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 79 "Spiritual Proof & Conviction in Truth"
Compiled 7/11/2014 by Dave@PureChristians.org
[Part 13 of several]
PAPER 176 TUESDAY EVENING ON MOUNT OLIVET [Cont.]
176:3. LATER DISCUSSION AT THE CAMP
[Paper:Section.Paragraph]
176:3.1 As they gathered about the campfire, some twenty of them, Thomas asked: "Since you are to return to finish the work of the kingdom, what should be our attitude while you are away on the Father's business?" As Jesus looked them over by the firelight, he answered:
176:3.2 "And even you, Thomas, fail to comprehend what I have been saying. Have I not all this time taught you that your connection with the kingdom is spiritual and individual, wholly a matter of personal experience in the Spirit by the faith-realization that you are a son of God? [Please read on carefully.] What more shall I say? The downfall of nations, the crash of empires, the destruction of the unbelieving Jews, the end of an age, even the end of the world, what have these things to do with one who believes this gospel, and who has hid his life in the surety of the eternal kingdom? You who are God-knowing and gospel-believing have already received the assurances of eternal life. Since your lives have been lived in the Spirit and for the Father, nothing can be of serious concern to you. Kingdom builders, the accredited citizens of the heavenly worlds, are not to be disturbed by temporal upheavals or perturbed by terrestrial cataclysms. What does it matter to you who believe this gospel of the kingdom if nations overturn, the age ends, or all things visible crash, since you know that your life is the gift of the Son, and that it is eternally secure in the Father? Having lived the temporal life by faith and having yielded the fruits of the Spirit as the righteousness of loving service for your fellows, you can confidently look forward to the next step in the eternal career with the same survival faith that has carried you through your first and earthly adventure in sonship with God." [Powerful Truths !]
...
176:3.10 Said Jesus that night as they went to their rest: "Freely have you received; therefore freely should you give of the truth of Heaven, and in the giving will this truth multiply and show forth the increasing light of saving grace, even as you minister it."
PAPER 179 THE LAST SUPPER
179:5. ESTABLISHING THE REMEMBRANCE SUPPER
[ALL of this, as it is very important ! Please peruse carefully.]
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.[Thank You Jesus !]
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. [What a shame!]
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. [!!] The remembrance supper is the believer's symbolic rendezvous with [Jesus Christ] Michael. When you become thus Spirit-conscious, the Son is actually present, and his spirit fraternizes with the indwelling fragment of his Father. [So True !! Our Sovereign Creator-Savior Jesus Christ Michael is always here in Spirit worldwide and universe-wide ! Amen !]
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. [Rejoice ! Jesus Christ not only lives and serves through his believers; He is also his own Deity God-Man Person fully here on all the earth and in his created local universe in/as Spirit !] As individuals, contend not among yourselves as to who shall be greatest. Be you all as brethren. And when the Kingdom [Family of God] 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 [church priestly authority] sanction.
179:5.9 When Jesus had thus established the supper of the remembrance, he said to the apostles: "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 some time 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." [Yes, He, Jesus, as the Spirit of Truth is now continuously down-pouring Himself upon all humans worldwide to lead you and me and all in this universe into All Truth: God ! See John 16:7-16]
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.
PAPER 180 THE FAREWELL DISCOURSE
Introduction
180:0.1 [Thursday, April 6, A.D. 30] After singing the Psalm at the conclusion of the Last Supper, the apostles thought that Jesus intended to return immediately to the camp, but he indicated that they should sit down. Said the Master:
180:0.2 "You well remember when I sent you forth without purse or wallet and even advised that you take with you no extra clothes. And you will all recall that you lacked nothing. But now have you come upon troublous times. No longer can you depend upon the good will of the multitudes. Henceforth, he who has a purse, let him take it with him. When you go out into the world to proclaim this gospel, make such provision for your support as seems best. I have come to bring peace, but it will not appear for a time. [See Luke 22:35-37 Note well that Jesus did not tell them to "buy a sword"! Jesus said at another time, that he who lives by the sword, dies by the sword !]
180:0.3 "The time has now come for the Son of Man to be glorified, and the Father shall be glorified in me. My friends, I am to be with you only a little longer. Soon you will seek for me, but you will not find me, for I am going to a place to which you cannot, at this time, come. But when you have finished your work on earth as I have now finished mine, you shall then come to me even as I now prepare to go to my Father. In just a short time I am going to leave you, you will see me no more on earth, but you shall all see me in the age to come when you ascend to the kingdom which my Father has given to me." [Jesus Christ is the Sovereign Creator of our large universe of Nebadon, with ten million human inhabited worlds when completed, and now contains higher Heavens for our progressive ascension as Sons of God in Jesus !]
180:1. 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. [with Divine Fatherly love ! Not 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 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. [!!]
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. [Jesus also states several times that all humans are Divinely beloved sons of God ! And He will draw all of them up into Himself in loving judgment ! The Father, the Son and the Spirit are all perfectly united in seeking and saving all lost humans ! Amen ! If any human would absolutely reject such a sacred Gift of eternal Life in our Father, then that human would be instantly and painlessly extinguished and would be not. "To Be, or not to to Be." Your frewill personal choice !]
180:2. THE VINE AND THE BRANCHES
180:2.1 Then Jesus stood up again and continued teaching his apostles: "I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. I am the vine, and you are the branches. And the Father requires of me only that you shall bear much fruit. The vine is pruned only to increase the fruitfulness of its branches. Every branch coming out of me which bears no fruit, the Father will take away. Every branch which bears fruit, the Father will cleanse that it may bear more fruit. Already are you clean through the word I have spoken, but you must continue to be clean. You must abide in me, and I in you; the branch will die if it is separated from the vine. As the branch cannot bear fruit except it abides in the vine, so neither can you yield the fruits of loving service except you abide in me. Remember: I am the real vine, and you are the living branches. He who lives in me, and I in him, will bear much fruit of the Spirit and experience the supreme joy of yielding this spiritual harvest. If you will maintain this living spiritual connection with me, you will bear abundant fruit. If you abide in me and my words live in you, you will be able to commune freely with me, and then can my Living Spirit so infuse you that you may ask whatsoever my Spirit wills and do all this with the assurance that the Father will grant us our petition. Herein is the Father glorified: that the vine has many living branches, and that every branch bears much fruit. And when the world sees these fruit-bearing branches -- my friends who love one another, even as I have loved them -- all men will know that you are truly my disciples. [We are in the believing Brotherhood of/in/with Jesus !]
180:2.2 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Live in my love even as I live in the Father's love. If you do as I have taught you, you shall abide in my love even as I have kept the Father's word and evermore abide in his love."
