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"To him who overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna."

Revelation 2:8-17

The Gospel Of Thomas

And The

Sacred Manna Of The Inner Kingdom of Light

The Kingdom Within

The 114 sayings of the Gospel of Thomas is the Key to entering the Kingdom Within.  To know their meaning, you must first explore and Know Thyself.   Thus, the sayings are themselves a catalyst for spiritual transformation.   The meaning of the 114 sayings cannot be taught with words -- but rather, experienced within one's own self.   When Yeshua/Jesus taught that his disciples would know the Truth, this was based upon the reality that his disciples would transcend organic limitations, and experience the Kingdom within (see Gate Of Eden) as he taught at Luke 17:20-21.   Each of us is equally the prodigal son who is currently lost in the Far Country under the control of the citizen or god of this world.    The only way to truly know the meaning of the 114 sayings, is to experientially learn the meaning from the True Prophet within the Disciple who follows in the footsteps of Yeshua in TheWay.

One of the most important statements within the sayings is that "But if you will not know yourselves, you dwell in poverty and it is you who are that poverty... Whoever finds himself is superior to the world".   And the finding of self is the primary objective of all scriptures.   And when we add to this the statement from the Gospel of Philip that "Those who say that first they shall die and (then) they shall arise are confused. If they do not first receive the resurrection (while) they live,¹ they will not receive anything (when) they die" -- we can begin to understand that the doctrines of the simple faith that Paul called the "milk" of the Gospel of Christ, is truly elementary and only the beginning of entry-level teachings of TheWay.   Which means that one of the primary objectives of Jesus' teachings is to become a Disciple of TheWay, and bring about that condition within one's own body-mind Temple, where one can be with the Lord "in the House", and receive the Mysteries of God from the One Teacher of Light.   To accomplish this, you must learn to turn the Key of Knowledge -- i.e., the scriptures -- within yourself.   The True Meaning of not only the Gospel of Thomas, but also of all genuine scriptures, can only be revealed to those who gain the experiential knowledge through direct revelation of the One Teacher within.   Thus, the words: "These are the secret sayings which the living Jesus spoke and which Didymos Judas Thomas wrote down.  And he said, Whoever finds the interpretation of these sayings will not experience death. Jesus said, Let him who seeks continue seeking until he finds. When he finds, he will become troubled. When he becomes troubled, he will be astonished, and he will rule over the All."

The spiritual formula that most people ignore is the reality that we cannot Know God, until we first Know Self.   And all the conflict and divisions among mankind, is caused by their lack of self-knowledge.   The Gospel of Thomas factually declares that if you know the meaning of the sayings, that you will not taste of death -- and this is true.   If you know the true depth of the meaning of these sayings, it is because you have moved into harmony with your inner soul-self, and you have drawn near to the Kingdom within.   The people of this world are spoken of as dead, because they are of an outer consciousness that is not of the Inner Kingdom which is of the Light and is Eternal.   Jesus said that only those who are born again from above, can enter into Life -- and this next stage of birth is not based upon faith and beliefs -- but an actual soul-birth that manifests the Kingdom within us and reveals to us the true inner realities of Self, and all the Mysteries of God.   True Gnosis is the Sacred Manna of the Inner Kingdom that can only be given to those who seek it with a pure heart and a consecrated life. This Sacred Manna has nothing in common with the reasoning of man -- but rather, the Reasoning of God that can only be imparted to those who are willing to become immersed in the fires of purification and the cleansing and healing of the Living Word. The requirement to Know the Truth, is that you live the Truth in the totality of every word, thought, desire and deed.   To possess the Truth, you must yourself be Possessed by the Truth, and the Truth Alone.

Click To Join	Join The Gospel Of Thomas Discussion Group.   In order to evolve and mature the mind to prepare the disciple to gain access to the Inner Kingdom, the mind must be nourished with thoughts that initiate growth and development.   In the same way that a child needs high quality food, the true seeker needs high quality thoughts and impressions in order to become spiritually healthy.   The thoughts of the people of this world are as junk food that does not promote wholistic growth and development.
	Join The Nazirene Ebionite Library Resource @ Yahoogroups.  Because much spiritual wisdom and knowledge has been lost to modern man, a virtual Library has been created in order to provide a firm foundation of Knowledge that is needed to become a Disciple who is able to journey in TheWay in search of the Inner Kingdom.  The Library does not permit casual posting -- and only concepts necessary to edify a Disciple is contained therein.
	Join The Nazirene Disciple Group: Yeshua/Jesus did not come to promote belief in the Messiah/Christ. Neither did he come to promote the worship of Messiah/Christ. He came to teach the people TheWay to become Messiah/Christ, and fulfill the vision of a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation of Anointed Disciples who are set aside for the service of the Most High God that Yeshua taught was the Father of all of mankind. This is not a forum to dispute opinion and manmade doctrine. It is a forum to discuss walking in the Light of TheWay, and to learn and discuss the essential lifestyle and mindset necessary to enter the Kingdom within, receive the Sacred Manna, and Learn directly from the One Teacher of Truth and Light.

