Welcome To Jacob's Ladder

KEY  OF  KNOWLEDGE

You have reached the Web Site of Yeshua/Jesus' Brother

Though many of you call me James, my real name is Jacob

To Possess The Key of Knowledge

Is To Possess The Means 

To Be Taught Directly By God

Covenant Lost!

The Church Threw Away The Key Of Knowledge

Blinded Their Eyes - Hardened Their Hearts 

And Made Themselves Latter Day Pharisees 

http://KeyOfKnowledge.org

“Woe to you lawyers! 

For you have taken away the key of knowledge; 

you did not enter in yourselves, 

and those who were entering in you hindered”  

(Luke 11:52 NAS)

 

Without the Key of Knowledge, 

Christians can't enter the Inner Kingdom!

Ten Questions Every Believer Must Ask?

What is the Key of Knowledge?

How could Yeshua say that the Key of Knowledge was possessed by the Pharisees?

How did the Pharisees take away the Key of Knowledge?   

What did the Pharisees not enter in themselves?

How did the Pharisees hinder those who were attempting to enter in?

Since the Pharisees did not possess Yeshua, what was it that they did possess?

Did the disciples of Yeshua possess the Key of Knowledge?

Did the early Christian Church possess the Key of Knowledge?

Do Christians today possess the Key of Knowledge?

 

 

 

Among The Earliest Of Church Fathers

Origen, Who Was Condemned By The Emperor Justinian

Possessed The Key of Knowledge

Origen writes: But lest this difficulty perhaps should be supposed to exist only in the language of the prophets, seeing the prophetic style is allowed by all to abound in figures and enigmas, what do we find when we come to the Gospels? Is there not hidden there also an inner, namely a divine sense, which is revealed by that grace alone which he had received who said, ‘But we have the mind of Christ, that we might know the things freely given to us by God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Spirit teacheth?’ And if one now were to read the revelations which were made to John, how amazed would he not be that there should be contained within them so great an amount of hidden, ineffable mysteries, in which it is clearly understood, even by those who cannot comprehend what is concealed, that something certainly is concealed. And yet are not the Epistles of the Apostles, which seem to some to be plainer, filled with meanings so profound, that by means of them, as by some small receptacle, the clearness of incalculable light appears to be poured into those who are capable of understanding the meaning of divine wisdom? And therefore, because this is the case, and because there are many who go wrong in this life, I do not consider that it is easy to pronounce, without danger, that any one knows or understands those things, which, in order to be opened up, need the key of knowledge; which key, the Savior declared, lay with those who were skilled in the law”.

When The Christians Murdered The Ebionites

They Killed Those Who Possessed The Inner Knowledge Of the Law

And They Threw Away The Key Of Knowledge

 

 

 

 

Unlocking The Scriptures

The Key Of Knowledge

Paul called the written words of the scriptures the "letter that killeth" (2 Cor 3:6).   He warned the baptized believers at Corinth that until they undergo the necessary process of spiritual transformation, that their natural organic mind will be incapable of understanding the true meaning of the Gospel, and they will look upon the Mysteries of God as "foolishness" -- i.e., “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14 NKJ).   And he warned these baptized and confirmed Christians who had received all the gifts and testimony of the Gospel, that their untransformed mind was yet too carnal to comprehend and begin to grasp the necessary higher realities of soul and spirit -- i.e., “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ (1 Cor 3:1 NAS).   Further explaining that what is known as the testimony of Jesus Christ and him crucified is the "milk" of the Gospel -- meant for entry-level believers who have only begun their journey in TheWay -- i.e., “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able” (1 Cor 3:2 NAS).

To this very day, what the believers or a natural organic mindset have trouble in comprehending -- a reality that continues to plague all people who attempt to read the scriptures -- is the reality that the religion preached by Paul was one of Spiritual Transformation.   Paul warned those he preached to about the "letter that killeth", that their religious ideas and doctrines were merely elementary.   Paul attempted to convey this higher reality to believers who were unable to comprehend the Mysteries of God, because he was a man who was not only enlightened about the Kingdom within (see Gate Of Eden), but had himself been permitted entrance into the Kingdom -- as seen in his words that every Christian who beseeches the Lord today to enlighten their understanding, is in fact asking to see and hear “…things so astounding that they are beyond a man's power to describe or put in words…” -- and after they gaze upon these mysteries, what they have witnessed will be of such a profound nature that they will “…not [be] allowed to tell them to others” (2 Cor 12:4 TLB).    Why?   Why will they not be able to convey to the believers in the Church what they have seen and witnessed?   Because in not having evolved through the process of spiritual transformation, they are still of a carnal mind -- a mindset that Paul warns: The... “carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God... For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Rom 8:7-8;13 NKJ).    

When Paul warned that he could only speak to the believers at Corinth as   "...men of flesh, as to babes in Christ” (1 Cor 3:1 NAS), what he was warning was that “Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil” (Heb 5:13-14 NIV).   And because they are yet carnal -- not having undergone the process of spiritual transformation -- Paul warned that “And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he ought to know” (1 Cor 8:2 NKJ).   For if man could simply open the scriptures and be able to discern the Truth, Jesus would not have said of his disciples: “For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it” (Matt 13:17 NIV).   Why did Jesus say these words?   Because the majority of believers who attempted to read the scriptures literally, and observe the oracles of the Word in a ritualized outward manner, were the counterfeit believers whose carnal mindset had spiritually disenfranchised them from the Kingdom within. 

The evidence has proven that when the scriptures were given to the Gentiles, they immediately began to corrupt them (see Bible Corruption )and misinterpret the meaning because they did not possess the necessary Key of Knowledge.   And this prompted James to write in the Epistle of Peter and James: "Hear me, brethren and fellow-servants. If we should give the books to all indiscriminately, and they should be corrupted by any daring men, or be perverted by interpretations, as you have heard that some have already done, it will remain even for those who really seek the truth, always to wander in error.   Wherefore it is better that they should be with us, and that we should  communicate them with all the fore-mentioned care to those who wish to live piously, and to save others."    

The fact is attested to that the Ebionite/Nazirene Disciples of Yeshua did not give the Gentiles the most spiritual scriptures -- i.e., in the words of St. Jerome: "A difficult work is enjoined, since this translation has been commanded me by your Felicities, which St. Matthew himself, the Apostle and Evangelist, did not wish to be openly written. For if it had not been Secret, he would have added to the evangel that which he gave forth was his; but he made up this book sealed up in the Hebrew characters, which he put forth even in such a way that the book, written in Hebrew letters and by the hand of himself, might be possessed by the men most religious, who also, in the course of time, received it from those who preceded them. But this very book they never gave to any one to be transcribed, and its text they related some one way and some another".  This Secret more Spiritual version of the Book of Matthew was referred to by Gibbon where he wrote: "But the secret and authentic history has been recorded in several copies of the Gospel according to St. Matthew, which these sectaries long preserved in the original Hebrew, as the sole evidence of their faith."

