Gospel Of Essenes Book 1 - Pt 2 Of 3

The Essene Gospel of Peace,

Book 1,

Verse 2.

The title is,

For your Heavenly Father is love,

For your earthly mother is love,

For the Son of Man is love.

This is Jesus continuing his speech as we heard in part 1.

It is by love that the Heavenly Father and the earthly mother and the Son of Man become one.

For the Spirit of the Son of Man was created from the Spirit of the Heavenly Father and his body from the body of the earthly mother.

Become therefore perfect as the Spirit of your Heavenly Father and the body of your earthly mother are perfect.

And so love your Heavenly Father as he loves your spirit,

And so love your earthly mother as she loves your body.

And so love your true brothers as your Heavenly Father and your earthly mother love them.

And then your Heavenly Father shall give you his Holy Spirit,

And your earthly mother shall give you her Holy Body.

And then shall the sons of men,

Like true brothers,

Give love one to another,

The love which they received from their Heavenly Father and from their earthly mother.

And they shall all become comforters one of another,

And then shall disappear from the earth all evil and all sorrow,

And there shall be love and joy upon earth.

And then shall the earth be like the heavens,

And the kingdom of God shall come.

And then shall come the Son of Man in all his glory to inherit the kingdom of God.

And then shall the sons of men divide their divine inheritance the kingdom of God.

For the sons of men live in the Heavenly Father and in the earthly mother,

And the Heavenly Father and the earthly mother live in them.

And then with the kingdom of God shall come the end of times.

For the Heavenly Father's love gives to all life everlasting in the kingdom of God.

For love is eternal,

Love is stronger than death.

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,

But have not love,

I have become as sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal.

Though I tell what is to come,

And know all secrets and all wisdom,

And though I have faith strong as the storm which lifts mountains from their seat,

But have not love,

I am nothing.

And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor,

And give all my fire that I have received from my Father,

But have not love,

I am in no wise profited.

Love is patient,

Love is kind,

Love is not envious,

Works not evil,

Knows not pride,

Is not rude,

Neither selfish,

Is slow to anger,

Imagines no mischief,

Rejoices not in injustice,

But delights injustice.

Love defends all,

Love believes all.

Love hopes all,

Love bears all,

Never exhausts itself,

But as for tongues they shall cease,

And as for knowledge it shall vanish away.

For we have truth in part and error in part,

But when the fullness of perfection has come,

That which is in part shall be blotted out.

When a man was a child,

He spoke as a child,

Understood as a child,

Thought as a child,

But when he became a man,

He put away childish things.

For now we see through a glass and through dark sayings.

Now we know in part,

But when we are come before the face of God,

We shall not know in part,

But even as we are taught by him.

And now remain these three,

Faith and hope and love,

That the greatest of these is love.

And now I speak to you in the living tongue of the living God,

Through the Holy Spirit of our Heavenly Father.

There is none yet among you that can understand all this of which I speak.

He who expounds to you the Scriptures,

Speaks to you in a dead tongue of dead men,

Through his diseased and mortal body.

Him therefore can all men understand.

For all men are diseased and all are in death.

No one sees the light of life.

Blind man leads blind on the dark paths of sins,

Diseases and suffering,

And at the last shall fall into the pit of death.

I am sent to you by the Father,

That I may make the light of life to shine before you.

The light lightens itself,

But the darkness knows only itself and knows not the light.

I have still many things to say to you,

But you cannot bear them yet,

For your eyes are used to the darkness,

And the full light of the Heavenly Father would make you blind.

Therefore you cannot yet understand that which I speak to you concerning the Heavenly Father who sent me to you.

Follow therefore first only the laws of your earthly mother,

Of which I have told you.

And when her angels shall have cleansed and renewed your bodies and strengthened your eyes,

You will be able to bear the light of our Heavenly Father.

When you can gaze on the brightness of the noonday sun with unflinching eyes,

You can then look upon the blinding light of your Heavenly Father,

Which is a thousand times brighter than the brightness of a thousand suns.

But how should you look upon the blinding light of your Heavenly Father when you cannot even bear the shining of the blazing sun?

Believe me,

The sun is as the flame of a candle beside the sun of truth of the Heavenly Father.

