Wednesday, November 9, 2022
The Twenty-third Saying (Part 12)
“And The Mariner, upon hearing these words, said to The Man, ‘Throughout the course of these Sayings, you stress the point of living The Way. Could you clarify a little more what living The Way means? Is it essentially a perpetual surrender or submission?’ The Teacher replied, ‘The force that keeps civilized societies, races, and cultures from disintegrating is law and order. Every civilization in the world is based on that principle. Every church has its canon law and that law is designed or created for governing that church.
“‘The canon of our Church differs from that of other churches inasmuch as our Church, in serving the True God, wishes to cause to be established a theocracy in which humankind can live under Divine Law – under those laws and ordinances brought forth in our Constitution and Canon Law, in the Prophecies, the Statutes and Judgements, the Institutes, Precepts and Concepts of the Church, the Revelations to come and, of course, the major or fundamental Teaching – the Doctrine and Creed of the Church with its theology.
“‘We wish to be governed and regulated by the Image and the Word in the Sun of Righteousness and formed into a living body of men and women who can represent a new Nation, a new race of people who have made a New Covenant with God. Therefore, we cannot be ignored by the State which says, “You must submit to civil law. You must live in accordance with the law of the State. The law of the State and civil law are greater than religious law. We have power over you.” This is the great problem that confronts the future generations of this Church.
“‘As long as our Church consists of a small number of people, it is not essential that we concern ourselves with how other people might live, but with living the Law of God for ourselves. However, as we expand into a larger Church, as we evolve into a race of people that begin to have thoughts of God and begin to think about Godly things, those people are going to want to be free from society in general, free from the laws of the land that are intended to regulate and govern men and women who live only for their material welfare and not for religious and spiritual welfare.
“‘In the United States there is a separation of Church and State, which means the Church is outside the law to a certain degree. It is not regulated by civil law, but it must adhere to the law of the State. That is logical because there is only one law of the land. One lives under the Constitution of the United States, with the Bill of Rights and with the statutes and laws created by state legislatures and regulated and interpreted by our courts.
“‘A church must fit within that legal structure but, as we grow and develop into a State or a race and a Nation within a nation, the time will come when we are not going to want to be regulated by state law. And there is going to be conflict. We already are confronted with that conflict in Nevada. We were confronted with the conflict in Florida in the early days of our Church, and we had a conflict with the law in Peru. The law of the State has always been against this Church and has always caused us grief and strife.
“‘Of course, we do not want to be privileged, and we are willing to gain our rights within the law like anyone or any group or church. But, the time is going to come when our race, our people, are going to become so strong and so large in number that we are not going to want to live under the laws of the State. This means that as a Nation and a people, we must find sanctuary in some country, some land – America or elsewhere – where we can be separate from state laws and restrictions and regulations of materialistic bodies that could interfere with our exercising our freedom of religion. It may be that when we become strong enough, we can achieve this freedom in this great nation of the United States of America. I do not know.
“‘I know that land is going to be given to us at some time in the future. Whether we are going to be given land by another nation, as we have already mentioned, or whether a nation is going to allow us to come within its borders and let us instruct their people in the Way of Light, I do not know. That is for future generations. But, on the other hand, we cannot be sure. However, the Will of God will triumph over the minds of men and nations and governments, and even over nature and the Powers of Darkness.
“‘Living The Way, quite simply, means living according to the Doctrines and the Creed of the Church as expressed in its Constitution and Canon, and in teaching and administrating in the ministry under the vows of the Church, and, of course, adhering to the Precepts, Concepts, Institutes and general Teachings of the Church. To live The Way is to live in accordance with the Will of God and the Image and the Word that has manifested in the Sun of Righteousness.
“‘Living The Way means that ministers, both male and female, ordained to the service of God, live The Way, as individuals as well as a body of ministers. Then, they are moved by the metanoic power of God to fulfill the Church and God’s Wishes in the world. As a race and as a people, they are destined to inherit the world which is going to be changed by God’s Image and Word. Wickedness and Evil, and even the flesh, will be burned up so that only the spiritual, in whatever form, will survive. That is a basic and most fundamental concept of the Church. We acknowledge that we must grow and evolve in stages, just as individuals do.
“‘People undertake our studies, become active in the Church and eventually become active as ministers. And then together as ministers they become involved in the building of the Church in whatever capacity is required, according to the need and the following of the Church. For example, if the Church had several million enlightened followers at this time, it would change and its needs would change drastically. In time, the Church will change and have greater effect on the world according to the number of its followers. Living The Way applies to the individual, it applies to that individual’s life in Community and it involves The Way of the Church in the future.’”
Again, if I may be of any personal service to you, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Very truly yours in Light+,
Gene
