Teacher-Brother Dave's initial comments: I am presenting some of my Topical Studies from the fully public domain, 2097 page, Fifth Epochal Revelation of Truth and with my added comments. The Revealed text is free of copyright, so you may freely share individually these supernal quotes with your friends and relatives. But my order of selections, font types for emphasis and my added comments are Copyright 2015 by Dave@PureChristians.org All Rights Reserved. Contact me first about using the whole Study or group of Studies.
[My added comments of explanation below are in these square brackets]
Topical Study 94 "NEW ! -- Gospel, Ideas, Ideals, Life,
Light, Message, Reality, Spirit, Teacher, Teaching, Truth, Values, Way"
Compiled 4/04/2016 by Dave@PureChristians.org
[Part 22 of many]
PAPER 157 AT CAESAREA-PHILIPPI
2. AT BETHSAIDA-JULIAS
[Paper:Section.Paragraph]
157:2.2 [Aug 08, A.D. 29] When Jesus had thus spoken, he withdrew and prepared for the evening conference with his followers. At this conference it was decided to undertake a united mission throughout all the cities and villages of the Decapolis as soon as Jesus and the twelve should return from their proposed visit to Caesarea-Philippi. The Master participated in planning for the Decapolis mission and, in dismissing the company, said: “I say to you, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Be not deceived by their show of much learning and by their profound loyalty to the forms of religion. Be only concerned with the Spirit of Living Truth and the power of true religion. It is not the fear of a dead religion that will save you but rather your faith in a living experience in the spiritual realities of the Kingdom. Do not allow yourselves to become blinded by prejudice and paralyzed by fear. Neither permit reverence for the traditions so to pervert your understanding that your eyes see not and your ears hear not. It is not the purpose of true religion merely to bring peace but rather to insure progress. And there can be no peace in the heart or progress in the mind unless you fall wholeheartedly in love with Truth, the ideals of eternal Realities. The issues of life and death are being set before you — the sinful pleasures of time against the righteous Realities of eternity. Even now you should begin to find deliverance from the bondage of fear and doubt as you enter upon the living of the new life of faith and hope. And when the feelings of service for your fellow men arise within your soul, do not stifle them; when the emotions of love for your neighbor well up within your heart, give expression to such urges of affection in intelligent ministry to the real needs of your fellows.”
3. PETER’S CONFESSION
157:3.2 Jesus had gone to Mount Hermon in his early experience with the affairs of the Kingdom, and now that he was entering upon the final epoch of his work, he desired to return to this mount of trial and triumph, where he hoped the apostles might gain a new vision of their responsibilities and acquire new strength for the trying times just ahead. As they journeyed along the way, about the time of passing south of the Waters of Merom, the apostles fell to talking among themselves about their recent experiences in Phoenicia and elsewhere and to recounting how their message had been received, and how the different peoples regarded their Master.
157:3.5 [Jesus:] ...“But who say you that I am?” There was a moment of tense silence. The twelve never took their eyes off the Master, and then Simon Peter, springing to his feet, exclaimed: “You are the Deliverer, the Son of the living God.” And the eleven sitting apostles arose to their feet with one accord, thereby indicating that Peter had spoken for all of them.
4. THE TALK ABOUT THE KINGDOM
157:4.6 Jesus was beginning to have faith in the loyalty and integrity of his apostles. The Master conceived that a faith which could stand what his chosen representatives had recently passed through would undoubtedly endure the fiery trials which were just ahead and emerge from the apparent wreckage of all their hopes into the new Light of a new dispensation and thereby be able to go forth to enlighten a world sitting in darkness. On this day the Master began to believe in the faith of his apostles, save one.
5. THE NEW CONCEPT
157:5.1 The new and vital feature of Peter’s confession was the clear-cut recognition that Jesus was the Son of God, of his unquestioned divinity. Ever since his baptism and the wedding at Cana these apostles had variously regarded him as the Messiah, but it was not a part of the Jewish concept of the national deliverer that he should be divine. The Jews had not taught that the Messiah would spring from divinity; he was to be the “anointed one,” but hardly had they contemplated him as being “the Son of God.” In the second confession more emphasis was placed upon the combined nature, the supernal fact that he was the Son of Man and the Son of God, and it was upon this great Truth of the Union of the human nature with the divine nature that Jesus declared he would build the Kingdom of Heaven.
6. THE NEXT AFTERNOON
157:6.2 Neither Peter nor the other apostles had a very adequate conception of Jesus’ divinity. They little realized that this was the beginning of a new epoch in their Master’s career on earth, the time when the teacher-healer was becoming the newly conceived Messiah — the Son of God. From this time on a new note appeared in the Master’s message. Henceforth his one ideal of living was the revelation of the Father, while his one idea in teaching was to present to his universe the personification of that supreme wisdom which can only be comprehended by living it. He came that we all might have life and have it more abundantly. [!!]
157:6.3 Jesus now entered upon the fourth and last stage of his human life in the flesh. The first stage was that of his childhood, the years when he was only dimly conscious of his origin, nature, and destiny as a human being. The second stage was the increasingly self-conscious years of youth and advancing manhood, during which he came more clearly to comprehend his divine nature and human mission. This second stage ended with the experiences and revelations associated with his baptism. The third stage of the Master’s earth experience extended from the baptism through the years of his ministry as teacher and healer and up to this momentous hour of Peter’s confession at Caesarea-Philippi. This third period of his earth life embraced the times when his apostles and his immediate followers knew him as the Son of Man and regarded him as the Messiah. The fourth and last period of his earth career began here at Caesarea-Philippi and extended on to the crucifixion. This stage of his ministry was characterized by his acknowledgment of divinity and embraced the labors of his last year in the flesh. During the fourth period, while the majority of his followers still regarded him as the Messiah, he became known to the apostles as the Son of God. Peter’s confession marked the beginning of the new period of the more complete realization of the Truth of his Supreme Ministry as a Bestowal Son on Earth and for an entire universe, and the recognition of that fact, at least hazily, by his chosen ambassadors.
157:6.5 A new significance attaches to all of Jesus’ teachings from this point on. Before Caesarea-Philippi he presented the gospel of the Kingdom as its master teacher. After Caesarea-Philippi he appeared not merely as a teacher but as the Divine Representative of the eternal Father, who is the Center and Circumference of this spiritual Kingdom, and it was required that he do all this as a human being, the Son of Man.
157:6.6 Jesus had sincerely endeavored to lead his followers into the spiritual kingdom as a teacher, then as a teacher-healer, but they would not have it so. He well knew that his earth Mission could not possibly fulfill the Messianic expectations of the Jewish people; the olden prophets had portrayed a Messiah which he could never be. He sought to establish the Father’s kingdom as the Son of Man, but his followers would not go forward in the adventure. Jesus, seeing this, then elected to meet his believers part way and in so doing prepared openly to assume the role of the Bestowal Son of God.
157:6.7 Accordingly, the apostles heard much that was new as Jesus talked to them this day in the garden. And some of these pronouncements sounded strange even to them. Among other startling announcements they listened to such as the following: [all presented here:]
157:6.8 “From this time on, if any man would have fellowship with us, let him assume the obligations of sonship and follow me. And when I am no more with you, think not that the world will treat you better than it did your Master. If you love me, prepare to prove this affection by your willingness to make the supreme sacrifice.” [being murdered]
157:6.9 “And mark well my words: I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. The Son of Man came not to be ministered to, but to minister and to bestow his life as the gift for all. I declare to you that I have come to seek and to save those who are lost.” [to save all humans !]
157:6.10 “No man in this world now sees the Father except the Son who came forth from the Father. But if the Son be lifted up, he will draw all [ALL !!] men to himself, and whosoever believes this Truth of the combined nature of the Son shall be endowed with life that is more than age-abiding.”
157:6.11 “We may not yet proclaim openly that the Son of Man is the Son of God, but it has been revealed to you; wherefore do I speak boldly to you concerning these mysteries. Though I stand before you in this physical presence, I came forth from God the Father. Before Abraham was, I AM. I did come forth from the Father into this world as you have known me, and I declare to you that I must presently leave this world and return to the work of my Father.”
157:6.12 “And now can your faith comprehend the truth of these declarations in the face of my warning you that the Son of Man will not meet the expectations of your fathers as they conceived the Messiah? My kingdom is not of this world. Can you believe the truth about me in the face of the fact that, though the foxes have holes and the birds of heaven have nests, I have not where to lay my head?”
157:6.13 “Nevertheless, I tell you that the Father and I are one. He who has seen me has seen the Father. My Father is working with me in all these things, and he will never leave me alone in my Mission, even as I will never forsake you [Jesus Christ Michael is always here in Spirit with us !!] when you presently go forth to proclaim this gospel throughout the world.
157:6.14 “And now have I brought you apart with me and by yourselves for a little while that you may comprehend the Glory, and grasp the grandeur, of the life to which I have called you: the faith-adventure of the establishment of my Father’s kingdom in the hearts of mankind, the building of my fellowship of living association with the souls of all who believe this gospel.”
157:6.15 The apostles listened to these bold and startling statements in silence; they were stunned. And they dispersed in small groups to discuss and ponder the Master’s words. They had confessed that he was the Son of God, but they could not grasp the full meaning of what they had been led to do.
7. ANDREW’S CONFERENCE
157:7.5 And now Jesus would take his apostles along with him to Mount Hermon, where he had appointed to inaugurate his fourth phase of Earth Ministry as the Son of God. Some of them were present at his baptism in the Jordan and had witnessed the beginning of his career as the Son of Man, and he desired that some of them should also be present to hear his Authority for the assumption of the new and public role of a Son of God. Accordingly, on the morning of Friday, August 12, [A.D. 29,] Jesus said to the twelve: “Lay in provisions and prepare yourselves for a journey to yonder mountain, where the Spirit bids me go to be endowed for the finish of my work on Earth. And I would take my brethren along that they may also be strengthened for the trying times of going with me through this experience.” [The Transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Hermon, to the North, in the land of the Gentiles !]
