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 2014 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 90 "Child of God and Child of Man"
Compiled 10/12/2015 by Dave@PureChristians.org
[Part 24 of many]
PAPER 174 TUESDAY MORNING IN THE TEMPLE, Cont.
174:3.1 Before Jesus could get started with his teaching, another group came forward to question him, this time a company of the learned and crafty Sadducees. Their spokesman, drawing near to him, said: “Master, Moses said that if a married man should die, leaving no children, his brother should take the wife and raise up seed for the deceased brother. Now there occurred a case where a certain man who had six brothers died childless; his next brother took his wife but also soon died, leaving no children. Likewise did the second brother take the wife, but he also died leaving no offspring. And so on until all six of the brothers had had her, and all six of them passed on without leaving children. And then, after them all, the woman herself died. Now, what we would like to ask you is this: In the resurrection whose wife will she be since all seven of these brothers had her?” [a silly, highly contrived question !]
174:3.2 Jesus knew, and so did the people, that these Sadducees were not sincere in asking this question because it was not likely that such a case would really occur; and besides, this practice of the brothers of a dead man seeking to beget children for him was practically a dead letter at this time among the Jews. Nevertheless, Jesus condescended to reply to their mischievous question. He said: “You all do err in asking such questions because you know neither the Scriptures nor the living power of God. You know that the sons of this world can marry and are given in marriage, but you do not seem to understand that they who are accounted worthy to attain the worlds to come, through the resurrection of the righteous, neither marry nor are given in marriage. Those who experience the resurrection from the dead are more like the angels of Heaven, and they never die. These resurrected ones are eternally the sons of God; they are the children of Light [God] resurrected into the progress of eternal life. And even your Father Moses understood this, for, in connection with his experiences at the burning bush, he heard the Father say, ‘I AM the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ And so, along with Moses, do I declare that my Father is not the God of the dead but of the living. In him you all do live, reproduce, and possess your mortal existence.”
174:3.3 When Jesus had finished answering these questions, the Sadducees withdrew, and some of the Pharisees so far forgot themselves as to exclaim, “True, true, Master, you have well answered these unbelieving Sadducees.” The Sadducees dared not ask him any more questions, and the common people marveled at the wisdom of his teaching.
5. THE INQUIRING GREEKS
174:5.3 [Jesus:] “My Father sent me to this world to reveal his loving-kindness to the children of men, but those to whom I first came have refused to receive me. True, indeed, many of you have believed my gospel for yourselves, but the children of Abraham and their leaders are about to reject me, and in so doing they will reject Him who sent me. I have freely proclaimed the gospel of salvation to this people; I have told them of sonship with joy, liberty, and life more abundant in the Spirit. My Father has done many wonderful works among these fear-ridden sons of men. But truly did the Prophet Isaiah refer to this people when he wrote: ‘Lord, who has believed our teachings? And to whom has the Lord been revealed?’ Truly have the leaders of my people deliberately blinded their eyes that they see not, and hardened their hearts lest they believe and be saved. All these years have I sought to heal them of their unbelief that they might be recipients of the Father’s eternal salvation. I know that not all have failed me; some of you have indeed believed my message. In this room now are a full score of men who were once members of the Sanhedrin, or who were high in the councils of the nation, albeit even some of you still shrink from open confession of the truth lest they cast you out of the synagogue. Some of you are tempted to love the glory of men more than the glory of God. But I am constrained to show forbearance since I fear for the safety and loyalty of even some of those who have been so long near me, and who have lived so close by my side..”
174:5.7 “He who believes this gospel, believes not merely in me but in Him who sent me. When you look upon me, you see not only the Son of Man but also Him who sent me. I AM the Light of the world, and whosoever will believe my teaching shall no longer abide in darkness. If you Gentiles will hear me, you shall receive the words of life and shall enter forthwith into the joyous liberty of the truth of sonship with God. If my fellow countrymen, the Jews, choose to reject me and to refuse my teachings, I will not sit in judgment on them, for I came not to judge the world but to offer it salvation. Nevertheless, they who reject me and refuse to receive my teaching shall be brought to judgment in due season by my Father and those whom he has appointed to sit in judgment on such as reject the gift of mercy and the truths of salvation. Remember, all of you, that I speak not of myself, but that I have faithfully declared to you that which the Father commanded I should reveal to the children of men. And these words which the Father directed me to speak to the world are words of divine truth, everlasting mercy, and eternal life..” [Powerful, saving words of Light and Life from Jesus !]
PAPER 175 THE LAST TEMPLE DISCOURSE
1. THE DISCOURSE
175:1.1 [Jesus:] “This long time have I been with you, going up and down in the land proclaiming the Father’s love for the children of men, and many have seen the Light and, by faith, have entered into the Kingdom of Heaven. In connection with this teaching and preaching the Father has done many wonderful works, even to the resurrection of the dead. Many sick and afflicted have been made whole because they believed; but all of this proclamation of Truth and healing of disease has not opened the eyes of those who refuse to see Light, those who are determined to reject this gospel of the Kingdom.”
175:1.6 [Jesus:] “And when you do once reject this Revelation of God to man, the Kingdom of Heaven shall be given to other peoples, to those who will receive it with joy and gladness. In the name of the Father who sent me, I solemnly warn you that you are about to lose your position in the world as the standard-bearers of eternal Truth and the custodians of the divine Law. I am just now offering you your last chance to come forward and repent, to signify your intention to seek God with all your hearts and to enter, like little children and by sincere faith, into the security and salvation of the Kingdom of Heaven.” [Loving, saving words to terrible enemies of God and His Truth !]
175:1.13 [Jesus:] “Woe upon you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites that you are! for you do indeed encompass land and sea to make one proselyte, and when you have succeeded, you are not content until you have made him twofold worse than he was as a child of the heathen. ”
175:1.21 [Jesus:] “Woe upon you, children of evil! John did truly call you the offspring of vipers, and I ask how can you escape the judgment that John pronounced upon you?”
175:1.23 [Jesus:] “O Jerusalem and the children of Abraham, you who have stoned the prophets and killed the teachers that were sent to you, even now would I gather your children together as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but you will not![another offer of mercy and forgiveness that they rejected !]
175:1.24 “And now I take leave of you. You have heard my message and have made your decision. Those who have believed my gospel are even now safe within the Kingdom of God. To you who have chosen to reject the gift of God, I say that you will no more see me teaching in the temple. My work for you is done. Behold, I now go forth with my children, and your house is left to you desolate!”
2. STATUS OF INDIVIDUAL JEWS
175:2.3 How cruel and unreasoning to compel innocent children to suffer for the sins of their progenitors, misdeeds of which they are wholly ignorant, and for which they could in no way be responsible! And to do such wicked deeds in the name of one who taught his disciples to love even their enemies! It has become necessary, in this recital of the life of Jesus, to portray the manner in which certain of his fellow Jews rejected him and conspired to bring about his ignominious death; but we would warn all who read this narrative that the presentation of such a historical recital in no way justifies the unjust hatred, nor condones the unfair attitude of mind, which so many professed Christians have maintained toward individual Jews for many centuries. Kingdom believers, those who follow the teachings of Jesus, must cease to mistreat the individual Jew as one who is guilty of the rejection and crucifixion of Jesus. The Father and his Creator Son have never ceased to love the Jews. God is no respecter of persons, and salvation is for the Jew as well as for the Gentile. [God and Jesus, One here in Spirit, love all humans and all beings, high to low, equally !!! Amen !]