Have but faith,

Therefore,

And hope and love.

I tell you truly,

You shall not want your reward.

If you believe in my words,

You believe in Him who sent me,

Who is the Lord of all,

And with whom all things are possible.

For what is impossible with men,

All these things are possible with God.

If you believe in the angels of the earthly mother and do her laws,

Your faith shall sustain you and you shall never see disease.

Have hope also in the love of your Heavenly Father,

For he who trusts in Him shall never be deceived,

Nor shall he ever see death.

Love one another,

For God is love,

And so shall his angels know that you walk in his paths,

And then shall all the angels come before your face and serve you,

And Satan with all his sins,

Diseases,

And uncleannesses shall depart from your body.

Go eschew your sins,

Repent yourselves,

Baptize yourselves,

That you may be born again and sin no more.

Then Jesus rose,

But all else remained sitting,

For every man felt the power of his words.

And then the full moon appeared between the breaking clouds,

And folded Jesus in its brightness,

And sparks flew upward from his hair.

And he stood among them in the moonlight,

As though he hovered in the air.

And no man moved,

Neither was the voice of any heard,

And no one knew how long a time had passed,

For time stood still.

Then Jesus stretched out his hands to them and said,

Peace be with you.

And so he departed,

As a breath of wind sways the green of trees.

And for a long time yet the company sat still.

And then they woke in silence,

One man after another,

Like as from a long dream,

But none would go,

As if the words of him who had left them ever sounded in their ears.

And they sat as though they listened to some wondrous music.

But at last one,

As it were a little fearfully,

Said,

How good it is to be here.

And others said,

Would that this night be everlasting.

And others said,

Would that he might be with us always.

Of a truth he is God's messenger,

For he planted hope in our hearts.

And no man wished to go home,

Saying,

I go not home where all is dark and joyless.

Why should we go home when no one loves us?

And they spoke on this wise,

For they were almost all poor,

Lame,

Blind,

Maimed,

Beggars,

Homeless,

Despised in their wretchedness,

Who were only born for pity's sake in the houses where they found a few days' refuge.

And certain who had both home and family said,

We also will stay with you.

For every man felt that the words of him who was gone bound the little company with threads invisible,

And all felt they were born again.

They saw before them a shining world,

Even when the moon was hidden in the clouds,

And in the hearts of all blossomed wondrous flowers of wondrous beauty,

The flowers of joy.

And when the bright sunbeams appeared over the earth's rim,

They all felt that it was the sun of the coming kingdom of God.

And with joyful countenances they went forth to meet God's angels.

And many unclean and sick followed Jesus' words,

And sought the banks of the murmuring streams,

Put off their shoes and their clothing.

They fasted,

And they gave up their bodies to the angels of air,

Of water,

And of sunshine.

And the earthly mother's angels embraced them,

Possessing their bodies both inwards and outwards.

And all of them saw all evils,

Sins,

And uncleannesses depart in haste from them.

And the breath of some became as stinking as that which loosed from the bowels.

And some had an issue of spittle,

And evil-smelling and unclean vomit rose from their inward parts.

All these uncleannesses flowed by their mouths,

In some by the nose,

In others by the eyes and ears.

And many did have a noisome and abominable sweat come from all their body,

All over their skin.

And on many limbs great hot boils broke forth,

From which came out uncleannesses with an evil smell.

And urine flowed abundantly from their body,

And in many their urine was all that dried up and became thick as the honey of bees.

And that of others was almost red or black,

And as hard almost as the sands of rivers.

And many belched stinking gases from their bowels,

Like the breath of devils,

And their stench became so great that none could bear it.

And when they baptised themselves,

The angel of water entered their bodies,

And from them flowed out all the abominations and uncleannesses of their past sins.

And like the falling mountain stream gushed from their bodies a multitude of hard and soft abominations,

And the ground where their waters flowed was polluted.

And so great became the stench that none could remain there,

And the devils left their bowels in the shape of multitudinous worms which writhed an impotent rage,

After the angel of water had cast them out of the bowels of the sons of men.

And then descended upon them the power of the angel of sunshine.

And they perished there in their desperate rivings trod underfoot by the angel of sunshine.

