The Kingdom Of God Is Within You
We are not as good as we could be. In one of the pictures of the Christ-child in the stable, it is night, and there is no light in the place, except a little crude lamp hanging from the roof.
Yet the whole place is filled with a soft, gentle light that gives a rare glow to everything. When we look for the source of this light, we find that it streams from the child lying in the manger. The picture is true to its spiritual meaning. Thus it was in all Christ's life. Light ever streamed forth from him. He had light in himself, and when he was in dark places the darkness was illuminated by the brightness that shone out from him. So it is always with Christ. His life sheds radiance on all things. Sorrow's gloom, is lightened by his love. Earth's dark places, are brightened by the shining of his face.
So it should be also with the influence of those who are truly following Christ. They have light in themselves and they illumine every dark place in their pathway. The gloom of sorrow is brightened by the outshining of their own peace. One who went with fear and hesitation to see a friend who had just passed through a great sorrow, dreading the meeting, and wondering what she could say to give comfort, was surprised to have her friend meet her with shining face — the shining of the peace and love of God.
When it grew dark about her — the light within her own soul streamed out. Instead of needing consoling — she was herself the consoler. Light is the emblem of truth, of purity, of holiness. Nothing unholy can stay in Christ's presence. If we have the kingdom of God within us, we will be pure and holy, too, as our Master is.
There is great need in these very days, for more holiness in the lives of Christian men. It would be well if we would read the Sermon on the Mount over on our knees every day for a month. It would help to bring our lives up to tone. There is no doubt that in general, good wishes we cherish in our hearts. The artist's pictures are first in his brain — but if he would add to the beauty of the world — he must paint them on canvas.
God puts into our hearts sympathies, kindly feelings, desires to make others happier and better — and we must make sure that these divine affections within, find expression in words and deeds. An inner life of love, changes the aspect of all other lives it touches, casting the light of its own spirit upon them.
There is a story of a young woman who was spending the day with a party of friends in the country, rambling through the woods and among the hills. Early in the morning she picked up a branch of sweetbrier and put it in her pocket. She soon forgot that it was there — but all day long, wherever she went, she smelled the spicy fragrance, wondering whence it came. On every woodland path she found the same fragrance, though no sweetbrier was growing there. On bare fields and rocky knolls and in deep gorges, as the party strolled about, the air seemed laden with the sweet smell.
The other members of the party had their handfuls of all sorts of wild flowers — but the one fragrance that filled the air for her, was sweetbrier. As the party went home on the boat, she thought, "Someone must have a bouquet of sweetbrier," not dreaming that it was she who had it. Late at night, when she went to her room, there was the handful of sweetbrier tucked away in her pocket, where she had put it in the morning and where unconsciously she had carried it all day.
The incident suggests the secret of a beautiful Christlike life. We cannot find sweetness on every path our feet must press, in every place we are required to go. Sometimes we must be among uncongenial people, people whose lives are not gentle, who are unloving in disposition, with whom it is not easy to live cordially in close relations. Sometimes we must come into circumstances which do not minister to our comfort, in which we do not find joy, gladness, encouragement.
The only way to be sure of making all our course in life, a path of sweetness, is to carry the fragrance in our own life. Then, on the bleakest roads, where not a flower blooms, we shall still walk in perfumed air, the perfume carried in our own heart. It is thus that Christ would have us live.
He does not promise to lead us always through scenes of beauty, along paths of joy; what he promises is to put the beauty and the joy into our own lives, so that we shall carry cheer and blessing wherever we go. Paul said that he had learned in whatever state he was, therein to be content. That is, he had in himself, in his own heart, through the grace of God and the love of Christ given to him — the resources for contentment, and was not dependent upon his external condition or his circumstances. Some people seem so happily constituted by nature, having such sunny spirits and such cheerful dispositions, that they cannot help being loving and sweet.
How others who are not so gifted by nature, or who are in poor health, or have much to try them — can keep always sweet, unaffected by their condition, is the problem. The secret is to have the love of Christ hidden in their hearts. That will make any life sweet. In any case, it is our own inner life which makes our world. We find in any place — only what we take with us. If our hearts are sweet, patient, gentle, loving — then we find sweetness, patience, gentleness, and lovingness wherever we go.
