Pentecost!

Book 18

Max Seltmann

Recommended chronological reading list:

(with regard to Jesus’ life in flesh and Spirit, up to the time of the book of Revelation.  All books are written by Max Seltmann, unless otherwise indicated. The book marked with bold, is the book currently opened.)

1. Childhood years of Jesus (Jakob Lorber)

2. Book 1 – John the Baptist

3. Book 2 – John the Apostle in his youth with Jesus (Love overcomes Part 1)

4. Book 3 – Jesus’ Life

5. Book 4 – Jesus’ Life

6. Book 5 – Jesus’ Life

7. Book 6 – Jesus’ Life

8. Book 7 – Jesus’ Life

9. Book 8 – Jesus’ Life

10. Book 9 – Jesus prepares for His ministry Part 1

11. Book 10 – Jesus prepares for His ministry Part 2

12. Great Gospel of John, Volumes 1 – 10 (Jakob Lorber)

13. Great Gospel of John, Volume 11 (Leopoldt Engel)

14. Book 11 - Good Friday

15. Book 12 - Judas Iscariot in the beyond

16. Book 13 - On the road to Emmaus

17. Book 14 - The Risen One!

18. Book 15 - The New Life in man

19. Book 16 – At Bethany – story of Theophilus

20. Book 17 - Ascension

21. Book 18 - Pentecost!

22. Book 19 - Among the first Christians

23. Book 20 - Divine guidance of the first Christians

24. Book 21 - The chamberlain from the Orient

25. Book 22 - The God-spark and Saul's conversion

26. Book 23 - Awakening the Divine life

27. Book 24 - Experiences with Jacob, Part 1

28. Book 25 - Experiences with Jacob, Part 2

29. Book 26 - Experiences with Jacob, Part 3

30. Book 27 - Experiences with Jacob, Part 4

31. Book 28 - Naeme

32. Book 29 - John the Apostle as a guide (Love overcomes Part 2)

33. Book 30 - John the Apostle as a guide (Love overcomes Part 3)

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Table of Contents

1.  The appreciation of the cross in another world 4

2.  The great change after Jesus' ascension 11

3.  A testimony of the friends of Jesus before the Templars 15

4.  Admonishions to love 24

5.  Who and what is Jesus to us? 31

6.  Harvest Festival at Bethany 34

7.  What is the Holy Spirit? 37

8.  Pentecost! 39

9.  Farewell to Bethany 41

The appreciation of the cross in another world

"All your sadness will be turned into joy!" (John 16:20) This promise was immediately fulfilled!  For after Jesus' departure to His heaven, all hearts felt so full of rest, strength and peace.

In the meantime, Demetrius had purchased the house of the priest Enos and now gave it to the mother of Jesus as property.  Mary immediately put it at the disposal of the disciples, giving them a permanent home in Jerusalem and a place where they could easily meet at any time. The disciples were also happy about this, and when the sun sank, they returned to Jerusalem, elated.

In Bethany, on the evening of the Ascension-feast, all the guests who were still present, gathered - and Ursus asked to be allowed to speak to everyone from an overflowing heart.  "Friends and brothers" - he began - "soon we, too, will leave our dear Bethany, and therefore I would like to make known to you something of the wonderful experience which the Lord gave us last night.  At first I believed it was a vivid dream, but since Brother Theophilus experienced exactly the same thing, it must have been full reality!"

"I already knew it" - Lazarus confirmed - "that you both received an extraordinary consecration this night, and we gladly also hear and witness this rare grace of the Lord to you."

And Ursus related: "Yesterday, as we sat on the Mount of Olives, the Lord blessed us silently, and I suddenly felt as if I were walking along a straight road full of light.  Before me in the distance lay a great city; but to the right and left, gardens and fields of extraordinary splendor.  I turned, and saw Brother Theophilus walking behind me, accompanied by a stranger; we looked at each other, shook hands, and Theophilus said, explaining: "This is our guide, but where we are going is unknown to me, since I only now find myself on this road."

I looked at our guide, who was dressed in a long white cloak held together by a golden belt studded with precious stones.

Friendly and seriously, he said to us: "According to the will of the Lord, I have the mission to lead you to the world of your previous life, and as soon as you pass through the gate that leads to your parents' house, you will receive restored memory.  But it is not only about the beautiful things that you will experience, but rather about the great things that your former fathers and forefathers shall experience through you as the greatest and most glorious miracle of God's love!  I am not only your guide, but also your servant, and am gladly ready to answer your questions."

So I asked, "Tell us, where are we, and where does this road lead?  It all seems so incomprehensible, so wonderful to me!"

Kindly our leader answered: "We are here in a world for which the earth has no name, because it does not see it and therefore also does not know.  The road on which we walk is actually within you, and the destination is your former home.  Far away and separated from the glorious goal of life, you did not realize how alienated you were from this homeland until the Lord entered your life."

"You say that we are entering the world that used to be our home, but who proves this to us?" I asked.

The guide answered: "Your own recollection, the sudden recognition: Yes!  This was my father's house!  I know all these people!  Also all your brothers, fathers and forefathers will recognize you, and then the memory of this earth-life will be like a dream to you!  But if you consider that this is the greatest grace the Lord has bestowed upon you, then you will also want to solve the glorious task that awaits you here."

Now we came to the gate of a great, magnificent city.  The tower-like roofs and domes glittered in the brightest light, but I did not see a sun.  Before we knocked, the gate opened.  We went through it and passed through an avenue of the shadiest trees.  To the right and left we saw many people gathered; a venerable old man with long white hair and beard approached us, took Theophilus and me by the hand and spoke graciously: "Welcome, Tschia and Tschena!  Your arrival has already been announced to us by a heavenly messenger!" - and bowing to our guide, he continue to speak: "Thank you for your trouble in leading these our brothers safely here, and so fulfilled your mission."  Cheering, everyone surrounded us and shouted "Welcome!  Welcome!" to us.

But our leader said: "There is no need for your outward thanks, since we are servants of the great God; and our great joy is to fulfill His will!  But now hear the order of my Lord as well as yours: When your feast has reached it's climax, I have to bring these your brothers back to their earth!  Therefore I ask, begin now with this feast, which shall remain for both of you a deep experience and shall strengthen the ground of their consciousness, but shall also make you free and joyful children of the great God!"

At a signal from the head shepherd, singing began, and we all went to an open space on high ground.  Wherever the eye looked, people were already waiting, and a cheer that would not stop, surrounded us.  On this fairground stood an open temple, only high columns supported a broad roof; but in the midst of it stood a small altar, which could be seen well from all sides, for ten steps led up all around.  The whole temple was built of transparent green and yellow stones that sparkled and flashed like diamonds.

Again glorious singing rang out: "Hail to You - You great eternal God!  Who are light and power and wisdom!  Hail to You and to all Your peoples who receive light and power from You, and transform them by Your wisdom into service to God!  Hail to You! - Salvation to us!"

During this chant, the chief shepherd prayed, and when he had finished, he stood before the altar and solemnly said: "My dear children and children's children!  According to the will of the great God, I received the order: "Arrange for your community to gather for a worthy celebration!  For all of you shall hear about the mighty events on earth, which brought the whole infinite creation into deep excitement, and learn about the holy miracle of Divine Love, which wants to transform the inhabitants of all worlds into the most blessed beings!"

I asked the bright bearer of this God's message: "In what way shall we celebrate this feast?" - and he answered: "Gather all in solemn silence to a feast, where they shall prepare nothing but only their heart to an altar!  Everything else, the Lord and great God will make known to you through your children Tschia and Tschena, whom He will send to you for this service from the earth!  They have come to us in the company of this messenger of God.  Therefore, my children, open your eyes and ears, yes, open your hearts, to receive the message that the holy God has intended for us!"

A trumpet sounded - then all present sank prayerfully to the ground and remained for minutes in serious silence.

Now our leader, it was the angel Raphael, stepped in front of the altar, and at his beckoning, all rose from the ground; then he spoke aloud: "Dwellers of this sunny world!  The will of the great God, who created all worlds, has sent me to you to bring you a joy that will make you happy forever.  As you know, there is a danger that everything, which is beautifully and wonderfully formed here, will nevertheless go towards decay, if all of you, from the smallest to the greatest, do not take the necessary care to keep your world in this glorious state!  But you also know through former messengers of the Lord that the enemy of everything beautiful and glorious once tried to beguile you by wanting to awaken an attraction in you that would have made you dissatisfied and restless inhabitants of this beautiful world.

You did right to trust the messengers of the Lord, and for this the great God thanks you and wants to give you a gift of grace through these brothers.  You have already received information that the holy God Himself has become a man on the earth, which now serves these brothers of yours as a place of residence and training, in order to give all His created beings the immeasurable grace that they can now, according to their own free will and actions, also become a blessed child of the great God!  Your two brothers are my witnesses; they will now speak to you and teach you further according to the holy urge in their hearts."

Now Theophilus approached the altar, raised his hand in greeting and said: "Brothers!  Sisters!  Fathers and mothers!  At first it seemed to me as if I had only lived through a heavy dream since I was absent from here-but now I know that I am still an inhabitant of the earth and may only be with you for a very short time, all of you who were once so close to my heart!  Yes, your world is a heaven - a heaven compared to our dark earth!  Your whole way of life is a delight, but so much happiness can easily make you tired and sluggish.

We, on our earth, also know bliss and happiness, but through much strife and suffering, we are spurred on again and again to a bitter struggle for these goods, for the enemy of all that is Divine has, by his power and cunning, killed almost all pure joy and contentment in the hearts of the people, whereby discord, imperiousness and unkindness have proliferated.  In this greatest distress of tribulation and distance from God, God, the Almighty Creator of all beings and worlds, took pity on the poor earth and it's deceived inhabitants and became Himself - a man there!

He was a human being like us, in order to pave a way of salvation out of all error of ignorance, back to the radiant inner peace and bliss to live in God's presence!  This God-man - named Jesus - has victoriously overcome all temptations to self-love approaching Him by the power of complete self-denial maturing in Him, and has thereby become a Lord over all powers in Himself as well as in the great nature!  In humility and love, He has exemplified to us how every man can make the will of God dwelling in him, his own law - and through all His teachings about the right way of development of the Divine dispositions in man and the outstanding effect of His healing miracle powers, He has created a lasting monument in many hearts.

His aim was to teach us a whole new love of God, to awaken in us selfless love for our neighbor, as for all fallen ones, so that we might learn to follow Him and become active co-workers in His great work of redemption.  But the enemy of God so influenced the weak people and even made the priests so misguided that they condemned this Divine Savior and Redeemer from all evils to an ignominious death on the cross!  And He - allowed it to happen to Himself without any resistance!

You shudder under my words and ask yourselves: "But what has all this to do with us?"  Oh my dear ones all, very much, very much!  Because this great deceiver does not stop with us and on our earth, no, he will try to entangle also you in his ensnaring traps, to rob you of the holy peace in your inner world!  Now we are here to show you this way of salvation, and the act shall be festive, where the noble symbol of this Redeemer-love is unveiled before you, to become also your signpost into the inner life of God.

Through the death of Jesus on the cross, it became apparent to all of us: HOW - God loves!  How He is always concerned about the well-being of all His creatures and how He is the only right means for the lost souls to find their way back to Him, to make their hearts truly and eternally happy!  The symbol of His cross is not only the epitome of God's purest and holiest love for His children, but at the same time the signpost, through voluntary, often painful dying to all earthly-perishable desires and inclinations, to submit oneself completely to the holy will of God and thereby attain our high perfection!  So now let us know whether you are willing to make yourselves receptacles and bearers of His Spirit?  Only your freest will decide here!”

After a short silence, the chief shepherd gave a sign and said: "Tschena! (Theophilus) son and brother of all who live here, your speech gave us a picture of your world, which had to shake us all deeply, but at the same time also a lovely hope and promise.  But we do not yet need to look for a savior and redeemer, since we live here in a solar land and are solar beings, although it has already happened that our happy life - made some tired and dull.

We know from the Spirit of God that it is a fire which consumes everything!  Therefore, we are content to bask in the rays of His Light-Sovereignty.  What more do we need?  For as long as we can remember, it has been so, and we hope that it will always remain so!  Thus I have spoken on everyone's behalf!"

Here I (Ursus) came to the altar, blessed everyone with the sign of the cross and said: "My dear ones!  Soon this hour of grace will be over and we must return to our earth.  But in my heart I feel a pain, because you beloved ones cannot yet understand the meaning and the spirit of our words.  Therefore, I will try to shake your hearts, so that you will remember the great grace that we should deliver to you here!

Dear ones!  It must be very important for the Lord and Creator of all worlds to convey His message of grace to you through us!  I know that at this time, the inhabitants of all worlds will be informed of these holy events on our earth, so that all the rule of the enemy will be defeated from the ground up, and the people who have become free, will transform themselves into "children" of the great God.  Because He, the holy God and great Spirit, wants to be loved by all people and wants to be a Father to all beings!  Therefore, He revealed to us humans this His great love as Jesus, Who lives in His heart for all His creatures.  A love for which we cannot find an expression!  A love which does not respect it's own life, but is concerned about the well-being of all His children!  A love that conquered even death and took away the power of terror from all dying!  Do you want me to tell you more about this love?"

"Keep on speaking, Tschia (Ursus)!" - asked the chief shepherd - "your words are like an arrow that penetrates all hearts, but does not wound.   Continue talking, for we long to know more of this love!"

Then I said: "So help me to prepare a long and a short beam, so that the sign of this supreme Love itself may speak to you!"  It happened; in a short time, beams, nails and hand tools were at hand, and so I erected a cross as I had seen it on Golgotha!  I lifted it high on the altar and had Theophilus hold it.

All eyes were looking at us anxiously, then I said loudly: "My beloved ones!  Here you see a cross!  Until now, the sign of the greatest shame, to have to die on it; but from now on, for all eternity, the noble sign of the greatest sacrificial love!

