Why don't you take this religous b.s. to another board!
Ssam wrote:
> http://www.divinelove.org/revnt/Rev-10.htm
>
> REVELATION 10
>
> Jesus' Meeting with Nicodemus
>
> I am here, Jesus:
>
> I have already spoken to you about my meeting with Nicodemus, son of
Gurion,
> the Pharisee, when I was teaching in Palestine. Nicodemus was the son of
a
> rabbi who held religious discussions with groups, as was the custom of
those
> days and before. He was not a priest and held no services in the Temple.
As
> a matter of fact, the Pharisees were the ones who were most interested
in
> the law, not only the written laws of the Scriptures, but the
> interpretations which the centuries and cir***stances made necessary in
> those laws, and these interpretations were known as the Oral Law. They
were
> discussed mainly by the Pharisees, the common people of Jerusalem,
because
> they were the ones most interested in the religion of the Hebrews; they
were
> poor; they were the artisans and tradesman, downtrodden by the rich and
the
> aristocratic priests who cared nothing for the scriptures except as
their
> own interests were therein protected. These Pharisees were deeply
concerned
> with immortality of the soul, inasmuch as their own plight on earth made
> them seek for justice in an ideal world beyond the grave and they felt
that
> God's righteousness had to, of necessity, embrace that Kingdom where
justice
> and righteousness would be the established order. That is why the
Pharisees
> were willing to listen to me and my mission -- the availability of
> immortality of the soul through prayer to the Father for His Love.
>
> While they were intrigued, then, by my affirmation that the Kingdom of
God
> had come with my appearance -- that is, that soul immortality was a fact
and
> could be achieved, yet they were not capable of understanding the
principle
> of the Divine Love and Salvation through the Divine Love. For some
centuries
> they had battled stubbornly against the Saducees' denial of immortality,
and
> had clung to the faith of man's entry into Paradise through keeping of
the
> Ten Commandments and the Torah (the 5 Books of Moses) and the decrees,
> precepts and interpretations which stemmed from these Holy works, so
that
> Divine Love and Salvation from it were alien to their thoughts and
> fundamental concepts of religion. This then, very briefly, is the
background
> of their initial sympathy with me and later disagreements.
>
> Nicodemus, however, had an intuitive feeling that I was right and since
he
> was not able to fully understand my meaning, he came secretly one night
to
> hear from me in private what he had only been able to glimpse in my
public
> sermons in the market place. He felt, also, that my miracles of healing
> among the people must be due to great piety and that, therefore, I must
be a
> man of God. He wanted to know about the Kingdom of God, and how to enter
> therein. Since he could not, as I saw, understand Divine Love, nor
> transformation of the soul from the human into the divine through the
> Father's Love, I had recourse to a parable, as I usually had in speaking
to
> the people, "EXCEPT A MAN BE BORN AGAIN, HE CANNOT SEE THE KINGDOM OF
GOD."
>
> Nicodemus could understand a spiritual rebirth only through obedience to
the
> laws of God, the doing of good, the practicing of mercy and charity,
> righteousness in conduct and piety for the widow and the orphan; in
short,
> he understood repentence from evil and a return to God in the prophetic
> sense of the term, and thought this gave immortality of the soul. I had
to
> show him that his practicing of the virtues purified the soul, and made
it a
> perfect human soul in the eyes of God, but that to enter the Kingdom of
God,
> the soul had to be transformed into a divine soul, through God's Nature,
> Love.
>
> To his query, I showed that being born of the flesh was the work of the
> womb, and that here there was no possibility of rebirth, but that
> spiritually, the soul could be reborn; it was born as the human soul,
but
> could be born again into a divine soul, the transformation -- or rebirth
--
> taking place as the individual sought the Father's Love through prayer
and
> obtained that Love, which permeated the human soul and made it divine.
It
> was this divinity of soul that rendered it immortal, and enabled one to
see
> the Kingdom of God, and not the perfection of the human soul resulting
from
> the doing of good works and practicing charity and righteousness.
>
> If Peter and John, my most advanced disciples, could not readily
understand
> the significance of Divine Love, then neither could Nicodemus ben Gurion
in
> the talk I had with him, for I saw the conflict which Divine Love raised
in
> his mind with his deep seated doctrines of the law and the precepts of
the
> Torah, and his inability to accept my glad tidings immediately.
>
> He asked, "HOW COULD THESE THINGS BE?" and so I told him that, inasmuch
as
> there were many earthly things he could not understand, like the wind,
and
> its movements, it was not strange that he should not understand these
things
> of the spirit: "THE WIND BLOWS WHERE IT LISTS, AND THOU HEAREST THE
SOUND
> THEREOF, BUT CANST NOT TELL WHENCE IT COMES, AND WHITHER IT GOES; SO IT
IS
> WITH THE SPIRITUAL REBIRTH." (St. John, Chapter 3, verse 8).
>
> Since he could not understand the workings of the wind, a material
> phenomenon, neither could he understand an operation of a spiritual
thing,
> the rebirth. And since Rauch (wind), also means spirit in Hebrew, I used
> this play on words and tried to show him that as both were of the
Father,
> the Rebirth as well as the existence of the wind could be believed in
and
> accepted.
>
> I did not say, or mean, that Nicodemus had to be born of the spirit in
the
> sense that Christians usually interpret the words attributed to John,
that
> is, the Holy Spirit, for the soul is not reborn of the Holy Spirit, but
of
> God's Love, which comes into the soul conveyed by the Holy Spirit, that
> manifestation of God which has as its function this great mission.
Neither
> did I say that he had to be born of water, for this is simply a much
later
> interpolation referring to baptism. This is all wrong, for baptism has
no
> efficacy in the soul's obtention of the Divine Love. Certainly,
Nicodemus
> would have understood these Christian interpretations much less than he
did
> the Divine Love, which I insisted was now available to mankind because
it
> was present in me.
>
> Nicodemus left with an inkling of the Father's Love and heard me explain
> several times that the Kingdom of God had come; he was confused, because
of
> the new concept of soul transformation and his ideas of a Messiah
ushering
> in a new ideal Kingdom on earth, but he understood later at Pentecost,
when
> mental concept was replaced by emotion, for Nicodemus greatly respected
me,
> and his reverence was turned into love and sorrow, and brought into his
soul
> the Divine Love. Nicodemus finally understood with his soul, and he now
> stands by me in the Celestial Heavens, eager with his love and influence
to
> bring mankind into At-onement with the Father.
>
> Jesus of the Bible
> and
> Master of the Celestial Heavens
>
> www.divinelove.org
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