PAPER 159 THE DECAPOLIS TOUR
3. INSTRUCTION FOR TEACHERS AND BELIEVERS
159:3.10 [Jesus:] You shall not portray your teacher as a man of sorrows. Future generations shall know also the radiance of our joy, the buoyance of our good will, and the inspiration of our good humor. We proclaim a message of good news which is infectious in its transforming power. Our religion is throbbing with new life and new meanings. Those who accept this teaching are filled with joy and in their hearts are constrained to rejoice evermore. Increasing happiness is always the experience of all who are certain about God.
4. THE TALK WITH NATHANIEL
159:4.9 [Jesus on the Old Testament Scriptures then:] “But the greatest error of the teaching about the Scriptures is the doctrine of their being sealed books of mystery and wisdom which only the wise minds of the nation dare to interpret. The revelations of divine truth are not sealed except by human ignorance, bigotry, and narrow-minded intolerance. The light of the Scriptures is only dimmed by prejudice and darkened by superstition. A false fear of sacredness has prevented religion from being safeguarded by common sense. The fear of the authority of the sacred writings of the past effectively prevents the honest souls of today from accepting the new Light of the gospel, the Light which these very God-knowing men of another generation so intensely longed to see.
5. THE POSITIVE NATURE OF JESUS’ RELIGION
159:5.1 At Philadelphia, where James was working, Jesus taught the disciples about the positive nature of the gospel of the kingdom. When, in the course of his remarks, he intimated that some parts of the Scripture were more truth-containing than others and admonished his hearers to feed their souls upon the best of the spiritual food, James interrupted the Master, asking: “Would you be good enough, Master, to suggest to us how we may choose the better passages from the Scriptures for our personal edification?” And Jesus replied: “Yes, James, when you read the Scriptures look for those eternally true and divinely beautiful teachings, such as:
159:5.2 “Create in me a clean heart, O Lord.
159:5.3 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
159:5.4 “You should love your neighbor as yourself.
159:5.5 “For I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying, fear not; I will help you.
159:5.6 “Neither shall the nations learn war any more.”
159:5.7 And this is illustrative of the way Jesus, day by day, appropriated the cream of the Hebrew scriptures for the instruction of his followers and for inclusion in the teachings of the new gospel of the Kingdom. Other religions had suggested the thought of the nearness of God to man, but Jesus made the care of God for man like the solicitude of a loving father for the welfare of his dependent children and then made this teaching the cornerstone of his religion. And thus did the doctrine of the Fatherhood of God make imperative the practice of the brotherhood of man. The worship of God and the service of man became the sum and substance of his religion. Jesus took the best of the Jewish religion and translated it to a worthy setting in the new teachings of the gospel of the Kingdom.
159:5.8 Jesus put the Spirit of positive action into the passive doctrines of the Jewish religion. In the place of negative compliance with ceremonial requirements, Jesus enjoined the positive doing of that which his new religion required of those who accepted it. Jesus’ religion consisted not merely in believing, but in actually doing, those things which the gospel required. He did not teach that the essence of his religion consisted in social service, but rather that social service was one of the certain effects of the possession of the Spirit of true religion.
159:5.17 In all his teaching Jesus unfailingly avoided distracting details. He shunned flowery language and avoided the mere poetic imagery of a play upon words. He habitually put large meanings into small expressions. For purposes of illustration Jesus reversed the current meanings of many terms, such as salt, leaven, fishing, and little children. He most effectively employed the antithesis, comparing the minute to the infinite and so on. His pictures were striking, such as, “The blind leading the blind.” But the greatest strength to be found in his illustrative teaching was its naturalness. Jesus brought the philosophy of religion from Heaven down to earth. He portrayed the elemental needs of the soul with a new insight and a new bestowal of affection.
PAPER 162 AT THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
2. THE FIRST TEMPLE TALK
162:2.1 The first afternoon that Jesus taught in the temple, a considerable company sat listening to his words depicting the liberty of the new gospel and the joy of those who believe the good news, when a curious listener interrupted him to ask: “Teacher, how is it you can quote the Scriptures and teach the people so fluently when I am told that you are untaught in the learning of the rabbis?” Jesus replied: “No man has taught me the truths which I declare to you. And this teaching is not mine but His who sent me. If any man really desires to do my Father’s will, he shall certainly know about my teaching, whether it be God’s or whether I speak for myself. He who speaks for himself seeks his own glory, but when I declare the words of the Father, I thereby seek the glory of him who sent me. But before you try to enter into the new Light, should you not rather follow the light you already have? Moses gave you the law, yet how many of you honestly seek to fulfill its demands? Moses in this law enjoins you, saying, ‘You shall not kill’; notwithstanding this command some of you seek to kill the Son of Man.”
162:2.2 When the crowd heard these words, they fell to wrangling among themselves. Some said he was mad; some that he had a devil. Others said this was indeed the prophet of Galilee whom the scribes and Pharisees had long sought to kill. Some said the religious authorities were afraid to molest him; others thought that they laid not hands upon him because they had become believers in him. After considerable debate one of the crowd stepped forward and asked Jesus, “Why do the rulers seek to kill you?” And he replied: “The rulers seek to kill me because they resent my teaching about the good news of the Kingdom, a gospel that sets men free from the burdensome traditions of a formal religion of ceremonies which these teachers are determined to uphold at any cost. They circumcise in accordance with the law on the Sabbath day, but they would kill me because I once on the Sabbath day set free a man held in the bondage of affliction. They follow after me on the Sabbath to spy on me but would kill me because on another occasion I chose to make a grievously stricken man completely whole on the Sabbath day. They seek to kill me because they well know that, if you honestly believe and dare to accept my teaching, their system of traditional religion will be overthrown, forever destroyed. Thus will they be deprived of authority over that to which they have devoted their lives since they steadfastly refuse to accept this new and more glorious gospel of the Kingdom of God. And now do I appeal to every one of you: Judge not according to outward appearances but rather judge by the true Spirit of these teachings; judge righteously.”
162:2.7 [Jesus:] “I bear none of you ill will. The Father loves you, and therefore do I long for your deliverance from the bondage of prejudice and the darkness of tradition. I offer you the liberty of life and the joy of salvation. I proclaim the new and living way, the deliverance from evil and the breaking of the bondage of sin. I have come that you might have life, and have it eternally. You seek to be rid of me and my disquieting teachings. If you could only realize that I am to be with you only a little while! In just a short time I go to Him who sent me into this world. And then will many of you diligently seek me, but you shall not discover my Presence, for where I am about to go you cannot come. But all who truly seek to find me shall sometime attain the life that leads to my Father’s Presence.”
PAPER 166 LAST VISIT TO NORTHERN PEREA
1. THE PHARISEES AT RAGABA
166:1.1 On Sabbath, February 18, [A.D. 30] Jesus was at Ragaba, where there lived a wealthy Pharisee named Nathaniel; and since quite a number of his fellow Pharisees were following Jesus and the twelve around the country, he made a breakfast on this Sabbath morning for all of them, about twenty in number, and invited Jesus as the guest of honor.
166:1.2 By the time Jesus arrived at this breakfast, most of the Pharisees, with two or three lawyers, were already there and seated at the table. The Master immediately took his seat at the left of Nathaniel without going to the water basins to wash his hands. Many of the Pharisees, especially those favorable to Jesus’ teachings, knew that he washed his hands only for purposes of cleanliness, that he abhorred these purely ceremonial performances; so they were not surprised at his coming directly to the table without having twice washed his hands. But Nathaniel was shocked by this failure of the Master to comply with the strict requirements of Pharisaic practice. Neither did Jesus wash his hands, as did the Pharisees, after each course of food nor at the end of the meal.
166:1.3 After considerable whispering between Nathaniel and an unfriendly Pharisee on his right and after much lifting of eyebrows and sneering curling of lips by those who sat opposite the Master, Jesus finally said: “I had thought that you invited me to this house to break bread with you and perchance to inquire of me concerning the proclamation of the new gospel of the kingdom of God; but I perceive that you have brought me here to witness an exhibition of ceremonial devotion to your own self-righteousness. That service you have now done me; what next will you honor me with as your guest on this occasion?”
166:1.4 When the Master had thus spoken, they cast their eyes upon the table and remained silent. And since no one spoke, Jesus continued: “Many of you Pharisees are here with me as friends, some are even my disciples, but the majority of the Pharisees are persistent in their refusal to see the Light and acknowledge the truth, even when the work of the gospel is brought before them in great power. How carefully you cleanse the outside of the cups and the platters while the spiritual-food vessels are filthy and polluted! You make sure to present a pious and holy appearance to the people, but your inner souls are filled with self-righteousness, covetousness, extortion, and all manner of spiritual wickedness. Your leaders even dare to plot and plan the murder of the Son of Man. Do not you foolish men understand that the God of heaven looks at the inner motives of the soul as well as on your outer pretenses and your pious professions? Think not that the giving of alms and the paying of tithes will cleanse you from unrighteousness and enable you to stand clean in the presence of the Judge of all men. Woe upon you Pharisees who have persisted in rejecting the Light of Life! You are meticulous in tithing and ostentatious in almsgiving, but you knowingly spurn the visitation of God and reject the Revelation of his love. Though it is all right for you to give attention to these minor duties, you should not have left these weightier requirements undone. Woe upon all who shun justice, spurn mercy, and reject truth! Woe upon all those who despise the Revelation of the Father while they seek the chief seats in the synagogue and crave flattering salutations in the market places!”