180:2.3 The Jews had long taught that the Messiah would be "a stem arising out of the vine" of David's ancestors, and in commemoration of this olden teaching a large emblem of the grape and its attached vine decorated the entrance to Herod's temple. The apostles all recalled these things while the Master talked to them this night in the upper chamber. [No, Jesus is the True Creator Father of all humans; and that includes the Jewish King David ! See Matt. 22:41-46 carefully and Ps 110:1]
180:2.4 But great sorrow later attended the misinterpretation of the Master's inferences regarding prayer. There would have been little difficulty about these teachings if his exact words had been remembered and subsequently truthfully recorded. But as the record was made, believers eventually regarded prayer in Jesus' name as a sort of supreme magic, thinking that they would receive from the Father anything they asked for. For centuries honest souls have continued to wreck their faith against this stumbling block. How long will it take the world of believers to understand that prayer is not a process of getting your way but rather a program of taking God's way, an experience of learning how to recognize and execute the Father's will? It is entirely true that, when your will has been truly aligned with his, you can ask anything conceived by that will-union, and it will be granted. And such a will-union is effected by and through Jesus even as the life of the vine flows into and through the living branches. [See John 14:12-14 this is a very bad translation ! Many Christians wreck their faith by believing these terrible Bible falsehoods ! God on Paradise and our Divine Son of God Jesus ONLY do that which is Their One Combined will ! Not what you selfishly want ! Prayer is not magic; prayer is to help change you to bear the fruits of the Spirit better ! To be more as Jesus is !]
180:2.5 When there exists this living connection between divinity and humanity, if humanity should thoughtlessly and ignorantly pray for selfish ease and vain-glorious accomplishments, there could be only one divine answer: more and increased bearing of the fruits of the Spirit on the stems of the living branches. When the branch of the vine is alive, there can be only one answer to all its petitions: increased grape bearing. In fact, the branch exists only for, and can do nothing except, fruit bearing, yielding grapes. So does the true believer exist only for the purpose of bearing the fruits of the Spirit: to love man as he himself has been loved by God -- that we should love one another, even as Jesus has loved us. [Amen ! Jesus also tells us to dare to love all humans ! Even your alleged enemies ! After all; we are all in the Family of God; and they will continue to be our brothers and sisters up in Heaven !]
180:2.6 And when the Father's hand of discipline is laid upon the vine, it is done in love, in order that the branches may bear much fruit. And a wise husbandman cuts away only the dead and fruitless branches.
180:2.7 Jesus had great difficulty in leading even his apostles to recognize that prayer is a function of Spirit-born believers in the Spirit-dominated kingdom. [The Law of our universe is: "What the True Son of God (Jesus) desires and the Father wills -- IS !" If your prayer is not in accord with this will union, it will not happen ! Let us daily pray to be transformed to better know and better do God's will -- Jesus' will here !]
Topical Study 79 "Spiritual Proof & Conviction in Truth"
Compiled 7/14/2014 by Dave@PureChristians.org
[Part 14 of several]
PAPER 180 THE FAREWELL DISCOURSE [Cont.]
180:3. ENMITY OF THE WORLD
[Paper:Section.Paragraph]
180:3.3 [Jesus said to his eleven apostles, in part:] "But I will not leave you alone in the world. Very soon, after I have gone, I will send you a Spirit helper. [He, Jesus, the Spirit of All Truth ! John 16:7-16 is very important. Much more on this to come here.] You shall have with you one who will take my place among you, one who will continue to teach you the way of Truth, who will even comfort you.
180:3.4 "Let not your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; continue to believe also in me. Even though I must leave you, I will not be far from you. I have already told you that in my Father's universe there are many tarrying-places. [many mansion worlds - the next seven higher soul-level heavens for our rehabilitation !] If this were not true, I would not have repeatedly told you about them. I am going to return to these worlds of Light, stations in the Father's heaven to which you shall some time ascend. From these places I came into this world, and the hour is now at hand when I must return to my Father's work in the spheres on high.
180:3.5 "If I thus go before you into the Father's heavenly kingdom, so will I surely send for you that you may be with me in the places that were prepared for the mortal sons of God before this world was. Even though I must leave you, I will be present with you in Spirit, and eventually you shall be with me in person when you have ascended to me in my universe even as I am about to ascend to my Father in his greater universe. And what I have told you is true and everlasting, even though you may not fully comprehend it. I go to the Father, and though you cannot now follow me, you shall certainly follow me in the ages to come."
180:3.6 When Jesus sat down, Thomas arose and said: "Master, we do not know where you are going; so of course we do not know the way. But we will follow you this very night if you will show us the way."
180:3.7 When Jesus heard Thomas, he answered: "Thomas, I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man goes to the Father except through me. [The same Living Truth is in the Bible ! I am given in God's Spirit to really know that Jesus is fully our True Creator Father God and loving Savior and very Elder Brother and Father-Friend and more ...] All who find the Father, first find me. If you know me, you know the way to the Father. And you do know me, for you have lived with me and you now see me."
180:3.8 But this teaching was too deep for many of the apostles, especially for Philip, who, after speaking a few words with Nathaniel, arose and said: "Master, show us the Father, and everything you have said will be made plain."
180:3.9 And when Philip had spoken, Jesus said: "Philip, have I been so long with you and yet you do not even now know me? Again do I declare: He who has seen me has seen the Father. [Yes !!] How can you then say, Show us the Father? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father in me? Have I not taught you that the words which I speak are not my words but the words of the Father? I speak for the Father and not of myself. I am in this world to do the Father's will, and that I have done. My Father abides in me and works through me. Believe me when I say that the Father is in me, and that I am in the Father, or else believe me for the sake of the very life I have lived -- for the work's sake." [Jesus Christ Michael is the Father I AM here with us !!! I am taken up into the Father by Jesus on my spiritual Birthday; and I am given the Sacred Vision of God and Jesus as One, and given a "brief in time" eternal trip to visit Paradise and to return here ... That was on May 24, A.D. 1977 - on; and these eternal Truths and more continue to become ever more real and significant to me ....]
180:3.10 1948 As the Master went aside to refresh himself with water, the eleven engaged in a spirited discussion of these teachings, and Peter was beginning to deliver himself of an extended speech when Jesus returned and beckoned them to be seated.
180:4. 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 local universe of Nebadon. Now Jesus is fully our Sovereign Spirit God-Man as well as being our loving Creator Father and very Elder Brother as Son of Man.] I shall say to my Father: Having left my children [Yes, all humans are sons of Jesus, thus Jesusonians or Jesusonian Christians.] 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. [ALL humans !] Already is my Father's Spirit in your hearts, and when this day shall come, you will also have me [Jesus is fully here in Spirit ! Amen !] 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 [Him, not "It"] gladly and with a whole heart. And you shall know this Spirit when he [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, [Yes !] 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? [Jesus now transcends all space and time limitations. Spirit is to our body of flesh as flesh is to our shadow ! Far more real !]