On such a cross, the incarnated Love of God breathed out it's life and thus redeemed the promise which the Creator once gave to the first humans of the earth, when they had fallen victim to the temptation of the enemy of life and had to renounce the paradisiacal contact with God!  By this voluntary sacrificial death for His lost children, the Spirit which lived in the God-man Jesus, was completely released and was handed to us humans as an eternal gift, in order to restore the familiar contact with God.  There is only one condition connected with it: "Believe and trust in this holy God-love that it wants to help you out of all misery, and make an effort that this love also gains space in you, in order to develop you from a weak earthly man, to a radiant child of God!  For whoever appropriates Jesus' inner life and His selfless love, everything heavenly will grow and blossom as if by itself!

Look at it, this symbol! In all the heavens it is placed as the highest adornment on the altar of God's worship, and silently proclaims to everyone the greatest act of love of our holy God and Father. From now on, every person can become His child! At every time and hour the access to the Father's heart is open to us and we may bask and sate ourselves in His kind Father's love.  If you too, my beloved ones, want to gain this new life, let only your heart-love speak to Him from now on!

This is the end of our mission here, which wants to make you the most blessed children of God, if you can believe our words and want to live into His heart-love!

Then I continued: "Just as on our earth the very least can now pray to Him: "Our dear Father, Who dwells in the hearts of Your children!  Permeate us completely with Your love, that Your kingdom may spread in all places, and Your holy will may become entirely ours, and that there may be no more difference between Your heavens and our earth!  Give us our daily bread, so that we may always learn to share with others!  Forgive us our debts, as we gladly forgive all those who owe us.  Do not allow temptations to weaken us, but make us strong against all evils!  For You are love! - and strength! - and Yours is all life, from the smallest being to the highest glory, for time and eternity!  Amen!"

Then you too may pray, and the gates in front of your hearts will no longer be closed.  For where God, the Eternal, dwells as Father, His children are no longer creatures, but heirs and representatives of His great, mighty kingdom.  It is up to you now: Do you want to become children of the holy God the Father or remain servants of the great God-Spirit?  Let your free will be the decisive factor for your future formation."

I bowed deeply to the cross, then to those present, and descended the altar steps.  Then the Chief Shepherd said to all: "Children!  You have heard from the mouth of your brothers this holy message, so simple and clear!  What do you want me to answer them?  Should they complain to their Lord and holy God: Our mission has failed, because these inhabitants do not yet appreciate the happiness of becoming a child of the Most High, or should they say: They rejoice, and in their hearts there is great joy.  They already feel that they are a child of their God."

Then a rejoicing broke out such as the earth does not know, and the chief shepherd solemnly vowed: "We want to become His children!  We want to live like a child of God!  But this cross shall remain the visible sign that we want to make an effort to prove ourselves worthy of such great Father-love!"  Again great rejoicing!  Then young girls came and decorated the cross with beautiful flowers.  "Let us carry it into our great temple" - said the chief shepherd - "and adorn with it the place which is consecrated to the holy Spirit of God.  But you, leader of our brothers who brought us the glorious message, consecrate it from the Spirit of Him whom you serve.  And consecrate us, that we may be free from our old notions!"

All knelt down and prayed.  Then the decorated cross was taken by strong arms and carried into the large temple; and silently the others followed.

Here Raphael came to the altar, blessed the congregation and said: "Adorned by the love of your hearts, the symbol of salvation now stands upright before you as a sign of the union between God, your loving, holy Father, and you, the future children of God!  The Spirit of this cross, as an expression of the highest and most perfect love of God, was expressed in Jesus' words: "I have loved you to the last breath!  Love Me, and you will all live!"  Let life of love and joy be all your thinking, then heaven will descend to you and make of your world a new heaven!  And when you call out, "Oh Father, we long for Your presence!"  He will test your love and then come to you Himself and bless you.  But you are already blessed by me out of the Spirit of the highest love, which this cross reveals to us, so that you may become a blessing to others.  The peace of the Lord be with you!  Amen."

"Now let us take our leave!  The Lord is calling us to new service, and so may His will be done here also."

So we parted and went home along the same road.  But everything seemed so different to me that I asked our guide: "Is this a different road now?"

Raphael answered: "Ursus and you, Theophilus, listen!  This road also lies in you, only with this difference: Before your task, you went your ways, and with joyful hearts you reached the goal!  But now you walk in the ways of the Lord, and your heart is full of love that does not ask for thanks, but longs to give thanks to the Lord.  So do according to the holy urge in your hearts, and already we have reached the goal!"

Now I awoke as if from a dream, saw myself on the Mount of Olives, where the Lord was sitting between us, and wanted to speak, but His eyes said, "Silence - while I am still with you!"  This was our experience.  Yes, it still lives in us, as brother Theophilus also confirms to me!"

Then Lazarus said to those present: "My brothers!  You have seen and experienced only a speck of His glories.  What will you feel only when the Lord fills your feeling, thinking and doing completely!  But let us go to rest today, because the coming day demands new duties and powers!  And so I will bless you from the Spirit of Jesus, so that no-one will miss the stream of grace from the glory of His love!"

So all sought their rooms and rested in the blessing of His love.

Only the lively Ursus could not find peace, for his thoughts were where he had been before in spirit.  And the longing arose in him: "If only I could be there once again, once again talk to the chief shepherd!  I have said far too little and described far too little the grace we experienced here on our earth!"

Then it became wonderfully bright in his surroundings, the angel Rafael stood before him and said: "Ursus, why is your mind drawn  into the distance and thereby deprive you of the necessary sleep?  Behold, the Lord, your God and eternal Father, will satisfy your every longing when your thoughts and senses are filled with the recognition: Father!  Here I am!  As Your child, I want to be ready to fulfill every service at any time!  But Father, without you there is no success!  In you, my Ursus, a fire burns and urges to serve, but I give you this advice: Become inwardly and outwardly completely calm, so that all strength gathers, and you experience in yourself the greatness that your God and holy Father lives in you.  What gave the Life-Master Jesus the certainty was the awareness: "I and God are One.   Become that sure, only then you will walk in God's ways, then the peace of God will be your part."

Without waiting for a reply, the angel departed, but in Ursus the longing burned even more fiercely to feel and see the Risen One himself.  Then it sounded very softly in him: "Is not My love enough for you?"  Ursus looked around, but it was dark all around him.  Then he sank to his knees and cried out: "Father!  Now I am Your child!  Now I know You have chosen me too and have taken my heart as a dwelling place!  Oh Happy me!  I know that You are near me.  So my life shall also belong to You, because You have given Yourself to me.  Now I can rest in You, rest in Your peace!"

The great change after Jesus' ascension

Early in the next morning, the industrious hands stirred, because it was necessary to create for many.  When Demetrius entered the living room, Lazarus greeted him warmly, but seeing a shadow on his face, he asked: "Brother!  You do not look happy today, what weighs down your heart on this glorious morning?"

"Your love weighs on my mind, dear Lazarus" - spoke Demetrius musingly - "for our sojourn in Bethany, together with our great caravan, is after all a burden to you, and you want to know nothing of compensation!  So I am urged to tell you: I am thinking of our parting."

"My Demetrius, these worries are unnecessary" - Lazarus replied - "you know that everything we receive here is a gift from the Lord!  Besides, your people have collaborated in the gardens and plantations and have done much useful work.  Therefore, I ask you to remain my guest quietly for another two weeks, for there are still special blessings to come from the Lord."

"Brother Lazarus" - said Demetrius - "your love is strength which soothingly flows over me.  I feel that a turn has occurred with me today through the Lord's extraordinary departure yesterday, and I suspect that it will be the same with others.  As long as He stayed as a man in your blessed lands, your thoughts rushed to Him and released forces in you that promoted the preservation of your existence.   But now He is gone from us!  Where will you seek the Lord now with your thoughts and feelings?  From today on, is not the world a different one around us?"

"My brother Demetrius" - Lazarus answered pensively - "your thoughts are not without reason, today I also looked at the surroundings as if with changed eyes!  I felt as if the measure of duty had become much larger, as if I stood there as if alone, as the one who carries the responsibility for everything!  But in me, I feel how the consciousness gives me peace: We are all of the Lord!  His love has provided and created a monument in us.  A single thought of His deed of love on the cross, is like a stream of blessing that revives all thoughts and senses for new actions!  That the Lord would not remain on earth forever as a man, we often heard from His mouth.  He also told us about His suffering and death.  But He also left us so many promising things, and some of them have already been fulfilled!  But even though these events have often happened quickly, I have never stopped thinking or acting differently!"

Then Martha entered the room and said to her brother: "Lazarus, it is not finished today; and with the early meal it will be a little later than usual.  I feel as if our hands are unaccustomed to the work."

"You are mistaken, sister" - Lazarus replied - "your heart is not free from sorrow, because your love for the Lord had to suffer a pain similar to Good Friday!  Admittedly, He has now departed from us, but still with the promise: "I will come again!"  Prepare yourself inwardly so that, if He were to come today, the "welcome" for Him will shine at the door of your heart.  Then you too will shake off the thoughts that want to hinder your doing and creating!  Think of Magdalene, what an inner being filled with Him speaks from all her actions and words!  She simply cannot live into the thought: the Lord is gone from us, because He can never leave her heart.  Talk with her, and your peace will return."

About noon, when again many guests had departed from Bethany, Lazarus with Ursus and Theophilus wanted to arrange a trip to Jerusalem to visit the brothers in their new home.  "For tomorrow, on the Sabbath, it is unseemly to go to the city."  But Demetrius and Enos wished to join them and asked that they also take their mother Mary with them, since they wanted to give her the new house.

On the way, the tenant of the inn met them and wanted to ask for information regarding all the new rumors about the Master's departure from this earth.

"Calm down, my brother" - Lazarus answered - "everything has it's natural reasons.  Yes, the Lord has returned home or returned to His Father's house, since it was His eternal destiny: to hand us humans the heavenly good only until we became capable of taking care of the inner liberation ourselves.  Thus we have not suffered a loss, but have received an inconceivable gain, since now the inner arrangement of our spiritual life will take effect as we care for it according to our own love!  It is now the task of the brothers to cultivate all hearts in the sense of the Master and to oppose the influence of false concepts with calmness and determination."

In the house of Enos, the disciples were joyfully amazed when the brothers from Bethany stopped to visit them.  Peter took Demetrius' hand and said with thanksgiving: "Brother!  We now consider this house to be the Lord's!  Of course, we will still miss the Lord's kind and joyful nearness many a time, but we know: in spirit He is with us and among us, according to the degree to which we are with Him!  The events of the last 40 days were almost like a dream!  In the hour of greatest distress and turmoil, He stepped among us, annihilated all doubts and created in us other, more vivid concepts of Him and His Being, so that today we wish for nothing more than that His holy will - be our own will!  And may the legacy of His love become the common property of all!"

"I can understand your wishes" - Demetrius replied - "but my heart longs for something else that is still unspoken.  It is of the utmost importance for me, as for Ursus, to know: where has Jesus now gone?  Visibly He disappeared from our sight, but we all received the promise: "So He will come again, as we saw Him go to heaven!"  For you, the Master is spirit, for me He is personality, therefore I ask you, brother Peter, for information."

Then Peter answered: "Brother Demetrius!  I want my words to satisfy you, and that you do not give in to false ideas.

Also for us the Master is completely personality!  His life, activity and work will not become ineffective by His death and resurrection, on the contrary: His life as a man will always be in the foreground, and His life as  a man will always remain the model for all of us!  For just this was the main purpose of everything why the eternal Father-Love became man! When He came to us in His spiritually indestructible body, as in the past 40 days, He was the same Jesus as in His bodily life, only with the difference: His flesh veiled for us the Light-Man, who worked in the Son of Man Jesus and energetically carried out everything that the eternal Original Spirit put into Him like a law.

The cover fell off from our Master.  The miracle had to happen before our eyes, so that we could see Him in all His glory and splendor!  But if He veiled His glory for our sake, He did it only to give us now the opportunity to unveil and externalize all those glories which He in His fatherly providence, like a seed, placed within us!

We all know that His death means life for us, but every life must die once, unless activity over activity occurs!  Only in this activity we release "the spirit in us", which is His gift of grace to all human children, and thereby remain in constant communion with the Lord, Who - as God - is everywhere!

Yes, even more!  The great and mighty thing is now obvious: how the Son of Man Jesus set all levers in motion in order to unite with the eternal Deity, in order to work and create only out of the Spirit of God!  Thus the Deity is now bound to Jesus' love and His being through the great, mighty sacrifice of redemption, so that we believe: There is now no Deity without Jesus.  What we perceive with our senses, God created, but it has eternal existence only through Jesus, since His love now created means that guarantee preservation.  Therefore, our existence and our life is dedicated to this Jesus-love, so that His work may find it's continuation and the blessings of His love may be experienced by all people!"

Then Demetrius said: "Dear brother Peter!  I have imagined "the great grace" of God to be something like this!  But there is often a great difference between imagination and reality!  We have experienced many things on our long journey and during our stay in the blessed land of the Jews, but we have not yet found in any of them the conception as you have just clarified it.  I agree with you completely, but will your people share your opinion?  Are they not used to be only the takers, while the basic feature of the glorious teaching of Jesus is giving?

Thousands and thousands will pray and ask for gifts, which the Lord, in His all-love, should give them.  But you, with your brothers, want to be completely givers, as Jesus was!"

"So it is" - Peter answered - "in fellowship with Jesus, we learned to see the greatness of how the smallest and least gift, given out of the right spirit, can break down all barriers that existed.  But if we want to become His followers, it can only be in the spirit of a giver whose heart was opened by the Master - and have everything removed that separated, and established a spiritual fellowship that will last forever.  Thus behind us lies the work of Jesus as an admonisher and as a proof of His faithfulness and connection with the Father-Spirit in Him!  But before us lies the great holy task of Jesus, which He put into our hands.   We no longer belong to ourselves, but to Him and to all people, because through His great mercy and providence, the spiritual well-being and woe of all people is in our hands!