The literal text of the scripture is intended to teach certain moral and physical lessons about life.   Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and other interactions with the people, convey to the seeker important lessons about embracing the proper mindset and living a God-Centered spiritual Life.   But the next stage of soul-birth and the journey in TheWay to the Inner Kingdom, can only be accomplished through the transformation of self.    Thus, it is written: "We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22 NKJ).   And this is why Paul Commanded to "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature" (Col 3:5 NIV).  To the degree that Paul warned: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom 8:13 KJV).   To mortify the deeds of the body takes work -- a great amount of work -- and this work cannot be accomplished through a static faith.   The problem is that these biblical commandments have absolutely nothing in common with the doctrine of faith that was developed by Martin Luther in the Middle-ages.    As a priest of the Church of Rome, there was much that was not understood by Martin Luther and the Middle-Age Reformers.   They did not know that the scriptures are in fact the Key of Knowledge -- and that if you learn to turn the scriptures within yourself, you draw ever nearer to the Kingdom within (Lk 17:20-21).   G.R.S. Mead, a foremost authority on the Gnostics, in his book entitled Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, this explanation of the true nature of the scriptures is put forth: “…what the Gnostics projected onto the screen… [in the form of a ] picture of the universe was in reality a picture of their own minds. Its mythology is a symbolic portrayal, almost a deliberate one, of the forces which operate in the structuring and evolution of the human personality”.   It was for this reason that Carl Jung called the Gnostic Christians the worlds first and foremost psychologists who understood the very fabric of human consciousness.   That there is an Inner Source of Knowledge that is beyond even the most enlightened wisdom of this world, is in fact the very reason why the Apostle Paul wrote: “For the truth about God is known to them instinctively; God has put this knowledge in their hearts” (Rom 1:19 TLB).   And what Martin Luther and the Middle Age Reformers could never have known, is that Paul's doctrine of faith was based upon the fact that if you embrace the mindset taught by Jesus, and live a consecrated life, the the inner "narrow gate" to the Kingdom (see Gate Of Eden) will begin to open, and you will be able to access this inner Source of Knowledge.

Why Can't The Truth Of The Gospel Be Stated And Written Literally?  What does the scriptures state?   That it is impossible to convey to the common believer of the Simple Faith the higher reality of the soul of man, and the Kingdom of God that the Disciples of Jesus experienced first hand.   Speaking of the Disciples and what they experienced, Paul writes that they were "caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter" (2 Cor 12:4-5 NKJ).   Every sincere Christian must ask the questions: Why can't the experience of being brought up into Paradise be expressed in words?   And perhaps even more important is the question as to why "...it is not lawful for a man to utter" what a Disciple who enters the Kingdom experiences?   These are serious questions, that can only be addressed by very serious Christians who truly seek to Know the Lord.    

The most profound statement which is all but ignored by seekers today, is found in the Epistle of Peter And James where it is written: "Hear me, brethren and fellow-servants. If we should give the books to all indiscriminately, and they should be corrupted by any daring men, or be perverted by interpretations, as you have heard that some have already done, it will remain even for those who really seek the truth, always to wander in error.   Wherefore it is better that they should be with us, and that we should  communicate them with all the fore-mentioned care to those who wish to live piously, and to save others."   Why would it be stated that is the esoteric wisdom and knowledge of TheWay were to be lost, that "...will remain even for those who really seek the truth, always to wander in error"???   And while many people think they know, in truth these words represent a reality that they have yet to come to terms with: “If any one imagines that he knows something, he does not yet know as he ought to know” (1 Cor 8:2 RSV).  