But if our hearts are bitter, jealous, suspicious — then we find bitterness, jealousy, and suspicion on every path. If we go out among people in a combative spirit — then we find combativeness in those we meet. But if we go forth in a congenial, sympathetic mood, in a charitable frame of mind — then we find brotherliness and cordiality in every man we come up to in our walks and associations.
If you have sweetbrier tucked away in your pocket, you will discover the fragrance of sweetbrier on every person you come near to. This is the secret of that fine art which some people possess — of always finding only good and beauty in others. They have goodness and beauty in themselves! There are such people, and there is no reason why we all should not set this ideal for our lives. The habit of finding only unpleasant things in people — is most unlovely.
How much better it would be if we would train ourselves to see only beauty in others! There is no one in whom a Christly charity cannot find something to praise or commend. Humboldt tells of discovering some lovely little flowers growing on the very lip of the crater of Mount Vesuvius. Pulverized lava had settled in a little depression, and the birds or the winds had carried a few seeds which had dropped into the cupful of soil. Then the rain had fallen, and there on the edge of the crater, bloomed these little flowers.
So in the most depraved life, there still are some gleams of beauty which he who has eyes to see, may see. But only those who have hearts of love , can see the lovely things in unlovely lives. Some, indeed, have their faculty of vision so perverted — that they can scarcely see anything to commend in even the best and noblest lives. The Master saw beauty in the plainest, homeliest people. He saw gleams of saintliness shining in the most soiled sinner weeping in penitence at his feet.
Also, we cannot think of Jesus ever speaking of the faults, blemishes, and mistakes of people. He saw and spoke of the sins and follies of men with charity and compassion, wishing to save them. It was the abounding, unwasting love in his heart — which caused him to see in everyone something beautiful, something at least which might be made heavenly and divine by the help of God. She never says sharp or bitter things about people — because such things never come into her mind. I once asked my friend," she continued, "how she could act her natural, sweet self, toward those who were hateful to her.
She replied that she knew if people understood their relations to God and to each other, they would choose the better part; and that she could not and would not obscure their vision by standing in the way of any light which might come to them.
- The Threshing Floor.
- Sewing for Beginning Heirloom Enthusiasts?
- The Inner and Outer Kingdom?
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In other words, she simply doesn't recognize the hateful spirit at all. She puts it all out of mind, recognizing the mutual dependence of all upon each other, and their consequent duties and obligations toward each and all. There is a great deal of practical charity in thus refusing to recognize the hateful things there are in others. Eyes are given us to see with — but there is a fine art of not seeing things, which has much wisdom in it.
Ears are given us to hear with — but there are many things we would better not hear.
The Kingdom of God Metaphysically Interpreted
We would better not see other people's faults, or would better be as if we saw them not, seeing all men only as our brothers, to whom we owe love, patience, and help. But if our goal is to go to Heaven to live in a mansion, why should we bother to follow the Spirit of God into deliverance from sin? We go to Heaven by grace not by being holy, it is taught, so why take the trouble to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, as Paul exhorted us?
The gospel of Heaven is "another gospel," about which the Apostle Paul warned us. Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. The above passage is contrary to much popular Christian preaching. We are told today that God wants us to be prosperous, even rich! If we have faith and think positively, money will be given to us. You know, this does not make much sense.
The Lord said that it is difficult for people with money to enter the Kingdom of God. Why then would we want to be rich if it is going to hinder our entrance into the Kingdom of God? The Lord did not say it would hinder our entrance into Heaven. Did you notice that? This is obvious because in the one passage above , Jesus calls the Kingdom the Kingdom of Heaven, and then, the Kingdom of God.
None of the Apostles used the term, "the kingdom of Heaven. The reason I am making such a point of this is that the current emphasis on dying and going to Heaven, or being "raptured" into Heaven, is not only unscriptural, but it is leaving the believers in a state of babyhood. Instead of striving each day to enter the Kingdom of God by following the Holy Spirit, they are waiting for a "rapture" to bring them to Heaven or to die and go to Heaven. They speak of "gloryland"; of "my mansion in the sky"; "when I get there"; "when I sing and dance beside the river.
What Christ is interested in is change into His image. This is the fruit He is looking for. What good does it do for God and Christ if we "sing and dance beside the river" if we still are in the image of Adam? Christ simply cannot be a brother of Adam, and Adam, according to Paul, cannot enter the Kingdom of God. According to the Prophet Isaiah, the destiny of Christ, Head and Body, is to bring justice and peace to the nations.
