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Instructions for Believers and Teachers
Spiritual unity implies two things
that
harmonize the lives
of individual believers:
First, they are possessed with a common
motive for life service –
to
do the will of the Father in heaven.
Second, they have a common goal of existence;
to find the Father in heaven,
proving to the universe
they
have become like him.
Jesus told his listeners
it
was not his desire
that his believers dogmatize
their religious interpretations.
He frequently warned his apostles
against formulating creeds
and establishing traditions
to control believers in the gospel
of the kingdom.
Not Meekness Alone
Jesus did not question any of the teachings of
the
Hebrew prophets.
He had come to earth to teach something new, the
voluntary
conformity of man's will to
God's will.
Jesus
did not seek just religious men -
mortals concerned only with their religious feelings.
He advised men to humble themselves so they might
become
truly exalted.
The teachings of Jesus constitute a religion of
valor, courage, and heroism.
This is why he chose as his personal representatives
twelve
rugged and virile
commonplace men.
Principles
Jesus preached against anxiety and worry.
He taught his listeners to trust the over care
of the heavenly Father,
completely.
His instructions for doing the Father's will
embrace the ideal principles of
living near God in
all ages,
all social and economic conditions, and
on all worlds.
Jesus taught active and instant submission to God's will.
In answer to questions regarding frugality and thriftiness,
he called attention to his own life
as carpenter, boat maker, and fisherman,
and to his organization
and administration of the apostles.
Jesus had great difficulty getting his disciples to understand nonresistance.
He taught resistance of evil,
without combating personal injustice or injury.
Jesus
deplored the holding of grudges.
Jesus made it clear that his teachings
applied only to the individual, not
the state.
He approved of the social punishment of evildoers and
criminals.
Civil government must sometimes employ force for the
maintenance of social order and the
execution of justice.
Teachings Compromised
Jesus understood the minds of men.
If his teachings been left as he presented them,
All nations and
all religions of the world
Would have embraced the gospel of the kingdom.
The well-intentioned efforts of Jesus' early followers
To restate his teachings
To make them the more acceptable
To certain nations, races, and religions,
Resulted
in making his teaching less acceptable
To all other nations, races, and
religions.
Sensual Urges
Jesus knew that the sensual urges of mankind
Are not suppressed
By religious rebuke or legal banning.
He directed his few censures against
Pride, cruelty, oppression, and hypocrisy.
Jesus wanted his children on Earth
To live as though
They were already citizens of the
Heavenly kingdom.
Jesus sought to allow each soul
To develop in its own way,
A
perfecting, separate
individual before God.
Christ's Life on Earth
To understand Jesus' life on Earth,
His earthly apprentices
Should realize that
While he lived his life of incarnation
On Earth,
He lived it for his entire universe.
He lived his model life
In the flesh
For every inhabited sphere
Throughout his entire local universe
As well as
All the worlds that have become inhabited
Or that will become inhabited
By volitional creatures
In the future
Of his local universe.
The Greatest Commandment
Jesus was asked,
What is the greatest commandment?
He answered that actually,
"There is but one commandment,
And that one is the greatest of all.
And that commandment is:
'Hear O Israel, the Lord our God,
The Lord is one;
And you shall love the Lord your God
With all your heart and with all your soul,
With all your mind and with all your strength.'
That is the first and great commandment.
And the second commandment is like the first.
Indeed, it springs directly there from.
And it is:
'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.'
There is no other commandment
Greater than these.
On these two commandments
Hang all the law and the prophets."
Living the Commandments
Loving God
With all one’s heart,
Mind and body,
Yields Supreme Justice
For the ascending mortal.
Loving one’s neighbor
(Everyone Else)
As himself,
Yields Supreme Mercy
For
the ascending mortal.
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