“I will. I wrote it all down. Every day, after every teaching, I wrote down everything I could remember. I have it all in a journal, a book.”
“A book?” he said. “A book of mysteries. Good. Then you’ll always have them. And every time you open up the mysteries, every time you ponder them, and every time you apply them to your life, you’ll discover more revelations and more insights than you found at first.”
There was a pause and a silence as we gazed out into the wilderness.
“Do you remember the fraction that represents our time on earth?”
“One-eternitieth,” I said.
“Yes. That’s how much you know so far, ‘one-eternitieth,’ ‘one-infinitieth’ of what there is to know. There’s so much more to learn. So the course could never have ended here. And you must never stop seeking more of Him.”
“So the course goes on for . . . ”
“Eternity.”
“Because eternity is how long it takes to know God.”
“Yes, and to know the final mystery.”
“The final mystery?”
“God,” he said. “The final mystery is God . . . God is the final and ultimate mystery . . . the mystery of all mysteries . . . and the mystery of you. And so the more you know Him, the more you’ll know the answer to the mystery of you. And so the course goes on.”
At that, we embraced, and then I left. I walked into the desert, then stopped to turn around.
“Teacher,” I said.
“Yes.”
“I never thanked you.”
“For what?”
“For everything. For inviting a traveler who had no destination to find one.”
“That was your destination,” he said, “all of it. With God there are no accidents. It was He who invited you, He who called you, and He who taught you. And now it is He who goes with you.”
Those were the last words I heard the teacher say. When, a little farther on, I turned around to look back, he was gone. And so ended the year of my dwelling in the desert, my days with the teacher.
And so with the writing of these words ends the record of those days and of the mysteries given therein.
I then resumed the journey, and the course of mysteries, as I walked through the wilderness in the presence of the Teacher.
And may the one who reads this book do likewise.
THE RECEIVING
THE FOLLOWING TOOK place in the early days of my time in the desert. I include it here and not earlier as it wasn’t one of the mysteries. But it was as important as anything else that happened that year and, in many ways, the point. It happened on a mountaintop after the teacher had finished sharing with me one of the mysteries.
“It’s one thing to learn of the mysteries,” he said. “But it’s another to take part in them.”
“What do you mean?”
“There’s a difference between knowing about God and knowing God, hearing the truth, and receiving it. The mysteries cannot merely be learned. They must be partaken of, received.”
“How do you receive and partake of the mysteries?”
“By receiving Him who is behind the mysteries, who is behind all mysteries. For behind all mysteries is the Truth. And the Truth cannot just be perceived with one’s mind. It must be received with one’s heart. The Truth is as a bridegroom. It cannot just be known of. It must be received. How do you receive the Truth? As a bride receives her bridegroom. You receive Him. As it is written, ‘As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God . . . ’”
“Born again.”
“Yes,” said the teacher. “In the end, it all comes down to that . . . and in the end, to one of two eternities—eternal life . . . heaven . . . or eternal separation from God . . . hell. . . . And there’s only one way to enter heaven—not by good works and not by religion, but by the new birth. One can only enter heaven if one is born of heaven. And so you must be born again.”
“How?”
“It can begin with a prayer.”
“Which prayer?” I asked.
“It’s not about which prayer,” he said. “It’s not a formula. It’s the prayer of the heart that matters. It’s when the bride says yes to the bridegroom . . . when she becomes his and he becomes hers. So all that is yours, your burdens and sins, becomes His. And all that is His, His salvation and His blessings, becomes yours.”
The teacher then spoke in more detail about what it was to receive salvation and how to do so. It was then that I prayed. And it was then that everything changed. Soon after, I committed to writing the prayer I prayed that day, as best I could remember it. I include it here for one purpose, that all who read of the mysteries can truly know them and take part in them, that all who are not saved can become saved, that all who have not yet received can receive, and that all who have not yet become born again can become so. I include it not as a formula but as a guide, a guide for a prayer of the heart, a decision, a consecration, and a new beginning. For you who are not with absolute certainty sure where you will spend eternity, for you who have not yet received Him, and for you who have not yet partaken of the new birth, I include this now for your sake, that you might find eternal life:
Lord God, I come to You now, and I open my heart and my life to Your calling. Thank You for loving me. Thank You for giving Your life, dying for my sins, rising again, and overcoming death that I could be forgiven and have eternal life. Forgive me of my sins. Wash me, cleanse me, and make me new. I turn away from my sins. I turn to You. From this moment on I make You the Lord of every part of my life. To You I place my faith and commit my life. I will follow You as Your disciple and go as You lead me. I receive Your love, Your forgiveness, Your cleansing, Your salvation, Your presence, Your power, and Your Spirit. I receive You into my heart and life. You are my God, and I am Your disciple. You are mine. And I am Yours. By Your Word and by this prayer, I can now say I am received. I’m forgiven. I’m new. I’m blessed. I’m free. I’m born again. I’m saved. And I have eternal life. Lead me on as I follow You from this moment forth and all the days of my life. I thank You, and I pray this prayer in the name above all names, the name of the Messiah, Yeshua, Jesus, the Light of the World, the Glory of Israel, my Hope, my Redeemer, and my Salvation.
For you who have prayed that prayer, the old is passed away and the new is come. Leave the old and walk in the power of newness, in the footsteps of the Teacher, ever higher, until you reach the mountaintop.
Begin the journey.
TO GO DEEPER, TO FIND MORE, TO CONTINUE THE JOURNEY . . .
AT THE BOTTOM of every mystery you’ll find a title. The title identifies the full teaching or message from Jonathan Cahn that goes deeper into the mystery, or gives more than can be given on one page, or presents a complementary teaching or message that supplements the mystery given.
To receive these teachings, go to HopeOfTheWorld.org and to the list of all of Jonathan’s messages, and search by the title or keyword.
Or you can write to Hope of the World, Box 1111, Lodi, NJ 07644, USA and request to order them by name.
Jonathan Cahn has been called the prophetic voice of our generation. He caused a stir throughout America and around the world starting with the release of his first book, The Harbinger, bringing him to national and international prominence. He’s spoken at the United Nations, to Members of Congress on Capitol Hill, and has been interviewed on countless television, radio, and other media programs.
He leads Hope of the World ministries, an international outreach of Jew and Gentile committed to spreading God’s Word to the nations and helping the world’s most needy. He also leads the Jerusalem Center/Beth Israel, a worship center made up of Jews and Gentiles, people of all backgrounds, just outside New York City, in Wayne, New Jersey. He is a much sought-after speaker and appears throughout America and around the world. He is a Jewish follower of Jesus.
To get in touch with Jonathan Cahn’s ministry, to get more and deeper into the mysteries, to receive free g
ifts, prophetic updates, other teachings, messages, or special communications from Jonathan, or to have a part in spreading God’s Word, helping the needy across the world, and have a part in God’s end-time work and purposes, here’s how:
Write to:
Hope of the World, Box 1111, Lodi, NJ 07644
Or go to: hopeoftheworld.org and
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The Book of Mysteries Page 53
