Beware Vain and Worldly Knowledge
The Voice of Christ
MY CHILD, do not let the fine-sounding and subtle words of men deceive you. For the kingdom
of heaven consists not in talk but in virtue. Attend, rather, to My words which enkindle the heart
and enlighten the mind, which excite contrition and abound in manifold consolations. Never read
them for the purpose of appearing more learned or more wise. Apply yourself to mortifying your
vices, for this will benefit you more than your understanding of many difficult questions.
Though you shall have read and learned many things, it will always be necessary for you to
return to this one principle: I am He who teaches man knowledge, and to the little ones I give a
clearer understanding than can be taught by man. He to whom I speak will soon be wise and his
soul will profit. But woe to those who inquire of men about many curious things, and care very
little about the way they serve Me.
The time will come when Christ, the Teacher of teachers, the Lord of angels, will appear to
hear the lessons of all—that is, to examine the conscience of everyone. Then He will search Jerusalem
with lamps and the hidden things of darkness will be brought to light and the arguings of men’s
tongues be silenced.
I am He Who in one moment so enlightens the humble mind that it comprehends more of eternal
truth than could be learned by ten years in the schools. I teach without noise of words or clash of
opinions, without ambition for honor or confusion of argument.
I am He Who teaches man to despise earthly possessions and to loathe present things, to ask
after the eternal, to hunger for heaven, to fly honors and to bear with scandals, to place all hope in
Me, to desire nothing apart from Me, and to love Me ardently above all things. For a certain man
by loving Me intimately learned divine truths and spoke wonders. He profited more by leaving all
things than by studying subtle questions.
To some I speak of common things, to others of special matters. To some I appear with sweetness
in signs and figures, and to others I appear in great light and reveal mysteries. The voice of books
is but a single voice, yet it does not teach all men alike, because I within them am the Teacher and
the Truth, the Examiner of hearts, the Understander of thoughts, the Promoter of acts, distributing
to each as I see fit.