166:1.5 When Jesus would have risen to depart, one of the lawyers who was at the table, addressing him, said: “But, Master, in some of your statements you reproach us also. Is there nothing good in the scribes, the Pharisees, or the lawyers?” And Jesus, standing, replied to the lawyer: “You, like the Pharisees, delight in the first places at the feasts and in wearing long robes while you put heavy burdens, grievous to be borne, on men’s shoulders. And when the souls of men stagger under these heavy burdens, you will not so much as lift with one of your fingers. Woe upon you who take your greatest delight in building tombs for the prophets your fathers killed! And that you consent to what your fathers did is made manifest when you now plan to kill those who come in this day doing what the prophets did in their day — proclaiming the righteousness of God and revealing the mercy of the heavenly Father. But of all the generations that are past, the blood of the prophets and the apostles shall be required of this perverse and self-righteous generation. Woe upon all of you lawyers who have taken away the key of knowledge from the common people! You yourselves refuse to enter into the way of Truth, and at the same time you would hinder all others who seek to enter therein. But you cannot thus shut up the doors of the Kingdom of Heaven; these we have opened to all who have the faith to enter, and these portals of mercy shall not be closed by the prejudice and arrogance of false teachers and untrue shepherds who are like whited sepulchres which, while outwardly they appear beautiful, are inwardly full of dead men’s bones and all manner of spiritual uncleanness.”
166:1.6 And when Jesus had finished speaking at Nathaniel’s table, he went out of the house without partaking of food. And of the Pharisees who heard these words, some became believers in his teaching and entered into the kingdom, but the larger number persisted in the way of darkness, becoming all the more determined to lie in wait for him that they might catch some of his words which could be used to bring him to trial and judgment before the Sanhedrin at Jerusalem.
Topical Study 94 "NEW ! -- Gospel, Ideas, Ideals, Life,
Light, Message, Reality, Spirit, Teacher, Teaching, Truth, Values, Way"
Compiled 4/06/2016 by Dave@PureChristians.org
[Part 23 of many]
PAPER 166 LAST VISIT TO NORTHERN PEREA, Cont.
3. THE SERMON AT GERASA
[Paper:Section.Paragraph]
166:3.7 Slowly the apostles and many of the disciples were learning the meaning of Jesus’ early declaration: “Unless you are born again, born of the Spirit, you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.” Nevertheless, to all who are honest of heart and sincere in faith, it remains eternally true: “Behold, I stand at the doors of men’s hearts and knock, and if any man will open to me, I will come in and sup with him and will feed him with the Bread of Life; we shall be one in Spirit and purpose, and so shall we ever be brethren in the long and fruitful service of the search for the Paradise Father.” And so, whether few or many are to be saved altogether depends on whether few or many will heed the invitation: “I AM the Door, I AM the New and Living Way, and whosoever wills may enter to embark upon the endless truth-search for eternal life.” [!!]
166:3.8 Even the apostles were unable fully to comprehend his teaching as to the necessity for using spiritual force for the purpose of breaking through all material resistance and for surmounting every earthly obstacle which might chance to stand in the way of grasping the all-important spiritual values of the new life in the Spirit as the liberated sons of God. [!!]
PAPER 167 THE VISIT TO PHILADELPHIA
7. THE TALK ABOUT ANGELS
167:7.6 [Jesus:] “Also are these angels very much concerned with the means whereby man’s Spirit is released from the tabernacles of the flesh and his soul escorted to the mansions [soul-level worlds] in Heaven. Angels are the sure and heavenly guides of the soul of man during that uncharted and indefinite period of time which intervenes between the death of the flesh and the new life in the Spirit abodes.”
PAPER 170 THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
1. CONCEPTS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN
170:1.7 Just before the advent of Jesus on Earth, the Jews combined and confused all of these ideas of the Kingdom into their apocalyptic concept of the Messiah’s coming to establish the age of the Jewish triumph, the eternal age of God’s supreme rule on Earth, the new world, the era in which all mankind would worship Yahweh. In choosing to utilize this concept of the Kingdom of Heaven, [the Kingdom (Family) of God] Jesus elected to appropriate the most vital and culminating heritage of both the Jewish and Persian religions.
2. JESUS’ CONCEPT OF THE KINGDOM
170:2.1 The Master made it clear that the Kingdom of Heaven must begin with, and be centered in, the dual concept of the Truth of the Fatherhood of God and the correlated fact of the brotherhood of man. The acceptance of such a teaching, Jesus declared, would liberate man from the age-long bondage of animal fear and at the same time enrich human living with the following endowments of the new life of spiritual liberty:
170:2.2 1. The possession of new courage and augmented spiritual power. The gospel of the Kingdom was to set man free and inspire him to dare to hope for eternal life.
170:2.3 2. The gospel carried a message of new confidence and true consolation for all men, [all humans,] even for the poor.
170:2.4 3. It was in itself a new standard of moral values, a new ethical yardstick wherewith to measure human conduct. It portrayed the ideal of a resultant new order of human society.
170:2.5 4. It taught the preeminence of the spiritual compared with the material; it glorified spiritual realities and exalted superhuman ideals.
170:2.6 5. This new gospel held up spiritual attainment as the true goal of living. Human life received a new endowment of moral value and divine dignity.
170:2.7 6. Jesus taught that eternal realities were the result (reward) of righteous earthly striving. Man’s mortal sojourn on earth acquired new meanings consequent upon the recognition of a noble destiny.
170:2.8 7. The new gospel affirmed that human salvation is the revelation of a far-reaching divine purpose to be fulfilled and realized in the future destiny of the endless service of the salvaged sons of God. [!!]
170:2.10 The apostles were unable to grasp the real meaning of the Master’s utterances regarding the Kingdom. The subsequent distortion of Jesus’ teachings, as they are recorded in the New Testament, is because the concept of the gospel writers was colored by the belief that Jesus was then absent from the world for only a short time; that he would soon return to establish the Kingdom in power and glory — just such an idea as they held while he was with them in the flesh. But Jesus did not connect the establishment of the Kingdom with the idea of his return to this world. That centuries have passed with no signs of the appearance of the “New Age” is in no way out of harmony with Jesus’ teaching.
170:2.16 They looked upon the coming of the Kingdom in the hearts of men as a gradual development, like the leaven in the dough or like the growing of the mustard seed. They believed that the coming of the Kingdom in the racial or world sense would be both sudden and spectacular. Jesus never tired of telling them that the Kingdom of Heaven was their personal experience of realizing the higher qualities of spiritual living; that these realities of the Spirit experience are progressively translated to new and higher levels of divine certainty and eternal grandeur.
170:2.17 On this afternoon the Master distinctly taught a new concept of the double nature of the Kingdom in that he portrayed the following two phases:
170:2.18 “First. The Kingdom of God in this world, the supreme desire to do the will of God, the unselfish love of man which yields the good fruits of improved ethical and moral conduct.
170:2.19 “Second. The Kingdom of God in Heaven, the goal of mortal believers, the estate wherein the love for God is perfected, and wherein the will of God is done more divinely.”
170:2.20 Jesus taught that, by faith, the believer enters the Kingdom now. In the various discourses he taught that two things are essential to faith-entrance into the Kingdom:
170:2.21 1. Faith, sincerity. To come as a little child, to receive the bestowal of sonship as a gift; to submit to the doing of the Father’s will without questioning and in the full confidence and genuine trustfulness of the Father’s wisdom; to come into the Kingdom free from prejudice and preconception; to be open-minded and teachable like an unspoiled child.
170:2.22 2. Truth hunger. The thirst for righteousness, a change of mind, the acquirement of the motive to be like God and to find God.
3. IN RELATION TO RIGHTEOUSNESS
170:3.11 By teaching that the Kingdom is within, by exalting the individual, Jesus struck the deathblow of the old society in that he ushered in the new dispensation of true social righteousness. This new order of society the world has little known because it has refused to practice the principles of the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven. And when this Kingdom of spiritual preeminence does come upon the earth, it will not be manifested in mere improved social and material conditions, but rather in the glories of those enhanced and enriched spiritual values which are characteristic of the approaching age of improved human relations and advancing spiritual attainments. [Heading into planetary stages of Light and Life !]
4. JESUS’ TEACHING ABOUT THE KINGDOM
170:4.5 4. The prospect of the more perfect fulfillment of the will of God, the advance toward the dawn of a new social order in connection with improved spiritual living — the next age of man.
170:4.15 Although Jesus referred one phase of the Kingdom to the future and did, on numerous occasions, intimate that such an event might appear as a part of a world crisis; and though he did likewise most certainly, on several occasions, definitely promise sometime to return [in person] to Earth, it should be recorded that he never positively linked these two ideas together. He promised a new revelation of the Kingdom on Earth and at some future time; he also promised sometime to come back to this world in person; but he did not say that these two events were synonymous. From all we know these promises may, or may not, refer to the same event.
5. LATER IDEAS OF THE KINGDOM
170:5.4 The ideas and ideals of Jesus, embodied in the teaching of the gospel of the Kingdom, nearly failed of realization as his followers progressively distorted his pronouncements. The Master’s concept of the Kingdom was notably modified by two great tendencies:
170:5.5 1. The Jewish believers persisted in regarding him as the Messiah. They believed that Jesus would very soon return actually to establish the world-wide and more or less material kingdom. [with Jewish world dominance !]
170:5.6 2. The Gentile Christians began very early to accept the doctrines of Paul, which led increasingly to the general belief that Jesus was the Redeemer of the children of the church, the new and institutional successor of the earlier concept of the purely spiritual brotherhood of the Kingdom.
PAPER 173 MONDAY IN JERUSALEM
3. PARABLE OF THE TWO SONS
173:3.3 Jesus did not despise the Pharisees and Sadducees personally. It was their systems of teaching and practice which he sought to discredit. He was hostile to no man, but here was occurring the inevitable clash between a new and living religion of the Spirit and the older religion of ceremony, tradition, and authority.