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, [our New Teacher Jesus Christ Michael here with us in Spirit !] 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 thus the Spirit of the Universal Father in Jesus' Spirit here ! The Father-Son Union Spirit of Truth !] And this Spirit of Truth which I will bestow upon you shall guide and comfort you and shall eventually lead you into all truth. [Jesus remains with us in Spirit all the way to Eternal Paradise and God the Father-Infinite I AM; and Jesus also goes with all of us as we go out from Paradise in countless further glorious adventures in doing God's will !]
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, [Soon ! at Pentecost, May 18, A.D. 30 - on and worldwide !] 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." [Our Sovereign, loving, ever-Present Father-Son-Spirit Friend Jesus Christ Michael here with us !]
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 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 [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." [Tremendous Living Truth ! Please peruse this again.]
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.
[a Tremendous Revelation from Jesus to us here: { { { { oO } } } }
(when oO come together and touch, that is also a symbol for Infinity and the Father-Son Union with your Spirit Monitor within)]
180:5. 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. [and soul, if you are partly soul-conscious here.]
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. [It is our souls who are God-conscious and can realize living Spirit Truths.]
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.
180:5.5 The golden rule, when divested of the superhuman insight of the Spirit of Truth, becomes nothing more than a rule of high ethical conduct. The golden rule, when literally interpreted, may become the instrument of great offense to one's fellows. Without a spiritual discernment of the golden rule of wisdom you might reason that, since you are desirous that all men speak the full and frank truth of their minds to you, you should therefore fully and frankly speak the full thought of your mind to your fellow beings. Such an unspiritual interpretation of the golden rule might result in untold unhappiness and no end of sorrow.
180:5.6 Some persons discern and interpret the golden rule as a purely intellectual affirmation of human fraternity. Others experience this expression of human relationship as an emotional gratification of the tender feelings of the human personality. Another mortal recognizes this same golden rule as the yardstick for measuring all social relations, the standard of social conduct. Still others look upon it as being the positive injunction of a great moral teacher who embodied in this statement the highest concept of moral obligation as regards all fraternal relationships. In the lives of such moral beings the golden rule becomes the wise center and circumference of all their philosophy.
180:5.7 In the kingdom of the believing brotherhood of God-knowing truth lovers, this golden rule takes on living qualities of spiritual realization on those higher levels of interpretation which cause the mortal sons of God to view this injunction of the Master as requiring them so to relate themselves to their fellows that they will receive the highest possible good as a result of the believer's contact with them. This is the essence of true religion: that you love your neighbor as yourself.
180:5.8 But the highest realization and the truest interpretation of the golden rule consists in the consciousness of the Spirit of the Truth of the enduring and living Reality of such a divine declaration. The true cosmic meaning of this rule of universal relationship is revealed only in its spiritual realization, in the interpretation of the law of conduct by the Spirit of the Son to the Spirit of the Father that indwells the soul of mortal man. And when such spirit-led mortals realize the true meaning of this golden rule, they are filled to overflowing with the assurance of citizenship in a friendly universe, and their ideals of Spirit reality are satisfied only when they love their fellows as Jesus loved us all, and that is the Reality of the realization of the love of God. [Deep !!]
180:5.9 This same philosophy of the living flexibility and cosmic adaptability of divine truth to the individual requirements and capacity of every son of God, must be perceived before you can hope adequately to understand the Master's teaching and practice of nonresistance to evil. The Master's teaching is basically a spiritual pronouncement. Even the material implications of his philosophy cannot be helpfully considered apart from their spiritual correlations. The Spirit of the Master's injunction consists in the nonresistance of all selfish reaction to the universe, coupled with the aggressive and progressive attainment of righteous levels of true Spirit Values: Divine Beauty, Infinite Goodness, and Eternal Truth -- to know God and to become increasingly like him. [Beautiful ! True ! Good !]
180:5.10 Love, unselfishness, must undergo a constant and living readaptative interpretation of relationships in accordance with the leading of the Spirit of Truth. Love must thereby grasp the ever-changing and enlarging concepts of the highest cosmic good of the individual who is loved. And then love goes on to strike this same attitude concerning all other individuals who could possibly be influenced by the growing and living relationship of one Spirit-led mortal's love for other citizens of the universe. And this entire living adaptation of love must be effected in the light of both the environment of present evil and the eternal goal of the perfection of Divine Destiny.
180:5.11 And so must we clearly recognize that neither the golden rule nor the teaching of nonresistance can ever be properly understood as dogmas or precepts. They can only be comprehended by living them, by realizing their meanings in the living interpretation of the Spirit of Truth, who directs the loving contact of one human being with another.
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.
Topical Study 79 "Spiritual Proof & Conviction in Truth"
Compiled 7/16/2014 by Dave@PureChristians.org
[Part 15 of several]
PAPER 190 MORONTIA [SOUL-FORM] APPEARANCES OF JESUS
190:1. HERALDS OF THE RESURRECTION
[Paper:Section.Paragraph]
190:1.1 The apostles did not want Jesus to leave them; therefore had they slighted all his statements about dying, along with his promises to rise again. They were not expecting the resurrection as it came, and they refused to believe until they were confronted with the compulsion of unimpeachable evidence and the absolute proof of their own experiences.
190:5. THE WALK WITH TWO BROTHERS
190:5.1 At Emmaus, about seven miles west of Jerusalem, there lived two brothers, shepherds, who had spent the Passover week in Jerusalem attending upon the sacrifices, ceremonials, and feasts. Cleopas, the elder, was a partial believer in Jesus; at least he had been cast out of the synagogue. His brother, Jacob, was not a believer, although he was much intrigued by what he had heard about the Master's teachings and works.
190:5.2 On this Sunday afternoon, about three miles out of Jerusalem and a few minutes before five o'clock, as these two brothers trudged along the road to Emmaus, they talked in great earnestness about Jesus, his teachings, work, and more especially concerning the rumors that his tomb was empty, and that certain of the women had talked with him. Cleopas was half a mind to believe these reports, but Jacob was insistent that the whole affair was probably a fraud. While they thus argued and debated as they made their way toward home, the morontia [soul reality] manifestation of Jesus, his seventh appearance, came alongside them as they journeyed on. Cleopas had often heard Jesus teach and had eaten with him at the homes of Jerusalem believers on several occasions. But he did not recognize the Master even when he spoke freely with them.