And all were trembling with terror when they looked upon all these abominations of Satan,

From which the angels had saved them.

And they rendered thanks to God,

Who had sent his angels for their deliverance.

And there were some whom great pains tormented,

Which would not depart from them,

And knowing not what they should do,

They resolved to send one of them to Jesus,

For they greatly wished he should be with them.

And when two were gone to seek him,

They saw Jesus himself approaching by the bank of the river,

And their hearts were filled with hope and joy,

When they heard his greeting,

Peace be with you.

And many were the questions that they desired to ask him.

But in their astonishment they could not begin,

For nothing came into their minds.

And then said Jesus to them,

I come because you need me.

And one cried out,

Master,

We do indeed come and free us from our pains.

And Jesus spoke to them in parables,

You are like the prodigal son,

Who for many years did eat and drink,

And passed his days in riotous and lechery with his friends.

And every week,

Without his father's knowledge,

He incurred new debts,

And squandered all in a few days.

And the money-lenders always lent to him,

Because his father possessed great riches,

And always paid patiently the debts of his son.

And in vain did he with fair words admonish his son,

For he never listened to the admonitions of his father,

Who besought him in vain that he would give up his debaucheries,

Which had no end,

And that he would go to his fields to watch over the labour of his servants.

And the son always promised him everything,

If he would pay his old debts,

But the next day he began again.

And for more than seven years the son continued his riotous living.

But at last his father lost patience.

No more paid to the money-lenders the debts of his son.

If I continue always to pay,

He said,

There will be no end to the sins of my son.

Then the money-lenders who were deceived,

In their wrath,

Took the son into slavery that he might daily toil,

Pay back to them the money which he had borrowed.

And then ceased the eating and drinking and the daily excesses.

From morning until night,

By the sweat of his face,

He watered the fields,

And all of his limbs ached with the accustomed labour.

And he lived upon dry bread,

And had naught but his tears with which he could water it.

And three days after he suffered so much from the heat and from weariness,

That he said to his master,

I can work no more,

For all my limbs do ache.

How long would you torment me?

Till the day when by the labour of your hands you pay me all your debts.

And when seven years are past you will be free.

And the desperate son answered,

Weeping,

But I cannot bear as much as seven days.

Have pity on me,

For all my limbs do burn and ache.

And the wicked creditor cried out,

Press on with the work.

If you could for seven years spend your days and your nights in riotousness,

Now must you work for seven years.

I will not forgive you till you pay back all your debts to the uttermost drachma.

And the son,

With his limbs racked in pain,

Went back despairing to the fields to continue his work.

Already he could hardly stand upon his feet,

Because of his weariness and of his pains.

When the seventh day was come the Sabbath day,

In which no man worked in the field,

Then the son gathered the remnant of his strength and staggered to the house of his father.

And he cast himself down at his father's feet and said,

Father,

Believe me for the last time and forgive me all my offences against you.

I swear to you I will never again live riotously,

And that I will be your obedient son in all things.

Free me from the hands of my oppressor,

Father.

Look upon me and upon my sick limbs and harden not your heart.

And then tears came into his father's eyes,

And he took his son in his arms and said,

Let us rejoice,

For today a great joy is given me,

Because I have found again my beloved son who was lost.

And he clothed them with his choicest raiment,

And all the day long they made merry.

And on the morning of the morrow he gave his son a bag of silver that he might pay to his creditors all that he owed them.

And when his son came back he said to him,

My son,

Do you see that it is easy through riotous living to incur debts for seven years,

But their payment is difficult by heavy labour of seven years?

Oh,

Father,

It is indeed hard to pay them even for seven days.

And his father admonished him,

Saying,

For this once alone it has been permitted you to pay your debts in seven days instead of seven years.

The rest is forgiven you,

But take heed that in the time to come you will not incur more debts.

For I tell you truly that none else but your father forgives you your debts,

Because you are his son.

For with all else you would have had a labour hired for seven years,

As it is commanded in our laws.

My father,

I will henceforth be your loving and obedient son,

And I will not any more incur debts,

For I know that their payment is hard.

And he went to his father's field,

And watched every day over the work of his father's labourers.

And he never made his labourers work hard,

For he remembered his own heavy labour.

