Sunsets Into Sunrises
Bishop Martin - The Progress of a Soul in the Beyond
- Chapter 175 -
END OF MARTIN'S SERMON AND A HINT AS TO ITS PURPOSE. CONDITIONS FOR BECOMING A CHILD OF GOD. WORDS OF THANKS AND APPRECIATION FROM THE SAGE.
1
(Says Martin): "Despite the very bad living conditions on earth, of which I have just given only a rough outline, I do not mean to say at any time that the Lord is not fair. Nor do I want to maintain that it is practically impossible to lead a life on earth that is pleasing to Him. I only want to make your minds more receptive, and this can be achieved by pointing out to you the countless advantages of your living conditions. For you who have been born into them are quite unable to judge them unless you are given a comparison with the living conditions in other worlds - especially mine, with which I am only too familiar, having had a lot to do with such things.
2
I have not the least intention of accusing the Lord before you and your wisdom, nor do I want to incite you against Him, which would be unspeakably foolish of me. However, in view of the fact that you, too, have been called to become children of God, and that your wisdom has made it known to you that true children of God can be procreated only in our world, it is essential for you to also know under what conditions a human being can attain to this invaluable and most sublime position of honor.
3
So far, your lives have been nothing but a pastime of God's angels, whose property you were, and this has been totally unsuitable for the attainment of God's sonship, for it is no game, but sacred earnest, and must be striven for in the often most bitter reality of life.
4
Therefore, you shall also be given laws similar to ours, and here, too, the word of God will apply: 'Everyone of you must shoulder his cross and follow Me, or he cannot be where I am, live and act surrounded by My children, who will be My right hand forever, do what I do and live as I live.'
5
For this reason, the Lord Himself came to live in my world as a man, suffered all imaginable hardships of human life on earth, and finally even let blind mankind put His body to death on a cross in the most humiliating and painful manner. And all this only so that the human beings of my world could become gods - if they so desired, of course.
6
But the fact alone that somebody is born in that world where the Lord Himself had assumed the flesh, will not suffice to attain the filial relationship to God; he must voluntarily fulfill all the conditions prescribed by the Lord Himself.
7
All of you have heard my description of the misery on earth which almost gives the impression as if the Lord were not interested in the world which He Himself made the most important and sacred in the whole universe through His incarnation there. But this is not so.
8
Men on that earth are free in the fullest sense of the word, and they can do whatever they like: good in accordance with God's law, or evil against it. Nothing draws them toward good or evil; it all depends on their own free will. This is also the reason why the living conditions in that world are so scanty; man's free will must not be influenced and spoilt by them.
9
On the other hand, heavenly things, too, are covered up so as not to force the decision of the free will toward good through seeing clearly what beatitudes are awaiting man in the beyond. Although God's teaching makes it clear to everyone what the consequences will be after either a good or bad life, he can still do whatever he wants, for there is no certainty for him on either side to force his decision.
10
Everything on earth is, therefore, arranged in such a way that man's will is and remains free. For without this free will, it would be impossible to attain to the sonship of God freely without ever being under compulsion.
11
In view of this, it is not hard to understand that most men on my earth err in some way or another. That you, too, if you seriously desire to become children of God, will have to be transferred to quite different living conditions, is quite another thing. How - my successor will be telling you. So listen to him!"
12
(Says Uron): "I, and all these assembled here, thank you for your speech and instruction given us through the grace of your and our God and Lord. I found the last part particularly valuable, for it showed me clearly the reason why life in your world is so much harsher than it is in ours. Besides, this has confirmed my previously expressed belief that no intelligent being should doubt the kindness of the Creator.
13
For His infinite omnipotence, with its innumerable works of the most wonderful kind and order, indisputably vouches for His likewise boundless wisdom. And such wisdom can only flow from the great order in the most perfect, everlasting life of the Creator Himself.
14
Where life is based on the highest, purest, and most profound order, in such a perfect life there must dwell a kindness quite beyond the comprehension of even the freest created spirit.
15
I thank you, dear friend, for myself as well as for all the others who are assembled here, and now I am looking forward to what brother Peter will tell us. May the Lord guide his tongue."