively I guess and their children or students have already made the most of it, that is, have learned from them and acquired their strengths. And so, the children and students are now ready for a higher stage.
While we are infants or youth, we need parents. While we are infants and youth in the spirit, we need priests or pastors. But as we advance to the next level of spiritual maturity, their importance diminish until we no longer need them.
As soon as we are through in this pastor or priest-guided stage, what is the next level?
That is the level where GOD THE FATHER HIMSELF IS OUR TEACHER. There is enough Scriptures about this. In the gospel book of the apostle John, it is stated, “And they shall all be taught by God.”[22] That is a quotation from an earlier prophecy in the Old Testament, in the book of Isaiah where it says, “And they shall all be taught by Jehovah [the Eternal Father] and the great will be the children’s peace.”[23]
That the teacher is relevant in a certain phase of the growth of a child of God and then become irrelevant as soon as his student is through in that stage of training is made clear by Jesus Christ who said, “The Word that comes [direct] from My mouth is more powerful and more active than when it is spoken out by the prophets [teachers], but the prophets’ words [which are less powerful] can be strengthened in every person to the same degree power through action [or application] which impresses deeply these Word in the mind and heart of the person.
“My Word is Life and when it passes DIRECTLY to a person with a willing heart, IT MAKES HIM ALIVE.
“In contrast, the word of the prophet [teacher] is only a trustful SIGNPOST and shows man how he can come to the LIVING WORD out of My mouth to be ALIVE.
“I say to you all: ULTIMATELY, [THERE IS A TIME OR STAGE WHEN] everyone will have to be instructed by God in his heart…”[24]
That should not offend the servants of God. Because that prophecy also concerns them. The ministers shall themselves take off their teacher’s robe and join in the class to listen to Great Teacher and Shepherd. That is – this is the time for many – to come listen to the Great Teacher – for the prophecy to get fully fulfilled, to wit: “Nor are you to be called ‘teacher’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ.”[25]
Today, this Scripture is in the process of being fully fulfilled! It is the same to the prophecy in John 10 where hired pastors shall be no more, them becoming among the sheep, to hail and welcome the True Shepherd, so that there will be ONE FLOCK AND ONE SHEPHERD![26]
Faithful hired shepherds should act in humility and gladness of heart like John the Baptist and say, “He shall increase, I must decrease”!
He should announce the Second Coming of the Lord. And he must include the diminishment of all human pastors to the level of students. All of us shall become students before the presence of the One Teacher.
Shall you leave your outer church (group where you are a member)?
Then, if you will, then, where will you go? To another more or less equally immature group? It is better to stay and just ask them about their explanation or understanding about this or that doctrine or Scripture. That will benefit you the more, without the trouble of becoming confused some times! But I’ve done it. I listened to as many explanations from as many churches or ministers as possible and then, I allow myself time, not to remain confused, but to think things through without stress, and the result is greater understanding, the doubtful aspects I file in my mind in a different place from what I label as “correct explanations”. But then, I always refer to the Bible if this is so and so and let the Bible become the judge. Where the Bible is not clear also, I advice that you refer it to the Living Being who is ready to hear and listen and give you answer. He has at least three ways to fulfill the prophecy “And they shall all be directly taught by God”, namely: 1) an influx of Love feeling direct to your heart; 2) an influx of Wise thought direct to your mind; and 3) His written DIRECT DICTATION through a human scribe which contains full explanations about any topic or subject or question you may have in your mind and heart.
To all three, I can attest that it is happening to me and to some others already all over the world! We are directly being taught BY God the Father!
This is not a boast. Nor an expression of evil pride. It is the truth that can happen to anyone of you as well. And it will.
For the statement of Christ saying, “But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”[27]
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth…he will tell you of what is yet to come.”[28]
Take note that there are two things that the Holy Spirit will do. First, he will remind us of what Jesus had already spoken or taught to us or to our predecessors during His earthly ministry. Second, ‘he will teach you all things…’, that is, ‘he will guide you into all the [remaining unknown] truths…and will tell you of what is yet to come.”