And the years passed,

And his father's possessions increased ever more and more beneath his hand,

For the blessing of his father was upon his labour.

And slowly he gave back tenfold to his father all that he had squandered in the seven years.

And when his father saw that his son used well his servants and all his possessions,

He said to him,

My son,

I see that my possessions are in good hands.

I give you all my cattle,

My house,

My lands,

And my treasures.

Let all this be your heritage.

Continue increasing it,

That I may have delight in you.

And when the son had received his inheritance from his father,

He forgave their debts to all his debtors who could not pay him,

For he did not forget that his debt had also been forgiven when he could not pay it.

And God blessed him with long life and many children with much riches,

Because he was kind to all his servants and to all his cattle.

Then Jesus turned to the sick folk and said,

I speak to you in parables that you may better understand God's words.

The seven years of eating and drinking and of riotous living are the sins of the past.

The wicked creditor is Satan.

The debts are diseases.

The heavy labour is pains.

The prodigal son,

He is yourselves.

The payment of the debts is the casting from you of devils and diseases,

And the healing of your body.

The bag of silver received from the father is the liberating power of the angels.

The father is God.

The father's possessions are earth and heaven.

The servants of the father are the angels.

The father's field is the world,

Which is changed into the kingdom of the heavens if the sons of men work thereon together with the angels of the heavenly father.

For I tell you,

It is better that the son should obey his father and keep watch over his father's servants in the field,

Than that he should become the debtor of the wicked creditor,

And toil and sweat and serfdom to repay all his debts.

It is better likewise if the sons of man also obey the laws of the heavenly father,

And work together with his angels upon his kingdom,

Than that they should become the debtors of Satan,

The lord of death,

At all sins and all diseases,

And that they should suffer from the pains and sweat till they have repaid all their sins.

I tell you truly,

Great and many are your sins,

Many years have you yielded to the enticings of Satan.

You have been gluttonous,

Winebibbous,

And gone a-whoring,

And your past debts have multiplied,

And now you must repay them,

And payment is difficult and hard.

Be not therefore already impatient after the third day,

Like the prodigal son,

But wait patiently for the seventh day,

Which is sanctified by God.

And then go with humble and obedient heart before the face of your heavenly father,

That he may forgive you your sins and all your past debts.

I tell you truly,

Your heavenly father loves you without end,

For he also allows you to pay in seven days the debts of the seven years.

Those that owe the sins and diseases of seven years,

But pay honestly and persevere till the seventh day,

To them shall our heavenly father forgive the debts of all those seven years.

If we sin for seven times seven years,

Ask the sick man who suffered horribly,

Even in that case the heavenly father forgives you all your debts in seven times seven days.

Many are those that persevere to the end,

For the devils of Satan write all your evil deeds in a book,

In the book of your body and your spirit.

I tell you truly,

There is not one sinful deed,

But it is written even from the beginning of the world before our heavenly father.

For you may escape the laws made by kings,

But the laws of your God,

These may none of the sons of man escape.

And when you come before the face of God,

The devils of Satan bear witness against you with your deed.

And God sees your sins written in the book of your body and of your spirit,

And is sad in his heart.

But if you repent of your sins,

And by fasting and prayer you seek the angels of God,

Then each day that you continue to fast and to pray,

God's angels blot out one year of your evil deeds from the book of your body and your spirit.

And when the last page is also blotted out and cleansed from all your sins,

You stand before the face of God,

And God rejoices in his heart and forgets all your sins.

He frees you from the clutches of Satan and from suffering.

He takes you within his house and commands that all his servants,

All his angels,

Serve you.

Long life does he give you,

And you shall never see disease.

And if thenceforward,

Instead of sinning,

You pass your days in doing good deeds,

Then the angels of God shall write all your good deeds in the book of your body and of your spirit.

I tell you truly,

No good deed remains unwritten before God,

Not from the beginning of the world.

For from your kings and your governors you may wait in vain for your reward,

But never do your good deeds want their reward from God.

And when you come before the face of God,

His angels bear witness for you with your good deeds,

And God sees your good deeds written in your bodies and in your spirits,

And rejoices in his heart.

