7. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.

8. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.

When we live according to the Divine Law and do the works that are in harmony, we bring forth much good fruit. As we bring forth good fruit, so do we build the Soul that shall live. When Illumination comes to us, then do we glorify God; for to become like him is to glorify him.

9. As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

10. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.

This is to say that, if we keep the Divine Law and do the works that the Divine Law gives us to do, then do we abide in the love of the Father and become the Son of the Father, which is also the Christ.

11. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. 12. This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Greater things can no man do than to love others. Not only shall he love his friends, or those that do good to him, but also those that he thinks are his enemies and that do ill to him; for, if he knows the Divine Law, he will understand that none can be his enemy except the one that dwelleth within him.

If he knows the Christ and does the will of the Christ, he can have no enemies; but, if he does the will of the flesh, the carnal and sensual self, there is an enemy within.

13. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

If we are willing to give the life, which is the desires of the flesh, for the life of the Soul, then have we done the

greatest thing that man can do; for, as we take the life of the flesh, we transmute the desires of the flesh into qualities of Soul, which becomes the Christ, the life everlasting. 14. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

We are friends of the Christ, the Illuminated Soul, only when we do that which is for the good of the Soul. If we do that which the flesh desires contrary to the best interests of the Soul, then we are not the friend of the Christ.

15. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

Man is a servant only so long as he must serve another, so long as he cannot be the master himself. When he has overcome, he is no longer a servant; but he is a fellowworker with all those who have become the Sons of the Father.

16. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

To ask "in his name" means to ask for that which the Divine Law grants to all those that obey its dictates.

If we so live as to become the Sons of the Father, then may we ask that which belongs to the Sons of the Father; it is by right ours, and will be granted to us.

LESSON FORTY-TWO

"Love one another."

St. John 15:17-27.

17. These things I command you, that ye love one another.

This is one of the greatest commandments given to man by his Maker; for upon this rest all the others.

If man loves his fellow men, he will deal fairly with them. He will not take advantage of them; but he will remunerate justly for all that he may receive from others. He will help his fellow man when in need of help. He will sympathize with him when in sorrow. He will give him the hand of friendship when he is down; and in all things will he deal fairly and justly, and thus remove the sorrow and the misery that now cover the face of the earth.

Wars will cease; for, if we love one another, we will cease to murder one another. Crimes will cease; for the poor will not need to steal and to commit crime in order to have the wherewith to live. Daughters of men will not be prostituted, because love does not admit of prostitution. When men love one another, the kingdom will have come on earth as it is in heaven.

18. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.

If the world hates those who live according to the Divine Law, it hates the Father; but those who do the will of the Father need not care, for the Father will take care of his

own.

19. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

When we do the will of the world, we do the things that are of the flesh; and naturally the world will love us, for we are of the world. But when we are doing the will of the Father, which is the Divine law, then do we contrary to the will of the world; and that which antagonizes always brings hate and resentment.

20. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

If the world condemns the Father in that it does not the will of the Father; if the world curses the Father because it lives in misery, not having obeyed the Divine Law-then, how shall he who obeys the Divine Law expect to be free from persecution? If the world curses the Father, it will surely curse those who do the will of the Father.

But the persecution of the world is of the flesh, and cannot hurt the Soul that is within man. If we do the right, if we obey the Divine Law, then we need not fear. "Fear not him who can destroy the body, but him who can destroy both body and soul."

The world may persecute us, it may destroy the body; but only we ourselves, through disobedience to the Divine Law, can destroy our soul.

21. But all these things will they do unto you for my name's sake, because they know not him that sent me. 22. If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin but now they have no cloak for their sin. 23. He that hateth me hateth my Father also.

24. If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.

If the Divine Law had not been given to men, they would not know the right from the wrong, and would not be held responsible for their acts. But the Law has been taught them. Each Messiah in turn has made the Law clearer, until now men know the Law and are responsible for all that they do.

25. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, they hated me without a cause.

Men have no reason to hate that which is good and just. Because they see that the truth deprives them of fleshly pleasures, do they hate those who teach the truth.

Men love to think that their little weaknesses are hidden,

that no one knows of them. When they find that others do know of them, and teach against them, they are full of hate.

26. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of

me:

27. And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.

LESSON FORTY-THREE

When the Spirit of truth, which is the Illumination, comes to man, he will know all truth.

St. John 16:1-21.

1. These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.

2. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service.

Those who dare to speak the truth contrary to accepted creeds will be excommunicated from the churches, which know not the Father. Moreover, it is considered an honor to destroy those who teach the truth contrary to the established order of things. However, let this fact deter no one from seeking "the truth, the way, and the life." For the consciousness of truth is its own reward. Persecution, misunderstanding of friends, disapproval of relatives—such things as these, what are they in comparison with greatness of Soul which towers superior to all hindrances, and considers them nothing but trivial incidents of the moment?

3. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me.

4. But these things have I told you, that when the time shall come, ye may remember that I told you of them.