Do not think that I say too much or exaggerate.  On the contrary, I still say too little about what the Master wants to see accomplished in us!  The world is in trouble, but the influence of all the destructive powers has been put a barrier against, in that the Master not only taught us the right means, but exemplified them to us!

But do not think that it would be possible for us now to eliminate all evil and lowly things from the world!  And if we were to speak with the tongues of angels, we would not succeed.  But the Master, now Lord from eternity to eternity, will send us His assistance.  He will be our Guide and also our Guardian, and thus His work must one day succeed!  His gigantic work remains eternally untouchable!

In all worlds and regions the beings look at this mighty event, because they suspect what we now know: the power of evil is broken!  We may call ourselves His children despite our weakness and imperfection!  His death becomes our salvation and His ascension, our victory!  Everywhere you are, you may also bring the Lord!  May you lay in the hearts of those who believe this, through awakening childlike love for the eternal God and Father, the foundation-stone of a temple, of a heaven, which the Master wants to inhabit forever!"

After these words, there was silence for a while, but then Ursus spoke: "Brother Peter!  It is good that I understand your words as you wish, but I must tell you: a certain concept is needed, namely that the Lord is here!  For me, for example, it would be impossible to speak of Him if I did not have the possibility to imagine that He is here!  Of course, I could only imagine Him as I could see Him in His indestructible body, while you, who lived with Him, could imagine Him when He still lived in the flesh."

Then Peter answered: "Brother!  Do not indulge in such imaginations, lest He become a fantasy-image to you!  In order to solve our task according to the will of the Lord, it is not necessary to resort to external imaginations, because the Lord is supposed to be the most essential thing in us!  For external evil can still deceive you!  Everything is to be imitated, even the image you make of the Master.  But if His lovely image lives in you, irradiated by your love, then it triggers by itself what is necessary for struggling and creating, and gives you the proof that, like a bubbling spring, all life presses outward from within!

The Master once said: "Do not worry about what you will say, it will be given to you in due time.  Then the Master educated us in such a way that we could hear in our breast "His dear voice" admonishing and instructing us!  But what will follow now, according to His Ascension, will be even more powerful and intense, since, according to His promise, a Helper, a Comforter will be given to all!

Now, so that the enemy of all life is not given any possibilities of attack, this life or the power of His Holy Spirit can only reveal itself as the innermost outpouring; but only in those who are closely united with the Lord through their humble, devoted love.  We too hope for "that day" - in us!  And this hour will become an event for all inhabitants of this earth.  As the day of Golgotha and His ascension in Bethany became the miracle of all miracles for all infinities, so His outpouring of love, as a holy blowing from His heavens, will become the signal for activity for His children here on earth!  From that hour on, there will be no more hesitation!  You too, will then be seized by this power of the redeeming Savior and Jesus' love.  Then the idea of Him will pass you by, because the feeling of independence in His power will give you security and unshakable faith!"

"Brother Peter!  Your words already give me strength and consciousness today" - Ursus said - "and I am glad to have heard this from you!  With such witnesses as you and your brothers, it must succeed to give the earth the Spirit, which shall educate the people to become true children of God.  I wish I had been a witness of all this from the beginning of His activity of love, so that I too, like you, might belong to the chosen ones."

"Brother Ursus!  Take comfort with the many who, like you, were able to recognize the Lord so late.  But I tell you one thing: you are as close to the heart of Jesus as we are!  Not the time and everything experienced with Him makes the follower a fighter and disciple, but only the love with which I want to serve the Master!  With the determination of the most intimate love, which wants to embrace everything, you give yourself to the Lord!  Everything else follows by itself, because He is the Alpha and the Omega!  The beginning and the end!  Then we are carried by Him, and everything we do and think then works as if He had done it Himself!

The conversation suffered an interruption, since the mother Mary had provided refreshment, and all made themselves comfortable on the balcony.  Lazarus, however, felt seized by a restlessness, his thoughts rushed to the inn, and so he soon left with Demetrius and Ursus; but he left Theophilus with the brothers.

A testimony of the friends of Jesus before the Templars

In this inn of Lazarus all rooms were crowded, everyone wanted to learn the truth about the rumors of Jesus' ascension here.  The tenant had told his guests that Lazarus would soon be visiting, and when he entered the large guest room with the two Romans, he was greeted with expectation on all sides.

Lazarus asked kindly: "Brothers, calm down, I bring glad tidings!  You know that the Master Himself has removed all ambiguities about His death and resurrection and strengthens all hearts in faith in His mission, so that it will be difficult to shake this love and attachment to Him!  But, dear friends and brethren, the Lord could not continually, as in the last days, come to one or the other, since thereby His work was threatened with great danger, namely - the humanization of the great work of redemption!  Thus, for the sake of His work, He had to return to His original home, in order to strengthen the Spirit of His love and power, which is germinating and growing in the hearts of His faithful, and to lead it towards maturity.  He returned in the consciousness that every faithful brother will strive for it: To continue His work within himself, and if possible, to complete it within himself!"

Then an old Jew approached; his face was hard and his expression was grim, when he said: "So!  You can't tell us anything more about your master, who has understood so well to put you all under His spell, so that you no longer know how to distinguish the true from the false.  But still the temple stands, which He wanted to tear down and rebuild in three days!  We are still there and will keep a watchful eye on you.  You, Lazarus, I feel especially sorry for you, you could be the king of Jerusalem and now you are only the vassal of a judged man!  When will the spell of your Jesus finally be broken?"

Ursus started up, but Lazarus defended him and said to the Jew: "Jeremiah!  The power of the temple exists only in your eyes, it will be destroyed!  But the wonders of our Savior Jesus will only now begin!  You have gained the dubious glory of having executed the best and noblest of men!  But this could only happen because He wanted it to happen to Himself!

But you do not know what service you have rendered to the whole of mankind, because through His most painful sacrificial death, the Spirit was revealed to all of us, by which the Master was completely filled!  This Spirit will overflow on His followers, will fill all with strength and perseverance, until the work is completed!  But this His Spirit will also put all falsehood and wickedness in the pillory!  Therefore, dear Jeremiah, let us rejoice, as soon as this Spirit of the redeeming Jesus-love will fill all hearts!

Or are you and your comrades of the opinion that the glorious sublime teaching of the Master from Nazareth had already come to an end with His death?  Just as the Master rose from the grave and gave us all the glad tidings: "I live! - and you shall live through Me!" - so also His teaching will continue to exist and spread far beyond the borders of our fatherland."

Finally Jeremiah answered: "Lazarus!  You were, are and will remain a fanatic!  You of all people have supported the Nazarene in his dangerous deeds and activities the most!  It is not enough that you allowed yourself to be deceived by the people: you died and were buried and were raised from the dead! You even became the main propagator of the greatest lie: your Master had risen from the dead!  And now you let Him go to heaven?  But all of you have not reckoned with us, the guardians and called ones of the house of Jehovah!  The hand of the Lord will punish you severely!"

Now Ursus stood up and shouted excitedly: "My hand will be laid heavily on you, so that you will realize what you are instigating with your spiteful speeches.  Servants of God do you call yourselves?  Shall I tell you what you are and what you deserve?  You should be imprisoned until you have proved the truth that our Lazarus is an impostor, as you have just accused him.  With Lazarus you meant to be able to deal so lightly, because he must respect your garment and your position!  But listen to what I say to you as a Roman: your garment and your position are only of secondary importance to us, I am dealing with your attitude!  Therefore do not count on gentleness!  Either you bring proof of the truth of your accusation, or you take back your words repentingly and ask for forgiveness!  If not, I hand you over to a Roman court, since Lazarus, as a Roman subject, stands under the protection of the emperor!"

Lazarus wanted to answer something, then Demetrius asked: "Brother, let Ursus be, he will lead everything to the good end; this is his way to seize the wickedness at the root!"

"You may be right" - Lazarus replied quietly - "but love can only lead to success when coupled with patience."

Jeremiah was startled at Ursus' forceful words, but when he had recovered, he said: "What have I to do with you, a heathen?  I do not fear you young man, and your threat I scoff at, for I am under the protection of Jehovah!  But mark you, it is dangerous to want to play a judge over us, since the temple has a jurisdiction of it's own!"

"Well" - replied Ursus - "we shall see to what extent the lie prevails!  I will see to it that you do no further harm."

Now still other Templars pushed near and wanted to speak reassuringly to Ursus and Lazarus, but Lazarus spoke: "It was you, nevertheless, yourselves who have created this unrest!  I am always ready to negotiate with you. That I am nothing good in your eyes, I knew long ago, but the goods from Bethany, you have always accepted!"

"We have the right to do so" - replied one - "for the earth is God's, and therefore ours.  But we do not give you up, otherwise you too, Lazarus, like your Master, would have already become a victim of the temple.  The Nazarene is dead - and has to remain dead, that is our will; apart from us, no-one has to have another will."

Now Lazarus stood up and spoke to the other guests, who already began to grumble: "Friends and brothers, remain in peace!  Do not let yourselves be distracted by the small crowd, which does not want to and cannot believe in the Master and Savior Jesus!  On the contrary, rejoice that soon, very soon, the hour will come when all hearts will be stirred like a storm-wind!  Where each one of us will be a joyful confessor and worthy follower of our Master!  Where all the world shall know: He lives!  He lives!  There are still many unbeliefs to overcome, because, as you have just seen, the temple does not want to recognize that it has done wrong!  But some of the priests already regret having agreed to the condemnation of our Master.  He, whom death could not harm, is and remains the Victor!  Therefore, above all, we must not be disturbed by the cries of the unteachable!"

Ursus looked for the tenant, went up to him and spoke quietly some words with him, then also in him, the peace returned.

Now one of the guests asked Lazarus for enlightenment about the appearance and the behavior of the Master after His resurrection!  "Because we can't quite imagine - how He appeared to you!"

"Brother" - Lazarus replied - "if I were to describe His appearance to you, since enemies of Jesus are still present, I would run the risk of again giving cause for new spite.  It would be better if our brother Demetrius, who never saw the Savior in His earthly life, would describe how he met Him.  Then also the opponents could hear a testimony about Him from one who is not a Jew!  So, brother Demetrius, tell us about your experience with the Lord!"

"Dear friends" - Demetrius began - "I gladly follow the invitation of our brother Lazarus, since I would like to testify before you of the glorious goodness and love of the Risen One.  For months I stayed in Caesarea with the brother Mark in order to see the Savior Jesus once and to regain my health through Him.  How often we hoped that the Savior would stop there; all the sick clung to Jesus in spirit.  But how painfully we were disappointed when two gloating priests brought us the sad news of His violent death.  Brothers, allow me to describe our pain.  The world went to ruins!

Here, our brother Ursus, who suffered the most, was the first to be granted the grace of speaking with the Risen Lord.  However, He did not make Himself known immediately, but first restored comfort, tranquility and peace in Ursus' heart.  Then He Himself entered into our midst - radiant-eyed - and in a beauty not to be forgotten.  His scars did not cause fright; but His words were balm, were permeated by a love that penetrated directly into the heart.  Thus He showed us His great plan of love and gave us the glorious promise to always be and remain with those who would cling to Him and believe rock-solid in His help!  In the end, He blessed us and freed us all from our bodily evils, so that there was only rejoicing and joy among us.

Whoever does not want to believe it, may undertake the journey and be convinced on the spot.  I pledge my life for the truth of my words.  But to you Templars I say, do not go too far!  For to forfeit a mercy is bitter, but to make a mercy out to be the spawn of hell, for this also mercy ceases to be merciful!  Therefore test - and then speak."

But old Jeremiah could not keep quiet; as soon as Demetrius was silent, he said: "You too, together with your Ursus, have become a victim of this sorcerer, and cannot realize how you are the deceived ones.  Instead of seeking the truth at the source, in the temple, you adhere to those who have devoted themselves to the sorcerer and deceiver.  It is high time to put an end to this activity."

Ursus wanted to rise, but the mark was burning in his hand, so he asked calmly: "My friend, do you think that we are so easily deceived and could not distinguish truth from lies and reality from appearances?

Compared to your age, I am a boy, but I have seen much of the world and know many customs of the people I have come in contact with.  What I have experienced of badness, of it I do not speak according to.  But what I have experienced good, I would like to confess with thousand tongues!  But the most beautiful and glorious thing I experienced was with Jesus, the crucified and resurrected One!

When I arrived in Caesarea, we were first met by two priests who, as travelers, immediately showed us open hatred and scorn.  You want to claim that the Divine truth is to be sought only among yourselves?  What a contrast, when we then stopped with those who called themselves confessors of Jesus!"

But Jeremiah remained unteachable.  Cynically, he said: "Also you Romans will soon be deprived of your dominion here!  He who does not respect the temple is an enemy of Jehovah, just as the Nazarene was an enemy of the temple and thus an enemy of God, and had to die!"

Ursus became agitated again and cried out briskly: "Man!  If already His sublime teaching was in contradiction with you and with the temple, but how will you evaluate His deeds?  I demand a clear answer!"

"Be glad, if I still dignify you with an answer" - Jeremiah said - "for you, too, are imbued with the spirit that went out from the Nazarene.  So He worked miracles, why did He never work miracles in the temple?  Because the power of Beelzebub does not reach into the temple!"

Ursus turned to Lazarus and asked full of pain: "Brother!  Why do you let the Master be offended so unpunished?  Your patience is admirable, but not appropriate here!  If the Master endured such sinful speeches, I can understand it, because they all ultimately depended on His goodness.  He was perfect and was beyond all comprehension above their wickedness!  But we, as the imperfect ones, are in danger of being harmed if we do not sufficiently reject their words."

