‘Male and female spirits, those that can become man and woman, are our greatest creations, but they are also our most difficult challenge.
'My son, please don’t mistake my being calm for an absence of concern. Your Mother and I love each spirit that we have formed, however our love of the animal kind does not compare in any degree to our love and concern for each human spirit. We have learnt however, that all we can do is to provide the perfect atmosphere for their growth. After that it is up to the intellect and agency of each human spirit to determine whether they will seize their opportunities or waste them,’ explained Father.
‘I’m sure that one day I’ll be as calm as you are Father, but for the time being I want to do more for them,’ said Jehovah wistfully.
Father rose and placed his right hand on the left shoulder of Jehovah’s spirit form saying, ‘That inbuilt eagerness to serve and sacrifice for your brothers and sisters will not be wasted, Jehovah. Although you can do no more for them at this time, there will come a time when much will be required of you.’
Father paused before solemnly whispering, ‘More than I want to ask, and I wouldn’t ask it of you if the task was not crucial to the destiny of each and every one of our other children.’
‘Please Father, simply tell me what needs doing and I will do it.’
Father looked deeply into the eyes of his beloved son and said with deep emotion:
‘I would expect no other answer from you, Jehovah. You have always given me every reason to be proud.’
‘Thank you, Father. Tell me what will be required.’
‘Jehovah, you will recall that we have discussed the mortal life that each spirit will have the opportunity to experience, should they choose to.’
‘Yes Father, I do.’
‘When your brothers and sisters leave the Kingdom, all who live upon the earth beyond the age of an innocent child, will make choices that will divorce them from the presence of your Mother and I. These choices could potentially preclude them from ever returning to us.’
‘Why will they make these choices Father? Surely they will understand the implications and will do everything necessary to keep your commandments,’ said Jehovah, failing to understand.
‘When they are born into the world, Jehovah, any recollection of this place will be taken from them. This is necessary to enable them to be fully tested in the choice between good and evil. In mortality, by your faith and obedience, you will overcome this vale of forgetfulness, quickly comprehending all things past, present and future. Your brothers and sisters will not.
‘They will not have progressed sufficiently in faith and obedience to obtain a full understanding of the implications of all of their decisions, nor to have sufficient control over their mortal minds and bodies to avoid sin.’
Father continued, ‘In addition, the mortal experience is going to be very difficult. There will be forces upon the earth that will be permitted to tip the scales to the side of evil. In the Kingdom each spirit abides in that which is good, on earth they must be exposed to that which is evil. As the scale here is tipped towards that which is good, the scale on earth must be tipped towards evil, so that each spirit has an equal exposure to both forces, thus preserving their agency.
‘Those who choose evil here, within the Kingdom, will not be worthy of the earthly experience, having already determined their destiny.
‘Those who choose wisely whilst in this Kingdom, but succumb to evil on earth, will fail to fully utilise their opportunity for growth. Their end will be far better than those that choose evil within this Kingdom, but it will not compare to that which they might have received.
‘For those who choose good both here and on earth, or would have done so had their time on earth been full, great glory awaits them.'
As Father said this, his expression brightened and a loving smile came over his face. Jehovah, who was still waiting to be told of the task that would be required of him, was strengthened as he saw this.
After a moment, Father continued: ‘To receive this reward however, they will need to be made clean so that they are permitted back into our presence. With the exception of you Jehovah, even the spirits on earth that are most noble will make poor choices at times. They will be far from perfect and were it not for some intercession on their behalf, they could not return here. Indeed, that intercession will also need to be retrospective to atone for some of the indiscretions and misdeeds that have and will take place even here.’
‘What kind of intercession will be required and how do I achieve it?’ asked Jehovah, immediately assuming full responsibility.
In answer to this question, Father placed his right hand over Jehovah’s eyes and allowed him to gaze into the future. He saw very briefly what he must do, but he was only permitted a short glimpse such that he did not comprehend the height, depth, width or breadth of that which he must endure.
This was the very first point at which Jehovah was asked to fulfil the role of Saviour of mankind. He was to be the very centrepiece of the plan of salvation and without him the plan would fail. Indeed, all would be lost.
Mortality was absolutely essential to the growth of all spirits, but without Jehovah it would be a mission without hope. He was the only spirit qualified to perform that role, and the suggestion that any other spirit could take his place, much less Lucifer, was absolutely absurd. No other spirit had the potential to live perfectly in mortality, so they could not possibly hope to achieve for all humanity that which they were unable to accomplish for themselves. The burden of this responsibility would ever weigh heavily upon Jehovah, but as always he squared up his shoulders and carried it.