190:5.3 After walking a short way with them, Jesus said: [Just to draw them out to speak; Jesus knew everything they thought and said.] "What were the words you exchanged so earnestly as I came upon you?" And when Jesus had spoken, they stood still and viewed him with sad surprise. Said Cleopas: "Can it be that you sojourn in Jerusalem and know not the things which have recently happened?" Then asked the Master, "What things?" Cleopas replied: "If you do not know about these matters, you are the only one in Jerusalem who has not heard these rumors concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in word and in deed before God and all the people. The chief priests and our rulers delivered him up to the Romans and demanded that they crucify him. Now many of us had hoped that it was he who would deliver Israel from the yoke of the Gentiles. But that is not all. It is now the third day since he was crucified, and certain women have this day amazed us by declaring that very early this morning they went to his tomb and found it empty. And these same women insist that they talked with this man; they maintain that he has risen from the dead. And when the women reported this to the men, two of his apostles ran to the tomb and likewise found it empty" -- and here Jacob interrupted his brother to say, "but they did not see Jesus."
190:5.4 As they walked along, Jesus said to them: [Very important; freely share this Revelation with others:] "How slow you are to comprehend the truth! When you tell me that it is about the teachings and work of this man that you have your discussions, then may I enlighten you since I am more than familiar with these teachings. Do you not remember that this Jesus always taught that his kingdom was not of this world, and that all men, being the sons of God, should find liberty and freedom in the spiritual joy of the fellowship of the brotherhood of loving service in this new kingdom of the truth of the heavenly Father's love? Do you not recall how this Son of Man proclaimed the salvation of God for all men, ministering to the sick and afflicted and setting free those who were bound by fear and enslaved by evil? Do you not know that this man of Nazareth told his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem, be delivered up to his enemies, who would put him to death, and that he would arise on the third day? Have you not been told all this? And have you never read in the Scriptures concerning this day of salvation for Jew and Gentile, where it says that in him shall all the families of the earth be blessed; that he will hear the cry of the needy and save the souls of the poor who seek him; that all nations shall call him blessed? That such a Deliverer shall be as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. That he will feed the flock like a true shepherd, gathering the lambs in his arms and tenderly carrying them in his bosom. That he will open the eyes of the spiritually blind and bring the prisoners of despair out into full liberty and light; that all who sit in darkness shall see the great Light of eternal salvation. That he will bind up the brokenhearted, proclaim liberty to the captives of sin, and open up the prison to those who are enslaved by fear and bound by evil. That he will comfort those who mourn and bestow upon them the joy of salvation in the place of sorrow and heaviness. That he shall be the desire of all nations and the everlasting joy of those who seek righteousness. That this Son of Truth and Righteousness shall rise upon the world with healing Light and saving Power; even that he will save his people from their sins; that he will really seek and save those who are lost. That he will not destroy the weak but minister salvation to all who hunger and thirst for righteousness. That those who believe in him shall have eternal life. That he will pour out his Spirit upon all flesh, and that this Spirit of Truth shall be in each believer a well of water, springing up into everlasting life. Did you not understand how great was the Gospel of the kingdom which this man delivered to you? Do you not perceive how great a salvation has come upon you?" [Please peruse many times these sacred living words of our Master Jesus. What a powerful and spiritually transforming Message !]
190:5.5 By this time they had come near to the village where these brothers dwelt. Not a word had these two men spoken since Jesus began to teach them as they walked along the way. Soon they drew up in front of their humble dwelling place, and Jesus was about to take leave of them, going on down the road, but they constrained him to come in and abide with them. They insisted that it was near nightfall, and that he tarry with them. Finally Jesus consented, and very soon after they went into the house, they sat down to eat. They gave him the bread to bless, and as he began to break and hand to them, their eyes were opened, and Cleopas recognized that their guest was the Master himself. And when he said, "It is the Master -- ," the morontia Jesus vanished from their sight.
190:5.6 And then they said, the one to the other, "No wonder our hearts burned within us as he spoke to us while we walked along the road ! and while he opened up to our understanding the teachings of the Scriptures!"
190:5.7 They would not stop to eat. They had seen the morontia Master, and they rushed from the house, hastening back to Jerusalem to spread the good news of the risen Savior.
190:5.8 About nine o'clock that evening and just before the Master appeared to the ten, these two excited brothers broke in upon the apostles in the upper chamber, declaring that they had seen Jesus and talked with him. And they told all that Jesus had said to them and how they had not discerned who he was until the time of the breaking of the bread.
PAPER 191 APPEARANCES TO THE APOSTLES AND OTHER LEADERS
191:2. FIRST APPEARANCE TO THE APOSTLES
191:2.1 Shortly after nine o'clock that evening, [Sunday, April 09, A.D. 30] after the departure of Cleopas and Jacob, while the Alpheus twins comforted Peter, and while Nathaniel remonstrated with Andrew, and as the ten apostles were there assembled in the upper chamber with all the doors bolted for fear of arrest, the Master, in morontia form, suddenly appeared in the midst of them, saying: "Peace be upon you. Why are you so frightened when I appear, as though you had seen a spirit? Did I not tell you about these things when I was present with you in the flesh? Did I not say to you that the chief priests and the rulers would deliver me up to be killed, that one of your own number would betray me, and that on the third day I would rise? Wherefore all your doubtings and all this discussion about the reports of the women, Cleopas and Jacob, and even Peter? How long will you doubt my words and refuse to believe my promises? And now that you actually see me, will you believe? Even now one of you is absent. When you are gathered together once more, and after all of you know of a certainty that the Son of Man has risen from the grave, go hence into Galilee. Have faith in God; have faith in one another; and so shall you enter into the new service of the kingdom of heaven. I will tarry in Jerusalem with you until you are ready to go into Galilee. My peace I leave with you."
191:2.2 When the morontia Jesus had spoken to them, he vanished in an instant from their sight. And they all fell on their faces, praising God and venerating their vanished Master. This was the Master's ninth morontia appearance.
PAPER 193 FINAL APPEARANCES AND ASCENSION
193:0.1 The sixteenth morontia [a soul-form between the physical and spiritual levels, our soul-form after physical death when we are ascending and perfecting up in the next 570 higher soul realities Heavens in our local universe] manifestation of Jesus occurred on Friday, May 5, [A.D. 30] 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 "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. [Jesus Christ Michael's one purpose is to Reveal God to all humans as faith sons of God ! Jesus is here in Spirit as He the Spirit of All Truth still doing this !]