"Do not become agitated" - Lazarus pleads - "and remain at rest!  What the Lord tolerated, we must also tolerate!  The hour will come, after all, when they too will come to realize that they acted unjustly!"

Bread and wine were served, and all were refreshed.  But Jeremiah asked Lazarus: "How do you think the future will be?  According to your speeches, the Nazarene has returned to His homeland!  What do you want to start now?  Will you continue to avoid the temple and it's servants?"

"My friend" - Lazarus answered calmly - "how we stand with the temple, depends on you alone.  We have clear instructions from our Master and we will follow His glorious teaching of love even more eagerly, because we know that in following His teaching, we will continue to build the great work which He has begun among us in His unspeakable love and mercy!  His word: "It is finished!" - was a satisfaction for all who know His work!  For us, however, this word will be an incentive to imitate Him, so that at the end of our lives we, too, can say: "We have succeeded, in His Spirit of love, to have again exemplified His sacrifice on Golgotha to the earth and it's inhabitants!"

No temple nor any of it's servants will and can prevent us from this!  For the Lord is in the spirit always in us and among us!  We can do nothing of ourselves, but everything with Him and through Him!  As His love and grace become new in us every day, and His word is promise and hope to us, so by living and being united with Him, we are fulfilled.  We do not need to point to the past, but the present and the existing will testify to His life, which will become alive and ever more alive in us!

I think that you of all people should know me - my relationship with you is still the same as before.  But you have separated yourselves from me and have not respected the peace of my house, have carried enmity instead of friendship to Bethany!  But I still have, out of the Spirit of Jesus, my Lord and Master, the living hope that you will see your error and return to the truth and to the right order from God.

Now new guests came, namely Enos with Peter and Jacob.  Lazarus was astonished, he did not know that the tenant let them come at the request of Ursus.  Jeremiah and the other Templars also recognized Enos.

The brothers greeted: "Praise be to Jesus Christ!"  The others replied: "Until eternity! Amen!"  The Templars did not respond.

When those who had arrived had taken their seats by Lazarus, Jeremiah stood up, pointed to Enos, and exclaimed loudly and excitedly, "Look at him, the traitor!  I am amazed that you still have the courage to come to Jerusalem!  Admittedly, it is even more to be admired that Jehovah has not punished you for your betrayal of the temple."

Enos, completely imbued with the Spirit of mercy, spoke calmly: "Jeremiah - and you my former friends!  You are surprised at me, since my behavior caused the greatest anger among you!  First of all, I tell you that I have departed from the temple in all order; here is the deed, signed by the high priest himself.  Secondly, I tell you that I must repent heavily that I served the temple for so long!  When I did not know about another existence and life, my mind was devoted to the temple and I considered everyone as an enemy who was against us.  So also Jesus, the great Savior!

Through the hardship and the soul struggles of my Ruben, I first came to know the harshness and unkindness of all those who still call themselves "servants and anointed of God".  My mind became wavering.  But since the temple already considered my wavering as betrayal and threatened me, I accepted the help of our dear Lazarus and there in Bethany I got to know another way of life, which made me inwardly so glad and happy as I have never felt in my life!  But still I was not convinced of the Divinity of Jesus, until I was given the grace to see and speak to the Risen Lord Himself!  His pierced hands showed me indeed the greatest guilt of my life, but He Himself spoke no reproach, no accusation!

Dear brothers, all this love and mercy pressed me down to the earth, so that I did not think I could ever get up!  Then His mouth spoke to me: "I am salvation and forgiveness!" - and His hands laid blessingly on my head.  Then, my brothers, I knew where to stand.  When I think of the abominations, of the hardships of the temple, and consider Jesus' love, it cannot be difficult to understand my behavior!  In addition, my wife was healed by Him and is now so happy with my children!  What grace!  I was able to fully realize the Divinity and the mission of Jesus, while those who sit on the chairs of Moses, consider all this grace before their eyes as the spawn of hell, not knowing that they are the ones who are only tolerated.

How often could Jesus, the Lord, have destroyed the temple and all of us, how often did He make us say: 'He came to fulfill the law of Jehovah and not to dissolve it!'  Lifting up and supporting the weak were the main features of His actions.  What did we do?  We destroyed and ruined what did not suit us, and even killed the greatest Benefactor of mankind!  So I stand before you as one who has been accepted by Him, but who can also say: My debt book is torn, my debt is paid by the boundless love and mercy of the Lord, Who is God from eternity to eternity!  He departed, but His faithful carry His holy legacy deep in their breast and wait for the call of their Lord and Master.  When this call comes - it can be tomorrow - but also later, then you will all behold the power, the greatness and the glory of Jesus!"

Jeremiah smiled derisively, then Enos asked again: "Brother!  Why do you not believe my words and want to hurl something ugly at me to offend me?  Why have you not yet seriously thought about it and come to the serious question: "If the Master Jesus were right, and we were all seduced by the enemy of life?

Behold, we were one in mind, a long life united us together, and yet inwardly we were very far from each other.  I am urged to advise you: Turn back, there is still time!  You can still accept the grace to experience a heaven that fills and satisfies your inner being with the highest joy.  What I have received anyone can receive.  Without leaving the temple or becoming unfaithful to it, you can acquire the Spirit of Jesus, it is and is called: love - patience - and mercy!  These three qualities make you a disciple of Jesus and a benefactor of your fellow men!  Therefore, leave your scorn and mockery and see that you do not become a victim of the enemy of life! - But you, Lord Jesus, Who are among us in Spirit, bless these words of mine! To You for praise - and to us for good!  Amen."

Many hands stretched out to Enos, but Enos said: "Brothers, the Lord is everything, therefore we thank Him!  If you want to know more, here is Lazarus, and there is Peter and Jacob!  Also, it is now possible to stop by the brothers at any time, since they are now staying in my former house.  Do not fear men, let the Lord be your portion!  May He alone be our fortress and firm assurance!  As He so gloriously preserved me and, on top of that, made me happy with His grace, so He loves everyone!"

Jeremiah became silent.  The other guests, however, became all the more lively, for their shyness before the Templars had disappeared.  Then one of them said: "So all we need is the Master!"

Then Peter stood up, saying: "Brothers in the Lord!  With these words we express our longing to spend joyful moments or hours connected with Him.  But on the other hand, we also express that we do not have Him yet - in us!  Behold, before the Lord departed from us, He gave us the glorious promise: "I - am with you - all days!" - and I myself have already experienced it: how the glorious Master redeemed His given Word!

If all of you could feel with me how I feel one and connected with the Master, you would all rejoice as I do!  For I say to you: The Lord Jesus Christ has come anew, invisible to my eyes, but inwardly so glorious, so full of power and certainty, that I could work in my devotion through His Spirit just as He Himself does.  So believe and do not doubt for a moment that Jesus is here among us!  For our Lord and Master wants 'that all, all people be helped and receive eternal life!  This is eternal life, that we believe in His mission and appropriate His Spirit, which was manifested on Golgotha to all the world and to all the worlds.'

One of the guests came up to Peter, asked to be heard and said: "Peter, your words fill me with new hope, because I also believe in the great Savior Jesus!  For a long time my brother has been sick - could you also heal the sick like the Savior Jesus?"

Then Peter answered: "If you believe, and your request is born from the depths of your heart, bring your sick brother, that the power and glory of Jesus may be manifested anew, declaring: 'He is in our midst!'"

Immediately the man hurried out of the house.

Jeremiah, however, became agitated again and cried aloud: "Will you continue to tempt God? Is it not enough that the Nazarene took away the standing of the temple and it's servants before the people?"

But Peter answered coolly: "If you feel strong enough inwardly to help the brother who longs for help, we will gladly support you in blessed intercession.  But remember that it can never be a sin for one to bring help and comfort to another.  He who came to the Lord and Master in supplication was also delivered from his infirmities.  But if the great Savior will continue His work through us, shall this be 'tempting God'?"

Here Jeremiah was silent

But Peter, completely filled with the Spirit of Jesus, continued to speak lively: "Brothers!  Let each one tell the other, and let each one strive to work with that which lives in him from the Lord and Master!  Let the need of our fellow men and their hope for fulfillment be our need!  Then we feel how we settle more and more into the great task that the Master entrusted to us: to help all and to serve them spiritually!  We solve it and we will fulfill it, because His word: "I am with you!" - will be the root force of all our actions!

Not we alone, as His disciples, shall think and do so - oh no - all.  You too, brother Jeremiah, could experience the miracle, because you, a former enemy of Jesus, can now become a confessor and promoter of His Spirit of love and truth.  It may sound unbelievable to you, because you are grown in hatred and have to hate what is against you and the temple.  But precisely because you are an opponent and hater, it is possible to convince you that where hatred and abhorrence live, love and affection could also live."

Now the door opened and two men and a woman entered (it was the one who brought his paralyzed brother and his wife).  Already from a distance one could see that the man must have been in great pain, for his eyes were deep-set, his face bore witness to sleepless nights, and his gait was very labored and sluggish.  The woman looked around in fear and was frightened when she saw the priests.  The sick man, however, looked only at Peter, who in caring love was striving for him.

"Here we are" - said the supplicant - "it was not easy to bring my brother here; his strength often waned, only the hope of help strengthened him."

Peter said to Jeremiah: "Here, look at an unhappy man who longs for salvation, to whom health means everything.  Do you want this one to be helped?  Here is an opportunity to prove your Divine mission, and to give us all the conviction that you Templars are the chosen and anointed of God!"

Jeremiah was silent, embarrassed by this request, and the other Templars were also uncomfortable with this question.  But Peter continued: "If you remain silent here, how will the temple regain it's prestige?  Is not your silence a dismal sign and a confession of your impotence?  Talking alone does not improve anything!  It is only in will and action that one shows whose spiritual child one is!"

Silence fell around the men, and the woman asked: "Are you one of those who were around the Savior?  Tell me what I should do, for it grieves me to see my husband writhing in constant pain."

"Believe in the Lord Jesus!  He alone will be your Helper and Deliverer!  We are only His witnesses" - Peter answered.

But the woman asks further: "Where shall I go to meet Him; for since His resurrection, no-one has yet heard where He has taken His abode?"

"Woman!" - said Peter - "the Lord and Savior Jesus is everywhere where asking and desiring hearts long for Him.  And every request He will grant, if it comes from the depth of the heart and is for the soul's salvation."

Turning to the sick man, he continued: "Brother, I feel your sorrow and pain.  Do you also believe in the Savior as vividly as your wife?  See, I am a man like you, but filled with the will to help you.  But without your faith that Jesus can and will help you, it would be impossible for me, since your faith is the gate that you open to His healing power.  Even if your eyes cannot see Him and your ear cannot yet hear His words, still the possibility is created in your heart.  To feel Him, to ask Him and to thank Him!"

"I believe in You, You salvation of the world!" said softly the sick man: "I believe! - Let me pray to Him!"

Then Peter laid both his hands on the sick man's head and said in prayer: "Lord Jesus!  Your love never ceases and makes us bearers of Your Spirit!  Here is a sick child who longs for help from You!  Show Yourself also here, as always, as the great Helper and Savior!  Amen!"

"But you, brother, rejoice!  His eyes look lovingly at you and His hands bless you!  And so I say to you, Arise!  Your Savior Jesus has helped you!" - and has confessed anew: He lives among us!"  Then the one who had just been healed, said: "Oh Jesus, where are You?  I will thank You with all the warmth of my heart, and my mouth shall henceforth confess only Your power and glory!  Oh, what am I that You remember me and are so gracious to me!  Brothers, look!  My crippled and aching limbs - are well - and this only by the grace of the Savior Jesus!"

Then Peter said: "Go home and praise and give thanks in your hearts to the good God, who was revealed to us as Jesus and made us mediators of His Spirit!  Give Him all your love and all your life, just as He gave you new life out of His love."

Jeremiah could not understand how this healing had happened so quickly, and looked at the straight limbs of the healed man.  He said: "If I had not seen the crippled hands with my eyes, I would also believe in a fraud here.  But tell me, how could all this happen?"

Then Ursus answered in the place of the healed one: "Are you still of the opinion that such things are not right?  See, you give yourself a bad testimony, because where it concerns things that are not commonplace, you would have to show a different zeal to learn the pure truth!  How will you stand before yourself and before your brothers, to whom you taught God's Word and urged them to always observe the commandments of Moses?  If you really feel obliged to protect the sanctuary of your temple and to be it's true servant, you should also be able to say of yourself: By my deeds shall all the world know that I am a servant of the great Jehovah!  If you cannot do this, accept the hand of Jesus, which reaches out to you through us, and let yourself be led into your own inner world, so that you may realize how far you are from the abyss.  You may have threatened us, but we would like to see you happy by learning to say of yourself: "I have become a different, a new man, and this only through the redeeming love of the Risen One!"

Jeremiah said: "You are a young Roman, imbued with the Spirit of the Nazarene, and you mean well.  But remember, I am old and cannot call white what I have seen black.  I admit: my view of Jesus has received a huge crack; but to integrate me into your community is too much to ask.  I admit - I am beaten - but not converted!  Leave me in peace, as I will no longer disturb you!"

The Templars left the inn in silence.  But the other guests still wanted to hear about Jesus' departure in Bethany, so Peter said: "Brothers, let us part for today!  Soon the promise of the Master will be fulfilled.  Only then will we all be permeated with the joyful awareness: Through Jesus I may now walk the new paths that lead to the highest goal, to the unity between God and man!

Take care that your love for Him and for your neighbor does not grow cold, but always becomes even more alive, because the Master trustingly put the brother's inner life into our hands.  To be always ready for this, is our motto!  We all know that we are facing great tasks.  So that the sacrifice which Jesus made was not made in vain, let our love and intimate trust in Him find the means to remove all the things in us which have so far hindered our development towards the Divine!