3. THE FATEFUL SANHEDRIN MEETING
175:3.2 From this time on the Jews were left to finish their brief and short lease of national life wholly in accordance with their purely human status among the nations of Earth. Israel had repudiated [Jesus Christ Michael] the Son of the God who made a covenant with Abraham, and the plan to make the children of Abraham the Light-bearers of Truth to the world had been shattered. The divine [Melchizedek] covenant had been abrogated, and the end of the Hebrew nation drew on apace. [In A.D. 70, Jerusalem, the temple, and the nation of Israel was destroyed.]
175:3.3 The officers of the Sanhedrin were given the orders for Jesus’ arrest early the next morning, [Wednesday, April 05, A.D. 30] but with instructions that he must not be apprehended in public. They were told to plan to take him in secret, preferably suddenly and at night. Understanding that he might not return that day (Wednesday) to teach in the temple, they instructed these officers of the Sanhedrin to “bring him before the high Jewish court sometime before midnight on Thursday.”
PAPER 176 TUESDAY EVENING ON MOUNT OLIVET
3. LATER DISCUSSION AT THE CAMP
176:3.5 [Jesus:] “To every one who has, more shall be given, and he shall have abundance; but from him who has not, even that which he has shall be taken away. [Nothing of real value !!] You cannot stand still in the affairs of the eternal Kingdom. My Father requires all his children to grow in grace and in a knowledge of the Truth. You who know these Truths must yield the increase of the fruits of the Spirit and manifest a growing devotion to the unselfish service of your fellow servants. And remember that, inasmuch as you minister to one of the least of my brethren, you have done this service to me.
176:3.6 “And so should you go about the work of the Father’s business, now and henceforth, even forevermore. Carry on until I come. In faithfulness do that which is intrusted to you, and thereby shall you be ready for the reckoning call of death. And having thus lived for the glory of the Father and the satisfaction of the Son, you shall enter with joy and exceedingly great pleasure into the eternal service of the everlasting Kingdom.”
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.
4. THE RETURN OF MICHAEL
176:4.7 [Very important:] The second advent of [Jesus Christ] Michael on earth is an event of tremendous sentimental value to both midwayers and humans; but otherwise it is of no immediate moment to midwayers and of no more practical importance to human beings than the common event of natural death, which so suddenly precipitates mortal man into the immediate grasp of that succession of universe events which leads directly to the presence of this same Jesus, the Sovereign Ruler of our universe. The children of Light are all destined to see him, and it is of no serious concern whether we go to him or whether he should chance first to come to us. Be you therefore ever ready to welcome him on earth as he stands ready to welcome you in Heaven. We [the Spirit and Celestial Revelators] confidently look for his glorious appearing, even for repeated comings, [!!!] but we are wholly ignorant as to how, when, or in what connection he is destined to appear.
PAPER 177 WEDNESDAY, THE REST DAY
2. EARLY HOME LIFE
177:2.1 In the course of this day’s visiting with John Mark, Jesus spent considerable time comparing their early childhood and later boyhood experiences. Although John’s parents possessed more of this world’s goods than had Jesus’ parents, there was much experience in their boyhood which was very similar. Jesus said many things which helped John better to understand his parents and other members of his family. When the lad asked the Master how he could know that he would turn out to be a “mighty messenger of the Kingdom,” Jesus said:
177:2.2 “I know you will prove loyal to the gospel of the Kingdom because I can depend upon your present faith and love when these qualities are grounded upon such an early training as has been your portion at home. You are the product of a home where the parents bear each other a sincere affection, and therefore you have not been overloved so as injuriously to exalt your concept of self-importance. Neither has your personality suffered distortion in consequence of your parents’ loveless maneuvering for your confidence and loyalty, the one against the other. You have enjoyed that parental love which insures laudable self-confidence and which fosters normal feelings of security. But you have also been fortunate in that your parents possessed wisdom as well as love; and it was wisdom which led them to withhold most forms of indulgence and many luxuries which wealth can buy while they sent you to the synagogue school along with your neighborhood playfellows, and they also encouraged you to learn how to live in this world by permitting you to have original experience. You came over to the Jordan, where we preached and John’s disciples baptized, with your young friend Amos. Both of you desired to go with us. When you returned to Jerusalem, your parents consented; Amos’s parents refused; they loved their son so much that they denied him the blessed experience which you have had, even such as you this day enjoy. By running away from home, Amos could have joined us, but in so doing he would have wounded love and sacrificed loyalty. Even if such a course had been wise, it would have been a terrible price to pay for experience, independence, and liberty. Wise parents, such as yours, see to it that their children do not have to wound love or stifle loyalty in order to develop independence and enjoy invigorating liberty when they have grown up to your age.
177:2.3 “Love, John, is the supreme reality of the universe when bestowed by all-wise beings, but it is a dangerous and oftentimes semiselfish trait as it is manifested in the experience of mortal parents. When you get married and have children of your own to rear, make sure that your love is admonished by wisdom and guided by intelligence.
177:2.4 “Your young friend Amos believes this gospel of the Kingdom just as much as you, but I cannot fully depend upon him; I am not certain about what he will do in the years to come. His early home life was not such as would produce a wholly dependable person. Amos is too much like one of the apostles who failed to enjoy a normal, loving, and wise home training. Your whole [mortal, earth] afterlife will be more happy and dependable because you spent your first eight years in a normal and well-regulated home. You possess a strong and well-knit character because you grew up in a home where love prevailed and wisdom reigned. Such a childhood training produces a type of loyalty which assures me that you will go through with the course you have begun.”
177:2.5 For more than an hour Jesus and John continued this discussion of home life. The Master went on to explain to John how a child is wholly dependent on his parents and the associated home life for all his early concepts of everything intellectual, social, moral, and even spiritual since the family represents to the young child all that he can first know of either human or divine relationships. The child must derive his first impressions of the universe from the mother’s care; he is wholly dependent on the earthly father for his first ideas of the heavenly Father. The child’s subsequent life is made happy or unhappy, easy or difficult, in accordance with his early mental and emotional life, conditioned by these social and spiritual relationships of the home. A human being’s entire [mortal] afterlife is enormously influenced by what happens during the first few years of existence.
177:2.6 It is our sincere belief that the gospel of Jesus’ teaching, founded as it is on the father-child relationship, can hardly enjoy a world-wide acceptance until such a time as the home life of the modern civilized peoples embraces more of love and more of wisdom. Notwithstanding that parents of the twentieth century possess great knowledge and increased truth for improving the home and ennobling the home life, it remains a fact that very few modern homes are such good places in which to nurture boys and girls as Jesus’ home in Galilee and John Mark’s home in Judea, albeit the acceptance of Jesus’ gospel will result in the immediate improvement of home life. The love life of a wise home and the loyal devotion of true religion exert a profound reciprocal influence upon each other. Such a home life enhances religion, and genuine religion always glorifies the home.