When Paul warns the baptized and committed Christians at Corinth that they were yet to carnal in their understanding to comprehend the spiritual meaning of the Gospel -- which is often referred to as the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God -- he conveyed to them the reality that they would judge and even condemn this higher reality of the Spirit as absolute "foolishness" -- i.e., “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14 NKJ).    Thus, it is imperative to ask the question: What is the "natural man"?     The condition of mankind that Paul is making reference to, would just as well be portrayed as "organic" -- or, of the physical body.   The "natural man" , is the "organic" human being.  

It is said that human consciousness is like the tip of an iceberg -- and in the same way that only a very small tip which is supported by an immense foundation of ice protrudes above the water where it can be seen -- organic man who Paul portrays as of a natural mind, can only utilize a very small portion of his potential of mind.   And when Paul states that the wisdom of this world will come to naught (1 Cor 2:6-8), it is because of these organic limitations that inhibit all of mankind who are of a "natural mind", from understanding anything beyond the forms of this physical world -- and as I demonstrate on Unity of Mind ( http://UnityOfMind.org ), even the most brilliant of secular minds do not in any manner possess any real understanding of even the forms they see, as they look out into the world in which they presently dwell.    In fact, you could enroll in all the most esteemed colleges and universities that man has created -- you could endlessly study the volumes of books composed and written by men throughout the ages -- and your wisdom and knowledge would pale in comparison to the Disciples of Jesus and the earliest of Spiritual Christians who were sincere Disciples of TheWay.  

The average modern believer who reads these words would probably reply: If this is true, then the Disciples of Jesus were set apart from the rest of mankind, and we cannot expect to know what they knew.   Yet, nothing could be further from the truth!   The first century elder Ignatius personally knew both Paul and the other Disciples.   And in his Epistle to the Trallaus he speaks of the Mysteries of the Gospel and the Kingdom, and writes: “Might I not write to you things more full of mystery?  But I fear to do so, lest I should inflict injury on you who are babes.  Pardon me in this respect, lest, as not being able to receive their weighty import, ye should be strangled by them”.  The only way that Ignatius could have written these words, was if he, himself, understood what was beyond the comprehension of the organic mind of the believers of the simple faith.   And while he states that he understood what was incomprehensible to the organic mind of man, he also confesses that though he is aware of the mysteries, he is not yet “by any means perfect, nor am I such a disciple as Paul or Peter”.   

What preacher of the Gospel today would stand before his congregation and state to the people in their pews, that if he was to reveal the true teachings of the New Covenant -- the Mysteries of the Gospel of God -- he would “inflict injury on you who are babes” in Christ?   What teaching of the Lord could a present-day preacher of the gospel reveal that the congregation of believers are not “able to receive their weighty import”?   If Ignatius or the other early Church Fathers who knew the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God were with us today, what profound mystery could they speak regarding the true teachings of Jesus that believers today would be “strangled by them”?    To the degree that Paul proclaimed to the Christians at Corinth: “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ” (1 Cor 3:1 NAS).   Thus, these believers could only be taught the doctrine of Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Cor 2:2), because they were not yet spiritual men -- but rather, they were men of flesh and still very much “babes in Christ”.   Paul then explains that: “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able” (1 Cor 3:2 NAS).   What should be troubling to the modern believer is that Paul openly admits that the baptized and confirmed Christians at Corinth -- people who had accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior and received the gifts of the laying on of hands and speaking in tongues -- people who were not taught by preachers and priests, but the Apostle himself -- were not yet able to understand and comprehend what Paul referred to as the Mysteries of the Gospel of God. 

If what both Paul and Ignatius states is true, and the Christian believers of the simple faith will look upon the Mysteries of God as "foolishness" -- rejecting the revelation as something that could not possibly be true -- then every sincere Christian must ask themselves the question: If a Disciple came to speak to me, how could he possibly convey to me what would be inconceivable for me to understand?   Again, the Christian should ask: What truths describing a higher reality would be so profound, that a mature Disciple of TheWay would not be able to convey to me what they knew, because it would “inflict injury on” me, to the degree that I would be spiritually “strangled by" the revelation?    And while the vast majority of Christians would take the complacent package deal which they believe the Gospel represents -- i.e., since I am saved, what is the difference if I don't understand the higher realities of the soul and the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God?   This mindset which is typical among believers of the simple faith, is synonymous with saying: I got a passing grade in elementary school, so why should I go on to middle and high school, and perhaps seek a higher education?   And in the same way that an elementary school education would place a great hardship on a person who then attempts to enter the market place in pursuit of employment and supporting a family, because of institutionalized Church endorsed complacency, few modern Christians even begin to understand the full dimensions of the warning: “That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:47-48 NIV).   What this means is that the Christian, who has been given greater opportunity than other peoples of the world, will have the greater requirements placed upon him.   While those who have not received the greater opportunity, will not be judged with the same requirements.   And this fact is further demonstrated in the article, The Complacent Christian.    While the institutionalized Church -- often for their own monetary and political gain -- has in many instances promoted the complacent mindset, if the warning is true where it is written: "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" (Luke 6:46 KJV) -- many who are under the belief that they are Christians in good standing, will experience a rude awakening in the future.   Thus, the warning that the vast majority of complacent lukewarm Christians are not in the least prepared to deal with: "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!" (Matt 7:21-23 NKJ).