Never, never let doubts or even mistrust arise, for in doing so, you are extending the hand of alliance to the enemy of life.  Be fearless and strong!  You may be.  No-one has a right to you more than the Lord and Master.  Therefore we want to thank Him with all our love.  And what else we have on our hearts, let us lay at His feet in spirit.  His grace and His holy peace be with us!  Amen!"

Admonishions to love

The tasks of the disciples had not become less, but greater, because the temple would not be satisfied with what came through as truth.  Bethany was overrun by all those who, through the Templars, were in doubt about the ascension of Jesus, which tore some from their security, which was, after all, only lukewarmness.  The slanders of the priests became more and more ominous, but the disciples urged patience and patience again.

Ursus, however, grew inwardly, and so one morning he said to Lazarus: "Brother!  Today it is seven days since the great event on the Mount of Olives.  In these days the enemy has celebrated great triumphs, for where the Lord raised up hearts and strengthened them in the faith, the enemy worked hypocritically against it.  That is why we must fight back!"

"Brother Ursus" - replied Lazarus - "it almost tears my heart to think how quickly the love and blessings of the Master are forgotten by some.  Yesterday I was at the innkeeper's in Jerusalem; the temple spreads itself everywhere and lets spread many untruths about the Lord through paid servants.  The brothers, however, keep quiet, but they are full of hope and eagerly await the promised moment when, driven by the Spirit, they may testify and bear witness to the life of the Master and to the truth of His teachings!  Here in Bethany, some still seek their salvation, but often leave unsatisfied, because it requires steadfastness in faith.  In spite of everything, however, a large number of disciples gather around them, because they work amazing things in Jesus Christ.  This is how the forces measure themselves now!  If I go by my feeling, the decision will be made in three days!"

Ursus was not quite satisfied that three more days should pass uselessly and he said: "Brother!  I will go to Jerusalem.  I am going directly to the places of those who deliberately slander the Lord.  I should have no honor, if I would only take these lies calmly for one more hour.  Do we not have enough support, if we want to be fighters and fulfillers in His Spirit?  Are there not enough forces at our disposal to fight for His glorious and holy goals?  The Templars see our silence only as weakness!"

"Brother Ursus!  Do not anticipate the will of the Lord" - Lazarus wanted to reassure - "everything has it's time and needs it's time.  I can understand you, you may not be idle.  Your gratitude towards the Lord wants to accomplish things that may not yet be in time.  But if you feel the urge, visit the brothers and experience there the Spirit that makes them so hopeful.  There Demetrius comes, make known to him your intention, and calmly follow the course of your heart."

This happened, and in a short time Ursus was on his way to Jerusalem.  His destination was the inn.  It was around noon when he rode into the courtyard and handed over his beautiful horse to a servant.  There were some Templars in the large inn room, chatting animatedly with a few strangers.  The innkeeper brought wine and bread, and as if impassively Ursus followed the conversation of those present.  With inflammatory lies, the Templars crushed every good thought of the Savior Jesus.

Then one of the strangers spoke: "I cannot quite believe your words, for the messengers were reliable, who heard and saw the teachings and deeds of the Nazarene himself.  To give sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf is something that has not yet happened in the land of the Jews!  We regret that we are too late, how we would have liked to speak with the Nazarene himself.

"What you regret is your good fortune" - replied a Templar - "for whoever has become a slave to the Nazarene, cannot get away, since He was in contact with Beelzebub.  If it were not so, the temple would not have succeeded in making Him harmless.  Rumors may be spread that He has risen from the dead and has finally gone to heaven, but this does not change the fact that the Nazarene was the greatest deceiver and His followers the deceived."

Ursus rose from his seat, approached the priest and said firmly: "Your words I have heard and weighed them rightly, are you ready to give the truth-proof of it.  For according to your words, I would be a deceived one too!   But do not think that you have an easy game, because I am, as you see, a Roman, to whom the truth is the highest and holiest!  On the other hand, I tell you - I know Jesus!"

Then the priest answered: "What is our conversation that we have with these strangers to you?  In general, you have to respect my dignity as a priest and not to doubt my words!"

"So because you are a priest" - Ursus replied - "you think you can lie and slander with impunity, do you think that everyone has to blindly believe what you think is right and proper?  Are you not aware that this is Jesus Christ, the One promised for hundreds of years and eagerly awaited by your people?  Many experienced the Divinity of His mission, and you also know that with the coming of Jesus, the Scriptures found full fulfillment.  If Jesus had been born in Rome and had performed the deeds there, all altars would have been destroyed and a temple would have been erected for Him, which only served His honor and His glorification.  But I know you love only the treasures of this world, and your glory of being servants of God makes you barbarians!  How will you stand, if He comes again in the Spirit and in the power that puts every lie to shame, and reveals it to every spirit?"

"Don't worry" - the priest replied with a sneer - "we'll hold our own!  Once we have crushed the head of the new doctrine, it will be easy to render the members harmless.  I know well that Bethany is your base, but there will sure be an opportunity to destroy this haven of yours."

Then Ursus got excited and shouted: "Thank God that I am a disciple of Jesus, because this insult of my friend Lazarus and that of my Creator and Savior Jesus you would otherwise have to expiate with your blood!  If you claim to be able to insult with impunity because you are a priest, then I, as a Roman, could take the right to punish you, because whoever insults a Roman, is a slave to the law.  Lazarus is now a Roman, and the truth is his honor.  So take back your word, or produce the proof of truth."

The other priests wanted to appease, but Ursus was firm.  He called the tenant and demanded a messenger to fetch a Roman guard.  Now the priests relented, confessed to acting according to the command of the high priest, and asked for leniency.

Ursus turned to the strangers and said: "Here you see how the enemy of all life is trying to destroy the glorious seed of the Savior Jesus!  It is not enough that he who was the Savior of the sick and the poor, was eliminated.  Now they commit the even greater sin of wanting to eliminate the One who is the strength and support for our souls, who became the mediator between God and man through His mighty sacrifice, and through His resurrection gave proof to all the world that He is One in God and with God!  Come with me, I will lead you to those chosen by Him.

But to you, priests of the house of Jehovah, I give good advice: Stay in your temple.  I will put a guard on duty at this inn, and he must arrest anyone who tries to harm this inn or the house of Bethany, or who slanders the owner.  Since you hold it with Moses, you shall also be served with Moses: "An eye for an eye!  Tooth for tooth!"  The lovely teaching of Jesus, "Love one another as I have loved you!" - is abhorrent to you, so do not be surprised at my stern measures."

The tenant rejoiced at these words spoken in the utmost earnestness, and said: "At last a word at the right time, for I would not be able to endure these Templars for long!"

"Trust in God" - consoled Ursus - "our work is not in vain!"

Short was the parting, and in half an hour, Ursus arrived with the five strangers at Mary's house.  But how astonished he was to see many people present in the large room, like a prayer hall.  The mutual joy was real; but the strangers rejoiced even more that they were finally at the source and could get light from those who were witnesses of Jesus' life.

When Ursus told the story in the inn, John became very serious.  "Brother" - he said - "austerity is good, but why austerity, when love has much more possibilities to win?  Look, we live in the time of the most serious preparation, although our hearts are filled with the thirst for action.  We know that the Lord is not only in our midst, but in each and every one of us, but in such a way that we now see everything differently, recognize it differently, and want to fulfill our tasks only in His sense!  You may have acted according to your best will, but you must always consider: How would the Master have acted in this case?

Remember, if you still need the help of others to serve the great work, it remains the work of man!  The Master knew no other help than the power which was His own in Him!  Whether He worked to help or to keep enemies away, He did everything only from this power, which was His own!  And behold, this silent time here leads us deeper and deeper into our own self.  We never knew before how gloriously man is equipped, but now, when we have no other support, we experience hourly the assistance from Above as power!  We lived with the Lord a life like children live in the parental home, where everything is in abundance.  We let ourselves be guided without care, until the seriousness also approached us.

When the Master left us, we were defeated until He Himself performed the miracle of His power in us.  What was not possible in three and a half years, was accomplished in these seven days, so that we are glad to be able to testify of His love from His power!  What our eyes saw in and of the Master, we had to admire.  But what is possible for us "in this faith of ours that has come alive", will have to be acknowledged not only by our fellow world, no - also by the adversary!

Therefore, brother Ursus, let His Spirit and His life in you also become your power and strength!  Behold, you know Him as the most glorious of glories!  Now you too bear witness of Him in this way, so that the world may know - His glory in you!"

Ursus reached out his hand to brother John and confirmed: "You always do what is right!  When will the old things in me be gone?"

"When you will no longer act out of your love, but out of Jesus' love!" - John replied.

"But what is the measure" - asked Ursus, reflecting - "whether I act out of my love or out of Jesus' love?"

Then John answered: "Ursus!  If you want to repay like with like, you act like a man without any better knowledge!  But if you repay evil with good, you are imbued with the Spirit and nature of Jesus!"

The strangers were deeply moved by this speech of John and one of them asked: "You carry the rock-solid conviction within you that you will find full support from your Jesus at any time?  Unfortunately, we have learned much too late about this glorious man, about His deeds and miracles and teachings!  But we are still in such a state that we cannot even think that He is no more!  It is as if He could enter the door at any moment and would also say something dear or wonderful to us.

"Friends" - John answered - "the Lord had to return to His eternal kingdom for the sake of man's blessedness; but His glorious plan of love is to be revealed to all people!  That is why He has raised up witnesses in many, many places, who will continue His holy work of redemption completely in His sense.  It was a grace without equal to live with Him as a man and a brother.  But greater and more glorious things are granted to those who embrace Him only in their hearts and live entirely out of His Spirit!  We know, however, that the Lord is always with those who, out of His fullness of grace and out of the richness of His love, want to be a true servant and helper to their neighbor.  Imbued with the Spirit of all life, we have grown out of everyday life and have recognized that the earth with all it's inhabitants is only an illusory life, which only acquires a certain value and content when man becomes "a new creature" through Jesus Christ!  This miracle takes place little by little in everyone who seriously wants it, and so heaven and earth become the same to us!"

One of the strangers, Gregory by name, said: "How sweet your word sounds, and how great is the image of the Savior which you present to us.  It is hardly comprehensible to us with what certainty you testify of the eternal God and Lord!  According to your short but substantial words, Jesus had to be one with the almighty Creator, because otherwise it could not happen that we humans would become a new man.  This would be a miracle of all miracles!  I know many fellow people who would sacrifice half their fortune, so that they could become another, a new man."

"Brother" - John answered - "all those you see here have more or less already become new people by the grace of the Lord.  But this is only brought about by one's own will, which is completely subordinated to the will of the Lord.  We all learned from the Lord how He completely subordinated His own will to God's will.  But this will of God must first be correctly recognized.  You and all people will also have to recognize and acknowledge the right will of God beforehand.  And only in this entering into the will of God, do we go to meet Jesus.  Nevertheless, man remains the freest one can imagine, because no-one is ever forced to do or not to do anything.

Yes, I say even more: Jesus can be something only to the hearts, which in their free will resolution are permeated by wanting and accomplishing for Jesus!  The times are serious, because enormous tasks are waiting for us, but we will accomplish them, because only one will dominates us, to live only for Him, our Lord and Master, who not only taught us love, but also exemplified this love.  Yes, even more: before the greatness of His selfless love and His most painful sacrificial death, everything must be silent!  And this love will build a living monument in the hearts of those who seek comfort in Him, which will withstand all the storms of the world!"

Gregory continued: "I wish I could understand all this as you present it, and I would praise myself happy if I could call this glorious life my own.  Therefore I ask you, also in the name of my brothers: "Let us stay with you until we have understood this new life."

"Gladly we grant you this" - John answered - "but not here, but at Bethany.  Stay with the brother Lazarus; the same Spirit lives there as here, and opportunities are provided there to make your stay as pleasant as possible; brother Ursus will accompany you there."

Bread and wine were served to the strangers; Ursus, of course, did not really like this order, since he would have preferred to stay in Jerusalem with the brothers.

But John said gently - "Brother!  Let nothing arise in you that could oppress the New Life in you!  See, the life in Bethany shows much more important and powerful things to the brothers than here in Jerusalem, where there is only preaching or praying!  Even you would not feel at home here in the long run, for see, while here there is much talk of the Lord and of the New Life, in Bethany it is lived!  Here is the word - there is the deed."

The brothers spent another hour with Ursus and the five; then some brothers offered to accompany the strangers to Bethany, since Ursus had to return to the inn to fetch his horse.  It occurred to him to go to the commander's office to secure some soldiers to keep order in the inn.  There, however, he received a negative answer, since there was only a very weak garrison in Jerusalem.  Only now did he realize how right John had been and inwardly humbly asked the Lord for forgiveness and for patience with him.  But in his heart the New Life was stirring!  It sounded in him like the notes of a harp and formed itself into words: "Remain always in peace, and keep My image deep in the ground of your heart, so that it may always remain alive in you!  For you are not called to bear witness to My life as the Son of Man, but of Him Who rose from the dead and lives in you!"

How happy this experience made him in the midst of strangers!  How exalted he felt in the face of all that was worldly!  "One word from my Savior and in one fell swoop, the world looks completely different" - he had to say to himself.  Now, come what may, I am with Him!

So he arrived at the inn; with a handshake Ursus said goodbye to the tenant, and soon he had caught up with the strangers on his Arabian stallion on the way to Bethany.  He dismounted, and the beautiful horse followed of it's own accord, at which the strangers were greatly astonished.  Ursus explained to them: "This is only caused by love!  It is shameful that man acknowledges all the benefits of the eternal Creator so little - even through animals - and thanks Him for them!"

How amazed the strangers were at this so simple truth, because these words fell on prepared ground.

The brothers took their leave and went back; and with deep conversation, the others reached Bethany.  As always, these strangers were warmly welcomed and experienced the truth of John's words: Here in Bethany lives the deed.  The evening again united all guests in a consecrated hour of devotion, where Lazarus testified with heartfelt words to the great and glorious love of the Savior and Redeemer.  He concluded: "What He was to us, we will never forget forever, but what He is to us now, our fellow man shall never be able to forget!  In this way, we build the great work and inspire many hearts, which in turn will be permeated by His great love for the Savior!

