The Kingdom of Heaven

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  • #24956
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    Gene
    Participant

    More Kingdom:

    at the end of paper 141:4.8

    Jesus had been talking to his apostles about their ministry to the sick: physically, emotionally and possessed by evil spirits or better yet-insane.

    he goes on to state that: They shall no more molest men when I shall have poured out my spirit upon all flesh in those times when the Kingdom will come in great power and spiritual glory.

    anyone care to analyze that one? A cure for insanity? The Spirit of truth facilitates entering the kingdom more than before? What about the Kingdom coming? Different than us deciding to enter? Another parable directed at apostles slow to grasp his teachings? Preparing them for things to come? Great power and spiritual glory??

    #24957
    Bonita
    Bonita
    Participant
    Gene wrote: So having faith, becoming like a little child and as mentioned – having personality is how we pass the entrance exam and I could see this as being exclusive.

    This brings to mind the following quote:

    103:2.1 You do not enter the kingdom of heaven unless you have been “born again” – born of the Spirit.

    So a childlike sincere and honest faith-trust in a paternal Deity also has something to do with being “born again”.  I once wrote a little ditty about the Holy Spirit and in it I mentioned the idea that the Holy Spirit is our first person to person encounter with Deity.  It happens when we are innocent children with the birth of our embryonic souls . . .  is this our first birth?  If so, why do we need another one?   What happens to people that they aren’t satisfied with their first birth and end up wandering off the family ranch?  What is it that makes people loose touch with that child-like innocence which originally gave birth to their souls?

    Or does it have more to do with the fact that our first encounter with Deity, our first birth, is so embryonic in nature we are not really conscious of it? Does being “born again” and entering the kingdom of heaven require becoming conscious of our relationship to Deity along with a conscious recognition of sonship (which means discovering we are a children of Deity and realizing Deity’s parental nature toward us individually)?  I think it’s a mixture of both, returning to an open-minded attitude which seeks for answers like a child who is first learning, and then interpreting our discoveries with adult eyes, eyes opened by wisdom which begins to understand the parental nature of Deity.

    Either way, it’s about the child-parent relationship on a spiritual, or soul, level.  I think it’s the spiritual part that is exclusive, meaning uniquely individual, placing great value on the individual personality.  I think growth is the mechanism by which we realize that God has an exclusive relationship with every single personality who desires to know him, and all those persons are our brothers and sisters, equally loved and equally valued as individuals . . . not as members of a group-think collective, but as very special and free individuals.  If we learn to see each other in that way, the way God the Father sees every person, how wonderful would that be?  It would be peace on earth, heaven on earth . . .  need I say more.  It would be like being “born again” into a whole new dimension of reality!

    #24958
    Van Amadon
    Van Amadon
    Participant

    What is it that makes people loose touch with that child-like innocence which originally gave birth to their souls?

    Adulteration.

     

    #24963
    Bonita
    Bonita
    Participant
    152:6.6 Before they left Gennesaret, Jesus instructed them regarding the miraculous feeding of the five thousand, telling them just why he engaged in this extraordinary manifestation of creative power and also assuring them that he did not thus yield to his sympathy for the multitude until he had ascertained that it was “according to the Father’s will.”

    Jesus ascertained that a certain decision of his was according to the Father’s will and he did this before acting on his decision, before living it out.  It seems to me that living according to God’s will means taking the time to ascertain God’s will before acting, just as Jesus did.  I think this is the role of prayer, a mechanism for seeking to know God’s will. When you look at what prayer was for Jesus in the quote below, notice that he used prayer to enrich his thinking, invigorate it toward higher inclinations and clarify viewpoints.  It’s obvious that the enriching, invigorating and clarifying comes from contact with God the Father within the higher mind.  I think this is why TUB tells us that doing God’s will is simply sharing the inner life with him.  The inner life is where we ADJUST our thinking according to his will, and we do it through prayer.

    P2088:5, 196:0.10 “To him prayer was a sincere expression of spiritual attitude, a declaration of soul loyalty, a recital of personal devotion, an expression of thanksgiving, an avoidance of emotional tension, a prevention of conflict, an exaltation of intellection, an ennoblement of desire, a vindication of moral decision, an enrichment of thought, an invigoration of higher inclinations, a consecration of impulse, a clarification of viewpoint, a declaration of faith, a transcendental surrender of will, a sublime assertion of confidence, a revelation of courage, the proclamation of discovery, a confession of supreme devotion, the validation of consecration, a technique for the adjustment of difficulties, and the mighty mobilization of the combined soul powers to withstand all human tendencies toward selfishness, evil, and sin. He lived just such a life of prayerful consecration to the doing of his Father’s will and ended his life triumphantly with just such a prayer. The secret of his unparalleled religious life was this consciousness of the presence of God; and he attained it by intelligent prayer and sincere worship — unbroken communion with God — and not by leadings, voices, visions, or extraordinary religious practices.”