PAPER 176 TUESDAY EVENING ON MOUNT OLIVET
2. THE MASTER’S SECOND COMING
[Very important !!]
176:2.1 On several occasions Jesus had made statements which led his hearers to infer that, while he intended presently to leave this world, he would most certainly return to consummate the work of the heavenly kingdom. As the conviction grew on his followers that he was going to leave them, and after he had departed from this world, it was only natural for all believers to lay fast hold upon these promises to return. The doctrine of the second coming of Christ thus became early incorporated into the teachings of the Christians, and almost every subsequent generation of disciples has devoutly believed this truth and has confidently looked forward to his sometime coming.
176:2.2 If they were to part with their Master and Teacher, how much more did these first disciples and the apostles grasp at this promise to return, and they lost no time in associating the predicted destruction of Jerusalem with this promised second coming. And they continued thus to interpret his words notwithstanding that, throughout this evening of instruction on Mount Olivet, the Master took particular pains to prevent just such a mistake.
176:2.3 In further answer to Peter’s question, Jesus said: “Why do you still look for the Son of Man to sit upon the throne of David and expect that the material dreams of the Jews will be fulfilled? Have I not told you all these years that my Kingdom is not of this world? The things which you now look down upon are coming to an end, but this will be a new beginning out of which the gospel of the Kingdom will go to all the world and this salvation will spread to all peoples. And when the Kingdom shall have come to its full fruition, be assured that the Father in heaven will not fail to visit you with an enlarged revelation of truth and an enhanced demonstration of righteousness, even as he has already bestowed upon this world him who became the prince of darkness, and then Adam, who was followed by Melchizedek, and in these days, the Son of Man. And so will my Father continue to manifest his mercy and show forth his love, even to this dark and evil world. So also will I, after my Father has invested me with all power and authority, continue to follow your fortunes and to guide in the affairs of the Kingdom by the presence of my Spirit, who shall shortly be poured out upon all flesh. Even though I shall thus be present with you in Spirit, I also promise that I will sometime return to this world, where I have lived this life in the flesh and achieved the experience of simultaneously revealing God to man and leading man to God. Very soon must I leave you and take up the work the Father has intrusted to my hands, but be of good courage, for I will sometime return. In the meantime, my Spirit of the Truth of a universe shall comfort and guide you.
176:2.4 “You behold me now in weakness and in the flesh, but when I return, it shall be with power and in the spirit. The eye of flesh beholds the Son of Man in the flesh, but only the eye of the spirit will behold the Son of Man glorified by the Father and appearing on earth in his own name.
176:2.5 “But the times of the reappearing of the Son of Man are known only in the councils of Paradise; not even the angels of heaven know when this will occur. However, you should understand that, when this gospel of the kingdom shall have been proclaimed to all the world for the salvation of all peoples, and when the fullness of the age has come to pass, the Father will send you another dispensational bestowal, or else the Son of Man will return to adjudge the age.
176:2.6 “And now concerning the travail of Jerusalem, about which I have spoken to you, even this generation will not pass away until my words are fulfilled; but concerning the times of the coming again of the Son of Man, no one in heaven or on earth may presume to speak. But you should be wise regarding the ripening of an age; you should be alert to discern the signs of the times. You know when the fig tree shows its tender branches and puts forth its leaves that summer is near. Likewise, when the world has passed through the long winter of material-mindedness and you discern the coming of the spiritual springtime of a new dispensation, should you know that the summertime of a new visitation draws near.
176:2.7 “But what is the significance of this teaching having to do with the coming of the Sons of God? Do you not perceive that, when each of you is called to lay down his life struggle and pass through the portal of death, you stand in the immediate presence of judgment, and that you are face to face with the facts of a new dispensation of service in the eternal plan of the infinite Father? What the whole world must face as a literal fact at the end of an age, you, as individuals, must each most certainly face as a personal experience when you reach the end of your natural life and thereby pass on to be confronted with the conditions and demands inherent in the next revelation of the eternal progression of the Father’s Kingdom.”
176:2.8 Of all the discourses which the Master gave his apostles, none ever became so confused in their minds as this one, given this Tuesday evening on the Mount of Olives, regarding the twofold subject of the destruction of Jerusalem and his own second coming. There was, therefore, little agreement between the subsequent written accounts based on the memories of what the Master said on this extraordinary occasion. Consequently, when the records were left blank concerning much that was said that Tuesday evening, there grew up many traditions; and very early in the second century a Jewish apocalyptic about the Messiah written by one Selta, who was attached to the court of the Emperor Caligula, was bodily copied into the Matthew Gospel and subsequently added (in part) to the Mark and Luke records. It was in these writings of Selta that the parable of the ten virgins appeared. No part of the gospel record ever suffered such confusing misconstruction as this evening’s teaching. But the Apostle John never became thus confused. [!! See John chapters 14-17 all, and especially 14:20-21]
3. LATER DISCUSSION AT THE CAMP
176:3.7 Truth is Living; the Spirit of Truth is ever leading the children of Light into new realms of spiritual reality and divine service. You are not given truth to crystallize into settled, safe, and honored forms. Your revelation of truth must be so enhanced by passing through your personal experience that new beauty and actual spiritual gains will be disclosed to all who behold your spiritual fruits and in consequence thereof are led to glorify the Father who is in heaven. Only those faithful servants who thus grow in the knowledge of the truth, and who thereby develop the capacity for divine appreciation of spiritual realities, can ever hope to “enter fully into the joy of their Lord.” What a sorry sight for successive generations of the professed followers of Jesus to say, regarding their stewardship of divine Truth: “Here, Master, is the truth you committed to us a hundred or a thousand years ago. We have lost nothing; we have faithfully preserved all you gave us; we have allowed no changes to be made in that which you taught us; here is the truth you gave us.” But such a plea concerning spiritual indolence will not justify the barren steward of Truth in the Presence of the Master. In accordance with the Truth committed to your hands will the Master of Truth require a reckoning.
PAPER 178 LAST DAY AT THE CAMP
1. DISCOURSE ON SONSHIP AND CITIZENSHIP
178:1.9 [A restatement and summary of Jesus' teachings for today:] So long as the rulers of earthly governments seek to exercise the authority of religious dictators, you who believe this gospel can expect only trouble, persecution, and even death. But the very Light which you bear to the world, and even the very manner in which you will suffer and die for this gospel of the Kingdom, will, in themselves, eventually enlighten the whole world and result in the gradual divorcement of politics and religion. The persistent preaching of this gospel of the Kingdom will some day bring to all nations a new and unbelievable liberation, intellectual freedom, and religious liberty.
178:1.15 This gospel of the Kingdom is a Living Truth. I have told you it is like the leaven in the dough, like the grain of mustard seed; and now I declare that it is like the seed of the living being, which, from generation to generation, while it remains the same living seed, unfailingly unfolds itself in new manifestations and grows acceptably in channels of new adaptation to the peculiar needs and conditions of each successive generation. The revelation I have made to you is a Living Revelation, and I desire that it shall bear appropriate fruits in each individual and in each generation in accordance with the laws of spiritual growth, increase, and adaptative development. From generation to generation this gospel must show increasing vitality and exhibit greater depth of spiritual power. It must not be permitted to become merely a sacred memory, a mere tradition about me and the times in which we now live.
178:1.16 And forget not: We have made no direct attack upon the persons or upon the authority of those who sit in Moses’ seat; we only offered them the new Light, which they have so vigorously rejected. We have assailed them only by the denunciation of their spiritual disloyalty to the very truths which they profess to teach and safeguard. We clashed with these established leaders and recognized rulers only when they threw themselves directly in the way of the preaching of the gospel of the Kingdom to the sons of men. And even now, it is not we who assail them, but they who seek our destruction. Do not forget that you are commissioned to go forth preaching only the good news. You are not to attack the old ways; you are skillfully to put the leaven of new truth in the midst of the old beliefs. Let the Spirit of Truth do his own work. Let controversy come only when they who despise the Truth force it upon you. But when the willful unbeliever attacks you, do not hesitate to stand in vigorous defense of the Truth which has saved and sanctified you.
PAPER 179 THE LAST SUPPER
5. ESTABLISHING THE REMEMBRANCE SUPPER
[Very Important ! All is presented here:]
179:5.1 As they brought Jesus the third cup of wine, the “cup of blessing,” he arose from the couch and, taking the cup in his hands, blessed it, saying: “Take this cup, all of you, and drink of it. This shall be the cup of my remembrance. This is the cup of the blessing of a new dispensation of grace and truth. This shall be to you the emblem of the bestowal and ministry of the divine Spirit of Truth. And I will not again drink this cup with you until I drink in new form with you in the Father’s eternal Kingdom.”
179:5.2 The apostles all sensed that something out of the ordinary was transpiring as they drank of this cup of blessing in profound reverence and perfect silence. The old Passover commemorated the emergence of their fathers from a state of racial slavery into individual freedom; now the Master was instituting a new remembrance supper as a symbol of the new dispensation wherein the enslaved individual emerges from the bondage of ceremonialism and selfishness into the spiritual joy of the brotherhood and fellowship of the liberated faith sons of the living God.
179:5.3 When they had finished drinking this new cup of remembrance, the Master took up the bread and, after giving thanks, broke it in pieces and, directing them to pass it around, said: “Take this bread of remembrance and eat it. I have told you that I AM the Bread of Life. And this Bread of Life is the United Life of the Father and the Son in one gift. The Word of the Father, as Revealed in the Son, is indeed the Bread of Life.” When they had partaken of the bread of remembrance, the symbol of the Living Word of Truth incarnated in the likeness of mortal flesh, they all sat down.