And then they all went to rest.  But Lazarus stayed with Demetrius and Ursus longer and asked Ursus: "What did you think of the disciples in Jerusalem?"

"Different!" - Ursus replied.  "They are no longer those who must be led; there each has become a leader.  Their manner is indeed the same, but this I noticed: these are already imbued with the power and the truth of the eternal Spirit of God, and yet they still want to remain in silence."

"So my hunch is also correct" - Lazarus replied - "therefore we want to go to Jerusalem in the early morning of Pentecost.  Great events always cast shadows ahead!  There we will experience how the Lord fulfills His word of promise!"

Now Ursus told Lazarus about his experience with the priest and about the wise teaching he received from John.  But Lazarus said: "Brother, I knew that you had to have this important experience, because the work of the Master is founded on love, however, anchored in the foundations of patience and humility!  Do not want more than the Master wants.  Know more clearly His will in you, then your spirit will penetrate by itself into the depths of wisdom of true life of God.  Not he is great who wants to convert whole nations by teaching His word, but he who makes the deeply known will of God his own and becomes the example for whole nations."

Then Ursus answered modestly: "Brother Lazarus, how deeply we stand in your debt!  Now I also know why you did not want to let us leave.  What would have happened if I had come among strangers with my urgent heart?  The glorious Savior's teachings of love would have been deformed in a way that was based on hidden selfishness.  But now I look deeper and recognize more and more clearly the holy-great love of the Lord and Master - and our tasks!  Oh What a spirit it takes to still show this love even to him of whom I know that he is my traitor!"

Then Lazarus put his hand on Ursus' head and said: "Ursus!  Now the new morning is dawning in you!  Now follow the Master on this way!  There will be many apostles in the future, but they will not yet be able to grasp the Lord in all His greatness and depth. And that is why His high, so sublime doctrine of love will have to experience many deformations.  But as far as I am concerned, and now also you, we want to put His love, as we have found it in the bottom of our heart, also outwardly, so that the neighbor and every fellow human being can experience the power and blessed certainty of His love just as I and you experienced this power and certainty when the Lord gave us the grace to make us happy with His love!

Now we are the bearers of His great thoughts of love.  The more we try to live completely in His Spirit, the more we erase some of the guilt of those who were the cause of His coming!  If you see mankind, which is deep in sins, as deceived, as a victim of the spirit of lies, then pity and great mercy will also fill your being, and you must become aware of what great happiness has befallen you!  So, in the future, keep your eyes fixed on Him who made you happy and lifted you up to Himself from the depths, but also on those who still live in the depths and ignorance of God.  Then do everything else out of the Spirit to which you are eternally obliged to give thanks!

This is how I keep it and experience daily the confirmation that the Lord and Master is the fulfillment of all desires!  The greater the task, the greater the effort, the more gloriously bubbles the source of His power!  This is how I experienced the Master!  This is how I experience it in me every day!  Therefore, my Ursus, just experience this glorious Savior and Love-Master, and set yourself the one task that thousands may so experience the Savior, Lord and Master through you, and may also walk the paths of His love and truth!"

Ursus, completely moved, gripped Lazarus' hand and said: "Brother!  Thank you for your love, which just now brought me a great experience!  I was able to see within myself how a great people, like the people of Israel, danced with zeal around the golden calf.  I wanted to smash this their idol in my excitement, then my eye was directed to the hill Golgotha.  His voice, however, sounded very softly: "I wanted to redeem you confused ones, therefore I sacrificed the highest and joined the lowest, in order to carry you up to the highest height, as if with eagle power.  But your love for the material made you blind and created you a heaven only for the transient!  Nevertheless, My love will not rest until your spirit wants to unbind itself and carry everything lowly in you to the highest height as a sacrificial thanksgiving."

While listening to these words, I saw luminous figures hurrying into the crowd and stroking with their right hand the face of some people.  These left the large crowd and went apart, for the worldly hustle and bustle could not please them any longer.  So I hurried to them and pointed with raised hand to Golgotha!  Then they shouted: "No more dead images!  We long for the living, for something that makes us alive!"

I became sad because I felt my poverty.  Only Golgotha was my possession.  Then a light figure rushed towards me, covered my face, and in me and around me, it became bright!  Now I saw how many sparks of light from Golgotha sprayed through the spaces of the universe, and who was hit by such a spark, hurried to Golgotha.  Thus only a few remained at the golden calf, but around Golgotha they stood head to head in worship and waited.  Now I could speak, now I felt rich, for life upon life seized me, and I heard myself speak: "Listen, all of you, to what Life is telling you!  Life arises where heart meets heart, for love cannot rest and stop until the last man is found and redeemed!"

Then Demetrius also rejoiced and said: "How aptly you have seen your becoming and wanting!  It fills me with great joy that you have taken this power from the spirit of ‘Golgotha’.”

"Not taken" - Ursus replied - "but this power was there, as the warmth is there when the ray of the sun hits me."

"Let us go now to rest" - asked Lazarus - "so that in the silence of our inner world, the thought may mature to the action!  His call: "Lazarus!  Come out!" - still resounds and means: to strip off everything old and to be ready in the new resurrection-Spirit!  Then we are like breakwaters in the midst of the surf of all the wrong and evil doings of the erring ones!  Day after day, holy tasks approach us all, and there will always be a good solution, if we do not deviate one inch from the right Spirit!"

Who and what is Jesus to us?

Thus Friday passed under brisk labor, as everything was set for the Sabbath and the feast of Pentecost of 2 Moses 23:16.  The five strangers joined Demetrius and Ursus and were on the plantations all day; and here they experienced how the spirit of joyfulness and devotion was the driving force to create so much for Lazarus!

Thus one of the strangers asked Demetrius: "How can Lazarus maintain everything like this?  There are surely hundreds of people and the many animals, which all want to be cared and supplied for; in addition, this generosity and liberal hospitality!  It is, as if we experience here a miracle!"

"So it is also" - Demetrius answered - "what is considered otherwise impossible, finds here it's fulfillment, because a quite marvelous blessing rests on all Lazarus' activities!  I also  experienced that this love and hospitality was already practiced by Lazarus' father and therefore it must have pleased the Lord and Master here so particularly well.  In this genuine cordiality, in this free and joyful sphere, every heart is drawn upward, and eternal thoughts in turn enrich one's inner life."

"O what a holy concept of God one appropriates here" - replied the questioner - "but we still miss the main thing: Who and what actually is Jesus?  We have learned many things about Him from His disciples, but our longing for Him has not been fulfilled.  He is no more!  The enemies of His love-teachings eliminated Him.  The Templars know nothing good about the Savior, whom all the people would like to recognize as the Messiah promised to them!"

Then Ursus answered as if driven by the inner Spirit: "My dear friends and assuredly also brothers, to this question of yours and your longing for Him, only Jesus Himself can give you the right answer!  Every thing needs it's time to mature, so also here with you.  I myself have had wonderful experiences.  The more I searched and longed for Him, the more I was driven by the longing for the personality of Jesus, thinking that when I would meet with Him, all my fervent longings would be completely fulfilled.  I was also faced with the fact that He is dead!  What can a dead man be to me anymore?  Until He Himself came to me, let me look into His own interior and reveal to me: ‘All this, what I carry in Me, lives also in you!  Awaken it through love for God and for your neighbor, then you carry My life in you, and My Spirit will reveal everything to you!’

Other brothers also experienced something similar.  Also you will be shown this way to Him in your own heart, and the answer to your question: Who and what is Jesus? - your own self will then give you!  So I can confidently say to you: Jesus is for everyone what he makes of Him!  To one He is man, to another, Savior.  To me He is the only Lord, the eternal God, who made me realize my innermost being and life!  Now, out of my own love for Him, I may transmit His life and His Spirit.  The pull of my heart to serve Him, is to me like a stream of grace of His fullness of life, because in serving lies greatest allegiance.  So I come to the answer: Jesus is my whole purpose in life!"

Gregory, one of the strangers, who until then had always kept silent, now spoke to Ursus: "You, young friend, in my heart already lives a joy that makes me almost mute!  Your zeal, the sincerity in your nature, wanting to be like Him whom we seek with fervor, has made me your friend.  We have heard a lot of talk and preaching about following Jesus, but the life of those who want to practice His love here in Bethany, is something exceedingly new to me.  This raises the question in me: Do the disciples of Jesus and all His friends act this way because it is the express wish of your Savior Jesus, or is it entirely up to your free will, how you want to serve all others in this spirit?"

"I will gladly answer your question" - said Ursus - “See, there is a vast difference in this service to the great work of His redemption for mankind!  Where people are preparing to enter into the service of the great Life-Master, there will be only a few who already understand the deepest meaning of His Savior-Teaching!  We all still live under the impression of past times, when the love of the Master wanted to pave the way for us to make this earth a heaven.  Admittedly, His death could have misled many a follower, but He Himself, in all His glory, stepped among His human brothers as the victor over all death and made us all happy and joyful again!  Now the Lord has returned to His eternal original world, since according to His own decisions, His mission as "Son of Man" has been completely fulfilled.  It has been revealed to mankind: God became man to redeem His promise and to pave a new way to the Divine Essence for all who were entangled by the enemy of life in the outer world.

But man so easily forgets the high aim of his life, because he is only interested in the success of his own plans!  Behold, therefore, some will now believe: If this Savior's love would be realized on this earth, my own plans could also be realized.  Again others will hold on to His words, His promises and look for the fulfillment of their wishes in it.  Another part will indeed recognize the great and mighty of His teaching, but will only want to preach about it in His name.  But man so easily forgets the high aim of his life, because he is only interested in the success of his own plans!  Behold, therefore, some will now believe: If this Savior's love would be realized on this earth, my own plans could also be realized.

As good and praiseworthy as all this is, the deep longing of God remains unsatisfied.  For man is not yet mature enough to recognize that there are two serious ways of serving God.  All those just mentioned want to serve out of truth for the absolute truth of God.  But God - wants to be loved!  And in order to fulfill this deep longing for God, one does not need to be great, rich or learned, but only to become awake and quiet and full of humility towards the Divine will, so that the God-life slumbering in us does not experience any constriction.  In order to serve Him in His holy love-intentions, I must let myself be completely filled by His love, so that I can let myself be led, guided and driven by His Spirit!

Life out of Him is unthinkable without His Spirit, His influence!  But if His life wants to truly work in us, brother Gregory, He does not need to coerce us, and we do not need to consider first, since in this free God-love, any shadows or doubts can no longer exist!  The life of Jesus is and remains an eternal example for us, but the Spirit that animated Jesus, is the all-sustaining and the power driving to create ever new creations.  Nothing will be able to oppose this power, this life, no matter how much it is tried, because He, as the Lord and Creator of heaven and earth, is this power and this life Himself!  But remember that in His Spirit, the purest love is united with the highest wisdom, and therefore our actions out of this Spirit can only be the purest and most loving!  I cannot say more about it, otherwise I would restrict the life out of this very freest Spirit!"

Gregory thanked Ursus and said: "You seem to me like a harbinger of the rising sun, and my presentiments are almost about to be realized!  But God must have His wise reason to entrust His deepest secrets to only a few souls.  If only I were also so near the goal, how I would rejoice!"

"You can reach it soon" - Demetrius now replied - "for where the desire for Him drives the heart, there is soon fulfillment!  Therefore, everyone see to it that everything that lives in his heart is transformed by the Spirit of love, into a new creation!  There comes Lazarus - he is looking for us!"

It was so; Lazarus had hurried to join his guests, and joyfully exclaimed: "All is done!  Now we can celebrate the harvest festival!  The wheat has been brought into the barns, and this was only possible with the help of your people, dear Demetrius, who worked tirelessly; but now there will be a few days' rest for everyone.  Let us return home, for preparations for the feast are still necessary."

On the way to the dwelling house, Gregory thanked Lazarus again with moved words:  "Never in my life would I have believed that such a life full of harmony could be formed amid the great contrasts in the world" - he continued - "but these facts here and the joyful willingness of all prove to us what a good spirit prevails here!  If I did not have large estates myself, I would most like to stay here and become one of yours."

"You can do this even without staying here in Bethany!  You take this good spirit, which you make your own, to your homeland and create a second Bethany, then you too will experience the grace and blessing that comes from such action!" - Lazarus replied.  "What man experiences is sowing and harvesting at the same time.  But what lies between sowing and reaping, is grace upon grace!  Therefore, we give glory to God who has matured us for His grace!"

"Every word is so true to life" - Gregory now answered again - "so simple and yet so great!  How comfortable you must have been when the Savior Jesus dwelt among you!"

"Not more comfortable than today" - said Lazarus - "because we know that He is with us all the days with His love, His power and His blessing, and this consciousness makes us strong people."

A worker came hurriedly to meet them and asked Lazarus to come home, since the temple had sent messengers to speak with him.  But Lazarus said calmly: "Therefore we do not go faster, to that we still come soon enough!"  And it was so.  Indeed the Templars were upset because they had to wait so long, but Lazarus spoke friendly: "There you should have announced yourselves!

We have had to work with all our hands to bring in the wheat, but you wanted to reap immediately, even where you had not sown.  If you have come to get your share, it is ready for you!  However, I will no longer have the grain brought to Jerusalem, but you must fetch it yourselves.  You always regard me as the rejected one, as a son of the night, but you gladly take the goods which you receive from Bethany.  But now you must fetch it yourselves, no servant, no maid may help!  This is my will!  If it does not please you, then the grain remains here for the poor - they come gladly, all too gladly, to Bethany."

The Templars switch and insisted to change Lazarus's mind, but Lazarus remained firm!  And thus they departed bitterly; a new defeat which they booked with dogged resentment on the account of the Nazarene and proved thus: Jesus is what the love of the people makes of Him!