He blesses your body,

Your spirit,

And all your deeds,

And gives you for a heritage his earthly and heavenly kingdom,

That in it you may have life everlasting.

He is he who can enter into the kingdom of God,

For he shall never see death.

And a great silence fell at his words,

And those that were discouraged took new strength from his words and continued to fast and to pray.

And he who had spoken first said to him,

I will persevere to the seventh day.

And the second likewise said to him,

I also will persevere to the seven times seventh day.

Jesus answered them,

Happy are those that persevere to the end,

For they shall inherit the earth.

And there were many sick among them,

Tormented with grievous pains,

And they hardly crawled to Jesus' feet,

For they could no longer walk upon their feet.

They said,

Master,

We are grievously tormented with pain.

Tell us what we shall do.

And they showed Jesus their feet,

In which the bones were twisted and knotted,

And said neither the angel of air nor of water nor of sunshine has assuaged our pains,

Notwithstanding that we baptised ourselves.

And do fast and pray and follow your words in all things.

I tell you truly,

Your bones will be healed.

Be not discouraged,

But seek for cure neither healer of bones,

The angel of earth.

For thence were your bones taken,

And thither they will return.

And he pointed with his hands to where the running of the water and the sun's heat had softened the clay mud of the earth.

By the edge of the water,

Sink your feet in the mire,

That the embrace of the angel of earth may draw out from your bones all uncleanness and all disease.

And you will see Satan and your pains fly from the embrace of the angel of earth,

And the knots of your bones will vanish away,

And they will be straightened and all your pains will disappear.

And the sick followed his words,

For they knew that they would be healed.

And there were also other sick who suffered much from their pains,

Albeit they persisted in their fasting,

And their force was spent,

And great heat tormented them.

And when they would have risen from their beds to go to Jesus,

Their heads began to turn as if it were a great gusty wind which shook them,

And as oft as they tried to stand upon their feet,

They fell back to the ground.

And then Jesus went to them and said,

You suffer,

For Satan and his diseases torment your bodies,

But fear not,

For their power over you will quickly end.

For Satan is like a choleric neighbour who entered his neighbour's house while he was absent,

Intending to take his goods away to his own house.

But some told the other that his enemy was ravaging within his house.

He came back to his house running.

And when the wicked neighbour,

Having gathered together all that pleased him,

Saw from afar the master of the house returning in haste,

And then he was very rough that he could not take all away,

And set to breaking and spoiling all that was there to destroy all,

So that even if the things might not be his,

The other might have nothing.

But immediately the lord of the house came in,

And before the wicked neighbour fulfilled his purpose,

He took him and cast him out of the house.

I tell you truly,

Even so did Satan enter your bodies which are the habitation of God,

And he took in his power all that he wished to steal,

Your breath,

Your blood,

Your bone,

Your flesh,

Your bowels,

Your eyes,

And your ears.

But by your fasting and your prayer you have called back the lord of your body and his angels.

And now Satan sees that the true lord of your body returns,

And that it is the end of his power.

Wherefore in his wrath he gathers his strength once again,

That he may destroy your bodies before the coming of the lord,

It is for this that Satan torments you so grievously.

For he feels that the end has come.

But let not your heart tremble,

For soon will the angels of God appear,

To occupy again their abodes and rededicate them as temples of God.

And they will see Satan and cast him from your bodies,

With all his diseases and all his uncleanliness,

And happy will you be,

For you will receive the reward of your steadfastness,

And you will never see disease.

And there was among the sick one that was more tormented by Satan than all the others.

And his body was as parched as a skeleton,

And his skin yellow as a falling leaf.

He was so weak already that he could not,

Even upon his hands,

Crawl to Jesus,

And cried only to him from afar,

Master,

Have pity on me.

For never has a man suffered,

Not from the beginning of the world as I do suffer.

I know that you are indeed sent by God,

And I know that if you will you can straight away cast out Satan from my body.

Do not the angels of God obey God's messenger?

Come master,

And cast out Satan from me now,

For he rages angrily within me and grievous as torment.

And Jesus answered him,

Satan torments you thus greatly,

Because you have already fasted many days,

And you do not pay to him his tribute.

You do not feed him with all the abominations with which you have third o' defiled the temple of your spirit.