177:2.7 It is true that many of the objectionable stunting influences and other cramping features of these olden Jewish homes have been virtually eliminated from many of the better-regulated modern homes. There is, indeed, more spontaneous freedom and far more personal liberty, but this liberty is not restrained by love, motivated by loyalty, nor directed by the intelligent discipline of wisdom. As long as we teach the child to pray, “Our Father who is in Heaven,” a tremendous responsibility rests upon all earthly fathers so to live and order their homes that the word father becomes worthily enshrined in the minds and hearts of all growing children.
Topical Study 90 "Child of God and Child of Man"
Compiled 10/14/2015 by Dave@PureChristians.org
[Part 25 of 26]
PAPER 178 LAST DAY AT THE CAMP
1. DISCOURSE ON SONSHIP AND CITIZENSHIP
178:1.1 Jesus talked to about fifty of his trusted followers for almost two hours and answered a score of questions regarding the relation of the kingdom of heaven to the kingdoms of this world, concerning the relation of sonship with God to citizenship in earthly governments. This discourse, together with his answers to questions, may be summarized and restated in modern language as follows:
178:1.13 When a Kingdom believer is called upon to serve the civil government, let him render such service as a temporal citizen of such a government, albeit such a believer should display in his civil service all of the ordinary traits of citizenship as these have been enhanced by the spiritual enlightenment of the ennobling association of the mind of mortal man with the indwelling Spirit of the eternal God. If the unbeliever can qualify as a superior civil servant, you should seriously question whether the roots of truth in your heart have not died from the lack of the living waters of combined spiritual communion and social service. The consciousness of sonship with God should quicken the entire life service of every man, woman, and child who has become the possessor of such a mighty stimulus to all the inherent powers of a human personality.
3. ON THE WAY TO THE SUPPER
178:3.4 [Jesus:] “When you see this city destroyed, [Jerusalm and Israel were destroyed in A.D. 70] forget not that you have entered already upon the eternal life of endless service in the ever-advancing Kingdom of Heaven, even of the Heaven of heavens. You should know that in my Father’s universe and in mine are many abodes, and that there awaits the children of Light the revelation of cities whose builder is God and worlds whose habit of life is righteousness and joy in the truth. I have brought the Kingdom of Heaven to you here on earth, but I declare that all of you who by faith enter therein and remain therein by the living service of truth, shall surely ascend to the worlds on high and sit with me in the Spirit Kingdom of our Father. But first must you gird yourselves and complete the work which you have begun with me. You must first pass through much tribulation and endure many sorrows — and these trials are even now upon us — and when you have finished your work on earth, you shall come to my joy, even as I have finished my Father’s work on earth and am about to return to his embrace.”
PAPER 179 THE LAST SUPPER
3. WASHING THE APOSTLES’ FEET
179:3.9 [Jesus:] “When I came into this chamber tonight, you were not content proudly to refuse to wash one another’s feet, but you must also fall to disputing among yourselves as to who should have the places of honor at my table. Such honors the Pharisees and the children of this world seek, but it should not be so among the ambassadors of the heavenly Kingdom. Do you not know that there can be no place of preferment at my table? Do you not understand that I love each of you as I do the others? Do you not know that the place nearest me, as men regard such honors, can mean nothing concerning your standing in the Kingdom of Heaven? You know that the kings of the Gentiles have lordship over their subjects, while those who exercise this authority are sometimes called benefactors. But it shall not be so in the Kingdom of Heaven. He who would be great among you, let him become as the younger; while he who would be chief, let him become as one who serves. Who is the greater, he who sits at meat, or he who serves? Is it not commonly regarded that he who sits at meat is the greater? But you will observe that I am among you as one who serves. If you are willing to become fellow servants with me in doing the Father’s will, in the Kingdom to come you shall sit with me in power, still doing the Father’s will in future glory.”
PAPER 180 THE FAREWELL DISCOURSE
1. The New Commandment
180:1.1 After a few moments of informal conversation, Jesus stood up and said: “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. 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. And by this will all men know that you are my disciples if you thus love one another. [The "Diamond Rule" of having fatherly love; not merely the "Golden Rule" brotherly love !!]
4. THE PROMISED HELPER
180:4.1 [Very Important:] 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, 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, 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 [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?
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 [BOTH !!!] 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.”
5. THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH
180:5.4 The true child of universe insight looks for the Living Spirit of Truth in every wise saying. The God-knowing individual is constantly elevating wisdom to the Living-Truth levels of divine attainment; the spiritually unprogressive soul is all the while dragging the Living Truth down to the dead levels of wisdom and to the domain of mere exalted knowledge.
6. THE NECESSITY FOR LEAVING
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 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 [ALL !!] the worlds will be blessed in this same Revelation of [God's Gift of eternal] 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.
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. [Yes ! Perfectly !] But when you have become perfected in Spirit growth, you shall then see the Father himself.”
PAPER 181 FINAL ADMONITIONS AND WARNINGS
1. LAST WORDS OF COMFORT
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. [The loving Fatherhood of God and the perfecting brotherhood of all mankind -- in the Family of God in Heaven and now on Earth !] In this way the Son of Man will become a spiritual incarnation in the souls of all true believers. [Tremendous Truths !!]
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 creation is not an endless rest of idleness and selfish ease but rather a ceaseless progression in grace, truth, and glory. Each of the many, many [just over one billion higher spheres] 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 [all humans are now sons of God, thanks to Jesus !] 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.
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.
2. FAREWELL PERSONAL ADMONITIONS
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, 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.” [The Universal Father is in Jesus Christ Michael; and Jesus Christ Michael is within the Father-Infinite I AM; They are eternally One in Spirit. Amen !!!]
Topical Study 90 "Child of God and Child of Man"
Compiled 10/16/2015 by Dave@PureChristians.org
[Part 26 of 26]
PAPER 182 IN GETHSEMANE
1. THE LAST GROUP PRAYER
[In part only. Profound Truths !]
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.”
182:1.6 [Jesus:] “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 [ever unfolding] 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.”
182:1.21 I AM the Infinite Father of my finite children.
3. ALONE IN GETHSEMANE
182:3.10 Jesus’ humanity was not insensible to this situation of private loneliness, public shame, and the appearance of the failure of his cause. All these sentiments bore down on him with indescribable heaviness. In this great sorrow his mind went back to the days of his childhood in Nazareth and to his early work in Galilee. At the time of this great trial there came up in his mind many of those pleasant scenes of his earthly ministry. And it was from these old memories of Nazareth, Capernaum, Mount Hermon, and of the sunrise and sunset on the shimmering Sea of Galilee, that he soothed himself as he made his human heart strong and ready to encounter the traitor [Judas] who should so soon betray him.
PAPER 188 THE TIME OF THE TOMB
4. Meaning of the Death on the Cross
188:4.5 The animal nature — the tendency toward evil-doing — may be hereditary, but sin is not transmitted from parent to child. Sin is the act of conscious and deliberate rebellion against the Father’s will and the [local universe Sovereign] Sons’ laws by an individual will creature.