Harvest Festival at Bethany

Then, when the evening meal was finished, Lazarus invited all his people and guests to the hill to perform the consecration of the harvest feast.  The torches were lit to illuminate the coming night, and the torchbearers formed a wide circle around all those gathered.  The crowd sang a joyful psalm of praise and thanksgiving, then all became silent, and Lazarus began to pray aloud: "Great and gracious God!  You Love of all love!  You Life of all life!  We are here to give thanks to you in our innermost joy.  Wherever our eyes look, we see the evidence of Your power and glory, we see how Your goodness has arranged everything so sweetly and wondrously.  You Yourself, in Your love for us human beings, have made Your overflowing heart communicable, so that we know: You are among us in Spirit and in truth!  A life full of grace lies behind us, but before us lies the task to realize Your life of grace in others!  So stay with us, and let us always remember that without You and Your blessing, we can do nothing!  Give us the strength that we may overcome all night within us and experience a coming day that gives only light and life.  Bless us! - we are Yours! - and will remain so through Your Holy Spirit!  Amen."

"Amen!"  - say all.  Lazarus continued speaking: "Brothers and sisters!  There, where the Lord orders the house, everything is content and happy!  We, too, may be so.  And so we thank in this hour the God of all love and the Father of all children for the grace that we may be the bearers of His will.  But to be the bearers of His will, also means: to seek to increase all life full of grace, so that the salvation which has become ours through Jesus, the Risen One, may become the common property of all.  Our glorious Master has returned to His home in order to support us from there in such our will.  Thus He remains in constant union with us, who love Him so dearly.  But to love Him means again: to promote His life placed in our inner being, and to work always in the spirit of His merciful love!

Today, on the eve of Thanksgiving Day, we realize how dependent man is on the influences that promote or inhibit all growth, and how man, due to his high disposition, should be able to keep away everything harmful, but to promote all that is good even more!  This precious possession has been lost to man, and only desires and cravings have arisen in it's place.  But now the Master of all true life has shown us how man can regain possession of these lost powers and thereby bear witness to his union with the Lord and eternal God.

The harvest is always the product of sowing, and this union with the eternal God, the consequence of our living faith in His love and our humble surrender to His will!  So let our life be a joyful thanksgiving, because God also wants to thank us for the service we render to our brothers!  And as our hearts are filled with joy and gratitude, so that never again should sorrow or worry trouble us, so let all people share in our joy, for only in the right joy are you enabled to give true thanks.  Grateful children praise in all manners their father's most glorious good!  Therefore, let us be true children, and become even more so, for the sake of His holy love!"

Now Lazarus was silent.  They did not notice the darkness outside, because the many oil torches in the hands of upright standing men, formed a big light-circle all around; and the words coming from the heart, had tuned all to joyful thanks.

Enos looked questioningly at Lazarus - and he nodded in agreement.  So Enos stepped to Lazarus'side, blessed as a priest all those gathered here and continued: "My brothers - and also you sisters!  It has pleased the great and holy God to pour out His gifts in rich abundance into the womb of our earth.  By His grace He has made us stewards of these goods, but by His Fatherly love - children!  Thus He has relieved us of all worries, so that we can thank Him in true joy!

But, my brothers, there is no happiness that is truly untarnished.  In all our joy and security, melancholy creeps around our hearts, because the Love of all love is so misunderstood, and the lust for power has hardened so many hearts to stone.  I confess: I have become old and gray, but the teachings of Jesus and His love for all people were a nuisance to me.  But through imperiousness and hatred, I myself was led into suffering and distress, until kind hearts of the Savior's teaching helped me and led me into a completely different world, which knows only peace and sunshine!  A priest - is a sower!  So my heart tells me: Only in this new existence and life I can be a sower and in unceasing activity, I can pay off the guilt, which the Savior Jesus also paid for me with His blood.

Times will come, when His word will be preached in all countries, also a time will come, when misery and suffering will almost make people despair!  But throughout all times, the cross will stand as a reminder and invitation to seek rest and peace with Him, Who - even on the cross - confessed His merciful love for all people!  Who rather died for the redemption of His children from matter, than to be without children for eternities!  Therefore I confess here: You my Jesus, You gave me a new life, which presses for actuation, and so let only Your holy will be done always!  Amen."

The crowd listened with great emotion, and a silence fell, inviting everyone to inner  contemplation.

After a while, Lazarus invited his oldest worker Tobias to him and asked him to also speak a few words - and it happened.  Tobias, an old, awe-inspiring figure with long, white hair and beard, began: "Gladly I fulfill the request of our house and brother and want to testify the blessed and joyful life out of the Spirit of true contentment.  It is not only the peaceful life here, not only the awareness that we are provided for, but it is the spirit here that animates and fills us so.  How close heaven has become to us and how strange the earth!  Why?  Because God's love mercifully keeps the gates wide open to the holiest and innermost life of God.

Where is someone who can say: I was deprived of grace!  Where is someone who would have asked and sought, and was passed by the true salvation, and where is someone who could say, this love and grace has not been promised to me?  There will be none - at most those who are still drunk with the wrong spirit.  For them I lament with my Savior, Who - with a longing heart - wanted to bring happiness and salvation to all.  The harvest of all His loving service, a service that makes all people eternal debtors, was meager!  But what will the harvest be like when all promises are fulfilled?  When, through hardship and suffering and miraculous guidance, every human child must realize: Everything is so transient and worthless without the loving God, the Father of all children.

So I call out to you: Many are mourning for their Benefactor, who in complete love cared and was concerned for the welfare of all of us.  He has disappeared from our sight, but wants to come so much closer to our heart!  His word spoken to us, becomes more and more alive from hour to hour, and His all-embracing grace makes us an ember that wants to give more and more light and warmth.  Like a torrent, His truth will pour into the hearts of His faithful and will break down the strongest bulwark of the prince of darkness.  We said goodbye to our Savior, Who was so much, so great to us in our lives; but now we all cry out: Welcome, you dear One! - You good One!  The world is too small and can no longer separate us from Your life.  Now Your longing is fulfilled!  Now Your Spirit has broken through!  Your messengers are waiting for Your call and are ready to plant a new seed out of Your Spirit into the womb and mother-soil of Your human children.  I see in the spirit how light upon light, how life upon life displaces the darkness and everything dead.  How the message of Your Divine- and heart-peace makes this earth the starting point of Your glorious love!

So come, you torchbearers!  Unite now into one flame and today, on the eve of the completion of His glorious work of God, give the earth and it's human and spiritual inhabitants the proof: Jesus is our Light and our Life!  What has been hidden for infinitely long times, is revealed to us today: Eternal Love of the great God, united with His children, wants to bequeath His Holy Spirit to the earth and all worlds, so that all enmity may cease!

What a grace to be found worthy to help build, through His Spirit, the great holy work of the Redeemer!  So shine, you flames, as a testimony to Him, Who - with a flaming heart and holy fire of love - let us experience this day, where we may declare with a glad heart: The light shines into the darkness and will never cease to shine, until all darkness must confess to the light!  So give thanks in your hearts and by your deeds, for the world hungers for your thanks, hungers for proofs of such light, which shall reveal itself through you as life-power and holy life-good!  So bless us, oh Lord and Master Jesus Christ!  It is the legacy of Your love, so that we too may be imbued to bless and serve all like You.  So let Your will become our will!  Amen."

Again there was silence - until Lazarus said: "Let us now go to rest, so that nothing of this glorious Spirit may fade away outwardly.  What Eternal Love has intended for us, we have received in abundance.  Tomorrow, on the Sabbath, true rest is recommended to all of you!  Let each one do freely according to the course of his heart, and God will be with us!  Amen."

Lazarus, too, was inwardly greatly moved, and at last he said to his guests: "Tomorrow is the Sabbath, but the next day is Pentecost, and there we will unite with the brothers in Jerusalem!"

What is the Holy Spirit?

During these days, all the disciples remained closely gathered in Mary's house, and in a unanimous gathering, in the innermost silence and expectation, their inner being was freed from the last doubts.  The Spirit of God worked powerfully on their being until the last obstacle, which the mind and self-love had still erected, was removed.  On the Sabbath evening, the disciples sat on the balcony of the house and were together filled with increased longing, but also full of hope for the promise of Jesus!

This silent night made their hearts especially still and receptive, and in Peter, slowly developed a clarity and awareness of what before was only hope, that he suddenly exclaimed: "I am experiencing mighty and utterly wonderful things!  I feel as if I am entering into the Lord, as if I am a being without flesh and blood and could take up residence in the form and person of Jesus, even in His human shell!"

He was silent - then he continued more quietly: "In reality, however, it is different.  I feel a holy contraction around me and now I see the Master in me.  He becomes bigger and bigger, I am nothing anymore!  Yes, I see only the Master in my form, in my shell!  He is as if of transparent gold, but in His heart, a little flame shines, which produces colored light and thus illuminates the innermost emotions of the heart.  Now the whole heart is already shining and radiates like a sun, which, however, does not dazzle.  These rays penetrate out of me and, oh miracle, I can see through the whole creation in this light!  Brighter still this light grows and becomes a hot glow within me; now my form vanishes and I see only the Master in His innermost glory!"

Again Peter was silent, as if in devotional contemplation, then he exclaimed in flaring realization: "Lord! - You are not only Son, You are the Creator Himself!  You are God! - the Eternal - the Holy One! - and - our Redeemer!"

Peter breathed a deep sigh of relief, now he knew what the name "God" wants to mean to us!  His face became more and more luminous and fine rays of light also emanated from his hands.  John took Peter's right hand and gave his left hand to Jacob, and Jacob gave his hand to the others so that a chain was formed.  A sanctifying stream of light now filled them all, and with a pleading heart: "Inflame me also!", they also saw this light in themselves and experienced the Deity in themselves as a living fire-power, as the Awakener of all life!

John spoke, moved: "Brothers!  Now the Lord has fulfilled His promise!  His own Holy Spirit has flooded us!  This Holy Spirit as light from His original light, as power from His original fire-power, as clarity from His wisdom, wants to take residence in us and in all people!

How clear it becomes to me that one must first become alive oneself in order to be able to awaken this new life in others!  Now I am aware: Everything that Jesus as our Master was not allowed to tell us, we find from now on as living truth in ourselves.  He is our God!  Jesus, as man, gave room to the eternal God-spark in His breast by voluntary sacrifice!  But to us, His witnesses, He gives this His acquired God-power, and thereby makes us bearers of His Holy Spirit, so that through this light-power, everything separating, which still wants to place itself between God and the becoming God-child, may be overcome."

Peter stood up, and his words were full of firmness when he spoke: "Never before have I experienced and felt this holy spark of God in me as power and light!  I see: God, the Eternal, becomes everywhere visible for us, because He is in us and awakened our life-core!  Thereby every word of the Master is illuminated as if from within in it's eternal sense!  Before us now lies the great task: to proclaim His holy Word in this light to all!  But in this light, this task becomes our need!"

Thinking, Peter continued: "Now that the mighty glow within me is fading, yet a hot urge remains within me, bringing ever deeper knowledge of Jesus the Lord!  He is truly God - from eternity to eternity!  His great love for mankind made us His disciples and witnesses.  Driven by this new Holy Spirit given to us, we joyfully speak and testify of His love for all created by Him, and thus may work and toil in His holy work of redemption!"

All restraint was suddenly overcome, for this new experience saw a definite goal before it: the realization of all the mighty tasks that Jesus, as Son of God and Son of Man, wanted to have accomplished.  In this way, this Holy Spirit became the driving force, but also the joyful one in them, creating a halo of joy around the disciples, which was transmitted as a reflection to the others as well.  From now on, they were the givers!  The Source of their strength was Christ, who lived and worked in their chests.

Pentecost!

On this special feast of joy, many people went to the temple, where, however, already in the forecourt, two parties were formed, the one dissatisfied with the measures of the Templars, the other adhering to the temple; and so a quarrel threatened, when the better part turned their attention to the disciples of Jesus, who had just arrived, and called out: "There they come, these we want to hear!"

A movement arose and a way was cleared; but the Templars had withdrawn into the temple.   All looked at the disciples, who in unearthly joy, spread out their hands in blessing.  As they entered the steps leading to the porches, Peter turned and blessed all the people once again.

In this blessing, the spark of his God-life flared up high again and enlivened his other brothers as well.  Silently, the crowd heard his words spoken with conviction by the Spirit of Truth, creating an understanding of the new life and power that compelled him to speak.

The crowd wanted to hear still more, and so the other disciples were driven to testify openly of the great, redeeming Savior's love.  And strangely, they were completely understood, since all the disciples testified to this new life through Jesus out of the fire of their hearts and not out of their will.  Not one of them could close his mind to the truth of having heard or felt something that would not have made his mind happy!

The more the disciples allowed themselves to be led by the innermost Spirit, the more transfigured their faces became.  In their hearts, Eternal Love had kindled a holy fire, which now flamed from heart to heart, from love to love - and whose flames, as life-awakening, eliminated all rationality.  Above them was a radiance as if from the heights of light, and one thought one could hear a roaring and rushing like an echo from the halls of the temple, like an echo from the high house which was to be consecrated to the holiness of the Word of God!  The disciples spoke more and more convincingly, until the hearts of the multitude themselves were filled with enthusiasm.  Now the promise was experienced!  All barriers had fallen!  This Holy Spirit had closed the gates of wrong understanding and opened another gate of knowledge, which led directly to the heart and into the mind.

Each one heard the language of his heart, heard how the God of love spoke to his own inner being!  And nothing of this could be avoided.  Many were convinced, but many more were made hungry, and longing for true bread of life, their hearts also became ripe for the Spirit who comforts and leads us into all truth!

In the inn of Lazarus there was great rejoicing: Now the Master has redeemed His given Word!  A connection has been created from His heavens to the earth, which no enemy, no adversary can stop anymore!  How often the Master had pointed out: "If I am no longer among you, no-one shall miss Me!"  Yes, still more: "You can talk with Me - whoever wants to, no matter at what time or hour!"