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 are the sons of God, and through faith they can actually realize, and daily experience, this ennobling Truth. [Please pray and reflect upon this great Message from Jesus ! All humans are now divinely beloved sons of God ! When a majority of humans know and believe that Sacred Truth, most of the serious problems on earth will fade away.] 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. [!!! You and I are now living spirit sons of the Eternal Father on Paradise ! We are also sons of our Universe Creator Jesus ! All the Father and the Son have are fully shared in common !] 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 [Divine Spirit] 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 [humans] of an age entered upon the eternal ascent soon after I left Joseph's new tomb. [And most of them did not even intellectually know Jesus Christ Who Incarnated here later ! All humans may know God in Spirit even though they don't know intellectually a name for Him. God has never been Revealed by name, but by his perfect nature in and as Jesus Christ here !] 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, might know that you are all [ALL !] indeed the sons of God. Therefore, go you now into all the world preaching this gospel of the kingdom of heaven to all [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. [Soon. He arrived here May 18, A.D. 30 and remains here today with us; He will eternally be with us ! Amen ! He is just like Jesus except you see no physical body.] 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." [Jesus Christ is always here with us, no matter where we go, now or eternally ascending the higher Heavens into Paradise and into God the Universal Father.]
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.
193:1. 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. [Yes ! All men, all women and all children living on earth now are sons of God !!] And this good news concerning the love of the heavenly Father for 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 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."
193:1.3 These Samaritans [were then hated by the Jews ! All humans should know and believe that God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit each and all love all humans equally ! God is no mere respecter of persons !] were greatly astonished at this appearance of the Master, and they hastened off to the near-by towns and villages, where they published abroad the news that they had seen Jesus, and that he had talked to them. And this was the seventeenth morontia appearance of the Master.
Topical Study 79 "Spiritual Proof & Conviction in Truth"
Compiled 7/18/2014 by Dave@PureChristians.org
[Part 16 of several]
PAPER 193 FINAL APPEARANCES AND ASCENSION [of Jesus Christ]
2. THE PHOENICIAN APPEARANCE
[Paper:Section.Paragraph]
193:2.1 The Master's eighteenth morontia [soul-form] 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 "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."
193:2.3 And then the Master disappeared from their sight. The next day there went out from Tyre those who carried this story to Sidon and even to Antioch and Damascus. Jesus had been with these believers when he was in the flesh, and they were quick to recognize him when he began to teach them. While his friends could not readily recognize his morontia form when made visible, they were never slow to identify his personality when he spoke to them.
193:3. LAST APPEARANCE IN JERUSALEM
193:3.1 Early Thursday morning, May 18, [A. D. 30] Jesus made his last [19th] appearance on earth as a morontia [soul-form] personality. As the eleven apostles were about to sit down to breakfast in the upper chamber of Mary Mark's home, Jesus appeared to them and said:
193:3.2 "Peace be upon you. I have asked you to tarry here in Jerusalem until I ascend to the Father, even until I send you the Spirit of Truth, who shall soon be poured out upon all flesh, [and thus upon all humans worldwide !] and who shall endow you with power from on high." Simon Zelotes interrupted Jesus, asking, "Then, Master, will you restore the kingdom, and will we see the glory of God manifested on earth?" When Jesus had listened to Simon's question, he answered: "Simon, you still cling to your old ideas about the Jewish Messiah and the material kingdom. But you will receive spiritual power after the Spirit has descended upon you, and you will presently go into all the world preaching this gospel of the kingdom. As the Father sent me into the world, so do I send you. And I wish that you would love and trust one another. Judas is no more with you because his love grew cold, and because he refused to trust you, his loyal brethren. Have you not read in the Scripture where it is written: 'It is not good for man to be alone. No man lives to himself'? And also where it says: 'He who would have friends must show himself friendly'? And did I not even send you out to teach, two and two, that you might not become lonely and fall into the mischief and miseries of isolation? You also well know that, when I was in the flesh, I did not permit myself to be alone for long periods. From the very beginning of our associations I always had two or three of you constantly by my side or else very near at hand even when I communed with the Father. Trust, therefore, and confide in one another. And this is all the more needful since I am this day going to leave you alone in the world. [for only a few hours until he returns in Spirit !] The hour has come; I am about to go to the Father."
193:3.3 When he had spoken, he beckoned for them to come with him, and he led them out on the Mount of Olives, where he bade them farewell preparatory to departing from earth. This was a solemn journey to Olivet. Not a word was spoken by any of them from the time they left the upper chamber until Jesus paused with them on the Mount of Olives.
193:5. THE MASTER'S ASCENSION
193:5.1 It was almost half past seven o'clock this Thursday morning, May 18, when Jesus arrived on the western slope of Mount Olivet with his eleven silent and somewhat bewildered apostles. From this location, about two thirds the way up the mountain, they could look out over Jerusalem and down upon Gethsemane. Jesus now prepared to say his last farewell to the apostles before he took leave of earth. As he stood there before them, without being directed they knelt about him in a circle, and the Master said:
193:5.2 "I bade you tarry in Jerusalem until you were endowed with power from on high. I am now about to take leave of you; I am about to ascend to my Father, and soon, very soon, will we send into this world of my sojourn the Spirit of Truth; and when he has come, you shall begin the new proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom, first in Jerusalem and then to the uttermost parts of the world. Love men with the love wherewith I have loved you and serve your fellow mortals even as I have served you. By the Spirit fruits of your lives impel souls to believe the truth that man is a son of God, and that all men are brethren. Remember all I have taught you and the life I have lived among you. My love overshadows you, my Spirit will dwell with you, and my peace shall abide upon you. Farewell." [Farewell means "get along well", "fare well", not "goodbye".]
193:5.3 When the morontia Master had thus spoken, he vanished from their sight. This so-called ascension of Jesus was in no way different from his other disappearances from mortal vision during the forty days of his morontia career on earth.
193:5.4 The Master went to Edentia by way of Jerusem, where the Most Highs, under the observation of the Paradise Son, released Jesus of Nazareth from the morontia state and, through the Spirit channels of ascension, returned him to the status of Paradise sonship [Paradise ! the highest level !] and supreme sovereignty on Salvington. [All of God the Universal Father and God the Eternal Son are in our Sovereign Creator Father Jesus Christ Michael here in his created universe !]
193:5.5 It was about seven forty-five this morning when the morontia Jesus disappeared from the observation of his eleven apostles to begin the ascent to the right hand of his Father, there to receive formal confirmation of his completed Sovereignty of the universe of Nebadon.
PAPER 194 BESTOWAL OF THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH
Introduction
194:0.1 About one o'clock, [Thursday afternoon, May 18, A.D. 30] as the one hundred and twenty believers [in Jesus] were engaged in prayer, they all became aware of a strange presence in the room. At the same time these disciples all became conscious of a new and profound sense of spiritual joy, security, and confidence. This new consciousness of spiritual strength was immediately followed by a strong urge to go out and publicly proclaim the gospel of the kingdom and the good news that Jesus had risen from the dead.