While in the original religious teachings of Yeshua and his Disciples, these verses were of great importance, they are virtually meaningless in the religious teachings and theology of Martin Luther and the framers of the Reformation (see The Christian Diaspora ).   Moreover, the leaders of the modern Church have absolutely no idea either how these warnings apply to the fate of the body of believers, or why Yeshua taught that the Christian will be held to a higher level of accountability, than the unbeliever.   Further, the modern clergy and leaders of the Church are absolutely clueless as to why Paul warned that the committed and baptized believers at Corinth were incapable of understanding the true spiritual meaning of the Gospel, and the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God, because they were yet of a natural organic mind -- and in their carnal mindset, they would judge and condemn these higher revelations as "foolishness"!!!

Regardless of the number of times that believers of the simple faith are warned that God is a Spirit, and can only be sought through man's indwelling spiritual nature (Jn 4:24) -- and that to receive this spiritual revelation that the organic mind of the believer will judge and condemn as utter "foolishness" -- the great mass of Christians perpetually reject the spirit, and and turn to the written word of the scriptures in pursuit of what Paul the "letter that killeth" (2 Cor 3:6) (see http://Ebionite.com/defeat.htm ).   Paul commands the believers of the simple faith to "Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature" (Col 3:5 NIV). To the degree that Paul warned: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom 8:13 KJV).   Yet, believers will perpetually turn to the flesh of the written word that Paul portrayed as the "letter that killeth" (2 Cor 3:6), and ignore the commandment to move on to maturity and embrace the spirit that the baptized Christians of the simple faith will view as utter "foolishness" -- and even heresy from the perspective of their very limited organic understanding.  

Perhaps the most profound example of the inability of the natural carnal mind to even begin to grasp man's own higher soul and spiritual reality is provided in the words of Paul who said of the baptized, totally committed believers as Corinth: “I always thank God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way -- in all your speaking and in all your knowledge -- because our testimony about Christ was confirmed in you. Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed” (1 Cor 1:4-7 NIV).    Yet, in the second chapter of the very same Epistle Paul warns these believers who have been given all knowledge and testimony of Christ: “But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14 NKJ).    Paul then goes on and warns these believers of a natural mind who were baptized and dedicated to Christ: “And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to babes in Christ” (1 Cor 3:1 NAS).   Thus, these believers could only be taught the doctrine of Jesus Christ and him crucified (1 Cor 2:2), because they were not yet spiritual men -- but rather, they were men of flesh and still very much “babes in Christ”.   Paul then explains that: “I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able” (1 Cor 3:2 NAS). 

The shackles which inhibit the modern Christian today, is seen in the fact that the Church not only institutionalized what Paul calls the "milk" of the Gospel intended for “babes in Christ” -- but then the Church of Rome threw away the Key of Knowledge ( http://KeyOfKnowledge.org ), and totally lost the ability to understand the Spiritual Gospel that Sustains and Completes the true Disciple of Yeshua who picks up their own cross and imitates the pattern.    The modern believer will respond that those who have gazed upon what Paul states is "...not lawful... to utter" (2 Cor 12:4-5 NKJ) and reveal to the minds of the believers of the simple faith, should merely tell them what they have seen and experienced.   And yet, because peddling Christ has become a lucrative business with political benefits, the "milk... intended for babes in Christ" has become so institutionalized, that those to whom the higher reality of the soul and the Mysteries of the Kingdom has been revealed, are condemned as heretics by the flock of believers.     Thus, if we replace the word synagogue with the modern portrayal of a church, we can begin to see the dilemma of the modern Christian who no longer possess the Key of Knowledge, and has absolutely no idea how to receive the revelation of the Mysteries of the Kingdom of God: "These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me" (John 16:1-3 KJV).   And while they claim to know Christ with their lips, their hearts and minds are far removed, because they no longer possess the means to move onto maturity -- “Therefore let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment” (Heb 6:1-2 NIV).