86 the council
With the grand council but hours away, Lucifer, who had only ever developed part of his plan, threw together the final details. It was so much easier to speak against the existing plan than it was to come up with a viable alternative.
While the temptation was simply to take his parents' plan, and to supplant himself as the centrepiece of that plan in the place of Jehovah, he knew that this wouldn’t do. He had spent so much time criticising their plan that he had to propose something materially different. Though coming up with an alternative was tricky, his task was made simpler by the fact that he didn’t really care whether the plan would work or not. Such was his lust for power that his taking control was infinitely more important to him than developing a workable solution.
Hence, when a viable plan did not come to him, he far preferred the prospect of presenting a counterfeit solution that had no chance of working, in preference to conceding that the original plan was the only one likely to deliver a positive outcome to his brothers and sisters. Quite simply he had to come up with an appealing plan under which he would receive all glory, and that at least appeared as though it might work. Thankfully, without a moment to lose, he was able to finalise a plan that was half viable to the halfwit and, having done so, he departed for the location of the council, feeling most pleased with himself.
He arrived well over three hours early, with the intention of securing a prime position.
To his annoyance, many spirits had been thinking along the same lines and he found that all of the best spots were taken. Thankfully though, a tier three student had secured a good position. He quickly dismissed that spirit and took the place for his own. Lucifer would lose that particular spirit’s vote over his actions, as Warwick was greatly offended at being ousted from his place. The devil then waited impatiently for proceedings to commence, which eventually they did.
Father and Mother arrived right on time, as did Jehovah, and they each took their seats which were on the stage. Lucifer hated Jehovah for having a pre-appointed seat. The fact that Jehovah had had to completely perfect himself and agree to suffer for the sins, suffering and sickness of every soul that would ever live upon the earth, in order to receive that seat did not seem relevant, he just thought that it was really unfair that he didn't get it.
Mother, who was to speak first, fel
t the bitter emotions of her most rebellious son and was greatly saddened. As she rose to address her children her heart almost broke as she discerned those who would not listen to her, and who would suffer the consequences of that choice. She paused a moment before commencing, trying to choke back the emotion that would have been present in her voice had she spoken any sooner.
‘My children, none of you should be ignorant as to why we have called you here today. While there are certainly elements of our plan that you will hear for the first time, you should not be oblivious of the fact that we are here to discuss, and vote on, your mortal journey and the plan that we have devised for your growth and benefit.
‘At no stage have we promised you that the mortal journey will be easy, it will not be. The reward that will be given to those who are successful in mortality must be a multiple of the difficulty of the journey undertaken. As such, the test will be very difficult and the reward for success shall be immense. Those who do not fulfil their earthly mission as we would have them, cannot return here. Only those who learn to live by the laws of heaven, to the very best of their ability, whilst on earth will be able to return. This Kingdom is perfect and cannot be corrupted by its inhabitants or it would cease to be a place of perfection.
‘As it is, it pains me greatly to say, my children, that there are many of you who are a whisker away from being cast out of this Kingdom forever. The spirits of whom I speak ceased to abide by correct principles some time ago, and it is only through the redemptive power of Jehovah’s future sacrifice that they have been permitted to remain here until now. Today, by way of their vote, and that which follows it, I foresee that those spirits will divorce themselves from that redemptive influence forever and will be cast out, never to return.
‘Though I fear that there is nothing that I can say to dissuade such spirits from their intended course, I still wish to tell you that I love all of you. I want only for your happiness and I promise you that the plan that we have designed is perfect and has been instituted to provide you with the very best opportunity to progress.
‘Receiving a mortal body is absolutely essential for your progression. Both your Father and I have one, and mastering our own mortal tabernacles was crucial to becoming who we are today. Even though Jehovah has perfected himself while in spirit form, he must take his mortal body, and master it, to complete his progression.
‘I would have each of you experience the indescribable blessing of receiving and mastering a mortal body. In addition, I warn any of you who would rebel against us today that, having done so, you will never receive a mortal body and must remain forever in spirit form. While there are limitations that will be placed upon your bodies while they are mortal, a resurrected and immortal body is superior to the spirit form in every respect, and is an immeasurable blessing.
‘The reward for those who make the correct decision today is that they will one day receive a resurrected and immortal body for all eternity. All who are born into mortality will ultimately receive this blessing, regardless of the way in which they conduct themselves on earth.
‘Even more importantly, eternal joy and happiness is achieved only when the spirit and the body are forever united and are working together in righteous unison, without conflict. Therefore, if you never receive a body you can never receive eternal happiness. Worse than that though, by your actions you will have divorced yourself forever from the principles of righteousness and eternal misery will naturally follow.’