194:0.2 Peter stood up and declared that this must be the coming of the Spirit of Truth which the Master had promised them and proposed that they go to the temple and begin the proclamation of the good news committed to their hands. And they did just what Peter suggested.
194:0.3 These men had been trained and instructed that the gospel which they should preach was the Fatherhood of God and the sonship of man, but at just this moment of spiritual ecstasy and personal triumph, the best tidings, the greatest news, these men could think of was the fact of the risen Master. And so they went forth, endowed with power from on high, preaching glad tidings to the people -- even salvation through Jesus -- but they unintentionally stumbled into the error of substituting some of the facts associated with the gospel for the gospel message itself. Peter unwittingly led off in this mistake, and others followed after him on down to Paul, who created a new religion out of the new version of the good news.
194:0.4 The gospel of the kingdom is: the fact of the Fatherhood of God, coupled with the resultant truth of the sonship-brotherhood of men. [Each and every human being !] Christianity, as it developed from that day, is: the fact of God as the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ, in association with the experience of believer-fellowship with the risen and glorified Christ.
[Thus the truth that all humans are, then and now, divinely beloved sons of God in the Family of God, by the act of Jesus' free Bestowal of He the Spirit of Truth (John 16:7-16) and God's grace was left out ! The actual Good News of Jesus that all humans on earth now need most to know and believe !]
194:0.5 It is not strange that these Spirit-infused men should have seized upon this opportunity to express their feelings of triumph over the forces which had sought to destroy their Master and end the influence of his teachings. At such a time as this it was easier to remember their personal association with Jesus and to be thrilled with the assurance that the Master still lived, that their friendship had not ended, and that the Spirit had indeed come upon them even as he had promised.
194:0.6 These believers felt themselves suddenly translated into another world, a new existence of joy, power, and glory. The Master had told them the Kingdom would come with power, and some of them thought they were beginning to discern what he meant. [He the Spirit of Truth, Who is our Sovereign God-Man Jesus, is still here actively working worldwide ! Amen ! This Revelation of God shall not fail !!]
194:0.7 And when all of this is taken into consideration, it is not difficult to understand how these men came to preach a new gospel about Jesus in the place of their former message of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men. [The living gospel OF Jesus !]
194:2. 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. [Amen !]
194:2.2 The first mission of this Spirit is, of course, to foster and personalize truth, [important:] for it is the comprehension of truth that constitutes the highest form of human liberty. Next, it is the purpose of this Spirit to destroy the believer's feeling of orphanhood. Jesus having been among men, all believers would experience a sense of loneliness had not the Spirit of Truth come to dwell in men's hearts.
194:2.3 This bestowal of the Son's spirit effectively prepared all normal men's minds for the subsequent universal bestowal of the Father's Spirit (the Adjuster) upon all mankind. In a certain sense, this Spirit of Truth is the spirit of both the Universal Father and the Creator Son. [Yes, as they are as one combined Father-Son Spirit here with us !]
194:2.4 Do not make the mistake of expecting to become strongly intellectually conscious of the out-poured Spirit of Truth. The Spirit never creates a consciousness of himself, only a consciousness of [Jesus Christ] Michael, the Son. From the beginning Jesus taught that the Spirit would not speak of himself. The proof, therefore, of your fellowship with the Spirit of Truth is not to be found in your consciousness of this Spirit but rather in your experience of enhanced fellowship with [Jesus Christ] Michael.
194:2.5 The Spirit also came to help men recall and understand the words of the Master as well as to illuminate and reinterpret [!] his life on earth. [Ever-advancing, Living Truth !]
194:2.6 Next, the Spirit of Truth came to help the believer to witness to the realities of Jesus' teachings and his life as he lived it in the flesh, and as he now again lives it anew and afresh in the individual believer of each passing generation of the Spirit-filled sons of God. [!! Jesus not only lives and works within us; He is also his own Sovereign Deity Person doing as He wills -- that is God's will !]
194:2.7 Thus it appears that the Spirit of Truth comes really to lead all believers into ALL Truth, into the expanding knowledge of the experience of the living and growing spiritual consciousness of the Reality of eternal and ascending sonship with God. [Thank You Jesus; thank You our Father !]
194:2.8 Jesus lived a life which is a revelation of man submitted to the Father's will, not an example for any man literally to attempt to follow. This life in the flesh, together with his death on the cross and subsequent resurrection, presently became a new [very wrong] gospel of the ransom which had thus been paid in order to purchase man back from the clutch of the evil one -- from the condemnation of an offended God. Nevertheless, even though the gospel did become greatly distorted, it remains a fact that this new message about Jesus carried along with it many of the fundamental truths and teachings of his earlier gospel of the kingdom. And, sooner or later, these concealed truths of the Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men will emerge to effectually transform the civilization of all mankind. [Let's work in the Spirit of Jesus to make this sooner ! Total transformation of all things human to a higher level in God's Light and Life !]
194:2.9 But these mistakes of the intellect in no way interfered with the believer's great progress in growth in Spirit. In less than a month after the bestowal of the Spirit of Truth, the apostles made more individual spiritual progress than during their almost four years of personal and loving association with the Master. [about fifty times faster !!] Neither did this substitution of the fact of the resurrection of Jesus for the saving gospel truth of sonship with God in any way interfere with the rapid spread of their teachings; on the contrary, this overshadowing of Jesus' message by the new teachings about his person and resurrection seemed greatly to facilitate the preaching of the good news.
194:2.10 The term "baptism of the Spirit," which came into such general use about this time, merely signified the conscious reception of this gift of the Spirit of Truth and the personal acknowledgment of this new spiritual power as an augmentation of all spiritual influences previously experienced by God-knowing souls.
194:2.11 Since the bestowal of the Spirit of Truth, man is subject to the teaching and guidance of a threefold Spirit endowment: the Spirit of the Father, the Thought Adjuster; the Spirit of the Son, the Spirit of Truth; the Spirit of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit. [She is Coordinate and as One with the Paradise Infinite Spirit to all beings and things in our local universe of Nebadon.]
194:2.12 In a way, mankind is subject to the double influence of the sevenfold appeal of the universe spirit influences. The early evolutionary races of mortals are subject to the progressive contact of the seven adjutant mind-spirits of the local universe [Holy] Mother Spirit. As man progresses upward in the scale of intelligence and spiritual perception, there eventually come to hover over him and dwell within him the seven higher spirit influences. And these seven spirits of the advancing worlds are:
194:2.13 1. The bestowed Spirit of the Universal Father -- the Thought Adjusters.
194:2.14 2. The Spirit Presence of the Eternal Son -- the Spirit Gravity of the Universe of universes and the certain channel of all Spirit Communion.