Why would it be written by James and Peter that if this essential knowledge was lost, that "...it will remain even for those who really seek the truth, always to wander in error."?   Why couldn't believers merely read the scriptures, and know the truth?    For many of the very same reasons why Paul warned that the believers of a natural organic mind will look upon the Mysteries of God as "foolishness"!   Why Paul warned that those who knew the Truth by virtue of their inner spiritual experiences, were not permitted to tell others what they witnessed in the Kingdom -- i.e., “…things so astounding that they are beyond a man's power to describe or put in words…” -- and after they gaze upon these mysteries, what they have witnessed will be of such a profound nature that they will “…not [be] allowed to tell them to others” (2 Cor 12:4 TLB).

Why The Jews Were Condemned

The Jews who saw only the written literal words of the scriptures, threw away the Key of Knowledge that unlocks the inner "narrow gate" to the Kingdom within ( Gate Of Eden ).    In the words of the New Living Translation: "How terrible it will be for you experts in religious law! For you hide the key to knowledge from the people. You don't enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering" (Luke 11:52).   Which conveys to us that if the experts in religious law had properly used and applied the Key of Knowledge, that they not only would have been able to enter the Kingdom -- but that they would have become a true guide to others.   And because the vast majority of Gentiles did not themselves possess the Key of Knowledge, they failed to understand that this was the very reason why Jesus condemned the Pharisees and Sadducees as counterfeit and blind guides.    And that the Key of Knowledge must be properly applied so it will open the inner door to the Kingdom, is further demonstrated in the words: "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." (Matt 7:13-14 NKJ).   And when Jesus was asked directly when the Kingdom of God would come upon the earth as Jews and Christians believe, Jesus said it would never come upon the earth, because it is within us all: "Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:20-21 NKJ).   And Christians today fail to comprehend this fact, because they have thrown away the Key of Knowledge that unlocks the inner "narrow gate".   And modern Christians can't even begin to understand the Mysteries of God, because they ignore and reject the warning in the parable of the Sower and the Seed where it states: “Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all parables?” (Mark 4:13 KJV) -- or, in the wording of a the modern language New Living Translation: “But if you can’t understand this story, how will you understand all the others I am going to tell? (see Sower And The Seed)

 

By Throwing Away The Key Of Knowledge

Christians Are Blind Guides

"For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men;

for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in."
(Matt 23:13 NKJ)

 

The literal text of the scripture is intended to teach certain moral and physical lessons about life -- and especially in the case of the New Testament, what the true disciple of Christ must do to receive the Divine Manna/Knowledge of the Kingdom.   Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and other interactions with the people, convey to the seeker important lessons about embracing the proper mindset and living a God-Centered spiritual Life.   But the next stage of soul-birth that Jesus states to Nicodemus is necessary to enter into the Kingdom, and the journey in TheWay which is the return of the prodigal son or daughter to their Heavenly Father, can only be accomplished through the transformation of self.    Thus, it is written: "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22 NKJ).   And this is why Paul Commanded to "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature" (Col 3:5 NIV).  To the degree that Paul warned: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom 8:13 KJV).   From Paul's perspective, an outward ritual observance of the Law in the manner of the carnal Jews, was incapable of bringing about this necessary spiritual transformation and soul-birth.   To mortify the deeds of the body takes work -- a great amount of work -- and this work cannot be accomplished through the static faith which our present-day Churches promote.   The problem is that these biblical commandments have absolutely nothing in common with the doctrine of faith that was developed by Martin Luther in the Middle-ages.    As a priest of the Church of Rome, there was much that was not understood by Martin Luther and the Middle-Age Reformers.   They did not know that the scriptures must have what Jesus called the Key of Knowledge  applied to them -- and that if you learn to turn the scriptures within yourself, you draw ever nearer to the Kingdom within (Lk 17:20-21).   G.R.S. Mead, a foremost authority on the Spiritual Christians who the Roman Church condemned as Gnostics because they saught the Divine Manna of the Inner Kingdom, in his book entitled Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, this explanation of the true nature of the scriptures is put forth: “…what the Gnostics projected onto the screen… [in the form of a ] picture of the universe was in reality a picture of their own minds. Its mythology is a symbolic portrayal, almost a deliberate one, of the forces which operate in the structuring and evolution of the human personality”.   It was for this reason that Carl Jung called the Gnostic Christians the worlds first and foremost psychologists who understood the very fabric of human consciousness.   That there is an Inner Source of Knowledge that is beyond even the most enlightened wisdom of this world, is in fact the very reason why the Apostle Paul wrote: For the truth about God is known to them instinctively; God has put this knowledge in their hearts” (Rom 1:19 TLB).   And what Martin Luther and the Middle Age Reformers could never have known, is that Paul's doctrine of faith was based upon the fact that if you embrace the mindset taught by Jesus, and live a consecrated life, the the inner "narrow gate" to the Kingdom (see Gate Of Eden) will begin to open, and you will be able to access this inner Source of Knowledge.

Speaking of those who are blinded by the doctrines of men, or attempt to decipher and understand the scriptures without living the life ordained by Jesus as being Consecrated and worthy of a disciple, in the Clementine Homilies the Apostle Peter states of Simon Magus with respect to his inability to comprehend the true meaning of the scriptures: “And with us, indeed, who have had handed down from our forefathers the worship of the God who made all things, and also the mystery of the books which are able to deceive, he will not prevail; but with those from amongst the Gentiles who have the polytheistic fancy bred in them, and who know not the falsehoods of the Scriptures, he will prevail much. And not only he; but if any other shall recount to those from among the Gentiles any vain, dreamlike, richly set out story against God, he will be believed, because from their childhood their minds are accustomed to take in things spoken against God. And few there shall be of them, as a few out of a multitude, who through ingenuousness shall not be willing so much as to hear an evil word against the God who made all things.   And to these alone from amongst the Gentiles it shall be vouchsafed to be saved. Let not any one of you, therefore, altogether complain of Simon, or of any one else; for nothing happens unjustly, since even the falsehoods of Scripture are with good reason presented for a test.”

What Peter is stating is that the written words of the scriptures contain many falsehoods -- and this is confirmed in the writing of the Church Father Origen in De Principiis, where he wrote concerning the historical and literal factualness of the written narrative of the scriptures: “Where the word found that things done according to the history could be adapted to these mystical senses, he made use of them concealing from the multitude the deeper meaning; but where in the narrative of the development of super-sensual things, there did not follow the performance of those certain events which were already indicated by the mystical meaning, the scripture interwove in the history the account of some event that did not take place, sometimes what could not have happened; sometimes what could but did not.”   What is Origen saying to us?   Where the Word found that using events from history could fulfill the purpose of the scriptures, the Word used these historical events, “concealing from the multitude the deeper meaning”.   In this respect, Jesus lived and taught the people the Royal Law of God and the means to gain entrance into the Kingdom.   These things are true.   But scripture is designed for a greater purpose than to inform us with respect to the past -- scripture is the handbook of those who desire to enter into Life.  