    And all of this is part of living in the kingdom of heaven, which brings joy and happiness to the mind who craves to know God and be like him.  The Adjusters are the kingdom of heaven within us.  When we live according to God’s will, their pre-will and our free-will see eye-to-eye, and for that moment we are one . . . we’re making progress within the kingdom of heaven.

    108:6.2 No matter what the previous status of the inhabitants of a world, subsequent to the bestowal of a divine Son and after the bestowal of the Spirit of Truth upon all humans, the Adjusters flock to such a world to indwell the minds of all normal will creatures. Following the completion of the mission of a Paradise bestowal Son, these Monitors truly become the “kingdom of heaven within you.” Through the bestowal of the divine gifts the Father makes the closest possible approach to sin and evil, for it is literally true that the Adjuster must coexist in the mortal mind even in the very midst of human unrighteousness. The indwelling Adjusters are particularly tormented by those thoughts which are purely sordid and selfish; they are distressed by irreverence for that which is beautiful and divine, and they are virtually thwarted in their work by many of man’s foolish animal fears and childish anxieties.

    But if a mind allows itself to become adulterated by its own sordid, irreverent, foolish, childish and selfish thoughts, there can be no kingdom of heaven within that person.  The more people there are like this the worse off the world is. Without the Adjuster civilization would revert to primitive times when man was just crawling out of the trees and learning to speak.  I can’t imagine it.  It’s too horrific.  And it’s even more foolish and childish when people blame the devil for adulterating their minds . . .  nothing like scapegoating to identify a non-kingdom dweller!

    109:4.4   The indwelling Adjusters have in no small measure co-operated with other spiritual influences in transforming and humanizing the descendants of the primitive men of olden ages. If the Adjusters indwelling the minds of the inhabitants of Urantia were to be withdrawn, the world would slowly return to many of the scenes and practices of the men of primitive times; the divine Monitors are one of the real potentials of advancing civilization.

     

    #24965
    Avatar
    Anonymous
    Inactive

    140:8.26 Jesus knew men were different, and he so taught his apostles. He constantly exhorted them to refrain from trying to mold the disciples and believers according to some set pattern. He sought to allow each soul to develop in its own way, a perfecting and separate individual before God. In answer to one of Peter’s many questions, the Master said: “I want to set men free so that they can start out afresh as little children upon the new and better life.” Jesus always insisted that true goodness must be unconscious, in bestowing charity not allowing the left hand to know what the right hand does.

    The UB narrative above describes what a child-like nature, mentioned, should be, in that as a child, their knowledge is limited to what they have learned by their questions and limited experience in life to that point.  A child has not yet been indoctrinated or had their understanding corrupted by the teaching of others, or their parents who would normally be their first teachers, answering the child’s questions which they ask for better understanding but, at the same time they also learn from what they see others doing and associate this with what may be right or wrong.  Therefore in order to become child-like as adults, one must start anew in what one thinks one knows and throw away that which they have learned, which may be a corruption over years of living, and to start with a new slate.  In essence to re-open their minds to new possibilities, or have an open mind as a child, in order to re-learn that which may have been corrupted from false or in accurate teachings.  For an adult, this is more difficult, because to unlearn something requires more proof in order to change their thinking.

    #24979
    Mara
    Mara
    Participant

    It seems to me that living according to God’s will means taking the time to ascertain God’s will before acting, just as Jesus did.

    Yes.

    And all of this is part of living in the kingdom of heaven, which brings joy and happiness to the mind who craves to know God and be like him.  The Adjusters are the kingdom of heaven within us.  When we live according to God’s will, their pre-will and our free-will see eye-to-eye, and for that moment we are one . . . we’re making progress within the kingdom of heaven.

    Yes. Sincerity and decisions are keys.

    39:4.14 [Part II]
    The keys of the kingdom of heaven are: sincerity, more sincerity, and more sincerity. All men have these keys. Men use them — advance in spirit status — by decisions, by more decisions, and by more decisions. The highest moral choice is the choice of the highest possible value, and always — in any sphere, in all of them — this is to choose to do the will of God. If man thus chooses, he is great, though he be the humblest citizen of Jerusem or even the least of mortals on Urantia.
    #24980
    Avatar
    Gene
    Participant
    152:6.6 Before they left Gennesaret, Jesus instructed them regarding the miraculous feeding of the five thousand, telling them just why he engaged in this extraordinary manifestation of creative power and also assuring them that he did not thus yield to his sympathy for the multitude until he had ascertained that it was “according to the Father’s will.”