You torment Satan with hunger,

And so in his anger he torments you also.

Fear not,

For I tell you,

Satan will be destroyed before your body is destroyed.

For while you fast and pray,

The angels of God protect your body,

That Satan's power may not destroy you,

And the anger of Satan is impotent against the angels of God.

Then they all came to Jesus,

And with loud cries besought him,

Saying,

Master,

Have compassion on him,

For he suffers more than we all,

And if you do not at once cast Satan out of him,

We fear he will not live until tomorrow.

And Jesus answered them,

Great is your faith,

Be it according to your faith,

And you shall see soon,

Face to face,

The frightful countenance of Satan,

And the power of the Son of Man.

For I will cast out from you the powerful Satan by the strength of the innocent Lamb of God,

The weakest creature of the Lord.

For the Holy Spirit of God makes more powerful the weakest than the strongest.

And Jesus milked a ewe which was feeding among the grass,

And he put the milk upon the sand made hot by the sun,

Saying,

Lo,

The power of the angel of water has entered this milk,

And now the power of the angel of sunshine will enter it also.

And the milk became hot by the strength of the sun,

And now the angels of water and of sun will join with the angels of air,

And lo,

The vapour of the hot milk began to rise slowly into the air.

Come,

Breathe it in by your mouth the strength of the angels of water,

Of sunshine,

And of air,

That it may come into your body and cast out the Satan from you.

And the sick man,

Whom Satan tormented,

Did breathe within himself deeply the rising whitish vapour.

Straight away will Satan leave your body,

Since for three days he starves and finds no food within you.

He will come out of you to satisfy his hunger by the hot,

Steaming milk,

For this food finds favour in his sight.

He will smell its smell,

And will not be able to resist the hunger which has tormented him three days already.

But the Son of Man will destroy his body,

That he may torment none else again.

And then the sick man's body was seized with an ague,

And he retched as though he would vomit,

But he could not,

And he gasped for air,

For his breath was spent,

And he fainted on the lap of Jesus.

Now does Satan leave his body,

See him,

And Jesus pointed to the sick man's open mouth.

And then they all saw,

With astonishment and terror,

That Satan was coming out from his mouth in the shape of an abominable worm straight towards the steaming milk.

And Jesus took two sharp stones with his hands,

And crushed the head of Satan,

And drew out from the sick man all the body of the monster,

Which was almost as long as the man.

And when the abominable worm came out of the sick man's throat,

He recovered at once his breath,

And then all his pain ceased.

And the others looked in terror at the abominable body of Satan.

See what an abominable beast you carried and nourished in your body for long years.

I have cast it out of you,

And killed it that it may never again torment you.

Give thanks to God that his angels have made you free,

And sin no more,

Lest Satan return to you again.

Let your body be henceforth a temple dedicated to your God.

And they were all amazed at his words and his power,

And they said,

Master,

You are indeed God's messenger,

And do know all the secrets.

And you,

Answered Jesus,

Be true sons of God,

That you also may partake in his power and in the knowledge of all secrets.

For wisdom and power can come only from the love of God.

Love therefore your heavenly Father and your earthly Mother with all your heart and with all your spirit,

And serve them that their angels may serve you also.

Let all your deeds be sacrificed to God,

And feed not Satan,

For the wages of sin is death.

But with God lies the reward of the good,

His love,

Which is knowledge and power of eternal life.

And they all knelt down to give thanks to God for his love.

And Jesus departed,

Saying,

I will come again to all who persist in prayer and fasting to the seventh day.

Peace be with you.

And the sick man from whom Jesus had cast out Satan stood up,

For the strength of life had come back to him.

He breathed out deeply.

His eyes became clear.

For every pain had left him.

And he cast himself down upon the ground where Jesus had stood.

And he kissed the print of his feet,

And he wept.

And it was by the bed of the stream many sick fasted and prayed with God's angels for seven days and seven nights.

And great was their reward,

Because they followed Jesus's words.

And with the passing of the seventh day all their pains left them.

And when the sun rose over the earth's rim,

They saw Jesus coming towards them from the mountain with the brightness of the rising sun about his head.

And that is the end of part two.

I'll see you on to part three.