Lesson 29. A Prophetic School

I would like to fly an airplane as its pilot. Many times in films I have seen how beautiful it is. The cockpit has such an interesting instrument panel, so many different buttons, and such a variety of indicators and dials. And how well the colors and design have been chosen! Everything is within easy reach. Oh, what a flight we shall have! And the control yoke is just like a steering wheel in a car. I can already imagine us, my friends, taking our seats in the airplane. I ask you to fasten your seat belts, start the engine, and we take off. I fly low over your homes, and from a bird’s-eye view you look upon your homeland, admiring familiar scenery from an unusual perspective. Then we stop for a picnic and fly on. I press the buttons on the instrument panel, take hold of the leather-covered control yoke, turn on pleasant music for you, and the flight proceeds in complete comfort and coziness.

Which of you is ready to take such a journey with me?

I can already picture a forest of raised hands, and I decide to choose the largest airplane for this purpose, hoping to receive it as a gift.

Please remember this illustration. It may prove very useful.)))

There are things we are accustomed to taking for granted. We do not even stop to consider why they are one way rather than another. But if we think carefully, we can always find the original cause and, through analysis, determine that experience gained from mistakes and tragedies lies at the foundation of every rule or law.

There is such a concept as authorization to operate equipment or perform work. By law, incompetent people have no right to do what they have not been trained or taught to do; without authorization, they cannot engage in whatever activity they desire. It is logical that if I am a builder by profession, I will not be permitted to treat people medically.

Yet when I come to God, for some reason I decide that I understand everything perfectly; and if something is unclear to me, I think I can resolve it all quickly through fasting and prayer. However, the spiritual world also has its own rules and laws, as well as particular rights and authorizations that are strictly observed by the opposing sides.

And knowledge of these laws places responsibility upon those who carry them out.

In our school we study the science of Agape Love. I think that to an unfamiliar ear it may sound rather strange and frivolous, but as one enters into the essence of the instruction, one begins to discover a new world, new laws, and new relationships that one had never even considered. And this is only the beginning of our education. What, then, will come next?

To understand what is taking place in our school, I would like to draw your attention to the parable of the ten virgins and the message to Laodicea. They are remarkably consonant in many respects. Both accounts assure us that we must possess something within ourselves that cannot be obtained automatically, merely by keeping company with others, or simply taken for granted. We must make an effort of our own and buy from God something He cannot give me without a price. Perhaps, as I enter this path of Heavenly commerce, at first I do not understand the essence of these things and proceed only by faith that this is right and necessary. But when I begin receiving the oil and gold promised by God, I see within myself the advantage of such merchandise. In both cases we are told that it can be bought. This means that the appointed price must be paid. That price may be my time and my sins. These are what God most desires to receive from me in exchange for His love and faith. When I acquire these qualities of soul, I cannot transfer them to others, but they become my eternal possession, belonging to me by full right.

It is also interesting that God does not simply sell this to me without further purpose. He desires to teach me so that I may understand what it is and how to use it.

If I see an automobile and understand how useful it is for accomplishing my tasks, I go and buy it. But that does not give me the right to drive it. I must complete a course of instruction and pass an examination, after which I may drive a car for the rest of my life, acquiring my own experience and driving skills. Such is the norm of life. Violating this order brings a fine; a repeated violation brings confiscation of the vehicle; and afterward, if I continue breaking the law, imprisonment follows.

But in the spiritual realm, for some reason I desire to receive a free airplane and even carry passengers in it, although I have neither the money, the license, nor the knowledge to do so. And this is considered normal in the life of a believer. Yet it turns out that here, too, there are rules, authorizations, and processes of instruction.

There is spiritual food that can be consumed only in liquid form; there is food that must be chewed; and there is food that must be gnawed with the teeth. The manna from Heaven had to be gathered early in the morning outside the camp. Every field of knowledge has its own spiritual bread.

And the science of love has not been abolished. It exists, and it must be studied. To those who do so, God will deliver the desired purchase and grant the right to use this treasure eternally.

I did not invent this. I saw this principle in the Bible, discovered it for myself, learned it, and now share it with you.

Especially in the last days, God places particular emphasis upon our possessing love and having the right to use it. We must recognize this and choose this gift of our own free will.

All this was foretold long before our time. We either accept love and live by it, or reject it and invent something of our own. But the first choice is better.

The School of Agape Love is our life in Christ and Christ’s life in us; it is the fulfillment of God’s prophecies in our lives. Therefore, I ask you to rejoice that we have become participants in these events. At present we walk by faith that this is so, without knowing what will be at the end. But the experience we gain will bring—and is already bringing—good fruit.

God’s Name will be written in our minds, love will become ours by right, and we shall be able to pay with it in all our dealings with others. A bold statement? But I believe it. And the foundation of this faith is Jesus Living in the heart. It is He Who, through the Holy Spirit, reveals the invisible and shows us great and inaccessible things.

There will always be people who express unbelief or ignorance through their opinions, finding hooks upon which to hang their doubts. But such people are given this counsel: take heed unto yourselves and unto Holy Scripture. If the fruit of the Holy Spirit is present in your life, you are on the right path; if it is absent, you must find it and make it your own.

The hidden treasure in the field represents mineral riches concealed beneath the ground. They may be discovered by accident, or they may be sought with confidence and, once found, extracted and used to enrich oneself and others. The surface does not always reveal what lies in the depths. But a shovel and diligent labor help us make many unexpected discoveries in life. And this is from the Lord.

Will I sell everything in order to buy the field with the vein of gold I unexpectedly found in the message to Laodicea? Or will I bury this treasure beneath a heap of information and wait for gifts from the Lord? The decision is mine.

I decide to buy. I gather everything I have and go to the Faithful Witness, Who counsels me to purchase something.

We draw up the contract of sale. Afterward I go to school to obtain the knowledge and authorization required to use my purchase.

I think that when I have learned and passed the examination, I will also be entrusted with carrying passengers.

1. Please read Matthew 25:9; Revelation 3:18; and Matthew 13:44.

2. What did you understand from this lesson?

3. Why does God sell Heavenly treasures?

4. What do you think may be given as payment for the Heavenly purchases described in Revelation 3:18?

5. What do you understand by the symbols in Revelation 3:18?

6. It is written in 2 Corinthians 4:7: “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us.” Why does Paul think so?

7. Do you think this School is prophetic?