    Jesus ascertained that a certain decision of his was according to the Father’s will and he did this before acting on his decision, before living it out. It seems to me that living according to God’s will means taking the time to ascertain God’s will before acting, just as Jesus did. I think this is the role of prayer, a mechanism for seeking to know God’s will. When you look at what prayer was for Jesus in the quote below, notice that he used prayer to enrich his thinking, invigorate it toward higher inclinations and clarify viewpoints. It’s obvious that the enriching, invigorating and clarifying comes from contact with God the Father within the higher mind. I think this is why TUB tells us that doing God’s will is simply sharing the inner life with him. The inner life is where we ADJUST our thinking according to his will, and we do it through prayer.

    P2088:5, 196:0.10 “To him prayer was a sincere expression of spiritual attitude, a declaration of soul loyalty, a recital of personal devotion, an expression of thanksgiving, an avoidance of emotional tension, a prevention of conflict, an exaltation of intellection, an ennoblement of desire, a vindication of moral decision, an enrichment of thought, an invigoration of higher inclinations, a consecration of impulse, a clarification of viewpoint, a declaration of faith, a transcendental surrender of will, a sublime assertion of confidence, a revelation of courage, the proclamation of discovery, a confession of supreme devotion, the validation of consecration, a technique for the adjustment of difficulties, and the mighty mobilization of the combined soul powers to withstand all human tendencies toward selfishness, evil, and sin. He lived just such a life of prayerful consecration to the doing of his Father’s will and ended his life triumphantly with just such a prayer. The secret of his unparalleled religious life was this consciousness of the presence of God; and he attained it by intelligent prayer and sincere worship — unbroken communion with God — and not by leadings, voices, visions, or extraordinary religious practices.”

    And all of this is part of living in the kingdom of heaven, which brings joy and happiness to the mind who craves to know God and be like him. The Adjusters are the kingdom of heaven within us. When we live according to God’s will, their pre-will and our free-will see eye-to-eye, and for that moment we are one . . . we’re making progress within the kingdom of heaven.

    108:6.2 No matter what the previous status of the inhabitants of a world, subsequent to the bestowal of a divine Son and after the bestowal of the Spirit of Truth upon all humans, the Adjusters flock to such a world to indwell the minds of all normal will creatures. Following the completion of the mission of a Paradise bestowal Son, these Monitors truly become the “kingdom of heaven within you.” Through the bestowal of the divine gifts the Father makes the closest possible approach to sin and evil, for it is literally true that the Adjuster must coexist in the mortal mind even in the very midst of human unrighteousness. The indwelling Adjusters are particularly tormented by those thoughts which are purely sordid and selfish; they are distressed by irreverence for that which is beautiful and divine, and they are virtually thwarted in their work by many of man’s foolish animal fears and childish anxieties.

    But if a mind allows itself to become adulterated by its own sordid, irreverent, foolish, childish and selfish thoughts, there can be no kingdom of heaven within that person. The more people there are like this the worse off the world is. Without the Adjuster civilization would revert to primitive times when man was just crawling out of the trees and learning to speak. I can’t imagine it. It’s too horrific. And it’s even more foolish and childish when people blame the devil for adulterating their minds . . . nothing like scapegoating to identify a non-kingdom dweller!

    109:4.4 The indwelling Adjusters have in no small measure co-operated with other spiritual influences in transforming and humanizing the descendants of the primitive men of olden ages. If the Adjusters indwelling the minds of the inhabitants of Urantia were to be withdrawn, the world would slowly return to many of the scenes and practices of the men of primitive times; the divine Monitors are one of the real potentials of advancing civilization.

    curious: do you think the Kingdom is a result of mind ministry or part of mind ministry?

    how many times is mind mentioned when discussing and quoting this topic.

    #24982
    Mara
    Mara
    Participant

    curious: do you think the Kingdom is a result of mind ministry or part of mind ministry?

    I know you are addressing Bonita, but I have a reference ready to illuminate your question.

    155:6.13  While the mind is not the seat of the spiritual nature, it is indeed the gateway thereto.

    111:1.4   But into your hands, subject to your own decisions, has been given mind, and it is by mind that you live or die. It is within this mind and with this mind that you make those moral decisions which enable you to achieve Adjusterlikeness, and that is Godlikeness.