What is the purpose of the scriptures?   Surely not to teach us about history -- how can history open the door to the Kingdom within us?   And it is this seemingly historical account of the literal written word that Paul referred to as the Testimony of Christ which was the "milk... for babes".   And while the people of the simple faith were incapable of perceiving and understanding the higher reality of the soul and the Mysteries of God, by placing spiritual truths in what appears to he an historical document, accomplishes the necessary task of putting the sacred truths of God in the hands of the people -- in a language they can understand and relate to -- even during that time when they are yet carnal, and unable to comprehend the higher realities of the soul and the Mysteries of God.   By writing the scriptures in this fashion, the carnal believer could relate to the scriptures because the writings appeared -- on the surface -- to communicate and manifest a history of the people who were using them.   Yet, Origen warns that, even when the scriptures are historically accurate, there is concealed within the narrative a deeper meaning than what is grasped by the carnal reader. 

To his disciple Clement, Peter warns with respect to the ability of Simon Magus to seduce the Gentiles:  "...but with those from amongst the Gentiles who have the polytheistic fancy bred in them, and who know not the falsehoods of the Scriptures, he will prevail much. And not only he; but if any other shall recount to those from among the Gentiles any vain, dreamlike, richly set out story against God, he will be believed, because from their childhood their minds are accustomed to take in things spoken against God.   What he is stating is that the Gentiles will readily hold unworthy beliefs about God -- and they therefore will be readily deceived with respect to the true spiritual meaning of the scriptures.    And the lesson that modern Christians have still to learn, is that many of these falsehoods of the written word are there for a test -- i.e., Peter warns: "...Let not any one of you, therefore, altogether complain of Simon, or of any one else; for nothing happens unjustly, since even the falsehoods of Scripture are with good reason presented for a test.”   The test is that those who hold unworthy ideas pertaining to God, and fail to live in accord with the Royal Law, are themselves banished from the Kingdom and the Knowledge of the Truth.  

 

The True Interpretation Of The Scriptures: The scriptures are an allegorical portrayal of your own mind and being -- and the names that are used, the numbers, and the picture of what appears to be historical accounts or cosmic occurrences or conditions, can also be understood as events of the body, mind/soul and spirit in the life of the disciple.   In the same way that Paul called the written word of the scriptures the "letter that killeth" (2 Cor 3:6), the same exact formula with respect to the scriptures is presented in the words: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom 8:13 KJV).   If you attempt to interpret the scriptures after the letter of the flesh, then you have thrown away the Key of Knowledge that you failed to understand in the spiritual sense, and turn the scriptures within yourself: "How terrible it will be for you experts in religious law! For you hide the key to knowledge from the people. You don't enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering" (Luke 11:52 NLT).   Christians today who read the scriptures to find the historical Jesus, are no different than the Pharisees who looked only to the letter of the written word -- failing to use the Key of Knowledge to open the inner door to the Kingdom within them.   And of those who "...live after the flesh [of the written word], ye shall die."   

While the scriptures center around the teachings of Jesus, the objective is to become a disciple and enter "in the House" within you and learn the Mysteries of God from the Living Christ.   If you believe in Jesus, then you will live in the manner that he taught, and seek the Inner Kingdom.   Thus, the scriptures are written in such a way that they can be turned within -- and what appears as historical accounts in the written word of the "letter that killeth" (2 Cor 3:6), becomes events of the body, mind/soul and spirit in the life of the Disciple of Jesus and TheWay.   The twelve signs of the zodiac, the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve disciples of Jesus, become the twelve spheres of mind of the Tree of Life.   And when you are able to do as Paul states and put to death your attachments to the things of this world, and evolve and balance the twelve spheres of the mind -- doing and living the Commandments of the Lord in all things -- then you will find the reality coming to pass that is stated in the Revelation: "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie" (Rev 22:14-15 NKJ).   Notice that the dogs, sorcerers, sexually immoral, murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves the (lying) doctrines and philosophies of men over the Truth, are spoken of as remaining "outside" the gates of the City?    This is the realm of outer consciousness where man cannot know self, the Inner Kingdom, or God.  

While the people of this world are the prodigal sons and daughters who are lost and under the control of the "citizen" of this world, only those who hear TheCall and seek to walk in TheWay and enter the Inner Kingdom can find the Promise of Life.   Thus, the person who claims to be a genuine believer and seeker, and yet fails to put on the “wedding garment” (Mt 22:12) -- which is the robe of spiritual union and perfection -- will be “cast into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt 22:13 NKJ).   And where is this outer darkness?   Outside the gates to the city -- which from the perspective of the Bible, is the place in which organic man presently dwells.   What is conveyed to us here regarding the Kingdom, is that when we open and read the scriptures, what we have before us is the mystical writings of a spiritual people -- writings that are written for the edification of a the prodigal sons and daughters who desire to return to the Kingdom of the Father -- and we can never understand the Mysteries of God through a superficial reading of the literal word of the Bible which Paul called the "letter that killeth".   This spiritual Knowledge that can only be received by the True Disciple, is called the Divine Manna or the Gnosis of the Kingdom.  Why do we use the word Gnostic?   Because it is the Greek word that differentiates between what we call abstract philosophical knowledge pertaining to this world which is learned in our educational manner of teaching, in contradistinction to knowledge that is learned directly through our inner spiritual experiences and interaction with the Divine.   Where the knowledge of this world is philosophical and temporal, the type of Knowledge that is called Gnosis, denotes the Sacred Manna that is given to true holy men and women who live in the Light, and seek the Kingdom of God.

As G.R.S. Mead concludes on page 176: “The claim of the Gnostics was that a man might so perfect himself that he became a conscious worker with the Logos; all those who did so, became 'Christs,' and as such were Saviors, but not in the sense of being the Logos Himself”.    Where the people of the simple faith looked upon the word “Christ”, as Jesus' last name, the Spiritual Christians understood that what this term meant was the Anointing of the mind of the disciple that permits the seeker to learn from the inner Logos -- i.e., the Mind of God.   In the revelation of his spiritual Gospel, it was this receiving of the Anointing that Paul speaks about throughout his Epistles.   When the disciple receives the Anointing -- this Anointing of the mind of the disciple in the Greek, denotes one who is Anointed, or the Christ.  