188:4.11 Even if God were the stern and legal monarch of a universe in which justice ruled supreme, he certainly would not be satisfied with the childish scheme of substituting an innocent sufferer for a guilty offender. [True, the primitive, barbaric "atonement doctrine" makes no sense; and is actually blasphemy against the true nature of our all-loving and lavishly merciful Universal Father on Paradise, Who is just like our Local Universe Creator Father-Son Jesus Christ Michael in perfect Spirit nature !]
PAPER 191 APPEARANCES TO THE APOSTLES AND OTHER LEADERS
3. WITH THE MORONTIA [SOUL REALITY] CREATURES
191:3.2 About midnight of this Monday [April 10, A.D. 30] the Master’s morontia [higher soul] form was adjusted for transition to the second stage of morontia progression. When he next appeared to his mortal children on Earth, it was as a second-stage morontia being. As the Master progressed in the morontia career, [seven major morontis stages as we ascend in 570 morontia reality Heavens made by Jesus in this local universe which also has over 3.8 million human-inhabited planets] it became, technically, more and more difficult for the morontia intelligences and their transforming associates to visualize the Master to mortal and material eyes.
4. THE TENTH APPEARANCE (AT PHILADELPHIA)
191:4.3 [Jesus:] “Peace be upon you. You all know that we have one Father in Heaven, and that there is but one gospel of the Kingdom — the good news of the gift of eternal life which men receive by faith. As you rejoice in your loyalty to the gospel, pray the Father of Truth to shed abroad in your hearts a new and greater love for your brethren. You are to love all men as I have loved you; you are to serve all men as I have served you. With understanding sympathy and brotherly affection, fellowship all your brethren who are dedicated to the proclamation of the good news, whether they be Jew or Gentile, Greek or Roman, Persian or Ethiopian. John proclaimed the Kingdom in advance; you have preached the gospel in power; the Greeks already teach the good news; and I am soon to send forth the Spirit of Truth into the souls of all these, my brethren, who have so unselfishly dedicated their lives to the enlightenment of their fellows who sit in spiritual darkness. You are all the children of Light; therefore stumble not into the misunderstanding entanglements of mortal suspicion and human intolerance. If you are ennobled, by the grace of faith, to love unbelievers, should you not also equally love those who are your fellow believers in the far-spreading household of faith? Remember, as you love one another, all men will know that you are my disciples.”
6. THE ALEXANDRIAN APPEARANCE
191:6.2 [Jesus:] “Peace be upon you. That which my Father sent me into the world to establish belongs not to a race, a nation, nor to a special group of teachers or preachers. This gospel of the Kingdom belongs to both Jew and Gentile, to rich and poor, to free and bond, to male and female, even to the little children. And you are all to proclaim this gospel of love and truth by the lives which you live in the flesh. You shall love one another with a new and startling affection, even as I have loved you. You will serve mankind with a new and amazing devotion, even as I have served you. And when men see you so love them, and when they behold how fervently you serve them, they will perceive that you have become faith-fellows of the Kingdom of Heaven, and they will follow after the Spirit of Truth which they see in your lives, to the finding of eternal salvation.”
PAPER 192 APPEARANCES IN GALILEE
2. VISITING WITH THE APOSTLES TWO AND TWO
192:2.9 Jesus next talked with Thomas and Nathaniel. Said he to Thomas, “Thomas, do you serve me?” Thomas replied, “Yes, Lord, I serve you now and always.” Then said Jesus: “If you would serve me, serve my brethren in the flesh even as I have served you. And be not weary in this well-doing but persevere as one who has been ordained by God for this service of love. When you have finished your service with me on Earth, you shall serve with me in glory. Thomas, you must cease doubting; you must grow in faith and the knowledge of truth. Believe in God like a child but cease to act so childishly. Have courage; be strong in faith and mighty in the Kingdom of God.”
PAPER 193 FINAL APPEARANCES AND ASCENSION
0. Introduction [all presented here]
193:0.1 The sixteenth morontia manifestation of Jesus occurred on Friday, May 5, in the courtyard of Nicodemus, about nine o’clock at night. On this evening the Jerusalem believers had made their first attempt to get together since the resurrection. Assembled here at this time were the eleven apostles, the women’s corps and their associates, and about fifty other leading disciples of the Master, including a number of the Greeks. This company of believers had been visiting informally for more than half an hour when, suddenly, the morontia Master appeared in full view and immediately began to instruct them. Said Jesus:
193:0.2 “Peace be upon you. This is the most representative group of believers — apostles and disciples, both men and women — to which I have appeared since the time of my deliverance from the flesh. I now call you to witness that I told you beforehand that my sojourn among you must come to an end; I told you that presently I must return to the Father. And then I plainly told you how the chief priests and the rulers of the Jews would deliver me up to be put to death, and that I would rise from the grave. Why, then, did you allow yourselves to become so disconcerted by all this when it came to pass? and why were you so surprised when I rose from the tomb on the third day? You failed to believe me because you heard my words without comprehending the meaning thereof.
193:0.3 [Very Important three paragraphs !] “And now you should give ear to my words lest you again make the mistake of hearing my teaching with the mind while in your hearts you fail to comprehend the meaning. From the beginning of my sojourn as one of you, I taught you that my one purpose was to reveal my Father in Heaven to his children on Earth. I have lived the God-Revealing Bestowal that you might experience the God-knowing career. I have revealed God as your Father in Heaven; I have revealed you as the sons of God on Earth. It is a fact that God loves you, his sons. By faith in my Word this fact becomes an eternal and living Truth in your hearts. When, by living faith, you become divinely God-conscious, you are then born of the Spirit as children of Light and Life, even the eternal Life wherewith you shall ascend the universe of universes and attain the experience of finding God the Father on Paradise.
193:0.4 “I admonish you ever to remember that your mission among men is to proclaim the gospel of the Kingdom — the reality of the Fatherhood of God and the truth of the sonship of man. Proclaim the whole Truth of the good news, not just a part of the saving gospel. Your message is not changed by my resurrection experience. Sonship with God, by faith, is still the saving Truth of the gospel of the Kingdom. You are to go forth preaching the love of God and the service of man. That which the world needs most to know is: Men [ALL humans] are the sons of God, and through faith they can actually realize, and daily experience, this ennobling Truth. My bestowal should help all men to know that they are the children of God, but such knowledge will not suffice if they fail personally to faith-grasp the saving Truth that they are the living Spirit sons of the eternal Father. The gospel of the Kingdom is concerned with the love of the Father and the service of his children on Earth.
