“OUR TESTIMONY”
–Jesus Christ–
“Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. It will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one: For Thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”
Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed [sperma] of David according to the flesh; And only declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness†, and by his resurrection of other dead persons: By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to The Faith among all nations, for his Name: Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ: Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an Apostle, a Nazarene, separated unto the gospel (good news of the Kingdom) of God, the Kingdom which He had promised aforetime by His holy prophets in the sacred scriptures:
“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, and yet you people do not accept Our Testimony: (And Our Testimony is this):
“If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the son of man who is in heaven even now. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have life eternal.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world (on both his first and second comings) to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the Name of the only begotten Son of God.
And this is the Judgment: Baha’u’llah has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light [Baha’i] because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light [Baha’i] for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever practices the truth comes into the Light [Baha’i], so that it may be seen clearly that what they have done has been wrought in God.”
O Thou kind Lord! These are Thy servants who have gathered in this meeting, have turned unto Thy kingdom and are in need of Thy bestowal and blessing. O Thou God! Manifest and make evident the signs of Thy oneness which have been deposited in all the realities of life. Reveal and unfold the virtues which Thou hast made latent and concealed in these human realities.
O God! We are as plants, and Thy bounty is as the rain; refresh and cause these plants to grow through Thy bestowal. We are Thy servants; free us from the fetters of material existence. We are ignorant; make us wise. We are dead; make us alive. We are material; endow us with spirit. We are deprived; make us the intimates of Thy mysteries. We are needy; enrich and bless us from Thy boundless treasury. O God! Resuscitate us; give us sight; give us hearing; familiarize us with the mysteries of life, so that the secrets of Thy kingdom may become revealed to us in this world of existence and we may confess Thy oneness. Every bestowal emanates from Thee; every benediction is Thine.
Thou art mighty. Thou art powerful. Thou art the Giver, and Thou art the Ever-Bounteous.
† ruach ha-qodesh: the holy spirit. (Also passages from: Matt. 6:9 KJV; Rom. 1:1-4; Jn. 3:19, etc.).
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