It is for this reason that the believers of the simple faith are not yet Christians, because they have not yet received the Anointing -- which is impossible to receive without embracing the proper mindset and consecrated lifestyle.   Moreover, the Anointing is not philosophical or rhetorical -- as becoming a believer -- but is an actual illumination of higher consciousness that permits the disciple to use more of their mind that the natural man is capable of using in his organic condition.    A person cannot be a genuine Christian -- i.e., an Anointed one -- without possessing the knowledge of their pre-existent soul.   A person cannot possess the knowledge of the soul, without knowing the previous lives that the soul has lived.   In Pistis Sophia, one of the sacred books used by the Spiritual (Gnostic) Christians, which name in English means the Book of Faith-Wisdom, Jesus states: “But if he shall have sinned once, twice, or thrice, they shall reject that soul, sending it back again into the world according to the form of the sins that it may have committed; the form whereof I will declare unto you hereafter.   But verily, verily I say unto you, that even the righteous man that hath committed no sin at all cannot be brought into the Kingdom of Light, forasmuch the seal of the mysteries of that kingdom is not found upon him.  Once for all, I say unto you, a soul cannot be brought into the kingdom, if it be without the mysteries of the Kingdom of the Light”.

In this quotation we not only see that the Spiritual Christians understood that Jesus taught the reincarnation of the soul -- “sending [the soul] back again into the world according to the form of the sins that it may have committed” -- but what we have here is the genuine foundation of Paul's doctrine that man can do nothing on his own, and can only be saved through faith in Christ.   The problem arises when we do not understand the difference between Jesus -- the historical man -- and Christ -- the Anointing of the mind -- or the Logos, or Mind of God.   It is this reason also that believers fail to understand the declaration in the beginning of the Epistle to the Romans where Paul writes that:  When the Gentiles do the things of the Law, without the Law, they become a Law unto themselves, and can be saved.   It is further this reason that we do not understand when Paul says not to seek the Jesus after the flesh, but rather the Christ of the Spirit.

In the article on Christian Mysticism, the Encyclopedia Britannica writes regarding Valentinus, who was considered orthodox in the beginning of the second century, and states: “He believed that human beings are alienated from God because of their spiritual ignorance; Christ brings them into the gnosis (esoteric revelatory knowledge) that is union with God. Valentinus held that all human beings come from God and that all will in the end return to God. Other Gnostic groups held that there were three types of people -- 'spiritual,' 'psychic,' and 'material' -- and that only the first two can be saved. The Pistis Sophia… is preoccupied with the question of who finally will be saved. Those who are saved must renounce the world completely and follow the pure ethic of love and compassion. They will then be identified with Jesus and become rays of the divine Light”.   While this reality may sound foreign and strange to the modern Christian, it is in fact parallel to the parable of the prodigal son.    But since the modern Christian rejects the important teaching on the pre-existent soul that evolves to perfection over the course of many lifetimes, because they adhere to the doctrines of a Circus Prostitute (see The Ten Reasons Why Christians Reject The Pre-Existent Soul), they remain hopelessly lost in the quagmire of this world of the "outer darkness" (see Divine Strategery)

Once properly understood, what Valentinus was in fact stating was no different than what was also clearly stated by the early church authorities, Paul, Jesus, and the present-day Canon of Scriptures itself: That there are three types of Christians -- i.e., the spiritual which are in union with God, and are saved; the psychic, or disciple in search of the Truth, which are still walking in The Way; and the material or physical, who are the people of the simple faith.  The mysteries made reference to in Pistis Sohpia that, according to the Jesus presented in this gospel, states that a person must possess the sacred Knowledge of the Kingdom in order to be saved -- and this is the knowledge of the laws that both preserve the natural barriers of this realm, as well as restrict carnal man's access into the spiritual realms and the Kingdom (see Divine Strategery).   When the disciple knows the workings of these natural laws of Creation, they are then able to safely transcend the barriers between this and the inner Kingdom, and come into the presence of the Spiritual Christ.  

Once we understand this important element in Paul's Epistles, we then begin to comprehend why Paul considered it one of the greatest of sins to promote a doctrine of belief -- as seen in the words: Reject a factious man after a first and second warning, knowing that such a man is perverted and is sinning, being self-condemned” (Titus 3:10-11 NAS).   The essence of what Paul taught was that believers were to rid themselves of all worldly thoughts and desires in order to embrace the indwelling Logos -- thereby becoming an Anointed One, or genuine Christian.   From Paul's perspective, beliefs and doctrines pertaining to mysteries that are beyond the comprehension of the natural man, were thorns and entanglements that the god of this world used to imprison the believer.

In order to preserve the Sacred Knowledge of TheWay from generation to generation -- so that all seekers are able to find TheWay -- the scriptures are encoded with the necessary knowledge that enables the prodigal sons and daughters of the Most High to return to the Inner Edenic Kingdom of Origination with their Heavenly Father (see Gate Of Eden).   And those who learn to turn the scriptures within self, and perceive what appears to be historical and cosmic accounts as events of the body, mind and spirit, will find the Inner Gates to the Holy City opening unto them.   The book of The Revelation proclaims: “The Revelation… which must shortly come to pass... Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is at hand”.   It does not say that in two thousand years these things will come to pass; but rather, “…the time is at hand”.   The nations that rise against nations, the famines, pestilences and earthquakes, are all the signs of the “pangs of birth” (Mt 24) that the disciple experiences as they move near to the Kingdom within.   “Varily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled” (Mt 24:34); “Varily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation” (Mt 23:36); “There are some standing here, who shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom” (Mt 16:28).   Thus, the words of the Lord, “Repent [change the mind], for the Kingdom is at hand” is the key to witnessing the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom.   In order to overcome, we must understand that the kingdom will never come so as to be seen outwardly, for the kingdom is within us (Lk 17:20-21).   Prior to the time of Constantine, this fundamental spiritual truth was well understood: Under Alexandrian Theology, the Church Father Origen is quoted in the Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics as writing: “God never speaks to us from outside” (In Psalm 27).   Thus, if we are to see the Lord coming in His glory, we must cleanse and purify our body-mind, break down our own inner walls of division, and look within ourselves to God’s Holy Temple.   

A very important insight into the very essence of the genuine teachings of Jesus and TheWay is contained in an article in the Encyclopedia Britannica under the heading, The History of Christian Mysticism, where it reads: “Although the essence of mysticism is the sense of contact with the transcendent, mysticism in the history of Christianity should not be understood merely in terms of special ecstatic experiences but as part of a religious process lived out within the context of the Christian community. From this perspective mysticism played a vital part in the early church. Early Christianity was a religion of the spirit that expressed itself in the heightening and enlargement of human consciousness”.  

These words must be a profound revelation to a body of believers who have been barred from the use of reason.   When Jesus commanded his disciples: “But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren” (Matt 23:8 NKJ) -- what he was saying is that the genuine follower of the Christ is the one who opens the inner door of the mind to the Master, and develops their sense of contact with the transcendent”.  