Now it was fulfilled!  The Help, the Guide and Comforter from the heavens had become the property of this earth, because the fire-power of this Holy Spirit was not an appearance, not born of temporal circumstances, but was a free gift from Him Who now wanted to take room and dwelling in receptive hearts.  Thus Jesus redeemed His promise and gave much more than was expected, namely: bread from His heavens, light from His light and power from His original Spirit!

For Ursus and Theophilus, this experience became like a stepladder to the highest concepts of God!  As if from above, they see all the processes of grace in a much more glorious light!  Now they experience again in all reality; God is life!  And God always gives new life through the Holy Spirit, who is promised to all through Jesus Christ!  The Pentecost-Spirit is the renewal of joy!  The Pentecost-Spirit is the continuation and fulfillment of His great work of redemption.

The guests stayed in Jerusalem; no-one felt any fatigue, everything was well taken care of, and without difficulty, all earthly and spiritual wishes were fulfilled.

Demetrius took Lazarus aside and said: "Brother, many I have experienced many Divine things with you, but the most powerful was today!  Posterity will not grasp and understand it.  This power and the fire of the new life in the brothers, created a new light in all of us!  I thank you for keeping us here, because if we had gone home, I would never have been able to experience this greatest and most powerful thing!  But now I have a request which you must not refuse me: Let me bear all expenses of today, and all strangers shall be my guests.  You don't want to know anything about thanks for all expenses, which are quite significant after all.  Therefore, let me be the master of the house at least once today; I feel as if the Lord and Master would also take pleasure in it."

Said Lazarus: "Brother, you know how gladly I fulfill every request, so your wish is granted.   All day long I feel like a guest at the wedding feast.  These are anticipations of eternal bliss, which in a natural way let us already foresee in the earthly what awaits all those who are completely in His sense, stewards of His goods and bearers of His Spirit.  Let us return to our guests; no-one needs to know whether you or I are hosts, but everyone should feel, today I enjoy everything at the table of Eternal Love!  But, brother, remember one thing: today you do not see a single Templar.  Has Eternal Love not provided further than we?  For many, this love would not have been such a glorious gift if there had been bitter and fierce priests among us.  But now you see only joy and gratitude.  Therefore, let the memory of this day never fade, but remain alive and present in you!  For it is Pentecost!  And may the Pentecost of joy always remain within us."

Farewell to Bethany

After this most powerful Pentecost experience, Demetrius insisted to depart; and thus Lazarus planned still a farewell meal in Bethany, to which the disciples and many friends and strangers were invited.  For Thursday, the whole house was festively decorated; but the mother of the Lord came beforehand to the sisters of Lazarus, because she felt unnecessary in Jerusalem.  Ursus and Theophilus had been inseparable since the Ascension, and Theophilus would have preferred to go away with the Romans, but Ursus refused.  He said: "Brother, stay here!  The brothers can use you much more than I can.  My life is surrounded by dangers, and in the desert, one must do without many things.  Duty is everything to us Romans, and the care for the entrusted people and goods is not small.  We have the glorious promise that the Lord is always with us and supports us according to the degree of our faith and trust; but I would have no peace if an accident happened to you.  Therefore stay!  The Lord has appointed another field of work for you!"

Theophilus could not reply to this, and Demetrius also agreed with Ursus.

By noon, the house was already full of guests, and the disciples also brought friends in whom the desire for truth was overpowering.  In the meantime, refreshments were served, for the feast was not to begin until the sun had set.  Every inhabitant of Bethany made it his duty to show all the visitors the true nature of love, which must fill everyone from within.  And sincere astonishment and greatest satisfaction was the echo for their love and action.  Many acquaintances also came to Enos and expressed their joy that he had found a new life in Bethany.  But most of all, the disciples were surrounded - for in their hearts lived radiant joy and consciousness of power.

A Greek said to Peter: "It all becomes so great and mighty to me when I truly think into the life of your great Master, and so I ask: Was this outpouring of the Spirit of Pentecost, like the birth and death of your Messiah, also foreseen from the beginning of the world?  How many scriptures prophesy of His birth as well as of His sacrificial deed, but that His disciples should be granted this supernatural grace of His Spirit, is not known to me from your sacred writings!"

"Dear friend and brother in the Lord" - Peter answered - "this question of yours is quite justified.  All promises of God to mankind fallen into matter, were directed to the former Savior and Redeemer out of it, who now in the person of Jesus, has completely fulfilled this His holy mission!  But every promise is at the same time a revelation of God and includes so much, high and spiritual, that the one who faithfully searches, will still find many things in it, which have not yet been expressed.  But it is obvious that He, the Master, who according to Isaiah, is called: Everlasting-Father and Prince of Peace, makes all those who live in His Spirit, His chosen ones - and will not withhold the power of His Spirit from them.  We were witnesses of His power, might and glory, and you are witnesses of what His Spirit gives us!  Now, can His Spirit in us want anything than what is in Himself?

The life and death of the Master was the fulfillment of the Scriptures!  With His Ascension, He took away everything that still lived in us of His personal nature!  But this Pentecost was the day of our baptism with His fire, where He offered His legacy in the Spirit to the whole of mankind.  For see: What Jesus offered in sacrifice of His humanity, the law demanded of Him!  But what we - as heirs and as bearers of His Spirit - want to sacrifice, is free love out of free will!  But what is done out of free love, is above all promises!"

The Greek thanked him; new clarities rose in him, but the general sign sounded from the dwelling house.  It was time to gather in the large dining room, and so all conversation ended, so as not to delay the feast.  The hall was beautifully decorated; candlesticks were ready to be lit on all the tables, and white-robed servants hurried to and fro.  When all guests had taken place, Lazarus gave instruction for the meal to be served;

Meat of fowls and lambs was served, together with vegetables and bread and delicious fruits; other servants filled the cups with cool wine.

Lazarus stood up and said: "Dear and precious brothers!

Eternal Love greets us and blesses our feast!  My love also wants to envelop you with the powers that come from Jesus, to prove to you how happy I am in this Spirit.  Be it with me!  And so let us pray together: "Lord!  It is our desire to have this meal with You!  Be with us in Spirit and receive the thanks that we may also bless in Your name!  So be blessed this hour, which we may experience here by Your grace!

Blessed be you, brother and sister, who want to be completely filled with Jesus' Spirit, and blessed be you, food and drink, that you may strengthen us for the activity of our love!"

Now everyone took of the most beautiful dishes.  Despite the many people, a holy atmosphere lay over all, and the mutual conversations were held only quietly.  The day was drawing to a close, the candlesticks were lit and the tables cleared.  All were silent, because they knew, now the consecration hour begins.

Lazarus spoke: "Dear guests!  We all feel that the past weeks with their enormous trials have connected us inwardly firmly with each other.  All our hardships have been overcome together, and so it is also in order that our happiness should be enjoyed together.  This evening, however, is at the same time a farewell celebration, since many of you are now traveling back to your homeland; and our dear brothers Demetrius and Ursus also want to leave us with their entire caravan.  Duty calls everyone back to his place, but the memory of these wonderful experiences will remain and can always bring the past back to life!  So I ask you all: hurry, as often as you have the opportunity, in spirit to Bethany!  Unite with us, who all know only one aspiration: To become one with the Spirit of Jesus!

My brothers!  Go with a joyful heart also to your new spiritual duties, because the earth waits for those who want to free the bound and redeem the judged, so that all temptations cease, which want to pull us down, and new hopes come to life, which carry us up!  But the hope of all of us - is Jesus - and again and again Jesus!  Therefore, brother Peter, you now hand the brothers the spiritual bread, which the Master in you holds in readiness for us, and you, brother John, then give us the blessing on it!"

This is how Peter began: "Dear brothers!  Through the grace of Jesus, I may speak to you of the love that was so gloriously revealed to us all!  In the last days we experienced how heavenly things bent to earth to make us happy and to awaken in us a desire that cannot be satisfied by earthly things!  Now we may bear witness to what we experienced, what the Master in His love gave us, so that it might become our own, and now reveal it to others as our own!  Do not expect anything in this hour to satisfy your desire for knowledge, but take into your hearts what is handed to you coming from the heart, namely, that the hour has now finally arrived for all, when each one is to place his whole personality at the disposal of the cause of the Lord and Master!

The holy moment is here, when you, brother or sister, can become a rallying and central point!  Every former promise to the Redeemer and Savior now passes over to you, and your human being become the link between this world and the next, between heaven and earth.  His holy legacy to us: to complete His started work, confronts us with new tasks!  But the first and biggest one is: To want to be nothing in order to recognize His will more and more clearly!  Then we can also count on the forces that are born in us and make us the guardian, the light-and-truth bearer!

What we experienced outwardly with the Master of His love, power and glory, disappears before what the Master as loving Father wants to be to us now inwardly!  Because the Pentecost we experienced, will never return!  It will live only in the memory!  It was the Pentecost of the Lord!

But now you, brother, shall also experience your Pentecost, where you as a new creation in you can hand over this Spirit of Jesus as your free property to the earth.  Where you as a savior can give a different direction and development to many erring souls!

Wherever your eyes turn, you see struggling beings, groaning creatures.  Their salvation cannot take place according to laws, but only through their freest will!  That is why Jesus, as the Savior of all, also reached out his hand to the fallen one, to make him worthy to take hold of the redeeming grace and the blessed love of the Savior with his free will.  This proves us - the Good Friday!  But to all opponents, He revealed His Divine power and might through His resurrection and showed them that He is life - and wants to distribute life!  He planted His holy peace like the most tender plants in the hearts of all who are despondent.  Like a concerned mother, He nursed the called and made them the chosen ones!  His love succeeded in the most glorious work: Pentecost!

You holy day!  You brought to the eternal God the proof that His Spirit, which is the governing and sustaining in all heavens, is now implanted on earth in the hearts of those people who profess to be His property!  From now on, there is no other service of God than the service to our fellow-men in the Spirit of Jesus the All-merciful!"

Peter fell silent - His flaming words had ignited - and there were silence in all hearts!

Now John rose, looked lovingly into all eyes, blessed them and said: "Blessed are you in the Spirit of Jesus!  Make your hearts wide and the doors high, so that His light may pour into you, which is born in you through love for all beings!  The inconceivable has happened: God - became man - and we saw His glory!  But He did not come to show us His heavens and glories, but to make us witnesses of His teachings of love and truth!  Therefore we, His witnesses, must not be silent, because we know: It is still a long way to the complete unification with the Eternal.

With my spiritual eyes I now experience the grace to look into the spheres of the blessed.  With what joy and delight they take note of the Spirit, Who shall bring liberation to the earth and it's inhabitants from the chains and fetters which the enemy of all life keeps wrapped around all existence!

Again I can see angels who, with the most fervent heart, would like to come to us humans of this our earth and help - but they must be silent, because it shall be reserved to the earthly man to break his chains himself, and to release the living spirit inside him himself, which carries the ability in itself to become one with God, the eternal Father, the Lord of infinity!

You cannot yet comprehend with what awe an angel stands before the awakening life in the breast of a child of God!  He knows: This new life - is the returning Christ! - and this life is given the possibility to create a new heaven and a new earth!

But Christ Jesus could not give us this glorious life, but could only show us the inner way to it! But awakened by the Spirit of Pentecost you may now, brother and sister, pass on as your own life, what you have found in yourself through the grace of Jesus!

As Jesus, our Master, could only testify of the heaven that was His own, so you too shall now testify of what has become yours through Jesus!  What you still call yours, belongs to the earth and must perish!  But what has become yours through Jesus, belongs to you for all eternity and is at the disposal of your free love.

Pentecost shall always remain!  For in you the Savior wants to see His image and His essence-bearer, so that His Holy Spirit may open up the Source of all power also in you!

Pentecost shall always remain, because it gives us the certainty: through His love and grace, I have become His true child and His heir!  And Pentecost shall always remain, so that I may count myself among the elect, who in the Spirit of Jesus, are co-builders of the eternal Kingdom of God!

Until today, all blessings came from above, because God, the Eternal and Merciful One, could not close His heart to the requests of people.  But the Pentecostal Spirit brings blessings from above and from below, since the loving and blessing child of God is gifted to contain on this earth - by the power of his faith and the power of his love - the One who is Eternal Father and Prince of Peace!

As great and as unbelievable it seems to you, this is nevertheless reserved for all those who have a living faith.  Many times will come and pass away, but the spirit-life, which Pentecost brought to the earth, will not perish!  So we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth, in which Jesus will live as Father, as King and High Priest, as Jesus, born of you, oh man, since God begat His life in you!  Recognize now your task!  Recognize the grace and sanctify all life!  For God is life, and life is perfection!  So receive the blessing from my heart!  It is the proof for all of you that God loves you!  May the grace of God revive your hearts to living activity, and may the love of Jesus be your eternal salvation!  Amen."

"Go in peace!  In faithful remembrance we remain one."

Deep silence followed John's words - but when Lazarus then urged the brothers: "Now be relaxed and prove that you are true brothers", they stayed together until long after midnight.  The disciples, however, had the task of giving a proper farewell blessing to all the departing guests.  Demetrius also said goodbye to all the residents, and Ursus kept saying: "We will see each other again!  Before me it is like a spring morning!  It is the new life out of God, through Pentecost - now my life!"

Jesus says: “I have come to light a fire in you!

What would I rather than that it was already burning!”

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Table of Contents

1.  The appreciation of the cross in another world 4

2.  The great change after Jesus' ascension 11

3.  A testimony of the friends of Jesus before the Templars 15

4.  Admonishions to love 24

5.  Who and what is Jesus to us? 31

6.  Harvest Festival at Bethany 34

7.  What is the Holy Spirit? 37

8.  Pentecost! 39

9.  Farewell to Bethany 41