“I am a priest of the lord and serve him as priest. I offer him the offering of his thought. His thought is not like the world, not of the flesh or of those who serve in the flesh. The lord offers his goodness, his stainless heart and lips, his inner world that is faultless. Let hearts not oppress hearts, nor souls harm souls. Don’t bribe a stranger, because that stranger is you. Don’t trick your neighbor. Don’t take the clothing from him that hides his nakedness, but dress in the grace of the lord generously and walk in paradise and from his tree make a garland for your head. Loop it around your hair. Be happy and rest in his rest. His glory will go before you. You will inhabit his kindness and grace and be fat in truth with the praise of his holiness. Praise and honor his name. I raised my arms high to the grace of the lord, for he cast off my bonds. My helper had raised me to his grace and salvation. I discarded darkness and dressed in the clothing of light. My soul acquired a body free from sorrow, free from torture and mutilation. The lord’s thought restored me. I fed on his incorruptible fellowship. In the light he raised me. I went to him, near him, praising and shouting his name. He made my heart flood into my mouth. I was rescued from my chains and fled to you, my god. You are the right hand of my salvation and my helper. You held back those who rose against me and the disappeared. Your face was with me. I was saved by your grace. But in the eyes of many I was abhorred and excluded. In their eyes I was lead. I assumed strength from you and drank your help.”

-Songs of Solomon

I Serve God as a Priest

The function of a priest or minister is to serve God. We serve God by obeying His will and by doing His work on earth. We also serve God by sending thoughts of Peace, Love, Joy, and Truth to others. When we help the downtrodden, the rejects of the social system, and those who are ill or handicapped, we are serving God. Most of all, we help God when we help others turn away from materialism and toward the spiritual life that God wants all of us to have.

His World is Faultless

God’s World, also called the Kingdom of God or heaven, is faultless. It is a place where there is no death, no disease and no suffering. It is a place of Truth where no lies exist. It is also a place of Knowledge. Knowledge of all that is real. It is not a place of rest. The souls who have reached that level still continue to work helping others.

That Stranger is You

When you bribe a stranger, trick your neighbor, or cheat another person, you are only doing it to yourself. That is because, ultimately, we are all part of the One Whole creation of God. The modern science of Quantum Physics has shown that things can be connected together, even at a great distance. But in actual fact, all things are connected together in the great matrix of life. So, even when you harm an animal, you are hurting yourself.

Discard Darkness and Dress in Light

Some people who think they are spiritual believe we need to accept Darkness as a part of what we are just as much as Light. That philosophy is wrong. We do need to acknowledge that we have a dark side, but we don’t embrace it; we discard it as much as possible, as the quote says. There will always be some darkness in us, but we should not let it get its way. When we slip up and do something dark, we should forgive ourselves and embrace the Light. Don’t give up on yourself just because you slip a little. Keep moving forward to the Light. That is how you live as a priest of God.

Wednesday, March 12, 2025

This past Saturday’s readings were from the teachings of Confucius (The Doctrine of the Mean) and the Prophecy on the Golden Age of Light and the Nation of Nations, Chapter 84 (pp. 716 – 723). Click here to read the first scriptural reading, and click the audio button below to hear the reading from our Second Advent scripture.

Once again, please feel free to ask me any questions by calling 775-786-7432 or emailing me at messages@cosolargy.org. I am always at your service.

In Light+,

Gene

“Some are afraid that they will ascend from death naked, and they want to climb back to life in their flesh. They are unaware that those who wear their flesh are naked, and those who strip are not naked. ‘Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of god.’ What will we not inherit? The flesh we wear on us. Then both are wrong. You say the flesh won’t ascend. Tell me, what will rise so I can honor you? You say spirit in the flesh and light in the flesh. What is the flesh? You say there is nothing outside the flesh. Then rise in the flesh, since everything exists in it. In this world those wearing garments are better than garments. In heaven the garments are better than the wearers.

“Through water and fire this wide realm is purified, and the visible cleaned by the visible, and the hidden by the hidden, but there are elements concealed in the visible. …

“The heavenly man has more children than a man on earth. If the offspring of Adam are many and die, how many more are the offspring of perfect beings who do not die and are born each second? The father makes a child. The child cannot make a son. He has not the power to make children. One recently born is not a parent. The son has brothers and sisters, not children. In this world there is a natural order to birth, and one is nourished by ordinary means. We are nourished by the promise of heaven, from the mouth of the word. If the word emanated from the mouth, it is perfect. By a kiss the perfect conceive and give birth. That is why we kiss. From the grace in others we conceive. …

“It is impossible to see anything in the real realm unless you become it. Not so in the world. You see the sun without being the sun, see sky and earth but are not them. This is the truth of the world. In the other truth you are what you see. If you see spirit, you are spirit. If you look at the anointed, you are the anointed. If you see the father, you will be father. In this world you see everything but yourself, but there, you look at yourself and are what you see.”

-The Gospel of Philip

Ascending Naked

You have to read and understand the entire sentence here to realize that what it means by “naked” is without the physical body. Those who believe they can ascend while still in the physical body need to read scripture more closely.

Nothing Outside the Flesh

Some people believe their physical body is all they have, so it must be able to ascend into Heaven, but they are wrong. Only the Soul ascends into Heaven, and then only if it has been properly prepared and nurtured.

Purified by Water and Fire

Yes, we are purified by water and fire, but not the physical elements bearing those names. This is an allegorical reference. We are purified by God’s Word and God’s Light. That is the water and fire that purifies the Soul.

More Children

How can a person in heaven have more children than a person on Earth? How can they have any children with no physical body? It is because when you have succeeded in ascending to Heaven, you become one with God, one with the All, therefore, all souls are your brothers and sisters, all are your children, all are your spouses because all are in the One.

Impossible to See

Philip says it is impossible to see anything in the real realm of spirit unless you become it. I think that may be an exaggeration. We can see spirits at times when we practice spiritual development techniques. Perhaps what Philip means is that we cannot really understand the spiritual until we are part of it. It’s like a primitive person seeing a car for the first time. They do see it in a limited way, but they don’t understand it.