What is being said here is that Christianity in its original form as a spiritual religion, and the natural environment of the genuine Church is mysticism -- which is defined as one's personal communion with God -- and it is this direct contact with the Divine Within, that the Disciple receives the Spiritual Gnosis or Mysteries of the Kingdom.   In this we can see the great dividing line between both the Jewish sects of the Sadducees and Pharisees, and the Essene Mystics who worshiped the Father in a Spiritual Temple that was beyond the comprehension of the carnally minded Jew.   Paramount, then, to understanding one of the primary differences between Genuine Christianity and pseudo-Christianity, is the understanding that genuine Christianity is a spiritual religion, and it “expressed itself in the heightening and enlargement of human consciousness”.   Thus, the religious ideas expressed by Luther and Calvin -- where man rejects reason, and closes the mind in order to cling to the dogma of a manmade church -- concepts which remain to this day as the foundation of modern doctrine -- not only had no place among the first Christians, but were in fact alien to the very core teachings of Jesus.   What this means is that the church which came into being in the fourth century, was the anti-church -- i.e., a shadow church that was ruled by the god of this world.

It is the chirst of this realm that lives and moves in a world of darkness.   It is the chirst of this world that condemns the use of reason and the development of the mind.   It is the christ of this world that attempts to alienate us from our very gift bestowed from God our Creator -- which is an illumined mind and an Anointed understanding.

When the Encyclopedia Britannica states with regard to the church prior to the fourth century: “…From this perspective mysticism played a vital part in the early church. Early Christianity was a religion of the spirit that expressed itself in the heightening and enlargement of human consciousness” -- it is this spiritual element that died when the church was made a secular institution by the Emperor Constantine.   Sadly, it is this same spiritual element that continues to remain dormant even in the world of Christendom to this very day.

In those many places where the Bible speaks of the Mysteries of God as seen in the words: “we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began” (1 Cor 2:7 NIV) -- the Apostle is quite clear that this “secret wisdom” cannot be comprehended by men who perceive life and the scriptures with a carnal mindset -- but rather, with a spiritual mindset that is established upon the mystical senses founded in the higher powers of mind.   And if we ask the question as to why carnal man is incapable of perceiving the Mysteries of God that are spoken of by the Apostle?   Because these elements of mind that are necessary to perceive the higher reality of man, are centered in parts of the ninety percent of the mind which the natural person is unable to access -- and it is these sections of the mind that are said to lie dormant within all people.   Thus, only the mystic -- Gnostic -- or spiritual Christian -- has the ability to perceive the Mysteries of God, and know the True Christ, and enter the Genuine Temple of the Lord, because they endeavor to expand their consciousness by going beyond the ten percent barrier of mind that limits man in his natural organic state of being.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The True Prophet

A Time For Truth

Excerpt From The Three Lies

http://TheThreeLies.com

 

Judaism, Christianity and Islam all teach the same essential Truth -- that each of us must make our body-vessel a Living Temple -- a Living Church -- or a Living Mosque -- is it is this essential  truth which was originally taught by all three religions prior to being corrupted by carnal religious leaders.   And that the historical Yeshua was able to accomplish this within himself, is demonstrated where it is written of the Ebionites that they taught that Yeshua/Jesus was in “supernatural union of a man and God... In their eyes, Jesus of Nazareth was a mere mortal, the legitimate son of Joseph and Mary: but he was the best and wisest of the human race, selected as the worthy instrument to restore upon earth the worship of the true and supreme Deity. When he was baptized in the Jordan, the Christ, the first of the aeons, the Son of God himself, descended on Jesus in the form of a dove, to inhabit his mind, and direct his actions during the allotted period of his ministry” (Gibbon; The Decline & Fall of the Roman Empire, V.4, P.366 -- see http://Ebionite.com ).  

A Suppressed Truth: (The Castration of the Wikipedia) That Yeshua/Jesus became One with the Indwelling Logos -- and that he taught his disciples to do the same -- is a suppressed truth that will not even be published by most reference resources today.   There is an important statement pertaining to the Ebionites with respect to what the original Disciples of Yeshua believed that he "was justified by fulfilling the Law. He was the Christ of God, since not one of the rest of mankind had observed the Law completely. Had any one else fulfilled the commandments of the Law, he would have been the Christ." Hence "when Ebionites thus fulfill the law, they are able to become Christs, for they assert that our Lord Himself was a man in like sense with all humanity."  (Hippolytus, Refut. Omn. Haer. vii. 34).   And what this means is that each and every person reading these words, is not only the brother or sister of Yeshua, but that as the prodigal sons and daughters of their Heavenly Father-God, they have the same potential and destiny when they too fulfill the Law within themselves.   And in the same way that this important teaching of Yeshua and his Ebionite Disciples was suppressed by the Church, so too does modern reference resources such as the Wikipedia suppress this teaching.   On their Ebionite page (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebionite ), not only is this essential teaching suppressed, but they have themselves attempted to portray the Ebionites as ignorant Judaizers (see The Lie).   While the Wikipedia promotes the personal anti-Yeshau/Jesus and anti-Christian views of Shemayah Phillips (see Article) -- a one time Baptist clergy who decided that Christianity was pagan and non-biblical, so he decided he was an Ebionite and that Jesus was just a prophet that wanted social change because he cannot comprehend the reality of the Inner Spiritual Kingdom (see Gate of Eden) -- Wikipedia has censored both the historical record and the Spiritual Restoration Movement found on http://Ebionite.com -- and the Wikipedia deletion of the article on the Spiritual Ebionites (see Article).     Why does the Wikipedia and many other reference resources censor the truth and the facts?   Because they fail to heed Paul's warning that Truth is inconceivable from the perspective of the organic mindset of natural man (see Letter That Killeth).   Throughout the Bible it is warned that the very Laws of God will inhibit carnal man's perception and understanding of both the scriptures and all of life, unless he has himself fulfilled the Law and overcome (see Divine Strategery).   And the inability of Shemayah Phillips to perceive and understand spiritual concepts, and the suppression of the facts, is the primary cause of both the corruption of the scriptures (see Bible Corruption) and the suppression of the more spiritual concepts and teachings on the Inner Kingdom -- and this suppression of the facts is brought about by the political pressure from other groups who fear the Truth, the Light, and TheWay.   That such reference resources as the Wikipedia have been politically castrated, only makes them a tool of ignorance and the world violence that we are experiencing at the present.   (For a similar example of the castration of the Encyclopedia Britannica, see link to Armageddon Lost Article).  

That all the disciples and followers of Yeshua/Jesus were to seek to become Anointed (Messiah/Christ) -- and that through this Anointing they would be taught the Truth from the One Teacher and True Prophet -- is demonstrated in the Epistle of John in the words: "These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you.  But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him" (I Jn 2:26-27 NKJ).   The problem is that this teaching is Pure Gnostic and Spiritual, and the means to receive this Anointing and become One with the Indwelling Logos or True Prophet, has been suppressed by the Institutionalized Church which has replaced these essential spiritual concepts with their own dogma and doctrines of belief.