While it is true that Paul taught the necessity of faith -- faith in the Gospel-process that if adhered to, would bring about the transformation of the believer -- an integral part of this process was the need to transform the carnal nature after embracing the elementary teachings of Christ, and going on to maturity.    But because the Church of Rome threw away the Key of Knowledge, and the non-Roman Church conceived out of the Reformation had been totally alienated from the preparatory knowledge and lifestyle necessary to even begin to understand the higher reality of the soul and the Mysteries of the Kingdom -- i.e., that intermediate wisdom and knowledge that prepares the Disciple to begin to comprehend what believers of the simple faith view as utter "foolishness" -- the Church itself became lost in the quagmire of what Paul portrays as the elementary doctrines, literally drowning in the "milk... intended for babes in Christ".    

To even begin to understand the spiritual void that exists today, we must closely examine the Church prior to it being adopted by Pagan Rome as the official religion of the Empire.   And one of the important documents that we can turn to in our search for the Truth and TheWay, is a document known as The True Word.   In the approximate year of 178 of our Common Era, Celsus, the Epicurean Philosopher and opponent of Christianity, published a rather embarrassing work in opposition to Christianity known as The True Word or Discourse.    It is said that this work was widely published and used by the Pagan world as an attack on the Church, that seventy years after its publication The True Word was still so widely circulated, that the Church Father Origen was commissioned by St. Ambrosius to refute this attack by Celsus.   In this polemic against the Church, Celsus attacked the Church as being a secret system -- teaching the body of believers a very different doctrine, than what was taught and embraced by the inner core of the elect.

In view of the fact that neither Origen or any authority in the Church refuted what Celsus stated, it is of the utmost importance to first understand why the outer body of believers embraced very different doctrines of belief than the inner core of the elect.    When Paul warned the believers at Corinth that it was not only impossible -- but not even lawful -- to reveal to them the true spiritual meaning of the Gospel with respect to the higher reality of the soul and the Mysteries of the Kingdom that they, in their natural organic (untransformed) mind would condemn as "foolishness" -- then what he created was not only two opposite polarities within the body of the Church -- but a great diversity and variance in understanding between those who were migrating from the doctrines of the simple faith, and those who Paul portrayed as having gone on to maturity.   

The entry-level believers of the simple faith who were blinded by their carnal mindset and understanding, came to call themselves Orthodox.    Why?   Men who were absolutely clueless as to the spiritual meaning of the Gospel and the Mysteries of the Kingdom, called themselves priests and teachers, and they were under the grave misconception that they understood what is impossible for the organic mind of man to comprehend.   In making reference to these teachers and priests who called themselves Orthodox, we can see the very same elementary beliefs which are embraced by Christians today, as well as their reading only the literal written words of the scriptures in the manner of the Pharisees when Eusebius writes of their doctrines -- doctrines conceived by the early Christians Papias and Irenaeus, and still held throughout the modern Christian world today: “Papias reproduces other stories communicated to him by word of mouth, together with some otherwise unknown parables and teachings of the Saviour, and other things of a more allegorical character.   He says that 'after the resurrection of the dead there will be a period of a thousand years when Christ's kingdom will be set up on this earth in material form'.  I suppose he got these notions by misinterpreting the apostolic accounts and failing to grasp what they said in mystic and symbolic language.  For he seems to have been a man of very small intelligence, to judge from his books.  But it is partly due to him that the great majority of churchmen after him took the same view, relying on his early date; e.g. Irenaeus and several others, who clearly held the same opinion” (Eusebius, Hist Eccl., Book III, 39.11).   What is a man of very small intelligence?   Is it not organic man whose untransformed mind is as the tip of the iceberg?   And when they begin as believers, these are the people of the simple faith who would condemn the higher reality of the soul and the Mysteries of the Kingdom as "foolishness".    On the other hand, the Spiritual Christians who picked up their own cross and lived the Consecrated life prescribed by Yeshua -- making their body into a Living Temple ( http://TheThreeLies.com ) -- came to be called Gnostic.   But what is Gnosis?    It is the Experiential Knowledge that after being brought up into the Kingdom, Paul warned was "...not lawful... to utter" (2 Cor 12:4-5 NKJ) even to the baptized believers of the simple faith.    So the truly Spiritual Christians who having themselves overcome to each person's ability, was able to move beyond the elementary precepts of the Gospel, and were able to then receive the Knowledge of the Kingdom in the same manner as did the Disciples -- and in the same manner that every potential Disciple has today to Know the Truth by entering into the House with the True Prophet (see http://DivineManna.org#TrueProphet ).  

