Because of our inherent self-ego mankind tends to complicate matters to serve our selfish interests. Doctors and lawyers create strange words and complicated forms of speech in order to create a mystique of authority and self-importance. Christian religion did the same and in so doing destroyed its own credibility. Because of the known corruptibility of mankind the Christian Revelation had to be delivered in allegorical and esoteric terms, it had both to aid the development of humanity and expose the more complete message at the right time; but the message itself is essentially simple.
1. The nature of God, the Creator (the most basic nature of the universe) is Spirit.
2. Human morality can be simplified to: love truth, control lust and accept our shared responsibility. What human crime does not attach to failure of one or more of these?
3. To achieve morality we must leave 'self' behind. Life is one sport where how the game is played is of far greater importance than winning or losing on the field; we are judged on how we play. This is not to say that winning and losing have nothing to teach.
The problems multiplying throughout the world are largely created by lies, greed, pride, sloth and lust. Like petulant children we ask for leaders to do our thinking for us, and to take responsibility for us. It should be obvious that those of our own kind are of our own kind. Few are prepared to sacrifice their ego-desires to the interests of strangers; those who offer their services do so to seek advantage.
There is another section of the New Testament that is of unusual interest and needs some mention if only to confirm the consequences for a humanity that sells its soul and refuses to accept that ego must submit to truth.
That section is called "The Revelation of John".
I refer to it because the future, far more than most realize or want to know, is in the hands of each individual. It is our individual choice to sacrifice 'self' both for our own growth and for our family and community benefit.
You may have been led to believe that the forecasts of God are immutable. God does not want your pain. God would be overjoyed if we all, or even our great majority, were to turn to truth and away from the downward path to suffering and destruction.
Biblical forecasts of the future are made on the basis of the nature of mankind and our desire to evade responsibility for our own lives. The more who prefer the rewards of discipline, the more pleased He will be.
Let us now turn to Revelations chapters 11, 17,18. Here are some passages for reference:
Revelation - 11:7-12. But when they have completed their testimony, the beast that comes up from the abyss will wage war upon them and defeat and kill them. Their corpses will lie in the street of the great city, whose name in allegory is Sodom, or Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. For three days and a half men from every people and tribe, of every language and nation, gaze upon their corpses and refuse them burial. All men on earth gloat over them, make merry, and exchange presents; for these two prophets were the torment of the whole earth. But at the end of the three days and a half the breath of life from God came into them; and they stood up on their feet to the terror of all who saw it. Then a loud voice was heard speaking to them from heaven, which said, 'Come up here!'
Revelation - 18:2-6. Then in a mighty voice he proclaimed, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, for every foul and loathsome bird. For all nations have drunk deep of the fierce wine of her fornication; the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and merchants the world over have grown rich on her bloated wealth.'
Then I heard another voice from heaven that said: 'Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins and share in her plagues. For her sins are piled high as heaven, and God has not forgotten her crimes. Pay her back in her own coin, repay her twice over for her deeds.'
...
18:9-10. The kings of the earth who committed fornication with her and wallowed in her luxury will weep and wail over her, as they see the smoke of her conflagration. They will stand at a distance, for horror at her torment, and will say, 'Alas, alas for the great city, the mighty city of Babylon! In a single hour your doom has struck!'
The Great Whore of Revelation - the great city - is not a single city no matter what influence any city has in the affairs of mankind. The Great Whore; the great city; Babylon and Egypt, the city in which Jesus was crucified - these all represent the city of usury and commerce, where people strive to live in luxury from the production of others whom they repay with seduction to immoral behaviour and pain. Today, in money matters, the financial centre is often called 'the city'.
The city of usury will collapse, to the amazement of those who worship its evils.
The 'two witnesses' of Revelation are not individual people, they are the Old Testament and the New Testament. These are today dead in the street of the city of the Great Whore. In the law and the halls of learning, they are as dead; the people give each other presents and make merry on their days of respect, but no one dares to lay them to rest.
These two witnesses will be justified and raised up to the amazement of all as their work on earth is completed.
Those who truly love truth obey its commands to the best of their ability. We do not cut off our hands or mutilate ourselves for fun, we only do such things because of false belief.
We may say we love truth - we may pretend to love truth - we may even convince ourselves that we love truth but if we do not seek seriously to find and obey truth then we lie to ourselves and the truth does not know us. Sin means that we harm ourselves and those we love because we accept enslavement to the untruth.
Consider: on judgment day, in a quiet moment, as we await our turn, memory may flick to a wartime trial and the thought that the accused was not excused by being under orders; or perhaps we may recall a neighbour caught evading tax and that it was he, not his accountant, who was made to pay punitive fines.
So let us realize that on that day it will not be our chosen authority, big brother, favourite philosopher, or our mum or dad, it will be YOU who will be called to, "Come this way please!"
The way to LIFE is through TRUTH
The way to TRUTH is through FAITH
The way to FAITH is through COURAGE
The way to COURAGE is through CHARACTER
The way to CHARACTER is through DISCIPLINE
The way to DISCIPLINE is through AUTHORITY
The way to AUTHORITY is through LIFE (human).
[Bible Believers' note: the two witnesses of Revelation 11 will be two Hebrew men in Israel anointed with the Spirit to prophesy to Israel. Furthermore, Although the `City of London' might be used as a compound illustration, (as it is certainly controlled by those who FALSELY identify with) "the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified", that is, Jerusalem.] choice27.htm