Hence, past teachings and future teachings! That there were and are so many other things still hidden – a vast volume of knowledge yet to be revealed - is proved in Jesus’ own statement when He said with both desperation and hope, “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when the Holy Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”[29] Not a human pastor or minister or priest, but the Holy Spirit!
This is the stage or time where HUMAN SERVANTS ARE NOT NECESSARY. Our priests and ministers, if they are as humble as John the Baptist, should announce and make this clear to their members, namely: that their role is temporary and not lasting – that they are here only as truthful signposts to point members to the Living Christ and Father – and then, when they have come face to face with Him, that is, have a personal relationship with Him, where He teaches them directly from Mind to minds and from Heart to hearts, and personally via His OWN WORDS (and not via the writings of His prophets or apostles as those found in the Old and New Testaments).
When the Christ came to earth the first time, it was one person by the name John the Baptist who announced and told the people: “Welcome Him! He must increase, I must diminish. He must enter in, I must give way!”
In John 10, we find the world full of many flocks of differing conditions and led by different human shepherds, hired or not. This is the state of the world that the returning Lord will find in His SECOND COMING.
There are many Johns the Baptists, so to speak. And so, you, Johns the Baptist, say to your flocks in all gladness and humility: “Welcome Him! He must increase, I must diminish. He must enter in, I must give way!”
For all flocks shall be gathered, and “they too will listen to My voice, and THEN THERE SHALL BE ONE FLOCK AND ONE SHEPHERD”![30]
That is the best of good news!
Therefore, I do not advice that you leave your outer church where you now belong and derive many benefits as well as have the opportunity to give many benefits to your brethren, THUS PRACTICE THE LAW “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR [BROTHERS] AS YOUR SELF, unless you are not loved there or your growth is truly hampered, but where this is not the case, I would advice you rather, and I say, GO NOT TO A PHYSICAL PLACE OR BUILDING NOR TO A HUMAN ORGANIZATION NOR TRANSFER TO ANOTHER CHURCH DENOMINATION, but to the spiritual church instead which takes place in your heart! There, perform the real inner transformation from being ignorant to BEING WISE AS A SERPENT AS WE ARE ALREADY TO SOME EXTENT GENTLE AS A DOVE!
Instead of going shopping for a new outer church, go instead to God via your HEART and ask for the truths, seek for them and knock at His heart’s door. Then, as He promised, it shall be given you, and what you seek will be found, and he who knocks shall be opened to him or her the door of God’s heart.
Where shall you go physically? What better place or outer church are you to go? We are already in known Christian church. Most of us are in the Catholic church. A number are in the different protestant churches. Some are in evangelical churches. I do not know how many of the total of over 2,200 christian churches in the world have made their presence in the Philippines. But I am sure quite a number has membership in the country.
Are you sure that the next denomination or church you will transfer to is better than the one you are in? I have seen and gone to almost all of them – yes, these churches! My extent of entry included study of their writings of course comparing them to the Scriptures, up to being almost baptized. When their pastor or representative made the attempt or reached the point to urge me (sorry to say, to trap me) to getting baptized, that was the end of my attendance, although in some ways I still study or review their writings and teachings. Compared to those of you who have not even bothered looking at their church building, I certainly am more familiar to the beliefs and teachings of these churches in some cases up to 70% depth.
Now what is my gain for this, as what my father described, time-consuming laborious and potentially mind-confusing activity of delving the teachings of these churches?
Nay, I did not consider it tiresome. I was so hungry of the truth that I was happy to spend as much necessary effort and time to know a church by its teachings. I did not feel weary. But limited as I am, yet, I was able to gauge their maturity or degree of correctness, not against myself, but against the Holy Bible, which every body accepts as the gauge. Confusion? Insanity? No, I was able to create two spacious ‘warehouses’ inside my mind named “To be proven” and “Proven” which enable me to avoid confusion and moreover, I was taking my time; I was not hurrying. I studied and proved everything in my own pace. So I did not fall into the pit of insanity or imbalance into which many too-hastening seekers fell.
My net gain is: greater mastery of the Word of God, to use it as a two-edged sword.