How can the redemption of the world be brought about if the "saints" are comfortably asleep in their mansions? False doctrine is being preached today. I notice that little by little the term "kingdom" is appearing in Christian music. But this is a recent innovation. Before now the hymns and the preaching were about leaving our body and going to Heaven. It is time now for us to whom God is speaking about the Kingdom of God, to begin to speak and write about the nature of the Kingdom of God. The people are following a false doctrine.
The unscriptural doctrine of the "rapture" flows from the concept that making our eternal home in Heaven is the goal of our salvation. Maybe if you buck the trend and begin to preach and write about the Kingdom of God, people may not understand you at first. But there are some fervent disciples who will understand you. Eventually the understanding of numerous Christians will include the Gospel of the Kingdom.
This is what happened with the Pentecostal message!
When the Two Become One
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. We of today would say, and I no doubt many preachers have, "the tax collectors and the prostitutes will enter Heaven before you. Speaking of adding to God's words, the famous John 3: Is that what is preached? Is that what the Bible says? Again I ask, what does the Bible actually say?
The inward, spiritual nature does not perish! The body will be raised from the dead in the Day of Resurrection and live for eternity. Eternal life has nothing to do with Heaven.
Eternal life actually is the Presence of God and Christ that enters our personality as we keep our faith in Christ and obey Him at all times. The Kingdom of God has nothing to do with Heaven. It is the Presence of God and Christ in us, teaching and enabling us to do the will of God. Heaven is a city, Mount Zion, in the spirit world. This is where the elect are ministered to until they are ready to descend to the new earth as the new Jerusalem.
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, Hebrews Eternal life is life lived in the Presence of God and Christ. Martin Luther honored Tauler as a primary influence, and Tauler has exerted a profound influence on religious thought ever since.
The soul has a hidden abyss, untouched by time and space, which is far superior to anything that gives life and movement to the body. Into this noble and wondrous ground, this secret realm, there descends that bliss of which we have spoken. Here the soul has its eternal abode. Here a man becomes so still and essential, so single-minded and withdrawn, so raised up in purity, and more and more removed from all things.
This state of the soul cannot be compared to what it has been before, for now it is granted to share in the divine life itself. Teresa was one of the greatest women of the Roman Catholic church. Her books are considered masterpieces. Teresa initiated the Carmelite Reform, which restored the original contemplative character of the Carmelite order. In she was Doctor of the Church — one of just 33 individuals, and the first woman, to be so honored by the Catholic church.
My soul at once becomes recollected and I enter the state of quiet or that of rapture, so that I can use none of my faculties and senses. From this recollection there sometimes springs an interior peace and quietude which is full of happiness, for the soul is in such a state that it thinks there is nothing that it lacks.
Leon Fontaine
Even speaking — by which I mean vocal prayer and meditation — wearies it: This condition lasts for some time, and may even last for long periods. He was later ordained as a priest. He published more than 15 books of spiritual writings, poetry, fiction, and essays, and participated in movements for social justice and peace. He took great interest in the religions of the East, particularly Zen, for the light they shed on the depth of human consciousness.
From the seclusion of the monastery, he exerted a worldwide influence. The utter simplicity and obviousness of the infused light which contemplation pours into our soul suddenly awakens us to a new level of awareness. We enter a region which we had never even suspected, and yet it is this new world which seems familiar and obvious. The old world of our senses is now the one that seems to us strange, remote and unbelievable. A door opens in the center of our being and we seem to fall through it into immense depths which, although they are infinite, are all accessible to us; all eternity seems to have become ours in this one placid and breathless contact.
Readers who practice the Transcendental Meditation technique will recognize in these passages clear descriptions of transcending — the natural phenomenon of mental activity settling down, like waves settling on an ocean. Consciousness reaches its most silent state, serene and unbounded. We experience pure consciousness. We realize that this is our true Self, beyond time and space, infinite and eternal.
We now know, from extensive scientific research studies, that during Transcendental Meditation practice , during the experience of transcendence, brain functioning becomes integrated, physiological activity settles down, and one experiences a unique state of restful alertness, a fourth major state of consciousness Maharishi calls Transcendental Consciousness.