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More on teaching
Jesus did not make the mistake of over-teaching. He did not precipitate confusion in his audience by the presentation of truth too far beyond their capacity to comprehend.
'My Father's kingdom concerns not things visible and material. For wherever the Spirit of God teaches and leads the soul of man, there, in reality, is the kingdom of heaven. And this kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.'
'In my Father's kingdom there shall be neither Jew nor gentile, only those who seek perfection through service, for I declare that he who would be great in my Father's kingdom must first become of server of all.'
Program
Jesus' program--he would not cater to the physical gratification of his people. He would not deal out bread to the multitudes; he would not attract attention to himself through wonder working; nor would he use temporal power or authority to gain acceptance of a spiritual message.
Jesus taught the apostles to preach forgiveness of sin through faith in God but without penance or sacrifice. They also early learned that Jesus had a profound respect and sympathetic regard for every human being he met, and that nothing ever seemed so important to him as the individual human who chanced to be in his immediate presence.
Jesus never ceased repeating that faith only was necessary in the business of finding God, adding that, 'it will be by the lives you live that others will know that you have been with me and have learned of the realities of the kingdom.'
He told his disciples that the kingdom of God is within you, that you do not have to see alike, feel alike, even think alike in order, spiritually, to be alike. 'Harmony,' he said, 'grows from the fact that each of us is identical in origin, nature, and destiny.'
'Spirit unity implies two things--first you are possessed of a common motive for soul service--to do the will of the Father--and second, you have a common goal of existence--to find the Father and to become like him.'
Warning against creeds
Again and again Jesus warned against the formulation of creeds and the establishment of traditions as a means of guiding believers. 'Lead men into the kingdom,' he said, 'and the great and living truths of the kingdom will presently drive out all serious error. Your business is to reveal God to the individual as their heavenly Father, to lead men and women to become God-conscious--and to present them to God as his faith children.'
The only reward to Jesus' followers--in this world, spiritual joy and divine communion; in the next world, eternal life in the progress of divine spirit realities of the Father.
Jesus was a teacher, not a preacher. He came to present spiritual truths to material minds. He came to do the Father's will and only his Father's will. And because of this singleness of purpose he was not anxiously bothered by evil in the world. He paid no attention to public opinion and was not influenced by praise. He was never excited, vexed, or disconcerted, sometimes saddened, but never discouraged. And he was always unselfish.
Love is the rule of living
Love is the rule of living in the kingdom--supreme devotion to God while loving your neighbor as yourself. Obedience to the will of the Father, yielding the fruits of the spirit in one's personal life is the law of the kingdom.
'If you recognize you are children of the Father, then you have been born of the spirit of God; and whosoever has been born of the spirit has the power within himself to overcome all doubt.'
There are high values in mortal existence--intellectual mastery and spiritual achievement--which far transcend the gratification of man's purely physical appetites and urges.
'The evidence to all the world that you have been born of the spirit is that you sincerely love one another.'
'Just as earthly families are built on tolerance, patience, forgiveness, and love, so with the earthly family of God.'
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