Where others end up in endless quarrel with other faith defenders, I let them kept quiet. For my argument is often clear and it cuts deep, not arousing pride in them but convicting them to accept the Word of God, for their own good. I also was and am also surprised at my ‘mastery’ of the Word of God, as it often accidentally tested without me intending it. But I made it a rule never to use the Word of God an instrument of personal pride, e.g., to be well known as a master faith defender. I disagree at them who have made a profession or obsession at brandishing others, putting them to shame before the public.
The Word of God is too sublime to use it to shame others. You can’t lead people to love the Word of God by exemplifying pride which is the main enemy of the Holy Scriptures. Those who use the Word of God as a sword should use it in HUMILITY. In the classic battle of Christ and Satan in the beginning of His ministry after His 40-day fast, Jesus never acted with or out of pride.
* * *
In evaluating our strength and weaknesses as well as determining their corresponding opportunities and threats, WE STAND BEFORE A TREMENDOUSLY GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO REACH PERFECTION SOONER THAN OTHER NATIONS! TO US WHO ARE THE LAST (LEAST) AMONG NATIONS, IT CAN BE SAID, “THE LAST SHALL BE THE FIRST, AND THE FIRST SHALL BE THE LAST”!
Why do I say that?
Well, as I’ve said, MEEKNESS IS OUR STRENGTH. Many nations who are great in this world do not possess that much humility (meekness) that the Negroid-Brownish people possesses.
We are holding a blessing in disguise.
Why do I say that?
Let quote the Lord Jesus Christ!
“[It is 7th spirit of Mehumer (Meekness-Humility-Mercy)] that affects all the preceding ones by giving them the divine-spiritual perfection and also helps the human soul to attain to the full and true rebirth in the spirit.
“This is the reason why the Lord Himself urged all of you to love God and your neighbor, adding: ‘Be merciful, as also your Father in heaven is merciful, and be meek and humble, as also I am meek and humble with all My heart!”
“Thus, the Lord bade you, men, to develop above all the Seventh Spirit because in this last spirit all the preceding ones are contained and being developed. Therefore, he who zealously develops and strengthens this last spirit develops and strengthens also the preceding ones and has taken the shortest and surest road to perfection. However, he who begins his development with one or several of the preceding spirits will attain to the full perfection of life only with great effort, or not at all, because these earlier spirits do not contain the Seventh Spirit, whereas the latter does contain all the ones preceding it.
“And behold, therein consists continuously the fall of the angels or the thoughts and ideas out of God – which we may call the forces constantly flowing from God -, so long as they in their entirety in man’s nature have failed to develop the Seventh Spirit within them to true and supreme perfection. For all the preceding spirits have been partly given, more or less freely, to almost all created beings, whereas the Seventh Spirit must be won by man himself with much diligence and zeal.
“As only by acquiring this spirit do all the preceding six gain their life’s true significance and true purpose, the whole man does only through it win the fullest freedom and independence of life.”[31]
The reason why Jesus emphasized to us, His disciples, to focus on the acquisition or learning of this 7th Spiritual attribute saying, “Be meek, be humble, be merciful” is clearly stated: This spiritual quality is the key to perfection! It is the shortest road to perfection. Through this, all the other important qualities can be easily acquired.
Of course, of all seven qualities of God (namely: love, wisdom, will, order, earnest, patience and meekness) Love is the main traits of God and the rest serve as its support, yet, without the 7th quality of humility, we will not easily learn to Love! Without humility, it seems impossible to get to come to love God above all and our neighbor as ourselves!
In this task of acquisition, humility may not be the end; love is the end and the aim. But humility is the best means. As a matter of fact, humility is the only to love!
The Lord said, “the Seventh Spirit must be won by man himself with much diligence and zeal”. Behold, we have not won it by much diligence and zeal. We have a sort of ‘inherited’ it from our forefather Cain. We have it as a bonus for the poverty of the mind and heart and will that we come to inherit from our converted patriarch Ethiope.
Through so much sufferings that we still have today, we learn humility. This Negroid race has been subjected to so much humiliation, insults, discrimination, sufferings. From the Philippines, to Africa, to America and to all other places they dwell, they are being oppressed by stronger and wiser people of other race.