179:5.4 In instituting this remembrance supper, the Master, as was always his habit, resorted to parables and symbols. He employed symbols because he wanted to teach certain great spiritual truths in such a manner as to make it difficult for his successors to attach precise interpretations and definite meanings to his words. In this way he sought to prevent successive generations from crystallizing his teaching and binding down his spiritual meanings by the dead chains of tradition and dogma. In the establishment of the only ceremony or sacrament associated with his whole life Mission, Jesus took great pains to suggest his meanings rather than to commit himself to precise definitions. He did not wish to destroy the individual’s concept of divine Communion by establishing a precise form; neither did he desire to limit the believer’s spiritual imagination by formally cramping it. He rather sought to set man’s reborn soul free upon the joyous wings of a new and living spiritual liberty.
179:5.5 Notwithstanding the Master’s effort thus to establish this new sacrament of the remembrance, those who followed after him in the intervening centuries saw to it that his express desire was effectively thwarted in that his simple spiritual symbolism of that last night in the flesh has been reduced to precise interpretations and subjected to the almost mathematical precision of a set formula. Of all Jesus’ teachings none have become more tradition-standardized.
179:5.6 This supper of remembrance, when it is partaken of by those who are Son-believing and God-knowing, does not need to have associated with its symbolism any of man’s puerile [childish] misinterpretations regarding the meaning of the divine Presence, for upon all such occasions the Master is really Present. [!!! Amen !!! Thank You Jesus and God within You !!!] The remembrance supper is the believer’s symbolic rendezvous with [our Spirit God-Man Jesus Christ] Michael. When you become thus Spirit-conscious, the Son is actually Present, and his Spirit fraternizes with the indwelling [in each of us !] fragment of his Father.
179:5.7 After they had engaged in meditation for a few moments, Jesus continued speaking: “When you do these things, recall the life I have lived on earth among you and rejoice that I am to continue to live on earth with you [!!] and to serve through you. As individuals, contend not among yourselves as to who shall be greatest. Be you all as brethren. And when the Kingdom grows to embrace large groups of believers, likewise should you refrain from contending for greatness or seeking preferment between such groups.”
179:5.8 And this mighty occasion took place in the upper chamber of a friend. [!] There was nothing of sacred form or of ceremonial consecration about either the supper or the building. The Remembrance Supper was established without ecclesiastical sanction.
179:5.9 When Jesus had thus established the supper of the remembrance, he said to the eleven: “And as often as you do this, do it in Remembrance of me. And when you do remember me, first look back upon my life in the flesh, recall that I was once with you, and then, by faith, discern that you shall all sometime sup with me in the Father’s eternal Kingdom. This is the new Passover which I leave with you, even the memory of my Bestowal Life, the Word of Eternal Truth; and of my love for you, the outpouring of my Spirit of Truth upon all flesh.” [Upon ALL humans !!]
179:5.10 And they ended this celebration of the old but bloodless Passover in connection with the inauguration of the new supper of the Remembrance, by singing, all together, the one hundred and eighteenth Psalm.
Topical Study 94 "NEW ! -- Gospel, Ideas, Ideals, Life,
Light, Message, Reality, Spirit, Teacher, Teaching, Truth, Values, Way"
Compiled 4/08/2016 by Dave@PureChristians.org
[Part 24 of many]
PAPER 180 THE FAREWELL DISCOURSE
1. THE NEW COMMANDMENT
[Paper:Section.Paragraph]
180:1.1 [Thursday, April 06, A.D. 30] After a few moments of informal conversation, Jesus stood up and said: [to the eleven apostles in the upper chamber of the home of John Mark's parents] “When I enacted for you a parable indicating how you should be willing to serve one another, I said that I desired to give you a new commandment; and I would do this now as I am about to leave you. You well know the commandment which directs that you love one another; that you love your neighbor even as yourself. But I am not wholly satisfied with even that sincere devotion on the part of my children. [Yes, we are all children — sons of God — Jesusonians — in our Universe Creator Jesus Christ Michael !!] I would have you perform still greater acts of love in the Kingdom of the believing brotherhood. And so I give you this new commandment: That you love one another even as I have loved you. [Fatherly love is much higher than just brotherly love !!] And by this will all men know that you are my disciples if you thus love one another.
180:1.2 “When I give you this new commandment, I do not place any new burden upon your souls; rather do I bring you new joy and make it possible for you to experience new pleasure in knowing the delights of the bestowal of your heart’s [Spirit-led soul's] affection upon your fellow men. I am about to experience the supreme joy, even though enduring outward sorrow, in the bestowal of my affection upon you and your fellow mortals.
180:1.3 “When I invite you to love one another, even as I have loved you, I hold up before you the supreme measure of true affection, for greater love can no man have than this: that he will lay down his life for his friends. And you are my friends; you will continue to be my friends if you are but willing to do what I have taught you. You have called me Master, but I do not call you servants. If you will only love one another as I am loving you, you shall be my friends, and I will ever speak to you of that which the Father reveals to me. [Continuing Revelation ! Fresh and new to us, as well as eternal Truths !]
180:1.4 “You have not merely chosen me, but I have also chosen you, and I have ordained you to go forth into the world to yield the fruit of loving service to your fellows even as I have lived among you and revealed the Father to you. The Father and I will both work with you, and you shall experience the divine fullness of joy if you will only obey my command to love one another, even as I have loved you.”
180:1.5 If you would share the Master’s joy, you must share his love. And to share his love means that you have shared his service. Such an experience of love does not deliver you from the difficulties of this world; it does not create a new world, but it most certainly does make the old world new.
180:1.6 Keep in mind: It is loyalty, not sacrifice, that Jesus demands. The consciousness of sacrifice implies the absence of that wholehearted affection which would have made such a loving service a supreme joy. The idea of duty signifies that you are servant-minded and hence are missing the mighty thrill of doing your service as a friend and for a friend. The impulse of friendship transcends all convictions of duty, and the service of a friend for a friend can never be called a sacrifice. The Master has taught the apostles that they are the sons of God. He has called them brethren, and now, before he leaves, he calls them his friends.
4. THE PROMISED HELPER
180:4.1 Jesus continued to teach, saying: “When I have gone to the Father, and after he has fully accepted the work I have done for you on Earth, and after I have received the final Sovereignty of my own domain, [his and our local universe named Nebadon, now with 3.8 million human-inhabited planets, and 570 progressively higher soul-level Heavens. Salvington is its spiritual Headquarters.] I shall say to my Father: Having left my children alone on earth, it is in accordance with my promise to send them another teacher. And when the Father shall approve, I will pour out the Spirit of Truth upon all flesh. Already is my Father’s Spirit in your hearts, [a Thought Adjuster, God's will within you] and when this day shall come, you will also have me with you even as you now have the Father. This new gift is the Spirit of Living Truth. The unbelievers will not at first listen to the teachings of this Spirit, but the sons of Light will all receive him gladly and with a whole heart. And you shall know this Spirit when he comes even as you have known me, and you will receive this gift in your hearts, and he will abide with you. You thus perceive that I am not going to leave you without help and guidance. I will not leave you desolate. Today I can be with you only in person. In the times to come I will be with you and all other men who desire my Presence, wherever you may be, and with each of you at the same time. Do you not discern that it is better for me to go away; that I leave you in the flesh so that I may the better and the more fully be with you in the Spirit? [Tremendous Truths !!]
180:4.2 “In just a few hours the world will see me no more; but you will continue to know me in your hearts even until I send you this new teacher, the Spirit of Truth. As I have lived with you in person, then shall I live in you; I shall be one with your personal experience in the Spirit Kingdom. And when this has come to pass, you shall surely know that I am in the Father, and that, while your life is hid with the Father in me, I am also in you. I have loved the Father and have kept his word; you have loved me, and you will keep my word. As my Father has given me of his Spirit, so will I give you of my Spirit. And this Spirit of Truth which I will bestow upon you shall guide and comfort you and shall eventually lead you into all Truth.
180:4.3 “I am telling you these things while I am still with you that you may be the better prepared to endure those trials which are even now right upon us. And when this new day comes, you will be indwelt by the Son as well as by the Father. And these gifts of Heaven will ever work the one with the other even as the Father and I have wrought on Earth and before your very eyes as one person, the Son of Man. And this Spirit Friend will bring to your remembrance everything I have taught you.”
180:4.4 As the Master paused for a moment, Judas Alpheus made bold to ask one of the few questions which either he or his brother ever addressed to Jesus in public. Said Judas: “Master, you have always lived among us as a friend; how shall we know you when you no longer manifest yourself to us save by this spirit? If the world sees you not, how shall we be certain about you? How will you show yourself to us?”
180:4.5 [Very Important !!!] Jesus looked down upon them all, smiled, and said: “My little children, I am going away, going back to my Father. In a little while you will not see me as you do here, as flesh and blood. In a very short time I am going to send you my Spirit, just like me [!!!] except for this material body. This new Teacher is the Spirit of Truth who will live with each one of you, in your hearts, and so will all the children of Light be made one and be drawn toward one another. And in this very manner will my Father and I be able to live in the souls of each one of you and also in the hearts of all other men who love us and make that love real in their experiences by loving one another, even as I am now loving you.”
180:4.6 Judas Alpheus did not fully understand what the Master said, but he grasped the promise of the new teacher, and from the expression on Andrew’s face, he perceived that his question had been satisfactorily answered. [!!]
5. THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH
180:5.1 The new Helper which Jesus promised to send into the hearts of believers, to pour out upon all flesh, is the Spirit of Truth. This divine endowment is not the letter or law of truth, neither is it to function as the form or expression of truth. The new teacher is the Conviction of Truth, the consciousness and assurance of true meanings on real Spirit levels. And this new Teacher is the Spirit of living and growing Truth, expanding, unfolding, and adaptative Truth.