193:0.5 “Among yourselves, here, you share the knowledge that I have risen from the dead, but that is not strange. I have the power to lay down my life and to take it up again; the Father gives such power to his Paradise Sons. You should the rather be stirred in your hearts by the knowledge that the dead of an age entered upon the eternal ascent soon after I left Joseph’s new tomb. I lived my life in the flesh to show how you can, through loving service, become God-revealing to your fellow men even as, by loving you and serving you, I have become God-Revealing to you. I have lived among you as the Son of Man that you, and all other men, [ALL humans now] might know that you are all indeed the sons of God. Therefore, go you now into all the world preaching this gospel of the kingdom of heaven to all men. Love all men as I have loved you; serve your fellow mortals as I have served you. Freely you have received, freely give. Only tarry here in Jerusalem while I go to the Father, and until I send you the Spirit of Truth. [Just like Jesus, but as an omnipresent Spirit upon all; and within all Truth-lovers !] He shall lead you into the enlarged Truth, and I will go with you into all the world. I am with you always, and my peace I leave with you.”
193:0.6 When the Master had spoken to them, he vanished from their sight. It was near daybreak before these believers dispersed; all night they remained together, earnestly discussing the Master’s admonitions and contemplating all that had befallen them. James Zebedee and others of the apostles also told them of their experiences with the morontia Master in Galilee and recited how he had three times appeared to them.
1. THE APPEARANCE AT SYCHAR
193:1.1 About four o’clock on Sabbath afternoon, May 13, the Master appeared to Nalda and about seventy-five Samaritan believers near Jacob’s well, at Sychar. The believers were in the habit of meeting at this place, near where Jesus had spoken to Nalda concerning the water of life. On this day, just as they had finished their discussions of the reported resurrection, Jesus suddenly appeared before them, saying:
193:1.2 “Peace be upon you. You rejoice to know that I AM the Resurrection and the Life, but this will avail you nothing unless you are first born of the eternal Spirit, thereby coming to possess, by faith, the Gift of eternal Life. If you are the faith sons of my Father, you shall never die; you shall not perish. The gospel of the Kingdom has taught you that all men are the sons of God. [ALL humans !!!] And this good news concerning the love of the heavenly Father for [all] his children on Earth must be carried to all the world. The time has come when you worship God neither on Gerizim nor at Jerusalem, but where you are, as you are, in Spirit and in [Father-Son Union] Truth. It is your faith that saves your souls. Salvation is the gift of God to all who believe they are his sons. But be not deceived; while salvation is the free gift of God and is bestowed upon all who accept it by faith, there follows the experience of bearing the fruits of this Spirit life as it is lived in the flesh. The acceptance of the doctrine of the Fatherhood of God implies that you also freely accept the associated truth of the brotherhood of man. And if man is your brother, he is even more than your neighbor, whom the Father requires you to love as yourself. Your brother, being of your own family, you will not only love with a family affection, but you will also serve as you would serve yourself. And you will thus love and serve your brother because you, being my brethren, have been thus loved and served by Me. Go, then, into all the world telling this good news to all creatures of every race, tribe, and nation. My Spirit shall go before you, and I will be with you always.”
2. THE PHOENICIAN APPEARANCE
193:2.1 The Master’s eighteenth morontia appearance was at Tyre, on Tuesday, May 16, [A.D. 30] at a little before nine o’clock in the evening. Again he appeared at the close of a meeting of believers, as they were about to disperse, saying:
193:2.2 [Very Important !] “Peace be upon you. You rejoice to know that the Son of Man has risen from the dead because you thereby know that you and your brethren shall also survive mortal death. But such survival is dependent on your having been previously born of the Spirit of truth-seeking and God-finding. The bread of life and the water thereof are given only to those who hunger for truth and thirst for righteousness — for God. The fact that the dead rise is not the gospel of the Kingdom. These great truths and these universe facts are all related to this gospel in that they are a part of the result of believing the good news and are embraced in the subsequent experience of those who, by faith, become, in deed and in Truth, the everlasting sons of the eternal God. My Father sent me into the world to proclaim this salvation of sonship to all men. And so send I you abroad to preach this salvation of sonship. Salvation is the free gift of God, but those who are born of the Spirit will immediately begin to show forth the fruits of the Spirit in loving service to their fellow creatures. And the fruits of the divine Spirit which are yielded in the lives of Spirit-born and God-knowing mortals are: loving service, unselfish devotion, courageous loyalty, sincere fairness, enlightened honesty, undying hope, confiding trust, merciful ministry, unfailing goodness, forgiving tolerance, and enduring peace. If professed believers bear not these fruits of the divine Spirit in their lives, they are dead; the Spirit of Truth is not in them; they are useless branches on the living vine, and they soon will be taken away. My Father requires of the children of faith that they bear much Spirit fruit. If, therefore, you are not fruitful, he will dig about your roots and cut away your unfruitful branches. Increasingly, must you yield the fruits of the Spirit as you progress heavenward in the Kingdom of God. You may enter the Kingdom as a child, but the Father requires that you grow up, by grace, to the full stature of spiritual adulthood. And when you go abroad to tell all nations the good news of this gospel, I will go before you, and my Spirit of Truth shall abide in your hearts. My peace I leave with you.”
PAPER 194 BESTOWAL OF THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH
2. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PENTECOST
194:2.1 Jesus lived on Earth and taught a gospel which redeemed man from the superstition that he was a child of the devil and elevated him to the dignity of a faith son of God. Jesus’ message, as he preached it and lived it in his day, was an effective solvent for man’s spiritual difficulties in that day of its statement. And now that he has personally left the world, he sends in his place his Spirit of Truth, who is designed to live in man and, for each new generation, to restate the Jesus message so that every new group of mortals to appear upon the face of the Earth shall have a new and up-to-date version of the gospel, just such personal enlightenment and group guidance as will prove to be an effective solvent for man’s ever-new and varied spiritual difficulties.
PAPER 195 AFTER PENTECOST
3. UNDER THE ROMAN EMPIRE
195:3.5 The teaching regarding Christ’s love for children soon put an end to the widespread practice of exposing children to death when they were not wanted, particularly girl babies.
5. THE MODERN PROBLEM
195:5.11 In confusion over man’s origin, do not lose sight of his eternal destiny. Forget not that Jesus loved even little children, and that he forever made clear the great worth of human personality.
PAPER 196 THE FAITH OF JESUS
0. Introduction
196:0.2 The human Jesus saw God as being holy, just, and great, as well as being true, beautiful, and good. All these attributes of divinity he focused in his mind as the “will of the Father in Heaven.” Jesus’ God was at one and the same time “The Holy One of Israel” and “The living and loving Father in Heaven.” The concept of God as a Father was not original with Jesus, but he exalted and elevated the idea into a sublime experience by achieving a new revelation of God and by proclaiming that every mortal creature is a child of this Father of love, a son of God. [!!! This is the profound Gospel of Jesus that is most vital to share worldwide !]
196:0.11 In the earthly life of Jesus, religion was a living experience, a direct and personal movement from spiritual reverence to practical righteousness. The faith of Jesus bore the transcendent fruits of the divine Spirit. His faith was not immature and credulous like that of a child, but in many ways it did resemble the unsuspecting trust of the child mind. Jesus trusted God much as the child trusts a parent. He had a profound confidence in the universe — just such a trust as the child has in its parental environment. Jesus’ wholehearted faith in the fundamental goodness of the universe very much resembled the child’s trust in the security of its earthly surroundings. He depended on the heavenly Father as a child leans upon its earthly parent, and his fervent faith never for one moment doubted the certainty of the heavenly Father’s overcare. He was not disturbed seriously by fears, doubts, and skepticism. Unbelief did not inhibit the free and original expression of his life. He combined the stalwart and intelligent courage of a full-grown man with the sincere and trusting optimism of a believing child. His faith grew to such heights of trust that it was devoid of fear.
