Blessed Night, Loves 😊

I Pray All Is Well With Everyone… And Your Hearts And Minds Are Full Of Love, Joy, And Compassion…For All God’s Children…And All God’s Creation! And The Active Power Of The Divine Love Within Every One Of Us Is The Only Power In This World – The Invincible Power Of The Living God – That Will Eternally – Defeat The Darkness That Surrounds Us! And All It Takes To Activate That Invincible And Eternal Power…Is For Us To Look Within Ourselves – To The Truth And The Light That Will Never Fail Us. Then Call Forth The Divine Love And Unconquerable Power Of Our Own “Mighty I AM Presence”; BELIEVE IN IT; TRUST IT; ACTIVATE IT… And RADIATE That Loving Power…Throughout All The Earth – If Indeed, Eternal Victory Is Truly…What We Want! Amen…

Give Thanks And Praises For Love And Life…

And Y’all Be Love…

“The Evil One played an important part in the imagination of the people in the time of Christ. Satan is mentioned repeatedly by the scribes and the people of Israel in the synoptic gospels, by the Apostles, especially by St. Paul, and very often in the revelation of St. John. Jesus follows the common belief of the time in attributing mental diseases to the possession of demons, and we may assume that he shared the popular view. Nevertheless, he speaks, upon the whole, less of the Devil than do his contemporaries. The Jesus of the Gospels is said to have been tempted by the Devil in much the same way that Buddha was tempted by Mâra, the Evil One. Even the details of the two stories of temptation possess many features of resemblance. Christ is very impressive in depicting the evil consequences of sin. He compares the last judgment to the selection made by fishermen who gather the good fishes into vessels, but cast the bad away, (Matthew 13:47).

He speaks of the reward of “the good and faithful”, while “the unprofitable servant” will be cast “into outer darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Hell is described as “the fire that shall never be quenched”, and “the worm that dieth not.” And the wicked people are compared to goats to whom the Son of Man will say, “Depart from me ye cursed ones, into everlasting fire prepared for the Devil and his angels.”

Christ represents the Devil as the enemy that sows tares among the wheat, and once addresses as Satan one of his favorite disciples who speaks words that might lead him into temptation. We read in Mark 8:33, and Matthew 16:23, “He rebuked Peter, saying: ‘Get thee behind me Satan, for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men.'”

This fact alone appears sufficient to prove that, while it is natural that Christ used the traditional idea of Satan as a personification of the evil powers to furnish him with materials for his parables, Satan to him was mainly a symbol of things wicked or morally evil. If the Gospel stories actually reflect the real views of the historical Jesus, it appears that his idea of justice was based on the notion that the future life would be an exact inversion of the present order of things.

…The Revelation of St. John, written between 68 and 70 A. D., after Nero’s death and before the destruction of Jerusalem, propounds the eschatology of early Christianity, which closely follows such traditions of the Jews as are preserved in the prophetic books of the Old Testament Apocrypha.

…St. John believes that the judgment of the world is near at hand. The Lamb opens the seven seals, and four men on horseback, one with a crown, one with a sword, one with a pair of balances, and the last one Death, followed by Hell, are let loose. The martyrs of God receive white robes, the sun becomes black as sackcloth, and the moon becomes as blood. Then an angel pronounces a triple woe upon the inhabitants of the earth. The pit is opened and four angels who had been bound are loosed to slay the third part of men. A struggle ensues between a woman that travaileth and the dragon, but the dragon is cast down. A beast with seven heads and ten horns appears; another beast follows and makes an image of the first beast that should be worshipped by men. “The number of the beast” is “six hundred and three score and six”, which according to cabalistic symbolism means “Nero”. The Roman Emperor is thus regarded as an incarnation of Satan, and for a short time power is given to the pagan government over the world. But the victorious Lamb stands on Mount Zion; the Gospel is preached, and the sickle of the harvest is ready for gathering in the clusters of the vine.

…The belief in Satan and Hell forms an essential part of early Christianity, and Christ was believed immediately after his death on the cross to have battled with and to have conquered the prince of hell. Although the oldest manuscripts of the so-called Apostle’s Creed do not contain the passage “descended into hell,” which is an addition of the seventh century, there can be no doubt that the idea actually prevailed as early as the second century. The Gospel of Nicodemus, which is commonly regarded as a product of the third century, dwells on this part of the Christian belief and offers a detailed account of Christ’s descent into Hell, which in Chapters 15 and 16, reads as follows:

“Satan, the prince and captain of death, said to the prince of hell, ‘Prepare to receive Jesus of Nazareth himself, who boasted that he was the Son of God, and yet was a man afraid of death, and said, ‘My soul is exceeding sorrowful even unto death. Besides he did many injuries to me and to many others; for those whom I made blind and lame and those also whom I tormented with several devils, he cured by his word; yea, and those whom I brought dead to thee, he by force takes away from thee.’