So the scriptures are written and composed in the manner that they presently are, because it is impossible to reveal to the organic mind of man what he is not only carnally incapable of understanding -- but as the scriptures warn, he is blind to this higher reality -- and as Paul warns, it is not even lawful to reveal the Mysteries of the Kingdom to the believers of the simple faith.   Yet, to those who Live in accord with the Commandments and the Royal Law -- and sincerely strive to overcome -- they are given the Key of Knowledge which when properly applied, has the ability to reveal all things to the Disciple who picks up his on cross and travails in TheWay -- seeking the Kingdom as Yeshua commanded.

The True Interpretation Of The Scriptures: The scriptures are an allegorical portrayal of your own mind and being -- and the names that are used, the numbers, and the picture of what appears to be historical accounts or cosmic occurrences or conditions, can also be understood as events of the body, mind and spirit in the life of the disciple.   In the same way that Paul called the written word of the scriptures the "letter that killeth" (2 Cor 3:6), the same exact formula with respect to the scriptures is presented in the words: “For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom 8:13 KJV).   If you attempt to interpret the scriptures after the letter of the flesh, then you have thrown away the Key of Knowledge that you failed to understand in the spiritual sense, and turn the scriptures within yourself: "How terrible it will be for you experts in religious law! For you hide the key to knowledge from the people. You don't enter the Kingdom yourselves, and you prevent others from entering" (Luke 11:52 NLT).   Christians today who read the scriptures to find the historical Jesus, are no different than the Pharisees who looked only to the letter of the written word -- failing to use the Key of Knowledge to open the inner door to the Kingdom within them.   And of those who "...live after the flesh [of the written word], ye shall die."    And to them the warning of The Apocalypse of Peter has come upon them:  "They will cleave to the name of a dead man, thinking that they will become pure.  But they will become greatly defiled and they will fall into a name of error and into the hand of an evil, cunning man and a manifold dogma, and they will be ruled heretically.  For some of them will blaspheme the truth and proclaim evil teaching.   And they will say evil things against each other... But many others, who oppose the truth and are the messengers of error, will set up their error and their law against these pure thoughts of mine... They do business in my word... And there shall be others of those who are outside our number who name themselves bishop and also deacons, as if they have received their authority from God.  They bend themselves under the judgment of the leaders.  These people are dry canals".

The Objective Of The Scriptures: While the scriptures center around the teachings of Jesus, the objective is to become a disciple and enter "in the House" within you and learn the Mysteries of God from the Living Christ.   If you believe in Jesus, then you will live in the manner that he taught, and seek the Inner Kingdom.   Thus, the scriptures are written in such a way that they can be turned within -- and what appears as historical accounts in the written word of the "letter that killeth" (2 Cor 3:6), becomes events of the body, mind and spirit in the life of the Disciple of Jesus and TheWay.   The twelve signs of the zodiac, the twelve tribes of Israel, the twelve disciples of Jesus, become the twelve spheres of mind of the Tree of Life.   And when you are able to do as Paul states and put to death your attachment to the things of this world, and evolve and balance the twelve spheres of the mind -- doing and living the Commandments of the Lord in all things -- then you will find the reality coming to pass that is stated in the Revelation: "Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie" (Rev 22:14-15 NKJ).   Notice that the dogs, sorcerers, sexually immoral, murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves the (lying) doctrines and philosophies of men over the Truth, are spoken of as remaining "outside" the gates of the City?    This is the realm of outer consciousness where man cannot know self, the Inner Kingdom, or God.  

God-Centered vs Know Thyself: To Know, vs to Believe.  While the Disciple Knows, the believer is elementary in his understanding, and his mind us undeveloped and incapable of Knowing God.   And it is at this important point that positions the seeker at the crossroads where they have the opportunity to bring about true spiritual success in their quest to Truly Know God.  

