Savior
“It was a holy day and Jesus walked upon the Athens beach. A storm was on and ships were being tossed about like toys upon the bosom of the sea. The sailors and the fishermen were going down to watery graves; the shores were strewn with bodies of the dead. And Jesus halted not, but with a mighty power he rescued many a helpless one, oft bringing back to life the seeming dead” (Aquarian Gospel 46:1-4).
Jesus was not a useless teacher, pretending to be a mouthpiece of God yet incapable of any tangible good. Nor did he wait to be asked for assistance, but saved numberless people, for that was his nature: to save in all ways.
Worthless gods and worthless devotees
“Now, on these shores were altars sacred to the gods supposed to rule the seas. And men and women, heedless of the cries of drowning men were crowding all about these altars calling on their gods for help” (Aquarian Gospel 46:5, 6).
We become like what we think about, and this is especially true of our thoughts of God. Worshippers become like the worshipped, which is why, for example, that those who only worship God as masculine or feminine become unbalanced in mind, heart, and life. Those who worship only one form or concept of God will themselves become partial, narrow and limited. And those that worship non-existent or impotent gods also become non-existent and impotent, practically speaking.
Here we also see the absurdity of asking God to do what we can do ourselves–or at least try to as best we can. I knew a fervent minister who after praying for something would say to those praying with him: “Now let’s go put legs on those prayers.” They accomplished miraculous things when they went out and did their best to make their prayers fulfilled.
My favorite example, though, is that of a minister who was being aggressively pestered by an “atheist” who kept demanding that if there was a God the minister should ask Him to strike him down. “I never ask God to do what I can do,” the minister replied. And decked the fool.
Gods and Lords
“At length the storm was done, and all the sea was calm, and men could think again; and Jesus said, You worshippers of wooden gods, how has the fury of this storm been lessened by your frantic prayers? Where is the strength of these poor, weather-beaten gods with painted swords and crowns? A god that could abide in such a little house could hardly hold a frantic fly, and who could hope that he could hold at bay the Lords of winds and waves?” (Aquarian Gospel 46:7-10).
Finite gods with likes and dislikes, who can be pleased or displeased, are of little worth. If they even exist, they draw their power from human beings, not from within themselves. However, much greater than these gods are those mighty beings that supervise the movements of natural forces and phenomena. They are much more real than most gods, and even they are not to be worshipped. They do, however, help humanity, so Jesus continues:
“The mighty powers of worlds unseen do not give forth their help till men have done their best; they only help when men can do no more. And you have agonized and prayed around these shrines, and let men sink to death who might have been, by your assistance, saved” (Aquarian Gospel 46:11, 12).
Having ignored their fellow humans, they will be ignored by gods and devas. It is just a matter of karma.
The God that saves
“The God that saves dwells in your souls, and manifests by making use of your own feet, and legs, and arms, and hands” (Aquarian Gospel 46:13).
It is the God within that truly saves and delivers, and most of the time It functions through us since we are finite parts of the Infinite God, the Self of our Self, the Soul of our soul. So the way to always be sure of the divine assistance is to so evolve ourselves that divinity spontaneously lives and moves through us.
“Strength never comes through idleness; nor through a waiting for another one to bear your loads, or do the work that you are called to do” (Aquarian Gospel 46:14).
Human beings like to create external saviors for themselves, but to no avail. Only the inner deity can really save us. That is why Saint Paul wrote: “Work out your own salvation” (Philippians 2:12), saying that we are “workers together” with God (II Corinthians 6:1). It is not enough to believe in God, we must believe in ourselves as part of God, living and being with Divine Life and Being.
“But when you do your best to bear your loads, and do your work, you offer unto God a sacrifice well pleasing in his sight. And then the Holy One breathes deep upon your glowing sacrificial coals, and makes them blaze aloft to fill your souls with light, and strength and helpfulness” (Aquarian Gospel 46:15, 16).
Effective prayer
“The most efficient prayer that men can offer to a god of any kind is helpfulness to those in need of help; for what you do for other men the Holy One will do for you. And thus God helps” (Aquarian Gospel 46:17, 18).
A woman with an huge abdominal tumor came to a renowned healer who told her that he could do nothing for her. Not willing to give up, she stayed at the healing center. After a while she realized that she should not just sit around feeling sorry for herself, but help out wherever she could. So she did just that, working all day as a volunteer, helping others. To her amazement and joy, she found the tumor shrinking, and in time it was completely gone. The healer could not help her because of her selfish attitude, but when she forced herself out of that, her healing was automatic. So she healed herself through doing good and opening the channels of healing.
Through the ages people have come to healers and gone away blaming and defaming them because they were not healed, not understanding that it was their own mind that prevented healing. So we must realize that when we want some benefit we must open our minds and think and act in the ways that will make that benefit accessible to us.
Prophecy and farewell
“His work in Greece was done, and Jesus must go on his way to Egypt in the South. Apollo, with the highest masters of the land and many people from the varied walks of life, stood on the shore to see the Hebrew sage depart; and Jesus said, The son of man has been in many lands; has stood in temples of a multitude of foreign gods; has preached the gospel of good will and peace on earth to many people, tribes and tongues; has been received with favor in a multitude of homes; but Greece is, of them all, the royal host.
“The breadth of Grecian thought; the depth of her philosophy; the height of her unselfish aspirations have well fitted her to be the champion of the cause of human liberty and right. The fates of war have subjugated Greece, because she trusted in the strength of flesh, and bone and intellect, forgetful of the spirit-life that binds a nation to its source of power. “But Greece will not forever sit within the darkness of the shadow land as vassal of a foreign king. Lift up your heads, you men of Greece; the time will come when Greece will breathe the ethers of the Holy Breath, and be a mainspring of the spirit power of earth. But God must be your shield, your buckler, and your tower of strength.
“And then he said, Farewell. Apollo raised his hand in silent benediction, and the people wept.
“Upon the Cretan vessel, Mars, the Hebrew sage sailed from the Grecian port” (Aquarian Gospel 46:19-28).
The prophecy of Jesus about Greece can be applied to each one of us. When we banish forgetfulness of our true, spirit-life and make God our shield, buckler, and tower of strength, the Holy Spirit will live and breathe through us as well.
Read the next section in the Aquarian Gospel for Yogis: Return to Egypt