    111:1.3  Material mind is the arena in which human personalities live, are self-conscious, make decisions, choose God or forsake him, eternalize or destroy themselves.
    :-)
    #24985
    Bonita
    Bonita
    Participant
    Gene wrote:  . . . curious: do you think the Kingdom is a result of mind ministry or part of mind ministry?

    Both really.  The kingdom of heaven within us is the Adjuster, the spirit nucleus of our personalities.  The kingdom of heaven is exclusively spiritual.  However, we become conscious of this kingdom with our minds.  Mind is the intermediary between the physical and the spiritual parts of our selfhood.  Mind ministry  always urges us toward spirit and mind is where we actually experience spirit, so the two are inseparable in practice.  It’s only possible to separate them in theory.

    #24992
    Bradly
    Bradly
    Participant

    I find the 5 forms of the Kingdom utilized by Jesus to be connected in progressive maturity and the Golden Rule, don’t you?

    I mean the first kingdom is the one within – the mindal abode of the Spirit and the Soul.

    The second is the family of mortal believers but the second cannot be entered without the first.

    Which leads to the third – the family of all creatures of personality and free will which includes those from time and space but also those of Paradise which can hardly be entered or even understood until the second kingdom is entered and served by the believer.

    I think it fascinating to consider that in God’s Kingdom, experiential wisdom is acquired both by the upward progression of ascenders and the downward thrust of Divinity by descenders – the mechanism of evolutionary perfecting in time and space with the Supreme being the ultimate expression of both ascenders and descenders!!!  WOW!

    And in a way, the Supreme is an expression of the fourth and fifth kingdom….which happens world by world but also system by system and local universe by local universe….all ascenders and descenders are working in service to this totality upliftment and realization and actualization of potential.

    But it is the first kingdom that is the ultimate extension of the down thrust – God imparting himself into every mortal mind that gives birth to a soul!!  How symmetrical!!  = )

    #24996
    Avatar
    Gene
    Participant

    Can’t help but wonder why it was so difficult for the apostles to comprehend a spiritual Kingdom and forget about the king David kingdom concept? The master was there with them personally, pounding it into their heads.

    it don’t seem to me that things have changed much over the centuries.

    most christians beliefs remain intrenched it the Judo-Christian belief that something like this will come to pass.

    TUB makes it easy enough to comprehend a spiritual kingdom without the person of Jesus to give instruction.

     

    #24998
    Mara
    Mara
    Participant

    Can’t help but wonder why it was so difficult for the apostles to comprehend a spiritual Kingdom and forget about the king David kingdom concept? The master was there with them personally, pounding it into their heads.

    There are reasons why it was hard for them to comprehend a *spiritual kingdom*.  One factor relates to the history of the Roman Empire in the fact that provincial Palestine, the home of the Jews, was occupied by Roman soldiers under the rule of a second-rate Roman governor – Pilate.  We are informed that “. . . the Jews refused to learn that their world mission was spiritual, not political.”  The Jews believed they were chosen people.  They were looking for a king to save them.  Even in modern times people are looking for Jesus to swoop down and cure all our political, social, economic and material/worldly problems.

    121:2.8[Part IV]
    The secret of the survival of Palestine, the kingdom of the Jews, as a semi-independent state was wrapped up in the foreign policy of the Roman government, which desired to maintain control of the Palestinian highway of travel between Syria and Egypt as well as the western terminals of the caravan routes between the Orient and the Occident. Rome did not wish any power to arise in the Levant which might curb her future expansion in these regions. The policy of intrigue which had for its object the pitting of Seleucid Syria and Ptolemaic Egypt against each other necessitated fostering Palestine as a separate and independent state. Roman policy, the degeneration of Egypt, and the progressive weakening of the Seleucids before the rising power of Parthia, explain why it was that for several generations a small and unpowerful group of Jews was able to maintain its independence against both Seleucidae to the north and Ptolemies to the south. This fortuitous liberty and independence of the political rule of surrounding and more powerful peoples the Jews attributed to the fact that they were the “chosen people,” to the direct interposition of Yahweh. Such an attitude of racial superiority made it all the harder for them to endure Roman suzerainty when it finally fell upon their land. But even in that sad hour the Jews refused to learn that their world mission was spiritual, not political.
    IMHO  :-)
    #25000
    Bradly
    Bradly
    Participant

    I also wonder about the power of the Son’s Spirit which was released later than the times the Apostles spent with Jesus.  Perhaps this inner light and voice of truth completely opens the mind to new concepts and perspective as to the inner kingdom and the spirit kingdom?  I think the Apostles were just so culturally saturated by traditions of concept and expectation it was difficult to even understand such a thing as a spiritual kingdom.  The nature and results of free will itself and the dual natures were only budding philosophies at the time.  I think Ganid and some of the Greeks captured the concepts better than the Jewish commoners who had been well managed by the priesthood for a long, long time.