194:2.15 3. The Spirit Presence of the Infinite Spirit -- the Universal Spirit-Mind of all creation, the spiritual Source of the intellectual kinship of all progressive intelligences.
194:2.16 4. The Spirit of the Universal Father and the Creator Son -- the Spirit of Truth, generally regarded as the Spirit of the Universe Son.
194:2.17 5. The Spirit of the Infinite Spirit and the Universe Mother Spirit -- the Holy Spirit, generally regarded as the Spirit of the Universe Spirit.
194:2.18 6. The mind-Spirit of the Universe Mother Spirit -- the seven adjutant mind-spirits of the local universe.
194:2.19 7. The Spirit of the Father, Sons, and Spirits -- the new-name Spirit of the ascending mortals of the realms after the fusion of the mortal spirit-born soul with the Paradise Thought Adjuster and after the subsequent attainment of the divinity and glorification of the status of the Paradise Corps of the Finality. [What a glorious, Eternal Destiny awaits each of us !!]
194:2.20 And so did the bestowal of the Spirit of Truth bring to the world and its peoples the last [The last, final, complete !!!] of the Spirit endowment designed to aid in the ascending search for God.
Topical Study 79 "Spiritual Proof & Conviction in Truth"
Compiled 7/21/2014 by Dave@PureChristians.org
[Part 17 of several]
PAPER 194 BESTOWAL OF THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH
194:3. WHAT HAPPENED AT PENTECOST
[Paper:Section.Paragraph]
194:3.1 Many queer and strange teachings became associated with the early narratives of the day of Pentecost. In subsequent times the events of this day, on which the Spirit of Truth, the New Teacher, came to dwell with mankind, have become confused with the foolish outbreaks of rampant emotionalism. [speaking in tongues -- glossolalia] The chief mission of this out-poured Spirit of the Father and the Son is to teach men about the truths of the Father's love and the Son's mercy. These are the truths of divinity which men can comprehend more fully than all the other divine traits of character. The Spirit of Truth is concerned primarily with the Revelation of the Father's Spirit nature and the Son's moral Character. The Creator Son, in the flesh, revealed God to men; the Spirit of Truth, in the heart, reveals the Creator Son to men. When man yields the "fruits of the Spirit" in his life, he is simply showing forth the traits which the Master manifested in his own earthly life. When Jesus was on earth, he lived his life as one personality -- Jesus of Nazareth. As the indwelling Spirit of the "New Teacher," the Master has, since Pentecost, been able to live his Life anew in the experience of every Truth-taught believer. [Tremendous truths !]
194:3.2 Many things which happen in the course of a human life are hard to understand, difficult to reconcile with the idea that this is a universe in which truth prevails and in which righteousness triumphs. It so often appears that slander, lies, dishonesty, and unrighteousness -- sin -- prevail. Does faith, after all, triumph over evil, sin, and iniquity? It does. And the life and death of Jesus are the eternal proof that the truth of goodness and the faith of the Spirit-led creature will always be vindicated. They taunted Jesus on the cross, saying, "Let us see if God will come and deliver him." It looked dark on that day of the crucifixion, but it was gloriously bright on the Resurrection morning; it was still brighter and more joyous on the day of Pentecost. [!] The religions of pessimistic despair seek to obtain release from the burdens of life; they crave extinction in endless slumber and rest. These are the religions of primitive fear and dread. The religion of Jesus is a New Gospel of faith to be proclaimed to struggling humanity. This New Religion is founded on faith, hope, and love.
194:3.3 To Jesus, mortal life had dealt its hardest, cruelest, and bitterest blows; and this man met these ministrations of despair with faith, courage, and the unswerving determination to do his Father's will. Jesus met life in all its terrible reality and mastered it -- even in death. He did not use religion as a release from life. The religion of Jesus does not seek to escape this life in order to enjoy the waiting bliss of another existence. The religion of Jesus provides the joy and peace of another and spiritual existence [!!] to enhance and ennoble the life which men now live in the flesh. [!!] [We live in Spirit in the Family of God here and now on earth ! Joy, Joy ... in the Vision of God in Jesus in Spirit ...]
194:3.4 If religion is an opiate to the people, it is not the religion of Jesus. On the cross he refused to drink the deadening drug, and his Spirit, poured out upon all flesh, is a mighty world influence which leads man upward and urges him onward. The spiritual forward urge is the most powerful driving Force present in this world; the Truth-learning believer is the one progressive and aggressive soul on earth. [Sacred and beautiful !!]
194:3.5 On the day of Pentecost the religion of Jesus broke all national restrictions and racial fetters. It is forever true, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." On this day the Spirit of Truth became the Personal Gift from the Master to every mortal. [to EVERY HUMAN !!!] This Spirit was bestowed for the purpose of qualifying believers more effectively to preach the gospel of the kingdom, but they mistook the experience of receiving the out-poured Spirit for a part of the new gospel which they were unconsciously formulating.
194:3.6 Do not overlook the fact that the Spirit of Truth was bestowed upon all sincere believers; this gift of the Spirit did not come only to the apostles. The one hundred and twenty men and women assembled in the upper chamber all received the New Teacher, as did all the honest of heart throughout the whole world. [May 18, A.D. 30 and now and forever to each male or female faith-son of God !] This New Teacher was bestowed upon mankind, and every soul received him in accordance with the love for truth and the capacity to grasp and comprehend spiritual realities. At last, true religion is delivered from the custody of priests and all sacred classes and finds its real manifestation in the individual souls of men. [Note: "true religion"; today, many humans still falsely believe in a "royal family" or "first lady" or "upper class" or popes, priests, reverend ministers and other human-made religious hierarchy supposedly more in tune with God than you are ! All of that is a false religion of "favoritism". God loves all humans equally as his beloved sons in the Family of God ! It is up to each individual human to seek and follow God or not -- to be an eternal ascending son of God in Jesus Christ and in Spirit or not. Decide wisely !]
194:3.7 The religion of Jesus fosters the highest type of human civilization in that it creates the highest type of spiritual personality and proclaims the sacredness of that person.
194:3.8 The coming of the Spirit of Truth on Pentecost made possible a religion which is neither radical nor conservative; it is neither the old nor the new; it is to be dominated neither by the old nor the young. The fact of Jesus' earthly life provides a fixed point for the anchor of time, [Before Christ (B.C.) and now each year (A.D.) in our Lord God Jesus !] while the bestowal of the Spirit of Truth provides for the everlasting [!! Yes !!] expansion and endless growth of the religion which he lived and the gospel which he proclaimed. The Spirit guides into all Truth; he is the Teacher of an expanding and always-growing religion of endless progress and divine unfolding. This New Teacher will be forever unfolding to the truth-seeking believer that which was so divinely folded up in the person and nature of the Son of Man. [Forever unfolding !! Amen ! So very true !]