196:0.12 The faith of Jesus attained the purity of a child’s trust. His faith was so absolute and undoubting that it responded to the charm of the contact of fellow beings and to the wonders of the universe. His sense of dependence on the Divine was so complete and so confident that it yielded the joy and the assurance of absolute personal security. There was no hesitating pretense in his religious experience. In this giant intellect of the full-grown man the faith of the child reigned supreme in all matters relating to the religious consciousness. It is not strange that he once said, “Except you become as a little child, you shall not enter the Kingdom.” Notwithstanding that Jesus’ faith was childlike, it was in no sense childish.
196:0.14 Jesus’ earthly life was devoted to one great purpose — doing the Father’s will, living the human life religiously and by faith. The faith of Jesus was trusting, like that of a child, but it was wholly free from presumption. He made robust and manly decisions, courageously faced manifold disappointments, resolutely surmounted extraordinary difficulties, and unflinchingly confronted the stern requirements of duty. It required a strong will and an unfailing confidence to believe what Jesus believed and as he believed.
2. THE RELIGION OF JESUS
196:2.9 Jesus led men to feel at home in the world; he delivered them from the slavery of taboo and taught them that the world was not fundamentally evil. He did not long to escape from his earthly life; he mastered a technique of acceptably doing the Father’s will while in the flesh. He attained an idealistic religious life in the very midst of a realistic world. Jesus did not share Paul’s pessimistic view of humankind. The Master looked upon men as the sons of God and foresaw a magnificent and eternal future for those who chose survival. He was not a moral skeptic; he viewed man positively, not negatively. He saw most men as weak rather than wicked, more distraught than depraved. But no matter what their status, they were all God’s children and his brethren. [What divine love Jesus and the Father have for each and all of us !!!]
3. THE SUPREMACY OF RELIGION
196:3.16 Unless a divine lover [God] lived in man, he could not unselfishly and spiritually love. Unless an interpreter [God] lived in the mind, man could not truly realize the unity of the universe. Unless an evaluator [God] dwelt with man, he could not possibly appraise moral values and recognize spiritual meanings. And this lover hails from the very Source of Infinite Love; [God the Father-Infinite I AM] this interpreter is a part of Universal Unity; this evaluator is the child of the Center and Source of all absolute values of Divine and Eternal Reality.
Topical Study 91 "All about LOVE -- Fatherly and Brotherly"
Compiled 10/19/2015 by Dave@PureChristians.org
[Part 1 of many]
FOREWORD
I. DEITY AND DIVINITY
[Paper:Section.Paragraph]
0:1.16 DIVINITY is the characteristic, unifying, and co-ordinating quality of Deity.
0:1.17 Divinity is creature comprehensible as truth, beauty, and goodness; correlated in personality as love, mercy, and ministry; disclosed on impersonal levels as justice, power, and sovereignty.
PAPER 1. THE UNIVERSAL FATHER
0. Introduction
1:0.2 The myriads of planetary systems were all made to be eventually inhabited by many different types of intelligent creatures, beings who could know God, receive the divine affection, and love him in return. The universe of universes is the work of God and the dwelling place of his diverse creatures. “God created the heavens and formed the earth; he established the universe and created this world not in vain; he formed it to be inhabited.”
1:0.3 The enlightened worlds all recognize and worship the Universal Father, the eternal Maker and infinite Upholder of all creation. The will creatures of universe upon universe have embarked upon the long, long Paradise journey, the fascinating struggle of the eternal adventure of attaining God the Father. The transcendent goal of the children of time is to find the eternal God, to comprehend the divine nature, to recognize the Universal Father. God-knowing creatures have only one supreme ambition, just one consuming desire, and that is to become, as they are in their spheres, like him as he is in his Paradise perfection of personality and in his universal sphere of righteous supremacy. From the Universal Father who inhabits eternity there has gone forth the supreme mandate, “Be you perfect, even as I am perfect.” In love and mercy the messengers of Paradise have carried this divine exhortation down through the ages and out through the universes, even to such lowly animal-origin [physical] creatures as the human races of Earth.
1. THE FATHER’S NAME
1:1.2 The Universal Father never imposes any form of arbitrary recognition, formal worship, or slavish service upon the intelligent will creatures of the universes. The evolutionary inhabitants of the worlds of time and space must of themselves — in their own hearts — recognize, love, and voluntarily worship him. The Creator refuses to coerce or compel the submission of the spiritual free wills of his material creatures. The affectionate dedication of the human will to the doing of the Father’s will is man’s choicest gift to God; in fact, such a consecration of creature will constitutes man’s only possible gift of true value to the Paradise Father. In God, man lives, moves, and has his being; there is nothing which man can give to God except this choosing to abide by the Father’s will, and such decisions, effected by the intelligent will creatures of the universes, constitute the reality of that true worship which is so satisfying to the love-dominated nature of the Creator Father.
1:1.5 On those worlds where a Paradise Son [our Jesus Christ Michael] has lived a bestowal life, God is generally known by some name indicative of personal relationship, tender affection, and fatherly devotion. On your constellation headquarters God is referred to as the Universal Father, and on different planets in your local system of inhabited worlds he is variously known as the Father of Fathers, the Paradise Father, the Havona Father, and the Spirit Father. Those who know God through the revelations of the bestowals of the Paradise Sons, eventually yield to the sentimental appeal of the touching relationship of the creature-Creator association and refer to God as “our Father.”
2. THE REALITY OF GOD
1:2.2 The eternal God is infinitely more than reality idealized or the universe personalized. God is not simply the supreme desire of man, the mortal quest objectified. Neither is God merely a concept, the power-potential of righteousness. The Universal Father is not a synonym for nature, neither is he natural law personified. God is a transcendent reality, not merely man’s traditional concept of supreme values. God is not a psychological focalization of spiritual meanings, neither is he “the noblest work of man.” God may be any or all of these concepts in the minds of men, but He is more. He is a saving person and a loving Father to all who enjoy spiritual peace on earth, and who crave to experience personality survival in death. [When one has realized the loving Presence of God, above and within, there is a powerful spiritual transformation giving great peace, joy, assurance and more !!]