While the people of this world are the prodigal sons and daughters who are lost and under the control of the "citizen" of this world, only those who hear TheCall and seek to walk in TheWay and enter the Inner Kingdom can find the Promise of Life.   Thus, the person who claims to be a genuine believer and seeker, and yet fails to put on the “wedding garment” (Mt 22:12) -- which is the robe of spiritual union and perfection -- will be “cast into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matt 22:13 NKJ).   And where is this outer darkness?   Outside the gates to the city -- which from the perspective of the Bible, is the place in which we presently dwell.   What is conveyed to us here regarding the Kingdom, is that when we open and read the scriptures, what we have before us is the mystical/Gnostic writings of a spiritual people -- writings that are written for the edification of a the prodigal sons and daughters who desire to return to the Kingdom of the Father -- and we can never understand the Mysteries of God through a superficial reading of the literal word of the Bible which Paul called the "letter that killeth".   Why do we use the word Gnostic?   Because it is the Greek word that differentiates between what we call abstract philosophical knowledge pertaining to this world which is learned in our educational manner of teaching, in contradistinction to knowledge that is learned directly through our inner spiritual experiences and interaction with the Divine.   Where the knowledge of this world is philosophical and temporal, the type of Knowledge that is called Gnosis, denotes the Sacred Manna that is given to true holy men and women who live in the Light, and seek the Kingdom of God.

As G.R.S. Mead concludes on page 176: “The claim of the Gnostics was that a man might so perfect himself that he became a conscious worker with the Logos; all those who did so, became 'Christs,' and as such were Saviors, but not in the sense of being the Logos Himself”.    Where the people of the simple faith looked upon the word “Christ”, as Jesus' last name, the Spiritual Christians understood that what this term meant was the Anointing of the mind of the disciple that permits the seeker to learn from the inner Logos -- i.e., the Mind of God.   In the revelation of his spiritual Gospel, it was this receiving of the Anointing that Paul speaks about throughout his Epistles.   When the disciple receives the Anointing -- this Anointing of the mind of the disciple in the Greek, denotes one who is Anointed, or the Christ.  

It is for this reason that the believers of the simple faith are not yet Christians, because they have not yet received the Anointing -- which is impossible to receive without embracing the proper mindset and consecrated lifestyle.   Moreover, the Anointing is not philosophical or rhetorical -- as becoming a believer -- but is an actual illumination of higher consciousness that permits the disciple to use more of their mind that the natural man is capable of using in his organic condition.    A person cannot be a genuine Christian -- i.e., an Anointed one -- without possessing the knowledge of their pre-existent soul.   A person cannot possess the knowledge of the soul, without knowing the previous lives that the soul has lived.   In Pistis Sophia, one of the sacred books used by the Spiritual (Gnostic) Christians, which name in English means the Book of Faith-Wisdom, Jesus states: “But if he shall have sinned once, twice, or thrice, they shall reject that soul, sending it back again into the world according to the form of the sins that it may have committed; the form whereof I will declare unto you hereafter.   But verily, verily I say unto you, that even the righteous man that hath committed no sin at all cannot be brought into the Kingdom of Light, forasmuch the seal of the mysteries of that kingdom is not found upon him.  Once for all, I say unto you, a soul cannot be brought into the kingdom, if it be without the mysteries of the Kingdom of the Light”.

In this quotation we not only see that the Spiritual Christians understood that Jesus taught the reincarnation of the soul -- “sending [the soul] back again into the world according to the form of the sins that it may have committed” -- but what we have here is the genuine foundation of Paul's doctrine that man can do nothing on his own, and can only be saved through faith in Christ.   The problem arises when we do not understand the difference between Jesus -- the historical man -- and Christ -- the Anointing of the mind -- or the Logos, or Mind of God.   It is this reason also that believers fail to understand the declaration in the beginning of the Epistle to the Romans where Paul writes that:  When the Gentiles do the things of the Law, without the Law, they become a Law unto themselves, and can be saved.   It is further this reason that we do not understand when Paul says not to seek the Jesus after the flesh, but rather the Christ of the Spirit.