I say again, “But we must appreciate that MEEKNESS is a strength. The greatest strength of all. It is not a weakness. It holds the key to our faster arrival at perfection, because through humility, the attributes from the heavens can be more abundantly given.
For “blessed are the poor [humble] in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…
Blessed are those who are meek for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness [knowledge] for they shall be filled.
Blessed are the merciful for they shall be shown mercy…
Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who persecuted because of righteousness,
For theirs is the kingdom of God.”[32]
Never in my life as a Christian have I read this verses with the realization in my mind that this is referring to our Negroid race more than any other race! Since I started reading the Bible in 1980, I had always thought that these verses referred to individuals or collective Christians. Only now that I realize that more than any race, these verses describe and refer to the much-oppressed Negroid race!
I am not saying that other races are not humble or do not have a degree of humility. I am just saying that never before am I thinking that God, in His great mercy and boundless love and wisdom, HE HAS GIFTED US WITH THE GREATEST GIFT OF ALL, THE GIFT OF MEEKNESS!
Yes, He said that this is less of a gift, but as a result of man’s efforts [or should I say, much sins and sufferings], but still I would say that meekness could not sprout had not the Father of mercy sown mercy in the first place. So, as He sowed, so He reaps. He sowed mercy in us, He is now reaping mercy from us. Elsewhere, the Negroid people are referred to as “the children [that is, offshoot, the products, or results of] God’s mercy.” We are children of mercy.
And that is an accolade, which we must not be proud of [let’s beware of pride, remember?] but rather be glad of and to thank the Father the most.
We are also among the which the Lord honored by saying, “He who sinned much [and consequently, repented much] loves much”!
Let us hold fast GENTLENESS AND HUMILITY. And allow no trace of pride and arrogance to ever take abode in our mind and heart.
Rather than losing it, let us preserve and further cultivate our gentleness as a people. And added to that, let us ASK, SEEK AND KNOCK FOR THE DIVINE WISDOM to make a perfect and complete and balanced IMAGE OF JEHOVAH, who revealed His purpose for creating man to wit: “Let us make man after our own likeness and image”![33]
JEOUA IS OUR PERFECT EXAMPLE: HE IS WISE AS A SERPENT AND GENTLE AS A DOVE!
And we are to become His image – His replica!
Let the churches hear what the Father wants us to know and to do. Amen.
As concerns me, I will continue to share whatever wisdom our Lord and Father will channel through me in the form of additional understanding or enlightenment to solve our problems and to save us from all dangers that are lurking to destroy us, as individuals and as a nation, and to lead us into becoming a people who is “wise as a serpent but gentle and sinless as a dove”! That kind of nation, all nations will love but will never be able to outwit and oppress again!!!
It is to that spiritual closet called heart that we shall go. And not to licentious America or cruel Arabia!
God bless the Philippines!
Our greatest love be for our God Jehovah, the most-loving Father of us all!
So be it!
[1] Daniel 3:28-29
[2] Daniel 4:30
[3] Daniel 4:17, 25
[4] Daniel 4:27
[5] Daniel 4:30
[6] Daniel 4:34-35
[7] Galatians 5:13-15
[8] Galatians 5:14; John 15:17, and elsewhere in the Holy Bible
[9] Childhood of Jesus
[10] Isaiah 66:2; 57:15
[11] Household of God I/24:1-6
[12] Household of God I/23:7-16
[13] Matthew 23:12
[14] Household of God I/2:4
[15] 1 Timothy 6:5
[16] Great Gospel of John IV/99
[17] Household of God I/2:11
[18] Mormon 8:32
[19] Great Gospel of John VII/200:5-6; 199:6 = NRJC 18/18:6 & 19:1-6
[20] Household of God I/21:10
[21] Deuteronomy 28:47-48
[22] John 6:45
[23] Isaiah 54:13
[24] New Revelation of Jesus Christ, volume 21/24:5-7
[25] Matthew 23:10
[26] John 10:1-18
[27] John 14:26
[28] John 16;13
[29] John 16:12
[30] John 10:16
[31] Great Gospel of John VII/20
[32] Matthew 5:3-12
[33] Genesis 1:26
No comments:
Post a Comment