While all true disciples were to seek the Anointing (Messiah/Christ), it is also true that there is a vast difference between the various degrees of Anointing (Messiah/Christ) that seekers attain to, as they strive to become At-One with the Indwelling Logos.   And this is presented in the baptism sequence of the Gospel of the Hebrews/Ebionites in the words:  "And it came to pass when the Lord was come up out of the water, the whole fount of the Holy Spirit descended and rested upon him, and said unto him: My son, in all the prophets was I waiting for thee that thou shouldst come, and I might rest in thee. For thou art my rest, thou art my first begotten son, that reignest for ever."   To which the Church Father Jerome correctly explains  "not partially as in the case of other holy men."   And the allegorical portrayal of the resurrection is the final or fourth stage of birth that is presented in the return of the Prodigal Son to the Father in the Kingdom ( http://GateOfEden.com ), or what is presented in the completion of the cycle from the Alpha to the Omega as portrayed in Jewish Mysticism in the Zohar: “All souls are subject to the trials of transmigration; and men do not know the designs of the Most High with regard to them… The souls must re-enter the absolute substance whence they have emerged.  But to accomplish this end they must develop all the perfections, the germ of which is planted in them; and if they have not fulfilled this condition during one life, they must commence another, a third, and so forth, until they have acquired the condition which fits them for reunion with God”.

 
As the disciple or seeker of Truth draws near to what Yeshua portrayed as the Kingdom within ( http://GateOfEden.com ), they would receive various levels of the Anointing which would open their minds and teach and reveal to them the Mysteries of God that Yeshua concealed within the parables -- and remains concealed within the allegorical symbols of the scriptures that few modern Jews, Christians or Muslims see or understand.   This inner essence of God that exists within each of us which is referred to as the Logos/Son of God, was referred to as the True Prophet by the disciples and early followers of Yeshua and TheWay.   And this is why Yeshua stated that there is only One Teacher, and all of mankind are equally brothers and sisters who must learn from the True Prophet within them.   And in the Homilies of Peter's disciple Clement, this is why Peter is quoted as saying to his own disciple: Hence, O beloved Clement, if you would know the things pertaining to God, you have to learn them from Him alone, because He alone knows the truth. For if any one else knows anything, he has received it from Him or from His disciples”.    And it is this spiritual reality that is presented in the words"It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me" (John 6:45 NIV).   So the question then becomes: How is one taught by God?  Directly?   Which is why it is written in the New Testament that there is only one way -- but this is not understood by the modern Jew who is ignorant of how to make their body a Living Temple -- and neither is it understood by the modern Christian Church which continues to embrace the doctrines of Constantine -- or the modern Muslim who looks to the Qur'an of this world.   With respect to the One Teacher (Mt 23:8), or True Prophet, this same Truth can be demonstrated using the first century witness known as the Recognitions of Clement, where St. Clement quotes the teachings of the Apostle Peter.   In chapter 59, under the heading of The True Prophet, Clement writes: “But I would not have you think, that in saying this I take away the power of judging concerning things; but I give counsel that no one walk through devious places, and rush into errors without end. And therefore I advise not only wise men, but indeed all men who have a desire of knowing what is advantageous to them, that they seek after the true Prophet; for it is He alone who knoweth all things, and who knoweth what and how every man is seeking. For He is within the mind of every one of us, but in those who have no desire of the knowledge of God and His righteousness, He is inoperative; but He works in those who seek after that which is profitable to their souls, and kindles in them the light of knowledge. Wherefore seek Him first of all; and if you do not find Him, expect not that you shall learn anything from any other. But He is soon found by those who diligently seek Him through love of the truth, and whose souls are not taken possession of by wickedness. For He is present with those who desire Him in the innocence of their spirits, who bear patiently, and draw sighs from the bottom of their hearts through love of the truth; but He deserts malevolent minds, because as a prophet He knows the thoughts of every one. And therefore let no one think that he can find Him by his own wisdom, unless, as we have said, he empty his mind of all wickedness, and conceive a pure and faithful desire to know Him. For when any one has so prepared himself, He Himself as a prophet, seeing a mind prepared for Him, of His own accord offers Himself to his knowledge”.

What does Peter say to us in these words? That the True Prophet “is within the mind of every one of us”.   This concept is Spiritual -- it was condemned as Gnostic heresy by the Church of Rome -- while it is generally embraced by many Sufis, it has been condemned by mainstream spiritually disenfranchised Muslims -- and this important concept is the foundation of the Living Temple/Church/Mosque that the has been inaugurated among the three religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam.   Yeshua/Jesus warned his followers not to go to a teacher or religious authority in this world -- even when that teacher or authority says that he knows the Messiah/Christ -- or claims to be a prophet.   What is very clear in these words which are common to all three religions, is that True Seekers were not to learn from men -- who themselves do not know -- and in true Spiritual-Gnostic fashion, they were only to go to the Source of all Knowledge, the True Prophet (see http://DivineManna.org ).  

The Apostle Paul wrote that the baptized entry-level believers at Corinth did not know the Gospel of God, and could not be taught the Mysteries and of the Kingdom, because they were too carnal to receive them.   Quoting the Being of Light web site ( http://BeingOfLight.com ):  Paul states: I will “...tell about the visions I've had, and revelations from the Lord. Fourteen years ago I was taken up to heaven for a visit. Don't ask me whether my body was there or just my spirit, for I don't know; only God can answer that. But anyway, there I was in paradise, and heard things so astounding that they are beyond a man's power to describe or put in words (and anyway I am not allowed to tell them to others)” (2 Cor 12:1-4 TLB).   What did Paul see and experience that was not only beyond natural man's ability to comprehend, but was not lawful to tell what he saw to others?   In the Martyrdom of Ignatius (first Century Overseer of Antioch), Ignatius speaks of himself as a disciple of John.  In his Epistle to the Ephesians he writes that he has been “initiated into the mysteries of the Gospel with Paul, the holy, the martyred”.  In his Epistle to the Trallaus he speaks of the mysteries and writes: “Might I not write to you things more full of mystery?  But I fear to do so, lest I should inflict injury on you who are babes.  Pardon me in this respect, lest, as not being able to receive their weighty import, ye should be strangled by them”.  Ignatius also writes that though he is aware of the mysteries, he is not yet “by any means perfect, nor am I such a disciple as Paul or Peter”.    What preacher of the gospel today warns his congregation that if he was to reveal the true teachings of the New Covenant -- the Gospel of God -- he would “inflict injury on you who are babes” in Christ?   What teaching of the Lord could a present-day preacher of the gospel reveal that the congregation of believers are not “able to receive their weighty import”?   If Ignatius or the other early Church Fathers who knew the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God were with us today, what profound mystery could they speak regarding the true teachings of Jesus that believers today would be “strangled by them”

This great dilemma that Paul wrote about -- and has been continually ignored by the majority of Christians throughout history -- was explained by Peter when his disciple Clement wrote his warning to believers: “…and if you do not find Him, expect not that you shall learn anything from any other”.  