In the article on Christian Mysticism, the Encyclopedia Britannica writes regarding Valentinus, who was considered orthodox in the beginning of the second century, and states: “He believed that human beings are alienated from God because of their spiritual ignorance; Christ brings them into the gnosis (esoteric revelatory knowledge) that is union with God. Valentinus held that all human beings come from God and that all will in the end return to God. Other Gnostic groups held that there were three types of people -- 'spiritual,' 'psychic,' and 'material' -- and that only the first two can be saved. The Pistis Sophia… is preoccupied with the question of who finally will be saved. Those who are saved must renounce the world completely and follow the pure ethic of love and compassion. They will then be identified with Jesus and become rays of the divine Light”.   While this reality may sound foreign and strange to the modern Christian, it is in fact parallel to the parable of the prodigal son.    But since the modern Christian rejects the important teaching on the pre-existent soul that evolves to perfection over the course of many lifetimes, because they adhere to the doctrines of a Circus Prostitute (see The Ten Reasons Why Christians Reject The Pre-Existent Soul), they remain hopelessly lost in the quagmire of this world of the "outer darkness" (see Divine Strategery)

Once properly understood, what Valentinus was in fact stating was no different than what was also clearly stated by the early church authorities, Paul, Jesus, and the present-day Canon of Scriptures itself: That there are three types of Christians -- i.e., the spiritual which are in union with God, and are saved; the psychic, or disciple in search of the Truth, which are still walking in The Way; and the material or physical, who are the people of the simple faith.  The mysteries made reference to in Pistis Sohpia that, according to the Jesus presented in this gospel, states that a person must possess the sacred Knowledge of the Kingdom in order to be saved -- and this is the knowledge of the laws that both preserve the natural barriers of this realm, as well as restrict carnal man's access into the spiritual realms and the Kingdom (see Divine Strategery).   When the disciple knows the workings of these natural laws of Creation, they are then able to safely transcend the barriers between this and the inner Kingdom, and come into the presence of the Spiritual Christ.  

In order to preserve the Sacred Knowledge of TheWay from generation to generation -- so that all seekers are able to find TheWay -- the scriptures are encoded with the necessary knowledge that enables the prodigal sons and daughters of the Most High to return to the Inner Edenic Kingdom of Origination with their Heavenly Father (see Gate Of Eden).   And those who learn to turn the scriptures within self, and perceive what appears to be historical and cosmic accounts as events of the body, mind and spirit, will find the Inner Gates to the Holy City opening unto them.   The book of The Revelation proclaims: “The Revelation… which must shortly come to pass... Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is at hand”.   It does not say that in two thousand years these things will come to pass; but rather, “…the time is at hand”.   The nations that rise against nations, the famines, pestilences and earthquakes, are all the signs of the “pangs of birth” (Mt 24) that the disciple experiences as they move near to the Kingdom within.   “Varily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled” (Mt 24:34); “Varily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation” (Mt 23:36); “There are some standing here, who shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom” (Mt 16:28).   Thus, the words of the Lord, “Repent [change the mind], for the Kingdom is at hand” is the key to witnessing the Son of Man coming in His Kingdom.   In order to overcome, we must understand that the kingdom will never come so as to be seen outwardly, for the kingdom is within us (Lk 17:20-21).   Prior to the time of Constantine, this fundamental spiritual truth was well understood: Under Alexandrian Theology, the Church Father Origen is quoted in the Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics as writing: “God never speaks to us from outside” (In Psalm 27).   Thus, if we are to see the Lord coming in His glory, we must cleanse and purify our body-mind, break down our own inner walls of division, and look within ourselves to God’s Holy Temple.   

In those many places where the Bible speaks of the Mysteries of God as seen in the words: “we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began” (1 Cor 2:7 NIV) -- the Apostle is quite clear that this “secret wisdom” cannot be comprehended by men who perceive life and the scriptures with a carnal mindset -- but rather, with a spiritual mindset that is established upon the mystical senses founded in the higher powers of mind.   And if we ask the question as to why carnal man is incapable of perceiving the Mysteries of God that are spoken of by the Apostle?   Because these elements of mind that are necessary to perceive the higher reality of man, are centered in parts of the ninety percent of the mind which the natural person is unable to access -- and it is these sections of the mind that are said to lie dormant within all people.   Thus, only the mystic -- Gnostic -- or spiritual Christian -- has the ability to perceive the Mysteries of God, and know the True Christ, and enter the Genuine Temple of the Lord, because they endeavor to expand their consciousness by going beyond the ten percent barrier of mind that limits man in his natural organic state of being.