“To this the prince of hell replied to Satan, ‘Who is that so powerful prince, and yet a man who is afraid of death? For all the potentates of the earth are subject to my power, whom thou broughtest to subjection by thy power. But if he be so powerful in his nature, I affirm to thee for truth, that he is almighty in his divine nature, and no man can resist his power. When, therefore, he said he was afraid of death, he designed to ensnare thee, and unhappy it will be to thee for everlasting ages.’

“Then Satan, replying, said to the prince of hell, ‘Why didst thou express a doubt, and wast afraid to receive Jesus of Nazareth, both thy adversary and mine? As for me, I tempted him and stirred up my old people, the Jews, with zeal and anger against him. I sharpened the spear for his suffering; I mixed the gall and vinegar and commanded that he should drink it; I prepared the cross to crucify him, and the nails to pierce through his hands and feet; and now his death is near at hand, I will bring him hither, subject both to thee and me.’

“Then the prince of hell answering said, ‘Thou saidst to me just now, that he took away the dead from me by force. They who have been kept here till they should live again upon earth were taken away hence, not by their own power, but by prayers made to God, and their almighty God took them from me. Who, then, is that Jesus of Nazareth that by his word hath taken away the dead from me without prayer to God? Perhaps it is the same who took away from me Lazarus, after he had been four days dead, and did both stink and was rotten, and of whom I had possession as a dead person, yet he brought him to life again by his power.’

“Satan, answering, said to the prince of hell, ‘It is the very same person, Jesus of Nazareth, which, when the prince of hell heard, he said to him, I adjure thee by the powers which belong to thee and me, that thou bring him not to me. For when I heard of the power of his word, I trembled for fear, and all my impious company were at the same time disturbed; and we were not able to detain Lazarus, but he gave himself a shake, and with all the signs of malice he immediately went away from us; and the very earth in which the dead body of Lazarus was lodged, presently turned him out alive. And I know now that he is Almighty God who could perform such things, who is mighty in his dominion, and mighty in his human nature, who is the Saviour of mankind. Bring not, therefore, his person hither, for he will set at liberty all those whom I hold in prison under unbelief, and bound with the fetters of their sins, and will conduct them to everlasting life.’

“And while Satan and the prince of hell were discoursing thus to each other, on a sudden there was a voice as of thunder and the rushing of winds, saying, ‘Lift up your gates, O ye princes; and be ye lifted up, O everlasting gates, and the King of Glory shall come in.’

“When the prince of hell heard this, he said to Satan, ‘Depart from me and begone out of my habitations; if thou art a powerful warrior, fight with the King of Glory. But what hast thou to do with him?’ And then he cast him forth from his habitations. And the prince said to his impious officers, ‘Shut the brass gates of cruelty and make them fast with iron bars, and fight courageously, lest we be taken captives.’

“But when all the company of the saints heard this, they spake with a loud voice of anger to the prince of hell, ‘Open thy gates that the King of Glory may come in.’

“And the divine prophet David cried out, saying, ‘Did not I when on earth truly prophesy and say, O that men would praise the Lord for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the children of men. For he hath broken the gates of brass and cut the bars of iron in sunder. He hath taken them because of their iniquity, and because of their unrighteousness they are afflicted.’

“After this another prophet, namely, holy Isaiah, spake in like manner to all the saints, ‘Did not I rightly prophesy to you when I was alive on earth? The dead men shall live, and they shall rise again who are in their graves, and they shall rejoice who are in earth; for the dew which is from the Lord shall bring deliverance to them. And I said in another place, O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?’

“When all the saints heard these things spoken by Isaiah, they said to the prince of hell, ‘Open now thy gates, and take away thine iron bars, for thou wilt now be bound, and have no power.’

“Then there was a great voice, as of the sound of thunder, saying, ‘Lift up your gates, O princes; and be ye lifted up, ye gates of hell, and the King of Glory will enter in.’

“The prince of hell perceiving the same voice repeated, cried out as though he had been ignorant, ‘Who is that King of Glory?’

“David replied to the prince of hell, and said, ‘I understand the words of that voice, because I spake them by his spirit. And now, as I have above said, I say unto thee, the Lord strong and powerful, the Lord mighty in battle: he is the King of Glory, and he is the Lord in heaven and in earth. He hath looked down to hear the groans of the prisoners, and to set loose those that are appointed to death. And now, thou filthy and stinking prince of hell, open thy gates, that the King of Glory may enter in; for he is the Lord of heaven and earth.’””

History of the Devil, by Paul Carus, 1900