180:5.2 Divine Truth is a Spirit-discerned and Living Reality. Truth exists only on high spiritual levels of the realization of divinity and the consciousness of Communion with God. You can know the Truth, and you can live the Truth; you can experience the growth of Truth in the soul and enjoy the liberty of its enlightenment in the mind, but you cannot imprison Truth in formulas, codes, creeds, or intellectual patterns of human conduct. When you undertake the human formulation of divine Truth, it speedily dies. The post-mortem salvage of imprisoned truth, even at best, can eventuate only in the realization of a peculiar form of intellectualized glorified wisdom. Static truth is dead truth, and only dead truth can be held as a theory. Living Truth is dynamic and can enjoy only an experiential existence in the human mind.
180:5.3 Intelligence grows out of a material existence which is illuminated by the presence of the cosmic mind. Wisdom comprises the consciousness of knowledge elevated to new levels of meaning and activated by the presence of the universe endowment of the adjutant of wisdom. Truth is a spiritual reality value experienced only by Spirit-endowed beings who function upon supermaterial levels of universe consciousness, and who, after the realization of Truth, permit its Spirit of activation to live and reign within their souls.
180:5.12 And all this clearly indicates the difference between the old religion and the new. The old religion taught self-sacrifice; the new religion teaches only self-forgetfulness, enhanced self-realization in conjoined social service and universe comprehension. The old religion was motivated by fear-consciousness; the new gospel of the Kingdom is dominated by Truth-Conviction, the Spirit of Eternal and Universal Truth. And no amount of piety or creedal loyalty can compensate for the absence in the life experience of Kingdom believers of that spontaneous, generous, and sincere friendliness which characterizes the Spirit-born sons of the living God. Neither tradition nor a ceremonial system of formal worship can atone for the lack of genuine compassion for one’s fellows.
6. THE NECESSITY FOR LEAVING
[See also John chapter 16, expecially note 16:7-16]
180:6.1 After Peter, James, John, and Matthew had asked the Master numerous questions, he continued his farewell discourse by saying: “And I am telling you about all this before I leave you in order that you may be so prepared for what is coming upon you that you will not stumble into serious error. The authorities will not be content with merely putting you out of the synagogues; I warn you the hour draws near when they who kill you will think they are doing a service to God. And all of these things they will do to you and to those whom you lead into the Kingdom of Heaven because they do not know the Father. They have refused to know the Father by refusing to receive me; and they refuse to receive me when they reject you, provided you have kept my new commandment that you love one another even as I have loved you. I am telling you in advance about these things so that, when your hour comes, as mine now has, you may be strengthened in the knowledge that all was known to me, and that my Spirit shall be with you in all your sufferings for my sake and the gospel’s. It was for this purpose that I have been talking so plainly to you from the very beginning. I have even warned you that a man’s foes may be those of his own household. Although this gospel of the Kingdom never fails to bring great peace to the soul of the individual believer, it will not bring peace on earth until man is willing to believe my teaching wholeheartedly and to establish the practice of doing the Father’s will as the chief purpose in living the mortal life.
180:6.2 “Now that I am leaving you, seeing that the hour has come when I am about to go to the Father, I am surprised that none of you have asked me, Why do you leave us? Nevertheless, I know that you ask such questions in your hearts. I will speak to you plainly, as one friend to another. It is really profitable for you that I go away. If I go not away, the new Teacher cannot come into your hearts. I must be divested of this mortal body and be restored to my place on high before I can send this Spirit Teacher to live in your souls and lead your spirits into the Truth. And when my Spirit comes to indwell you, he will illuminate the difference between sin and righteousness and will enable you to judge wisely in your hearts concerning them.
180:6.3 “I have yet much to say to you, but you cannot stand any more just now. Albeit, when he, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he shall eventually guide you into all Truth [God the Father-Infinite I AM and all eternal Realities] as you pass through the many abodes [over one billion progressively higher Heavens and then eternal Paradise Residence and higher Ultimate and beyond adventures] in my Father’s Universe. [of countless universes and higher levels !]
180:6.4 “This Spirit will not speak of himself, but he will declare to you that which the Father has revealed to the Son, and he will even show you things to come; he will glorify me even as I have glorified my Father. This Spirit comes forth from me, and he will reveal my Truth to you. Everything which the Father has in this domain is now mine; [God the Father and God the Son are Coordinate Deities] wherefore did I say that this new Teacher would take of that which is mine [the fullness of God !] and reveal it to you.
180:6.5 “In just a little while I will leave you for a short time. Afterward, when you again see me, I shall already be on my way to the Father so that even then you will not see me for long.” [Jesus is physically murdered by crucifixion on April 07, A.D. 30; then he returns on April 09 in a higher soul form for about 40 days. May 18, A.D. 30, he ascends back to the Universal Father on Paradise; and They return in a few hours together in Spirit back permanently with us worldwide and universe-wide as He the Father-Son United Spirit of All Truth !!!]
180:6.6 While he paused for a moment, the apostles began to talk with each other: “What is this that he tells us? ‘In just a little while I will leave you,’ and ‘When you see me again it will not be for long, for I will be on my way to the Father.’ What can he mean by this ‘little while’ and ‘not for long’? We cannot understand what he is telling us.”
180:6.7 And since Jesus knew they asked these questions, he said: “Do you inquire among yourselves about what I meant when I said that in a little while I would not be with you, and that, when you would see me again, I would be on my way to the Father? I have plainly told you that the Son of Man must die, but that he will rise again. Can you not then discern the meaning of my words? You will first be made sorrowful, but later on will you rejoice with many who will understand these things after they have come to pass. A woman is indeed sorrowful in the hour of her travail, but when she is once delivered of her child, she immediately forgets her anguish in the joy of the knowledge that a man [human son of God, with a male or female body] has been born into the world. And so are you about to sorrow over my departure, but I will soon see you again, and then will your sorrow be turned into rejoicing, and there shall come to you a new revelation of the salvation of God which no man can ever take away from you. And all the worlds [3.8 million human-inhabited worlds made by Jesus in his/our Nebadon Universe; 10 million worlds when this first Grand Universe Age is completed in maybe 600 billion more years; that is just a brief moment in Eternity as viewed by God the Father-Infinite I AM] will be blessed in this same Revelation of Life in effecting the overthrow of death. Hitherto have you made all your requests in my Father’s name. After you see me again, you may also ask in my name, and I will hear you. [Ask Jesus directly, not merely ask "in the NAME of Jesus", which is bad Theology and poor God-consciousness in my view.]
180:6.8 “Down here I have taught you in proverbs and spoken to you in parables. I did so because you were only children in the Spirit; but the time is coming when I will talk to you plainly concerning the Father and his Kingdom. And I shall do this because the Father himself loves you and desires to be more fully Revealed to you. Mortal man cannot see the Spirit Father; therefore have I come into the world to show the Father to your creature eyes. But when you have become perfected in Spirit growth, you shall then see the Father Himself.”
180:6.9 When the eleven had heard him speak, they said to each other: “Behold, he does speak plainly to us. Surely the Master did come forth from God. But why does he say he must return to the Father?” And Jesus saw that they did not even yet comprehend him. These eleven men could not get away from their long-nourished ideas of the Jewish concept of the Messiah. The more fully they believed in Jesus as the Messiah, the more troublesome became these deep-rooted notions regarding the glorious material triumph of the kingdom on earth. [God the Universal Father, and our Creator Son of God Jesus Christ Michael, and the Creative Spirit Partner of Jesus each and all love each and every human and every higher being EQUALLY ! They are no mere respecters of persons, or of their so-called "status levels"!! Until all humans believe and live this Truth, disharmony and wars will continue. Jesus is here in Spirit; and He still tells us to grow in his Spirit — God's Spirit — to learn to "LOVE YOUR (so-called) ENEMIES !!" Make them your friends in the Family of God in Heaven and on Earth !]
PAPER 181 FINAL ADMONITIONS AND WARNINGS
1. LAST WORDS OF COMFORT
[All paragraphs are presented here]
181:1.1 When the eleven had taken their seats, Jesus stood and addressed them: “As long as I am with you in the flesh, I can be but one individual in your midst or in the entire world. But when I have been delivered from this investment of mortal nature, I will be able to return as a Spirit indweller of each of you and of all other believers in this gospel of the Kingdom. In this way the Son of Man will become a spiritual Incarnation in the souls of all true believers. [All humans seeking the love and guidance of the Universal Father God, by any name or description — using the name Jesus is optional, as used by most Christians.]
181:1.2 “When I have returned to live in you and work through you, I can the better lead you on through this life and guide you through the many abodes in the future life in the Heaven of Heavens. Life in the Father’s eternal [Paradise-Havona] Creation is not an endless rest of idleness and selfish ease but rather a ceaseless [unending, eternal] progression in grace, truth, and glory. Each of the many, many stations in my Father’s House is a stopping place, a life designed to prepare you for the next one ahead. And so will the children of Light go on from glory to glory until they attain the divine estate wherein they are spiritually perfected even as the Father is perfect in all things. [Our Universal Father God calls each of us: "Be you perfect; even as I AM perfect."]
181:1.3 “If you would follow after me when I leave you, put forth your earnest efforts to live in accordance with the Spirit of my Teachings and with the ideal of my Life — the doing of my Father’s will. This do instead of trying to imitate my natural life in the flesh as I have, perforce, been required to live it on this world.
181:1.4 “The Father sent me into this world, but only a few of you have chosen fully to receive me. I will pour out my Spirit [of Truth] upon all flesh, but all men will not choose to receive this new Teacher as the guide and counselor of the soul. But as many as do receive him shall be enlightened, cleansed, and comforted. And this Spirit of Truth will become in them a Well of Living Water springing up into Eternal Life. [What a sacred Gift !!]