From a first century Christian perspective, there is only one way that you can learn and know the truth, and that is through your own inner dormant spiritual nature.   Expect not that you shall learn anything”, says Peter, if you attempt to learn from the doctrines of men -- even when these men are the leaders of your church, synagogue, mosque, or temple.   Why?   Because Yeshua himself commanded: “But you, do not be called 'Rabbi'; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren” (Matt 23:8 NKJ).   And when rightly understood, the teachings of Yeshua and TheWay present to the true seeker how they each may be "...taught by God" (John 6:45 NIV).   The problem is that in order to bring this condition about, the Prodigal Sons must arise from the ways of this world, release themselves from the control of what is portrayed as the "citizen of the far country", which Paul portrayed as the god of this world, and they must themselves accomplish the required completion that Yeshua did within himself, which is noted at Matt. 5:48.   In the words of Gregory, Bishop of Nyssa: “…it is imperative on all those who have an equally earnest desire for the Good as He has, to be followers by the path of an exact imitation of Him Who leads the way to salvation, and to carry into action what He has shown them. It is, in fact impossible for persons to reach the same goal unless they travel by the same ways”.  
 
This is why it is written in the Gospel of Thomas ( http://DivineManna.org ):  "But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty... Whoever finds himself is superior to the world".   And the finding of self is the primary objective of all scriptures.   And when we add to this the statement from the Gospel of Philip that "Those who say that first they shall die and (then) they shall arise are confused. If they do not first receive the resurrection (while) they live,¹ they will not receive anything (when) they die"   Quoting the Being of Light ( http://BeingOfLight.com ) web site:  It is for this reason that the second-century Church Father Clement of Alexandria said that it is  “…the greatest of all lessons to know one's self.  For if one knows himself, he will know God; and knowing God, he will be made like God… and that man becomes God, since God so wills”.   In his treaties on The Soul and the Resurrection, St Gregory writes that “the Resurrection is no other thing than 'the re-constitution of our nature in its original form’”, and states that there will come a time “…when the complete whole of our race shall have been perfected from the first man to the last”.    This statement should provoke great thought in the reader who is under the misconception that our Heavenly Father would destroy or forever cut off one of his sons or daughters who are lost in this world.  If the whole of our race will one day be perfected from the first man to the last, then there are many grave misconceptions on the part of believers today.  The reason these great truths are no longer the focus of the modern church is best captured in the words of A. Powell Davies: “Biblical scholars”, he writes, ”were not disturbed by what they found in the Dead Sea Scrolls because they had known all along that the origin of Christianity was not what was commonly supposed to have been” (quoted by Millar Burrows in More Light on the Dead Sea Scrolls)...  When God, in the words of St. Nazianzen, no longer is an “object of wonder”, but rather an “object of desire” -- and we, desiring to be purified from the defilements of this world, make ourselves fit vessels for the Lord to indwell, the Spirit, according to St. Nazianzen, reveals to us our true nature, and the revelation of this manifest Sacred Knowledge makes “us like God; so that when we have thus become like Himself, God may, to use a bold expression, hold converse with us as Gods, being united to us, and that perhaps to the same extent as He already knows those who are known to Him”.  St. Nazianzen then writes that “the Divine Nature then is boundless and hard to understand” by those who are yet carnal and think as natural beings of this world.

 

The Virgin Birth

 

The word Christian, or the lesser levels of the Anointing of the mind, can in many ways be thought of as elementary.   The lesser levels of this Anointing represents the initial stages of the Spiritual Path of TheWay -- which while not rightly understood, is the foundation of Spirituality and Gnosticism.  To accomplish what the historical man Yeshua did in his total fulfillment of the Royal Law within himself -- and achieving total Oneness with the indwelling Logos/Son of God, can in no way be likened to the lesser levels of the Anointing of the mind.  

Yeshua taught that we must be Born Again of the Spirit -- and yet, few people of a carnal mindset ever make the relationship between the fact that in order to achieve birth, you must have a Mother and Father.   With regard to the mystery of the virgin birth, St. Gregory writes: “…we conclude that the power of the Highest, coalescing with our entire nature by that coming upon (the Virgin) of the Holy Ghost, both resides in our soul, so far as reason sees it possible that it should reside there, and is blended with our body, so that our salvation throughout every element may be perfect”.   What this means is that the True Disciple of Yeshua and TheWay, must themselves be born of the virgin in order to fulfill the Law and bring about the return of the prodigal sons and daughters to the Edenic Kingdom (see Gate Of Eden).   That the carnal Christians of the 2nd and 3rd centuries who were the body of believers of the gentile Church did not understand the meaning of the virgin birth, is because they were too heathen to comprehend the spiritual meaning of the scriptures.

The most widely read and used biblical book among the earliest gentile Christians was the Shepherd of Hermas (see Shepherd) which was suppressed by the later 4th century church.    In the Shepherd of Hermas a reference is made to a tower, of which it is written: “And the tower, I asked, what does it mean? This tower, he replied, is the Church. And these virgins, who are they? They are Holy Spirits, and men cannot otherwise be found in the kingdom of God unless these have put their clothing upon them: for if you receive the name only, and do not receive from them the clothing, they are of no advantage to you. For these virgins are the powers of the Son of God. If you bear His name but possess not His power, it will be in vain that you bear His name”.  

In understanding what is written, it is most important for us to be aware of the continual message found in the words: “If you bear His name but possess not His power, it will be in vain that you bear His name”.   Thus, if you call yourselves a Jew, Christian or Muslim, but fail to purify and develop your mind and body from the defilements of this world -- and do not possess the true Knowledge of the Spiritual Messiah/Christ -- and have not yourselves inherited the same higher powers of mind that the Son of God promised all his followers would possess -- then “it will be in vain that you bear His name”.   These spiritual powers can only be received by those who pick up their own cross and follow in TheWay, and themselves achieve the next stage of soul-birth -- and are born from the Virgin.   In the Gospel According to the Hebrews which was used by the Ebionites, this important concept was explored: "It is written in the Gospel to the Hebrews that when Christ wished to come upon the earth to men, the good Father called a mighty power in the heavens which was called Michael, and committed Christ to the care thereof. And the power came down into the world and it was called Mary...." (Cyril of Jerusalem, Discourse on Mary Theotokos)   In the Gospel Yeshua speaks of his mother: "My mother the Holy Spirit."   Which means that the Virgin Mary was not a person -- but rather, is the Power sent forth from the Father to those who overcome the Laws, and are able to achieve the next stage of soul-birth -- and thus, their second birth is not of physical woman, but of the Virgin of the Holy Spirit.