194:3.9 The manifestations associated with the bestowal of the "New Teacher," and the reception of the apostles' preaching by the men of various races and nations gathered together at Jerusalem, indicate the universality of the religion of Jesus. The gospel of the Kingdom was to be identified with no particular race, culture, or language. This day of Pentecost witnessed the great effort of the Spirit to liberate the religion of Jesus from its inherited Jewish fetters. Even after this demonstration of pouring out the Spirit upon all flesh, the apostles at first endeavored to impose the requirements of Judaism upon their converts. [Even today, some parrot that they are "Judeo-Christians"; I am a Jesusonian Christian by choice ! I believe and teach from only the best 2% or less of the Jewish Old Testament; the New Testament is far better, continuing Revelation is superior to both.] Even Paul had trouble with his Jerusalem brethren because he refused to subject the Gentiles to these Jewish practices. No revealed religion can spread to all the world when it makes the serious [!] mistake of becoming permeated with some national culture or associated with established racial, social, or economic practices. [The human doctrines of "chosen-people" or "chosen-race" or "chosen nation" must be rapidly abandoned or more terrible wars will result without end.]
194:3.10 The bestowal of the Spirit of Truth was independent of all forms, ceremonies, sacred places, and special behavior by those who received the fullness of its manifestation. When the Spirit came upon those assembled in the upper chamber, they were simply sitting there, having just been engaged in silent prayer. The Spirit was bestowed in the country as well as in the city. It was not necessary for the apostles to go apart to a lonely place for years of solitary meditation in order to receive the Spirit. For all time, Pentecost disassociates the idea of spiritual experience from the notion of especially favorable environments. [We can enjoy and experience personal God-consciousness in Spirit and in Father-Son Eternal Truth at all times and in all places !]
194:3.11 Pentecost, with its spiritual endowment, was designed forever to loose the religion of the Master from all dependence upon physical force; the teachers of this new religion are now equipped with spiritual weapons. They are to go out to conquer the world with unfailing forgiveness, matchless good will, and abounding love. They are equipped to overcome evil with good, to vanquish hate by love, to destroy fear with a courageous and living faith in Truth. Jesus had already taught his followers that his religion was never passive; always were his disciples to be active and positive in their ministry of mercy and in their manifestations of love. No longer did these believers look upon Yahweh as "the Lord of Hosts." They now regarded the eternal Deity as the "God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ." They made that progress, at least, even if they did in some measure fail fully to grasp the truth that God is also the spiritual Father of every individual. [EVERY HUMAN ! That is why Jesus here in Spirit calls us to dare to love all humans -- even all of our enemies !]
194:3.12 Pentecost endowed mortal man with the power to forgive personal injuries, to keep sweet in the midst of the gravest injustice, to remain unmoved in the face of appalling danger, and to challenge the evils of hate and anger by the fearless acts of love and forbearance. Earth has passed through the ravages of great and destructive wars in its history. All participants in these terrible struggles met with defeat. There was but one victor; there was only one who came out of these embittered struggles with an enhanced reputation -- that was Jesus of Nazareth and his gospel of overcoming evil with good. The secret of a better civilization is bound up in the Master's teachings of the brotherhood of man, the good will of love and mutual trust.
194:3.13 Up to Pentecost, religion had revealed only man seeking for God; since Pentecost, man is still searching for God, but there shines out over the world the spectacle of God also seeking for man and sending his Spirit to dwell within him when he has found him. [We are now living in a period of increased spiritual down-pressure and epochal Revelation ! Wonderful ! True peace and progress in Spirit is easier to realize and to share !]
194:3.14 Before the teachings of Jesus which culminated in Pentecost, women had little or no spiritual standing in the tenets of the older religions. After Pentecost, in the brotherhood of the Kingdom woman stood before God on an equality with man. Among the one hundred and twenty who received this special visitation of the spirit were many of the women disciples, and they shared these blessings equally with the men believers. No longer can man presume to monopolize the ministry of religious service. The [Jewish] Pharisee might go on thanking God that he was "not born a woman, a leper, or a gentile," but among the followers of Jesus woman has been forever set free from all religious discriminations based on sex. Pentecost obliterated all religious discrimination founded on racial distinction, cultural differences, social caste, or sex prejudice. No wonder these believers in the new religion would cry out, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." [Amen !]
194:3.15 Both the mother and brother of Jesus were present among the one hundred and twenty believers, and as members of this common group of disciples, they also received the out-poured Spirit. They received no more of the good gift than did their fellows. No special gift was bestowed upon the members of Jesus' earthly family. Pentecost marked the end of special priesthoods and all belief in sacred families.
194:3.16 Before Pentecost the apostles had given up much for Jesus. They had sacrificed their homes, families, friends, worldly goods, and positions. At Pentecost they gave themselves to God, and the Father and the Son responded by giving themselves to man -- sending their Spirits to live within men. This experience of losing self and finding the Spirit was not one of emotion; it was an act of intelligent self-surrender and unreserved consecration.
194:3.17 Pentecost was the call to spiritual unity among gospel believers. When the Spirit descended on the disciples at Jerusalem, the same thing happened in Philadelphia, Alexandria, and at all other places where true believers dwelt. It was literally true that "there was but one heart and soul among the multitude of the believers." The religion of Jesus is the most powerful unifying influence the world has ever known. [True !!]
194:3.18 Pentecost was designed to lessen the self-assertiveness of individuals, groups, nations, and races. It is this spirit of self-assertiveness which so increases in tension that it periodically breaks loose in destructive wars. Mankind can be unified only by the spiritual approach, and the Spirit of Truth is a world influence which is universal.
194:3.19 The coming of the Spirit of Truth purifies the human heart and leads the recipient to formulate a life purpose single to the will of God and the welfare of men. The material spirit of selfishness has been swallowed up in this new spiritual bestowal of selflessness. Pentecost, then and now, signifies that the Jesus of history has become the divine Son of living experience. The joy of this out-poured Spirit, when it is consciously experienced in human life, is a tonic for health, a stimulus for mind, and an unfailing energy for the soul. [The personal realization of He the Father-Son Spirit of Truth is the Certain Conviction of and in Truth !]
194:3.20 Prayer did not bring the Spirit on the day of Pentecost, but it did have much to do with determining the capacity of receptivity which characterized the individual believers. Prayer does not move the divine heart to liberality of bestowal, but it does so often dig out larger and deeper channels wherein the divine bestowals may flow to the hearts and souls of those who thus remember to maintain unbroken communion with their Maker through sincere prayer and true worship. [Yes, we can share all of our inner and outer life with our infinitely loving and graciously merciful ever-present Father God !]
