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directed against pride, cruelty, oppression, and hypocrisy. (1582)
Jesus always insisted that true goodness must be unconscious, in bestowing charity not allowing the left hand know what the right hand does.
Jesus wished to develop spiritual insight towards eternal realities and to stimulate initiative in the originality of living; he concerned himself with the underlying and permanent spiritual needs of the human race. (1583)
The right to enter God's kingdom is conditioned by faith, personal belief. The teaching of Jesus is a religion for everybody. His life and teachings were bequeathed the universe as an inspirational and idealistic inheritance suitable for the spiritual guidance and moral instruction of all ages on all worlds. And even today, Jesus' teaching stands apart from all religions, albeit it is the living hope of every one of them. (1583)
Jesus laid great emphasis upon what his disciples must "be." They knew only a religion that imposed rules on what they must first "do" to attain righteousness. But Jesus would reiterate that first you must ardently desire to be righteous in order to do the work of the kingdom. Being righteous, by faith, must precede doing righteousness in the daily lives of the mortals of earth. Reversing this order is the sure pathway to hypocrisy. And often did he repeat, "Be you therefore perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect."
A characteristic of Jesus' teaching was that the morality of his philosophy originated in the personal relationship of the individual to the indwelling spirit of God--the child-Father relationship. He taught morality, not from the nature of man, but from the relation of man to God. (1585)
Jesus stripped morality of all rules and ceremonies and elevated it to majestic levels of spiritual thinking and truly righteous living. (1585)
In answer to a question about the kingdom of heaven, he said:
"The kingdom consists in three essentials:
· Recognition of the fact of the sovereignty of God.
· Belief in the truth that we are sons and daughters of God
· Faith in the effectiveness of the supreme human desire to do the will of God--to be like God. (1586)
Throughout his earthly life, Jesus stressed the importance for each individual to develop a personal relationship with the spirit of the Father-God who indwells their mind, and the placing of total trust and faith in the Father's guidance and watchcare--regardless of any and all appearances to the contrary.
"Ganid, I have absolute confidence in my heavenly Father's overcare; I am consecrated to doing the will of my Father in heaven. I do not believe that real harm can befall me; I do not believe that my lifework can really be jeopardized by anything my enemies might wish to visit upon me, and surely we have no violence to fear from our friends. I am absolutely assured that the entire universe is friendly to me--this all-powerful truth I insist on believing with a wholehearted trust in spite of all appearances to the contrary." (1469)
"Jesus had many visits with a Chinese merchant. In saying good-bye, he admonished him: 'Worship only God, who is your true spirit ancestor. Remember that the Father's spirit ever lives within you and always points your soul-direction heavenward. If you follow the unconscious leadings of this immortal spirit, you are certain to continue on in the uplifted way of finding God. And when you do attain the Father in heaven, it will be because by seeking him you have become more and more like him.'" (1475)
People are far more impressed and influenced by what they see in contrast to what they are told. In Jesus' plan for a new age, he endeavored to make clear that he desired that his committed followers should so live in the world that others, by seeing their lives, would become kingdom conscious, hence be led to inquire of believers concerning the ways of the kingdom. (1593)
However Jesus warned us not to attempt too much, but having led another into the kingdom, to then allow the great and living truths of the kingdom to themselves drive out all serious error. His instructions--Go forth proclaiming God is our Father, we are his sons and daughters, and this good news is our eternal salvation. Only when inquirers accept this family relationship can they really go forward in establishing their own individual and personal relation with the indwelling Father-spirit.
Jesus' early followers initially believed we must all see things alike in order for harmony to prevail. To which Jesus vigorously responded that never did he teach them that they should all see alike. Rather, he came to proclaim spiritual liberty so that mortals may live individual lives of originality and freedom before God. What I require of you, he said, is spiritual unity. You do not have to see alike, or feel alike, or even to think alike, in order to be spiritually alike. Spiritual unity is derived from the consciousness that each of you is indwelt, and increasingly dominated by the spirit gift of the heavenly Father. Harmony must grow out of
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