    I am reminded how Jesus always sought to add the new, rather than subtract the old when delivering truth.  But when the new so directly contradicts the old, it takes time to comprehend and appreciate the new.  The morontial resurrection and the gift of the Spirit of Truth opened a few eyes no doubt!!  = )

    #25001
    Avatar
    Gene
    Participant

    Can’t help but wonder why it was so difficult for the apostles to comprehend a spiritual Kingdom and forget about the king David kingdom concept? The master was there with them personally, pounding it into their heads.

    There are reasons why it was hard for them to comprehend a *spiritual kingdom*. One factor relates to the history of the Roman Empire in the fact that provincial Palestine, the home of the Jews, was occupied by Roman soldiers under the rule of a second-rate Roman governor – Pilate. We are informed that “. . . the Jews refused to learn that their world mission was spiritual, not political.” The Jews believed they were chosen people. They were looking for a king to save them. Even in modern times people are looking for Jesus to swoop down and cure all our political, social, economic problems.

    121:2.8[Part IV]
    The secret of the survival of Palestine, the kingdom of the Jews, as a semi-independent state was wrapped up in the foreign policy of the Roman government, which desired to maintain control of the Palestinian highway of travel between Syria and Egypt as well as the western terminals of the caravan routes between the Orient and the Occident. Rome did not wish any power to arise in the Levant which might curb her future expansion in these regions. The policy of intrigue which had for its object the pitting of Seleucid Syria and Ptolemaic Egypt against each other necessitated fostering Palestine as a separate and independent state. Roman policy, the degeneration of Egypt, and the progressive weakening of the Seleucids before the rising power of Parthia, explain why it was that for several generations a small and unpowerful group of Jews was able to maintain its independence against both Seleucidae to the north and Ptolemies to the south. This fortuitous liberty and independence of the political rule of surrounding and more powerful peoples the Jews attributed to the fact that they were the “chosen people,” to the direct interposition of Yahweh. Such an attitude of racial superiority made it all the harder for them to endure Roman suzerainty when it finally fell upon their land. But even in that sad hour the Jews refused to learn that their world mission was spiritual, not political.
    IMHO :-)
     i think this may be why jesus’ life and teachings needed to be restated.
    The Romans are gone but everything else remains.
    Jesus stated that the Kingdom would come with power after he ascended to the the Father. The lust for political power can’t compete with this spirit of truth but it’s a very long process.
    #25003
    Bonita
    Bonita
    Participant
    Bradly wrote: I find the 5 forms of the Kingdom utilized by Jesus to be connected in progressive maturity and the Golden Rule, don’t you?

    I think he was talking about planetary epochs, but individuals do go through similar phases as they pass through the psychic circles.  I don’t think they line up with the five phases or epochs described in 170:4 all that well though . . . at least without using poetic license.  The list begins with the kingdom of heaven as a present reality here on earth (at hand) and the rest describe our future hope, what will eventually happen within the kingdom of heaven here on earth if we attempt to live it. (Which apparently we haven’t seriously tried yet.)

    #1 is the inauguration of the kingdom of heaven within, when a person actually enters in a relationship with God.  #2 is the social ramifications of more and more people entering the kingdom of heaven.  #3 includes all superhuman people along with human people working together. #4 is the beginning of a new social order, the dawning of light and life where humans and superhumans partner in creating a more spiritual society. #5 is settlement into light and life.

    I think a better list of what happens within the individual soul once it enters the kingdom of heaven is from 170:2 which explains the NEW life we lead as kingdom dwellers.   Here’s a summary list:

    • new courage to hope for eternal life
    • augmented spiritual power
    • new confidence
    • consolation for all men (and women)
    • new standard of moral values
    • new ethical yardsticks
    • new ideal society
    • glorification of spiritual realities
    • new endowment of moral value
    • new endowment of divine dignity
    • new meanings
    • recognition of a noble destiny
    • recognition of a far-reaching divine purpose to be fulfilled in the future

    I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Jesus called his Spirit of Truth the NEW teacher who comes to make all things NEW and live his life ANEW through us.  Michael’s Spirit of Truth is the king of the kingdom, the shower of the way, the leading light who interprets all relationships and directs the loving contact between persons.  He also happens to be the vine and the door.  I guess he’s it!

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