That the carnal Christians of an organic mind were incapable of understanding the teaching that Yeshua/Jesus was born of human parents -- and it was his Ultimate Spiritual birth that was of the virgin -- is readily seen in the confusion of the fourth century Christian Epiphanius, who confesses that he is totally ignorant as to the true beliefs of the Ebionites.   "Dropping the name of Jesus," says the Bishop of Salamis, "they either call themselves Iessaens, nor continue to hold the name of the Jews, nor name themselves Christians, but Nazarenes ... The resurrection of the dead is confessed by them ... concerning Christ, I cannot say whether they think him a mere man, or as the truth is, confess that he was born through the Holy Pneuma from the Virgin."   It was simply beyond his comprehension that both positions could be true -- i.e., while Yeshua was the natural offspring of human parents, when he fulfilled the Royal Law within himself, he was born of the Virgin which is the Holy Spirit.   And the fact that as St. Gregory writes, that each Disciple of Yeshua must themselves be born of the Spirit, is simply beyond their carnal and organic comprehension -- as is the case of the believers of the simple faith even today.

 

 

 

A Church In Denial! 

The Prophesy

For nearly 2000 years many Christians have blamed the Jews for killing Christ!    But the scriptures not only demonstrate the error of their beliefs, but further demonstrate that it is the modern Christian who is blind to the Living Word -- deaf to the Living Word -- and whose hearts have been hardened so as not to perceive nor comprehend the Truth.    And these words of the Lord have come upon the Christians in our own time: "And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them'" (Matt 13:14-15 NKJ)

Why did the Sadducees and Pharisees reject Yeshua/Jesus?   Because in throwing away the Key of Knowledge, and living in accordance with their own manmade doctrines and traditions, they made themselves apostates to the Kingdom of God: “Woe to you lawyers! For you have taken away the key of knowledge; you did not enter in yourselves, and those who were entering in you hindered” (Luke 11:52 NAS).    And thus, while Christians attempt to read the scriptures, they see not!   And while they hear the oracles of the Living Word, their ears are deaf.   And while they attempt to embrace the Living Word, in the manner of the Sadducees and Pharisees they understand it not -- because their hearts have been hardened from the teachings of Yeshua/Jesus and TheWay. 

In the same way that it was said of the Jews who rejected Jesus: Even after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him…” (John 12:37), all people who call themselves Christian should ask themselves why?    Why, after Yeshua performed wonderous miracles and miraculous signs right before their eyes, they did not believe he was sent from ?    Further, because Christians fail to ask this all-important question -- and don't understand, they can progress no further in their own walk in TheWay until they first understand why these people did not believe in Jesus, as seen in the words: For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: ‘He has blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts’” (John 12:37-40 NIV).   What does this mean?  Contrary to what the vast majority of Christians want to believe, it is important for us to realize what the Bible actually states -- i.e., that the people who did not accept Yeshua did not reject him of their own accord, but because God did not permit them to believe in Yeshua.  

For nineteen hundred years many Christians have condemned the Jews for “killing Christ.   Yet Peter states to the leaders of the Jews regarding Jesus that: this Man delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death” (Acts 2:23 NAS).   The word “predetermined” as used in this instance, should invoke a great many questions in the minds of modern Jews and Christians alike.   Did the Jews and Romans crucify Christ?   Commenting on this verse, Barnes' Notes states: The fact, moreover, that this was predicted, shows that it was fixed or resolved on. No event can be foretold, evidently, unless it be certain that it will take place. The event, therefore, must in some way be fixed or resolved on beforehand.

Speaking about the Hand of God upon the hearts and minds of the people, Peter and John said: Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen (Acts 4:27-28 NIV).   What the two disciples are conveying to the reader is that every event that took place at the crucifixion was directly brought about by the Hand of God acting upon the hearts and minds of the people.   Regardless of whether we understand it, in order to begin the journey of walking in The Way, it is imperative for us to acknowledge the validity of this biblical statement.   Moreover, if this is true, we must ask ourselves the question: How can man resist the power and will” of what God “decided beforehand should happen”?   Christians must therefore ask the question: How could the Jews resist the Will of God?

What is clearly conveyed to the reader is that the biblical teaching regarding the crucifixion was a pre-planned drama that God brought about by imposing His supernatural and All-Pervasive Will upon a group of people who were little more than puppets on God's stage of life.   Unless Christians are ready to adopt the doctrine that man is more powerful than the Will of God, then they must be ready to acknowledge the fact that those who brought about the events which culminated in the crucifixion, had little to no choice in what transpired.   This biblical fact is seen quite clearly documented in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia under the heading of Foreknow, where it writes: Thus, in Peter's speeches in Acts the predestination which finds expression in (Acts 4:28) is practically identified with the term prognosis in (2:23). Everything which happened to Jesus took place in accordance with ‘the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God,’ so that nothing happened except that which God had foreordained.

Who killed Christ?   “God had willed the death of Jesus (John 3:16) and the death of Judas (Acts 1:16)”, writes Robertson's Word Pictures of the New Testament, and then adds: but that fact did not absolve Judas from his responsibility and guilt (Luke 22:22)”.    

Christians Ignore The Warning Of Paul

The fact that Christians ignore the warnings of Paul that the scriptures possess a meaning that is beyond the perception of the "natural mind", is the reason why modern Christians are under the grave misconception that the "Bible is so simple to understand".   Why do they perceive the written word to be simple to understand?  Actually, in ignoring the very warnings written to them, Christians have destroyed their covenant that Paul speaks of when they entered into a Covenant with Constantine and Pagan Rome -- i.e., their own hearts have been hardened even worse than the Sadducees and Pharisees at the time of Yeshua, and they know not to be afraid: "If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, do not boast over those branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. You will say then, 'Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.' Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but be afraid. For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either" (Rom 11:17-21 NIV).

Be afraid, Paul warns!   Yet, in complete denial of Yeshua's teachings, the vast majority of Christians today live in the manner of the heathen and unbelievers -- and because their own hearts are hardened from belief in the doctrines of the 4th century Roman Church which they continue to cling to, they are too out of touch with the warnings in the Bible that conveys to them that the should "...be afraid".   In the writings of his disciple Clement, Peter acknowledges that God did not want a sizeable portion of the Jews to believe in Yeshua -- and hardened their hearts from embracing him: “Neither, therefore, are the Hebrews condemned on account of their ignorance of Jesus, by reason of Him who has concealed Him, if, doing the things commanded by Moses, they do not hate Him whom they do not know. Neither are those from among the Gentiles condemned, who know not Moses on account of Him who hath concealed him, provided that these also, doing the things spoken by Jesus, do not hate Him whom they do not know."   The Christians, of course, not only hated