Mother paused, not to build anticipation as was Lucifer’s habit, but to try and push back her tears. She was successful and continued: 'Some of you might question how it is that you have found such joy here in the Kingdom, existing only as spirits. The reason for this is that you have been in a preparatory state, during which you have been able to learn and grow. Each of you is rapidly approaching the time at which you could progress no further as spirits and therefore require your mortal body to facilitate further growth.
‘Were we simply to allow you to remain forever as spirits, you would feel inhibited and frustrated in your progression, and your happiness would suffer. Indeed, for those of you who do progress to mortality, but choose not to live in that sphere according to that which we will command you, your end state will still be far better than had you never been born on earth. By the end of the mortal journey all of you will have been permitted to reach your full potential, whereas if you were to remain as spirits you would be inhibited from doing so.’
At this point Jezebel motioned to some of her followers, signalling that they should begin to murmur and complain, so as to create the impression that Mother had said something inaccurate or controversial. Her Mother ignored the actions of her daughter, despite the fact that they almost broke her heart, and continued.
‘This is the whole reason for the mortal journey. It is so that you can be allowed to reach your full potential. Indeed, this vote is the very first significant choice that you must make in your eternal progression. Of course, each of you has been making small choices for thousands of years now. Those small choices have been absolutely crucial to the person that you have become, and the sum product of all of those smaller choices will determine what you will choose today. The time has come when you must receive your first significant test. The test as to whether or not you will choose to remain within the safe bounds of the plan that has been designed for your benefit.'
As mother spoke she looked out upon her beloved children. Most were listening and receiving her teachings, but a third weren’t, and the worst of that third were continuing to be as much of a disruption as possible. Such were beyond listening, or feeling the love of their Mother.
In selecting a location at that great gathering, the spirits had grouped themselves according to their friendships. Accordingly, those who were closest to Jezebel and her company of disrupters, had chosen to sit in darkness in preference to sitting next to those who were of a brighter countenance. Hence, even the position of the spirits within that gathering was crucial, and the decision made by each spirit, as to their location, was a function of their past choices. Whether to be disrupted or not was essentially a choice. Any spirit so disrupted could choose to relocate but none did, and consequently their Mother’s crucial message was diluted. Those of a brighter countenance did not hear the disruption as they were located well away from Jezebel and her meddling wenches.
Mother continued: 'To the extent that you vote in favour of our plan, you will be afforded the safety of that plan. You will continue to be cleansed and preserved by the redemptive power of Jehovah’s atonement and, notwithstanding any mistakes and errors that you may have committed in the past, our grace will be sufficient for you at this time.
‘To the extent that you reject and rebel against our plan then you can no longer benefit from the protection of that plan. To rebel against our plan is to rebel against every component of that plan, including the mortal experience.
‘I must remind you that the earth has been created by Jehovah for the benefit of all those who are willing to undertake the mortal journey. As the creator he will be the God of that earth. As each of you knows, Jehovah is central to our plan. Father will speak more of that in a moment.'
The bitterness, hatred and jealousy that Lucifer felt as his mother said this cannot be described, nor could the level of suffering that he would have liked to put Jehovah through, were it in his power. Jehovah discerned this, looking directly at his brother, disappointed but not surprised.
Mother felt Lucifer's hated for Jehovah, but blocked it from her mind so as to prevent herself from weeping openly, which would have reduced the effectiveness of the crucial message that she was attempting to convey. By doing so, she was able to continue.
‘If you rebel against our plan, and Jehovah’s role in it, you will not be born on earth and, as I have said, you will need to leave this place forever. This will be a terrible end and I beg of you not to make that mistake.’
Mother’s voice faltered as she said this and aga
in she paused to collect herself. Her immense mother heart was nigh on breaking at the thought of those who would rebel and be cast off.
Ultimately she steeled herself, ‘Now, I would also take a moment to speak to those who will vote for our plan today, but will not do so with the right intensions. There are some of you who will vote for our plan, not because you see any virtue in it, not because you love and trust us, but simply because you have been offended by someone who would have you vote for the rebel plan.
‘While it is good that you will vote in favour of our plan, because at least that choice will secure a mortal body for you, and carry you into the next stage of your progression, I must warn you that your mortal journey will be terrible unless you purify your intentions and work hard towards undertaking a righteous mortal path.
‘Unfortunately, unless you abruptly and completely change your course, you will find that those who have offended you will have full power over you on earth. They will have you perform truly awful works upon the face of the earth, to the detriment of both yourself, and the brothers and sisters unfortunate enough to cross your path in mortality.
‘If you recognise that you fall into this category, please come and see your Father or me following the vote, so that we can work with you to purify your preparation for earth. If you need more time to work on your flaws, and to develop your virtues before you depart, we will grant it to you.'
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