3. GOD IS A UNIVERSAL SPIRIT
1:3.8 I [a Paradise-level Divine Counselor] come forth from the Eternal, and I have repeatedly returned to the presence of the Universal Father. I know of the actuality and personality of the First Source and Center, the Eternal and Universal Father. I know that, while the great God is absolute, eternal, and infinite, he is also good, divine, and gracious. I know the Truth of the great declarations: “God is Spirit” and “God is Love,” and these two attributes are most completely revealed to the universe in the Eternal Son. [Note well that God is love; but love is not God. Love is the highest of spiritual Values; but Values are not the Source of all highest realities and values; God the Father-Infinite I AM Spirit Personality IS ... ]
4. THE MYSTERY OF GOD
1:4.5 The divine mystery consists in the inherent difference which exists between the finite and the infinite, the temporal and the eternal, the time-space creature and the Universal Creator, the material and the spiritual, the imperfection of man and the perfection of Paradise Deity. The God of universal love unfailingly manifests himself to every one of his creatures up to the fullness of that creature’s capacity to spiritually grasp the qualities of divine truth, beauty, and goodness. [Humans must be known to be loved; but God must be loved to be known]
5. PERSONALITY OF THE UNIVERSAL FATHER
1:5.4 Even though material mortals cannot see the person of God, they should rejoice in the assurance that he is a person; by faith accept the truth which portrays that the Universal Father [see John 3:16] so loved the world as to provide for the eternal spiritual progression of its lowly inhabitants; that he “delights in his children.” God is lacking in none of those superhuman and divine attributes which constitute a perfect, eternal, loving, and infinite Creator personality.
1:5.8 Notwithstanding that God is an eternal Power, a majestic pPresence, a transcendent Ideal, and a glorious Spirit, though he is all these and infinitely more, nonetheless, he is truly and everlastingly a perfect Creator Personality, a person who can “know and be known,” who can “love and be loved,” and one who can befriend us; while you can be known, as other humans have been known, as the friend of God. He is a real Spirit and a spiritual Reality.
6. PERSONALITY IN THE UNIVERSE
1:6.2 God is to science a cause, to philosophy an idea, to religion a person, even the loving heavenly Father. God is to the scientist a primal force, to the philosopher a hypothesis of unity, to the religionist a living spiritual experience. Man’s inadequate concept of the personality of the Universal Father can be improved only by man’s spiritual progress in the universe and will become truly adequate only when the pilgrims of time and space finally attain the divine embrace of the living God on Paradise. [Then you will fully know and externally experience that you are a divinely beloved, Spirit-perfected Son of God our loving, gracious and glorious Universal Father !]
1:6.5 Some degree of moral affinity and spiritual harmony is essential to friendship between two persons; a loving personality can hardly reveal himself to a loveless person. Even to approach the knowing of a divine personality, all of man’s personality endowments must be wholly consecrated to the effort; halfhearted, partial devotion will be unavailing.
7. SPIRITUAL VALUE OF THE PERSONALITY CONCEPT
1:7.3 The concept of truth might possibly be entertained apart from personality, the concept of beauty may exist without personality, but the concept of divine goodness is understandable only in relation to personality. Only a person can love and be loved. Even beauty and truth would be divorced from survival hope if they were not attributes of a personal God, a loving Father.
PAPER 2 THE NATURE OF GOD
1. THE INFINITY OF GOD
2:1.8 In these ways and in many others, in ways unknown to you and utterly beyond finite comprehension, does the Paradise Father lovingly and willingly downstep and otherwise modify, dilute, and attenuate his Infinity in order that he may be able to draw nearer the finite minds of his creature children. [Roughly 7 x 10 to the 22nd power humans are living on seven trillion human-inhabited evolutionary planets in just this first age ! Earth is a much younger planet; so things down here are far more imperfect compared to the majority of worlds which are much further perfected-evolved.] And so, through a series of personality distributions which are diminishingly absolute, the Infinite Father is enabled to enjoy close contact with the diverse intelligences of the many realms of his far-flung universe.
2:1.10 Because the First Father is Infinite in his Plans and Eternal in his Purposes, it is inherently impossible for any finite being ever to grasp or comprehend these divine plans and purposes in their fullness. Mortal man can glimpse the Father’s purposes only now and then, here and there, as they are revealed in relation to the outworking of the Plan of creature ascension on its successive [a total of just over one billion ascending soul and then Spirit Heavens] levels of universe progression. Though man cannot encompass the Significance of Infinity, the Infinite Father does most certainly fully comprehend and lovingly embrace all the finity of all his children in all universes. [!!! Jesus has revealed that God has become as we now are; so the we may eventually be as HE IS; thus all Spirit-perfected in our ever-enlarging domains of activity !!! What ineffable infinite love and grace our Father-Son-Spirit God eternally gives to each and to all beings !!!]
3. JUSTICE AND RIGHTEOUSNESS
[My introductory comments: God does not punish humans ! He rehabilitates and transforms them with his infinite love, lavish mercy and all-wise ministry. Evil humans do retributive punishment.]
2:3.2 How futile to make puerile [childish] appeals to such a God to modify his changeless decrees so that we can avoid the just consequences of the operation of his wise natural laws and righteous spiritual mandates! "Be not deceived; God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap." True, even in the justice of reaping the harvest of wrongdoing, this divine justice is always tempered with mercy. Infinite wisdom is the eternal arbiter which determines the proportions of justice and mercy which shall be meted out in any given circumstance. The greatest punishment (in reality an inevitable consequence) for wrongdoing and deliberate rebellion against the government of God is loss of existence as an individual subject of that government. [no barbaric hell !] The final result of wholehearted sin is [painless] annihilation. In the last analysis, such sin-identified individuals have destroyed themselves by becoming wholly unreal through their embrace of iniquity. The factual disappearance of such a creature is, however, always delayed until the ordained order of justice current in that universe has been fully complied with. [Jesus Christ Michael, our Sovereign local universe Creator, will allow many thousands of years in a long series of his progressive and rehabilitative higher soul-level Heavens for each human to decide if they want to love and follow God eternally or to finally and absolutely agree to be not. This choice much be eventually made to allow each human son of God to have freewill as to his or her final Destiny. God does not want robot slaves to his perfect will. We are each an: I am a freewill son of our loving Father-Infinite I AM of freewill !]
2:3.6 The rule of the Creator Sons [our Universe Creator Sovereign God-Man Spirit person is Jesus Christ Michael] in the local universes is one of creation and spiritualization. These Sons devote themselves to the effective execution of the Paradise plan of progressive mortal ascension, to the rehabilitation of rebels and wrong thinkers, but when all such loving efforts are finally and forever rejected, the final decree of dissolution is executed by forces acting under the jurisdiction of the [our Superuniverse #7, three administrating] Ancients of Days.
4. THE DIVINE MERCY
2:4.1 Mercy is simply justice tempered by that wisdom which grows out of perfection of knowledge and the full recognition of the natural weaknesses and environmental handicaps of finite creatures. “Our God is full of compassion, gracious, long-suffering, and plenteous in mercy.” Therefore “whosoever calls upon the Lord shall be saved,” “for he will abundantly pardon.” “The mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting”; yes, “his mercy endures forever.” “I AM the Lord who executes loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the Earth, for in these things I delight.” “I do not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men,” for I AM “the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort.”
2:4.2 God is inherently kind, naturally compassionate, and everlastingly merciful. And never is it necessary that any influence be brought to bear upon the Father to call forth his loving-kindness. [No human intercessors are needed ! No shamans of sham ! No temple tycoons ! God and you are directly Divinely Connected as Father-son !] The creature’s need is wholly sufficient to insure the full flow of the Father’s tender mercies and his saving grace. Since God knows all about his children, it is easy for him to forgive. The better man understands his neighbor, the easier it will be to forgive him, even to love him.