181:1.5 “And now, as I am about to leave you, I would speak words of comfort. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I make these gifts not as the world gives — by measure — I give each of you all you will receive. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be fearful. I have overcome the world, and in me you shall all triumph through faith. I have warned you that the Son of Man will be killed, [only physically,] but I assure you I will come back before I go to the Father, even though it be for only a little while. And after I have ascended to the Father, I will surely send the new Teacher to be with you and to abide in your very hearts. And when you see all this come to pass, be not dismayed, but rather believe, inasmuch as you knew it all beforehand. I have loved you with a great affection, and I would not leave you, but it is the Father’s will. My hour has come.
181:1.6 “Doubt not any of these Truths even after you are scattered abroad by persecution and are downcast by many sorrows. When you feel that you are alone in the world, I will know of your isolation even as, when you are scattered every man to his own place, leaving the Son of Man in the hands of his enemies, you will know of mine. But I am never alone; always is the Father with me. Even at such a time I will pray for you. And all of these things have I told you that you might have peace and have it more abundantly. In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have triumphed in the world and shown you the Way to eternal joy and everlasting service.” [Amen !!]
181:1.7 Jesus gives peace to his fellow doers of the will of God but not on the order of the joys and satisfactions of this material world. Unbelieving materialists and fatalists can hope to enjoy only two kinds of peace and soul comfort: Either they must be stoics, with steadfast resolution determined to face the inevitable and to endure the worst; or they must be optimists, ever indulging that hope which springs eternal in the human breast, vainly longing for a peace which never really comes.
181:1.8 A certain amount of both stoicism and optimism are serviceable in living a life on earth, but neither has aught to do with that superb peace which the Son of God bestows upon his brethren in the flesh. The peace which [Jesus Christ] Michael gives his children on Earth is that very peace which filled his own soul when he himself lived the mortal life in the flesh and on this very world. The peace of Jesus is the joy and satisfaction of a God-knowing individual who has achieved the triumph of learning fully how to do the will of God while living the mortal life in the flesh. The peace of Jesus’ mind was founded on an absolute human faith in the actuality of the divine Father’s wise and sympathetic overcare. Jesus had trouble on earth, he has even been falsely called the “man of sorrows,” but in and through all of these experiences he enjoyed the comfort of that confidence which ever empowered him to proceed with his Life Purpose in the full assurance that he was achieving the Father’s will.
181:1.9 Jesus was determined, persistent, and thoroughly devoted to the accomplishment of his Mission, but he was not an unfeeling and calloused stoic; he ever sought for the cheerful aspects of his life experiences, but he was not a blind and self-deceived optimist. The Master knew all that was to befall him, and he was unafraid. After he had bestowed this peace upon each of his followers, he could consistently say, “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
181:1.10 The peace of Jesus is, then, the peace and assurance of a son who fully believes that his career for time and eternity is safely and wholly in the care and keeping of an all-wise, all-loving, and all-powerful Spirit Father. And this is, indeed, a peace which passes the understanding of mortal mind, but which can be enjoyed to the full by the believing human heart. [Thank You, our glorious, loving and merciful Father God !!]
Topical Study 94 "NEW ! -- Gospel, Ideas, Ideals, Life,
Light, Message, Reality, Spirit, Teacher, Teaching, Truth, Values, Way"
Compiled 4/11/2016 by Dave@PureChristians.org
[Part 25 of many]
PAPER 181 FINAL ADMONITIONS AND WARNINGS
2. FAREWELL PERSONAL ADMONITIONS
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181:2.4 [Jesus:] “Once we called you [John Zebedee] and your brother [James] sons of thunder. You started out with us strong-minded and intolerant, but you have changed much since you wanted me to call fire down upon the heads of ignorant and thoughtless unbelievers. And you must change yet more. You should become the apostle of the new commandment which I have this night given you. Dedicate your life to teaching your brethren how to love one another, even as I have loved you.” [Fatherly love as Jesus does, and calls us to do, is higher than just brotherly love.]
181:2.12 When Jesus had finished speaking to Simon Zelotes, he stepped over to Matthew Levi and said: “No longer will it devolve upon you to provide for the treasury of the apostolic group. Soon, very soon, you will all be scattered; you will not be permitted to enjoy the comforting and sustaining association of even one of your brethren. As you go onward preaching this gospel of the Kingdom, you will have to find for yourselves new associates. I have sent you forth two and two during the times of your training, but now that I am leaving you, after you have recovered from the shock, you will go out alone, and to the ends of the earth, proclaiming this good news: That faith-quickened mortals are the sons of God.”
181:2.13 Then spoke Matthew: “But, Master, who will send us, and how shall we know where to go? Will Andrew show us the way?” And Jesus answered: “No, Levi, Andrew will no longer direct you in the proclamation of the gospel. He will, indeed, continue as your friend and counselor until that day whereon the new Teacher comes, [Jesus Christ here in Spirit always !!] and then shall the Spirit of Truth lead each of you abroad to labor for the extension of the Kingdom. Many changes have come over you since that day at the customhouse when you first set out to follow me; but many more must come before you will be able to see the vision of a brotherhood in which Gentile sits alongside Jew in fraternal association. But go on with your urge to win your Jewish brethren until you are fully satisfied and then turn with power to the Gentiles. One thing you may be certain of, Levi: You have won the confidence and affection of your brethren; they all love you.” (And all ten of them signified their acquiescence in the Master’s words.)
181:2.14 “Levi, I know much about your anxieties, sacrifices, and labors to keep the treasury replenished which your brethren do not know, and I am rejoiced that, though he who carried the bag is absent, the publican ambassador is here at my farewell gathering with the messengers of the Kingdom. I pray that you may discern the meaning of my teaching with the eyes of the Spirit. And when the new Teacher comes into your heart, follow on as he will lead you and let your brethren see — even all the world — what the Father can do for a hated tax-gatherer who dared to follow the Son of Man and to believe the gospel of the Kingdom. Even from the first, Levi, I loved you as I did these other Galileans. Knowing then so well that neither the Father nor the Son has respect of persons, see to it that you make no such distinctions among those who become believers in the gospel through your ministry. And so, Matthew, dedicate your whole future life service to showing all men that God is no respecter of persons; that, in the sight of God and in the fellowship of the Kingdom, all men [all humans in Spirit potential] are equal, all believers are the sons of God.”
181:2.15 Jesus then stepped over to James Zebedee, who stood in silence as the Master addressed him, saying: “James, when you and your younger brother [John] once came to me seeking preferment in the honors of the Kingdom, and I told you such honors were for the Father to bestow, I asked if you were able to drink my cup, and both of you answered that you were. Even if you were not then able, and if you are not now able, you will soon be prepared for such a service by the experience you are about to pass through. By such behavior you angered your brethren at that time. If they have not already fully forgiven you, they will when they see you drink my cup. Whether your ministry be long or short, possess your soul in patience. When the new Teacher comes, let him teach you the poise of compassion and that sympathetic tolerance which is born of sublime confidence in me and of perfect submission to the Father’s will. Dedicate your life to the demonstration of that combined human affection and divine dignity of the God-knowing and Son-believing disciple. And all who thus live will reveal the gospel even in the manner of their death. You and your brother John will go different ways, and one of you may sit down with me in the eternal Kingdom long before the other. It would help you much if you would learn that true wisdom embraces discretion as well as courage. You should learn sagacity to go along with your aggressiveness. There will come those supreme moments wherein my disciples will not hesitate to lay down their lives for this gospel, but in all ordinary circumstances it would be far better to placate the wrath of unbelievers that you might live and continue to preach the glad tidings. As far as lies in your power, live long on the earth that your life of many years may be fruitful in souls won for the heavenly Kingdom.” [James Zebedee was the first of the apostles to be murdered; he was put to death with the sword by Herod Agrippa.]
181:2.17 [Jesus:] “And now, Andrew, since you are the chief of your brethren by authority of my appointment, and since you have thus served as my personal representative, and as I am about to leave you and go to my Father, I release you from all responsibility as regards these temporal and administrative affairs. From now on you may exercise no jurisdiction over your brethren except that which you have earned in your capacity as spiritual leader, and which your brethren therefore freely recognize. From this hour you may exercise no authority over your brethren unless they restore such jurisdiction to you by their definite legislative action after I shall have gone to the Father. But this release from responsibility as the administrative head of this group does not in any manner lessen your moral responsibility to do everything in your power to hold your brethren together with a firm and loving hand during the trying time just ahead, those days which must intervene between my departure in the flesh and the sending of the new Teacher who will live in your hearts, and who ultimately will lead you into all Truth. As I prepare to leave you, I would liberate you from all administrative responsibility which had its inception and authority in my presence as one among you. Henceforth I shall exercise only spiritual authority over you and among you. [Jesus is among us always !!]
181:2.18 “If your brethren desire to retain you as their counselor, I direct that you should, in all matters temporal and spiritual, do your utmost to promote peace and harmony among the various groups of sincere gospel believers. Dedicate the remainder of your life to promoting the practical aspects of brotherly love among your brethren. Be kind to my brothers in the flesh when they come fully to believe this gospel; manifest loving and impartial devotion to the Greeks in the West and to Abner in the East. Although these, my apostles, are soon going to be scattered to the four corners of the earth, there to proclaim the good news of the salvation of sonship with God, you are to hold them together during the trying time just ahead, that season of intense testing during which you must learn to believe this gospel without my personal presence while you patiently await the arrival of the new Teacher, the Spirit of Truth. And so, Andrew, though it may not fall to you to do the great works as seen by men, be content to be the teacher and counselor of those who do such things. Go on with your work on Earth to the end, and then shall you continue this ministry in the eternal Kingdom, for have I not many times told you that I have other sheep not of this flock?”
