2007-2-11 06:34:00
Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. (Revelation 3:11)
The Master speaks of coming quickly several times in these series of instructions. Not only does it mean he could come unexpectedly but it also tells us there is no time to waste. The seeker must not take his eye off the ingredients he has accumulated that will bring him the crown of victory. He cannot just rest and think he can keep hold of his good qualities but must hold them "fast." He must not take his mind off his inner light, else it dims, but keep his focus.
Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. (Revelation 3:12)
Again, the word "overcometh" is used. This implies the disciple must do much more than merely confess Jesus and be saved as the old time religion teaches. He must also do more than "go with the flow" as many new agers believe. Instead, he must overcome all the obstacles in the path of liberation and become a master of each of them as he moves forward.
Those who do overcome will be made "a pillar in the temple of my God..."
The fact that the disciple will become a pillar in the temple of God gives us a clue to the symbology of the temple. Obviously, the temple here is not a regular building of stone, but a living building constructed of actual beings who have overcome the pull of materialism and lower self.
Just as our physical bodies are made of millions of living cells, and called a temple in the scriptures, even so is the temple of God constructed of beings linked together in a divine order to construct the body of God called the temple of God. God, who is greater than the sum of his parts, inhabits and flows through every life within that great temple.
He who overcomes shall be more than a mere cell but a "pillar in the temple." A pillar holds the temple up and keeps it standing. The pillars are also on the entrance to the building. This tells us that the one who overcomes becomes a pillar of strength, one upon who others can lean and renew their strength. He stands at the entrance point to the kingdom of God and invites others to discover the kingdom within and explore all of its creations and joys.
Next we are given a curious statement that he "shall go no more out."
This statement is full of meaning on several layers. Let us discuss two of them.
Some disciples overcome sufficiently to become a pillar of God in the higher worlds and do not have to "go out" or be reborn unless they decide to.
Being reborn for the new pillars is dangerous, however, for they can still get caught in the clutches of the lower forces and get trapped again in the physical world. It may take them a series of lifetimes to center themselves again so they can regain their status as a pillar. This is a chance many of them take for two reasons. First, is the love of humanity and a desire to serve. Secondly, is to gain the final power to go in and out of incarnation and keep to the center and alignment with purpose. When this mastery is gained the disciple truly is never out of the temple whether he be in the physical world or out of the world.
"and I will write upon him the name of my God,"
If the disciple bears the name of God then he is indeed one with God as proclaimed by Jesus when he said "I and my Father are one." In addition Jesus said, "Ye are gods" to the people. (John 10:34) One of the names or tiles of God is just the word "God." If one bears this name then he fulfills the scripture which tells us that we "are gods."
In addition to this the disciple bears the name of God when he discovers the presence of God that resides within him and identifies with this inner life above the outer world.
"and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem,"
He also has written within him the name of the city of God. What is the difference between the name of God and the name of the city? It is this. When we think of God we think of the One. When we think of a city we think of the many. The name of God is a symbol of the One Great Life that pervades us all. The name of the city is the realization that through us God is also many and all of us are parts of the body or temple of God.
"which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name."
First we need to correct a mistranslation. "I will write upon him" was added by the translators in an effort to make sense of the passage. This does not appear in the Greek. It should be translated as: "which cometh down out of heaven from my God and my new name."
In other words, the city of God comes down out of heaven not only from God, but from the new name of the one who is speaking to the churches, the Christ, or in dealing with the inner world, would be the inner Christ.
Heaven refers to higher consciousness and in that higher state the seeker finds the one God as well as the many in the New Jerusalem. This scripture adds some light:
But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. (Hebrews 12:22-23)
So what does it mean that the New Jerusalem not only comes from God, but from the new name?
For the seeker the old name of God was a God without. He was in Heaven "up there." He was the voice of the priest, the prophets or the words of the physical Bible. The new name of God is within and the inner voice may tell him things that he has never heard from the Bible or any physical teacher. From the new within he learns the good, the beautiful and the true and links with the "innumerable company" that creates the New Jerusalem.
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. (Revelation 3:13)
Thus ends the letter with the repetition of good advice.
Now we arrive at the last letter:
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
Revelation 3:14-19
After all the seeker has gone though he now seems to be given some very harsh advice. Why do you suppose this is the case?
Global Warming Enlightenment: My recent 120-year global climate study, finished in 2001, showed that significant warming since 1940 has occurred only in the concrete, steel and asphalt "heat island cities" around the world. The rural areas of the planet have actually "cooled off a bit" in the past 60 years when compared with the previous 6 decades from 1880 to 1940.
The Winter of 2003-04 across much of the North American Continent, Europe, Russia and Asia, featured this colder trend. In fact, many regions had some of the most frigid weather in almost 200 years. Grand Forks, North Dakota, for example, observed record lows in January near minus 50 degrees. A couple of stations to the north in Canada approached minus 60 degrees, actual air temperatures, not wind-chill factors.
http://www.longrangeweather.com/article1.asp
Copyright © 2007 by J J Dewey, All Rights Reserved