2:4.4 Mercy is the natural and inevitable offspring of goodness and love. The good nature of a loving Father could not possibly withhold the wise ministry of mercy to each member of every group of his universe children. Eternal justice and divine mercy together constitute what in human experience would be called fairness.
2:4.5 Divine mercy represents a fairness technique of adjustment between the universe levels of perfection and imperfection. Mercy is the justice of Supremacy adapted to the situations of the evolving finite, the righteousness of Eternity modified to meet the highest interests and universe welfare of the children of time. Mercy is not a contravention of justice but rather an understanding interpretation of the demands of supreme justice as it is fairly applied to the subordinate spiritual beings and to the material creatures of the evolving universes. Mercy is the justice of the Paradise Trinity wisely and lovingly visited upon the manifold intelligences of the creations of time and space as it is formulated by divine Wisdom and determined by the all-knowing Mind and the sovereign free will [Deity Volition] of the Universal Father and all his associated [Coordinate Deity Loical Universe Creators.]
5. THE LOVE OF GOD
2:5.1 “God is love”; therefore his only personal attitude towards the affairs of the universe is always a reaction of divine affection. The Father loves us sufficiently to bestow his life upon us. “He makes his sun to rise on the evil and on the good and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”
2:5.2 It is wrong to think of [the eternally unchanging Father] God as being coaxed into loving his children because of the [barbaric, blood atonement doctrines] sacrifices of his Sons or the intercession of his subordinate creatures, "for the Father himself loves you." It is in response to this paternal affection that God sends the marvelous Adjusters [God's pure spirit Essence within you -- the will of God -- the future Spirit-perfected You !] to indwell the minds of men. God's love is universal; "whosoever will may come." He would "have all men be saved by coming into the knowledge of the truth." He is "not willing that any should perish."
2:5.3 The [One of 700,000 active Local Universe] Creators are the very first to attempt to save man from the disastrous results of his foolish transgression of the divine laws. God's love is by nature a Fatherly affection; therefore does he sometimes "chasten us for our own profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness." Even during your fiery trials remember that "in all our afflictions he is afflicted with us."
2:5.4 God is divinely kind to sinners. When rebels return to righteousness, they are mercifully received, “for our God will abundantly pardon.” “I AM He who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God.” [See also in Luke ch 15, "the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin and the Lost (Prodigal) Son" three as one powerful Parables of Jesus of God's unconditional love and lavish mercy Ministry !]
2:5.5 After all, the greatest evidence of the goodness of God and the Supreme reason for loving him is the indwelling Gift of the Father — the [Thought] Adjuster who so patiently awaits the hour when you both shall be eternally made One. Though you cannot find God by searching, if you will submit to the leading of the indwelling Spirit, [the will of God within you] you will be unerringly Guided, step by step, life by life, through universe upon universe, and age by age, [trillions of years blending into Eternity !] until you finally stand in the presence of the Paradise I AM Personality of the Universal Father.
2:5.6 How unreasonable that you should not worship God because the limitations of human nature and the handicaps of your material creation make it impossible for you to see Him. [with mere physical eyes. You may use your soul's Spirit Comprehension -Vision to Discern Him/Her/Them !] Between you and God there is a tremendous distance (physical space) to be traversed. There likewise exists a great gulf of spiritual differential which must be bridged; but notwithstanding all that physically and spiritually separates you from the Paradise Personal Presence of God, stop and ponder the solemn fact that God lives within you; He has in his own way already bridged the gulf. He has sent of himself, his Spirit, to live in you and to toil with you as you pursue your eternal universe career. [You and me without end in I AM ...]
2:5.7 I [a Paradise-level Divine Conselor] find it easy and pleasant to worship one who is so great and at the same time so affectionately devoted to the uplifting ministry of his lowly creatures. [God loves all Beings and all humans EQUALLY !] I naturally love One who is so powerful in Creation and in the Control thereof, and yet Who IS so perfect in goodness and so faithful in the loving-kindness which constantly overshadows us. I think I would love God just as much if He were not so great and powerful, as long as He is so good and merciful. We all love the Father more because of his nature than in recognition of his amazing attributes.
2:5.8 When I observe the [Coordinate Deity] Creator Sons and their subordinate administrators [our Gabriel, Melchizedeks, Vorondadeks, Lanonandeks,Planetary Princes, Life Carriers, etc] struggling so valiantly with the manifold difficulties of time inherent in the evolution of the universes of space, I discover that I bear these lesser rulers of the universes a great and profound affection. After all, I think we all, including the mortals of the realms, love the Universal Father and all other beings, divine or human, because we discern that these personalities truly love us. The experience of loving is very much a direct response to the experience of being loved. Knowing that God loves me, I should continue to love him supremely, even though He were divested of all his attributes of Supremacy, Ultimacy, and Absoluteness. [and much higher Infinite Realities !]
2:5.9 The Father’s love follows us now and throughout the endless circle of the eternal ages. As you ponder the loving nature of God, there is only one reasonable and natural personality reaction thereto: You will increasingly love your Maker; you will yield to God an affection analogous to that given by a child to an earthly parent; for, as a father, a real father, a true father, loves his children, so the Universal Father loves and forever seeks the welfare of [all of] his created sons and daughters.
2:5.10 [Very Important !] But the love of God is an intelligent and farseeing parental affection. The divine love functions in unified association with divine wisdom and all other infinite characteristics of the perfect nature of the Universal Father. God is love, but love is not God. The greatest manifestation of the divine love for mortal beings is observed in the bestowal of the Thought Adjusters, but your greatest revelation of the Father's love is seen in the bestowal life of his Son [Jesus Christ] Michael as He lived on Earth the ideal spiritual life. [Our Good Master Jesus Christ Michael is now and forever here with us as He the Spirit of Truth --even of All Truth: GOD ] It is the indwelling Adjuster [God within you !] who individualizes the love of God to each human soul.
2:5.11 At times I am almost pained to be compelled to portray the Divine Affection [agape love] of the heavenly Father for his universe children by the employment of the human word symbol love. This term, even though it does connote man’s highest concept of the mortal relations of respect and devotion, is so frequently designative of so much of human relationship that is wholly ignoble and utterly unfit to be known by any word which is also used to indicate the matchless affection of the living God for his universe creatures! How unfortunate that I cannot make use of some supernal [heavenly, on high, from above] and exclusive term which would convey to the mind of man the true nature and exquisitely beautiful significance of the Divine Affection of the Paradise Father. [Our Universal Father's unconditional love is just the same as our Universe Creator Father Jesus' love !! They are One in Deity Spirit nature and Presence to us !!]
2:5.12 When man loses sight of the love of a Personal God, the Kingdom [Universal Family] of God becomes merely the kingdom of good. Notwithstanding the Infinite Unity of the divine nature, love is the dominant characteristic of all God's personal dealings with his creatures.