181:2.19 Jesus then went over to the Alpheus twins and, standing between them, said: “My little children, you are one of the three groups of brothers who chose to follow after me. All six of you have done well to work in peace with your own flesh and blood, but none have done better than you. Hard times are just ahead of us. You may not understand all that will befall you and your brethren, but never doubt that you were once called to the work of the Kingdom. For some time there will be no multitudes to manage, but do not become discouraged; when your lifework is finished, I will receive you on high, where in glory you shall tell of your salvation to seraphic hosts and to multitudes of the high Sons of God. Dedicate your lives to the enhancement of commonplace toil. Show all men on Earth and the angels of Heaven how cheerfully and courageously mortal man can, after having been called to work for a season in the special service of God, return to the labors of former days. If, for the time being, your work in the outward affairs of the Kingdom should be completed, you should go back to your former labors with the new enlightenment of the experience of sonship with God and with the exalted realization that, to him who is God-knowing, there is no such thing as common labor or secular toil. To you who have worked with me, all things have become sacred, and all earthly labor has become a service even to God the Father. And when you hear the news of the doings of your former apostolic associates, rejoice with them and continue your daily work as those who wait upon God and serve while they wait. You have been my apostles, and you always shall be, and I will remember you in the Kingdom to come.”
181:2.20 And then Jesus went over to Philip, who, standing up, heard this message from his Master: “Philip, you have asked me many foolish questions, but I have done my utmost to answer every one, and now would I answer the last of such questionings which have arisen in your most honest but unspiritual mind. All the time I have been coming around toward you, have you been saying to yourself, ‘What shall I ever do if the Master goes away and leaves us alone in the world?’ O, you of little faith! And yet you have almost as much as many of your brethren. You have been a good steward, Philip. You failed us only a few times, and one of those failures we utilized to manifest the Father’s glory. Your office of stewardship is about over. You must soon more fully do the work you were called to do — the preaching of this gospel of the Kingdom. Philip, you have always wanted to be shown, and very soon shall you see great things. Far better that you should have seen all this by faith, but since you were sincere even in your material sightedness, you will live to see my words fulfilled. And then, when you are blessed with spiritual vision, [from Jesus the Spirit of truth !] go forth to your work, dedicating your life to the cause of leading mankind to search for God and to seek eternal realities with the eye of spiritual faith and not with the eyes of the material mind. Remember, Philip, you have a great mission on earth, for the world is filled with those who look at life just as you have tended to. You have a great work to do, and when it is finished in faith, you shall come to me in my Kingdom, and I will take great pleasure in showing you that which eye has not seen, ear heard, nor the mortal mind conceived. In the meantime, become as a little child in the Kingdom of the Spirit and permit me, as the Spirit of the new Teacher, to lead you forward in the spiritual Kingdom. And in this way will I be able to do much for you which I was not able to accomplish when I sojourned with you as a mortal of the realm. And always remember, Philip, he who has seen me has seen the Father.” [True !!]
181:2.24 [Jesus to Nathaniel:] “I have taught you much by word of mouth, and I have lived my life among you. I have done all that can be done to enlighten your minds and liberate your souls, and what you have not been able to get from my teachings and my life, you must now prepare to acquire at the hand of that master of all teachers — actual experience. And in all of this new experience which now awaits you, I will go before you and the Spirit of Truth shall be with you. Fear not; that which you now fail to comprehend, the new Teacher, when he has come, will reveal to you throughout the remainder of your life on earth and on through your training in the eternal ages.”
181:2.25 And then the Master, turning to all of them, said: “Be not dismayed that you fail to grasp the full meaning of the gospel. You are but finite, mortal men, and that which I have taught you is Infinite, Divine, and Eternal. Be patient and of good courage since you have the eternal ages before you in which to continue your progressive attainment of the experience of becoming perfect, even as your Father in Paradise is perfect.”
181:2.26 And then Jesus went over to Thomas, who, standing up, heard him say: “Thomas, you have often lacked faith; however, when you have had your seasons with doubt, you have never lacked courage. I know well that the false prophets and spurious teachers will not deceive you. After I have gone, your brethren will the more appreciate your critical way of viewing new teachings. And when you all are scattered to the ends of the Earth in the times to come, remember that you are still my ambassador. Dedicate your life to the great work of showing how the critical material mind of man can triumph over the inertia of intellectual doubting when faced by the demonstration of the manifestation of living Truth as it operates in the experience of Spirit-born men and women who yield the fruits of the Spirit in their lives, and who love one another, even as I have loved you. Thomas, I am glad you joined us, and I know, after a short period of perplexity, you will go on in the service of the Kingdom. Your doubts have perplexed your brethren, but they have never troubled me. I have confidence in you, and I will go before you even to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
PAPER 182 IN GETHSEMANE
1. THE LAST GROUP PRAYER
182:1.3 [Jesus:] “Father, my hour has come; now glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you. I know that you have given me full authority over all living creatures in my realm, and I will give Eternal Life to all who will become faith sons of God. And this is Eternal life, that my creatures should know you as the only true God and Father of all, and that they should believe in him whom you sent into the world. Father, I have exalted you on earth and have accomplished the work which you gave me to do. I have almost finished my Bestowal upon the children of our own creation; there remains only for me to lay down my life in the flesh. And now, O my Father, glorify me with the glory which I had with you before this world was and receive me once more at your right hand.
182:1.4 “I have manifested you to the men whom you chose from the world and gave to me. They are yours — as all life is in your hands — you gave them to me, and I have lived among them, teaching them the way of life, and they have believed. These men are learning that all I have comes from you, and that the life I live in the flesh is to make known my Father to the worlds. The Truth which you have given to me I have revealed to them. These, my friends and ambassadors, have sincerely willed to receive your word. I have told them that I came forth from you, that you sent me into this world, and that I am about to return to you. Father, I do pray for these chosen men. And I pray for them not as I would pray for the world, but as for those whom I have chosen out of the world to represent me to the world after I have returned to your work, even as I have represented you in this world during my sojourn in the flesh. These men are mine; you gave them to me; but all things which are mine are ever yours, and all that which was yours you have now caused to be mine. You have been exalted in me, and I now pray that I may be honored in these men. I can no longer be in this world; I am about to return to the work you have given me to do. I must leave these men behind to represent us and our Kingdom among men. Father, keep these men faithful as I prepare to yield up my life in the flesh. Help these, my friends, to be one in Spirit, even as We are One. As long as I could be with them, I could watch over them and guide them, but now am I about to go away. Be near them, Father, until We can send the New Teacher to comfort and strengthen them.
182:1.5 “You gave me twelve men, and I have kept them all save one, the son of revenge, who would not have further fellowship with us. These men are weak and frail, but I know we can trust them; I have proved them; they love me, even as they reverence you. While they must suffer much for my sake, I desire that they should also be filled with the joy of the assurance of sonship in the heavenly Kingdom. I have given these men your word and have taught them the Truth. The world may hate them, even as it has hated me, but I do not ask that you take them out of the world, only that you keep them from the evil in the world. Sanctify them in the Truth; your Word is Truth. And as you sent me into this world, even so am I about to send these men into the world. For their sakes I have lived among men and have consecrated my life to your service that I might inspire them to be purified through the Truth I have taught them and the love I have revealed to them. I well know, my Father, that there is no need for me to ask you to watch over these brethren after I have gone; I know you love them even as I, but I do this that they may the better realize the Father loves mortal men even as does the Son. [Yes !!!]
182:1.6 “And now, my Father, I would pray not only for these eleven men but also for all others who now believe, or who may hereafter believe the gospel of the Kingdom through the word of their future ministry. I want them all to be one, even as you and I are one. You are in me and I am in you, and I desire that these believers likewise be in us; that both of our Spirits indwell them. If my children are one as we are one, and if they love one another as I have loved them, all men will then believe that I came forth from you and be willing to receive the Revelation of Truth and Glory which I have made. The Glory which you gave me I have revealed to these believers. As you have lived with me in Spirit, so have I lived with them in the flesh. As you have been one with me, so have I been one with them, and so will the New Teacher ever be one with them and in them. And all this have I done that my brethren in the flesh may know that the Father loves them even as does the Son, and that you love them even as you love me. Father, work with me to save these believers that they may presently come to be with me in glory and then go on to join you in the Paradise embrace. Those who serve with me in humiliation, I would have with me in glory so that they may see all you have given into my hands as the eternal harvest of the seed sowing of time in the likeness of mortal flesh. I long to show my earthly brethren the Glory I had with you before the founding of this world. This world knows very little of you, Righteous Father, but I know you, and I have made you known to these believers, and they will make known your name to other generations. And now I promise them that you will be with them in the world even as you have been with me — even so.” [Jesus' prayer is so profound and important; please read this slowly and carefully until you understand it well. Some of this prayer is found in John chapter 17. The genius Blaise Pascal was reading the last few verses of chapter 17 when he was given a sacred, glorious Vision of God and Jesus as One Combined Father-Son Spirit Luminosity. (Light.) That transformed Blaise Pascal and made him a very important ambassador of Jesus which helped to transform Christianity. Some later writers called this, "Pascal's Divine Night of Fire." It is better to state: "Pascal's night of Divine Fire Presence of God in and as Jesus Christ."]
2. LAST HOUR BEFORE THE BETRAYAL
182:2.5 After the eight apostles had finally gone to their tents, and while Peter, James, and John were standing by to receive the Master’s orders, Jesus called to David Zebedee, “Send to me your most fleet and trustworthy messenger.” When David brought to the Master one Jacob, once a runner on the overnight messenger service between Jerusalem and Bethsaida, Jesus, addressing him, said: “In all haste, go to Abner at Philadelphia and say: ‘The Master sends greetings of peace to you and says that the hour has come when he will be delivered into the hands of his enemies, who will put him to death, but that he will rise from the dead and appear to you shortly, before he goes to the Father, and that he will then give you guidance to the time when the new Teacher shall come to live in your hearts.’” And when Jacob had rehearsed this message to the Master’s satisfaction, Jesus sent him on his way, saying: “Fear not what any man may do to you, Jacob, for this night an unseen messenger [probably a guardian angel or a midwayer] will run by your side.”
