The Aquarian Gospel of Jesus the Christ

7 At length the storm was done, and all the sea was calm, and men could think again; and Jesus said,

8 You worshippers of wooden gods, how has the fury of this storm been lessened by your frantic prayers?

9 Where is the strength of these poor, weather-beaten gods with painted swords and crowns?

10 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?

11 The mighty powers of worlds unseen do not give forth their help till men have done their best; they only help when man can do no more.

12 And you have agonized and prayed around these shrines, and let men sink to death who might have been, by your assistance, saved.

13 The God that saves dwells in your souls, and manifests by making use of your own feet, and legs, and arms, and hands.

14 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.

15 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.

16 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.

17 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.

18 And thus God helps.

19 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,

20 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;

21 Has been received with favor in a multitude of homes; but Greece is, of them all, the royal host.

22 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.

23 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,

24 But Greece will not forever sit within the darkness of the shadowland as vassal of a foreign king.

25 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 main spring of the spirit power of earth.

26 But God must be your shield, your buckler, and your tower of strength.

27 And then he said, Farewell. Apollo raised his hand in silent benediction, and the people wept.

28 Upon the Cretan vessel, Mars, the Hebrew sage sailed from the Grecian port.

SECTION XI

CAPH

Life and Works of Jesus in Egypt

CHAPTER 47

Jesus with Elihu and Salome in Egypt. Tells the story of his journeys. Elihu and Salome praise God. Jesus goes to the temple in Heliopolis and is received as a pupil.

And Jesus came to Egypt land, and all was well. He tarried not upon the coast; he went at once to Zoan, home of Elihu and Salome, who five and twenty years before had taught his mother in their sacred school.

2 And there was joy when met these three. When last the son of Mary saw these sacred groves he was a babe;

3 And now a man grown strong by buffetings of every kind; a teacher who had stirred the multitudes in many lands.

4 And Jesus told the aged teachers all about his life; about his journeyings in foreign lands; about the meetings with the masters and about his kind receptions by the multitudes.

5 Elihu and Salome heard his story with delight; they lifted up their eyes to heaven and said,

6 Our Father-God, let now thy servants go in peace, for we have seen the glory of the Lord;

7 And we have talked with him, the messenger of love, and of the covenant of peace on earth, good will to men.

8 Through him shall all the nations of the earth be blest; through him, Immanuel.

9 And Jesus staid in Zoan many days; and then went forth unto the city of the sun, that men call Heliopolis, and sought admission to the temple of the sacred brotherhood.

10 The council of the brotherhood convened, and Jesus stood before the hierophant; he answered all the questions that were asked with clearness and with power.

11 The hierophant exclaimed, Rabboni of the rabbinate, why come you here? Your wisdom is the wisdom of the gods; why seek for wisdom in the halls of men?

12 And Jesus said, In every way of earth-life I would walk; in every hall of learning I would sit; the heights that any man has gained, these I would gain;

13 What any man has suffered I would meet, that I may know the griefs, the disappointments and the sore temptations of my brother man; that I may know just how to succor those in need.

14 I pray you, brothers, let me go into your dismal crypts; and I would pass the hardest of your tests.

15 The master said, Take then the vow of secret brotherhood. And Jesus took the vow of secret brotherhood.

16 Again the master spoke; he said, The greatest heights are gained by those who reach the greatest depths; and you shall reach the greatest depths.

17 The guide then led the way and in the fountain Jesus bathed; and when he had been clothed in proper garb he stood again before the hierophant.

CHAPTER 48

Jesus receives from the hierophant his mystic name and number. Passes the first brotherhood test, and receives his first degree, SINCERITY.

The master took down from the wall a scroll on which was written down the number and the name of every attribute and character. He said,

2 The circle is the symbol of the perfect man, and seven is the number of the perfect man;

3 The Logos is the perfect word; that which creates; that which destroys, and that which saves.

4 This Hebrew master is the Logos of the Holy One, the Circle of the human race, the Seven of time.