Religion
The
materialistic, reductionistic, mechanistic universe paradigm has been forever
shattered. Yet the majority of conventional scientists cling to their old ideas
of certainty and predictability. This is because there is a religion about science that scientists are not willing
to admit to, just as stubbornly as any other religionist has, from time to time
been. This religion is unexamined and lurks in the darkness of unrecognized
assumptions, prejudices, and biases about the world and the way we want it to be rather than the way it really is. If we
want to be "top dog" and in control of everything then we cannot also
allow ourselves to believe in God. A belief in God would logically bring our
self-sovereignty into question. Since we are too weak and prideful to allow for
the existence of spiritual realities we must find
the Universe to be strictly materialistic, strictly mechanistic, and strictly
under our control. But then these religious beliefs of our conventional scientists,
and many others, are masqueraded
as proved scientific
certainties to the untrained eye. Let it be known that a logical, rational, and
intelligent person can
examine phenomena
outside of our present paradigm and make logical judgments regarding the
unknown.
The belief
in God is neither irrational or unfounded. In fact we will see that a belief in
a purposeful God is far more rational than a belief in an unending series of
infinitely improbable "accidents." The scientific method is a good
approach to all types of questions and always asks what does the evidence show. Even if there is only one
well-documented case of a detailed and accurate prophecy, our assumptions about
reality must be adjusted to allow for this. Instead,
what happens is that uncomfortable facts are quickly swept under the rug to
keep up appearances. Most people, including scientists, do not love truth. Therefore, the truth is
crucified and sacrificed day after day in the halls of cowardice, laziness, and
self-centeredness. Now lets look at the evidence about the past predictive
accuracy of prophecy. If the past evidence of accuracy is good, then we can
confidently use prophecy to look into our future.
"The advances of civilization are all born in this inner world
of mankind. It is only the inner life which is truly creative.
Civilization can hardly progress when the majority of any
generation devotes their interests and energies to the materialistic
pursuits of the sensory outer world."
"True religion must ever be, at one and the same
time, the eternal foundation and the guiding star of all enduring civilizations."
We now can understand that the problems of our outer world have their origin in
the world within us.
Hosea 4 :1 Hear the word of the
Lord
O people of Israel !
For the Lord has a case
Against the inhabitants of this land
Because there is no honesty and goodness
And no obedience to God in the land.
Hosea 4 :2 False swearing, dishonesty, and murder,
And theft and adultery are rife;
Crime follows upon crime
For that the earth is withered;
Everything that dwells on it languishes—
The earth is withered implies drought which is caused by the spiritual and moral degeneracy that
exists in ancient Israel. God’s
people will be gathered from all corners of the earth at age’s end, wherever a
soul exists that loves and respects his Creator, no matter what religion, race, or creed.
Isaiah 12:5 Hymn the Lord,
For He has done gloriously;
Let this be known
In all the world!
Oh, shout for joy,
You who dwell in Zion!
For great in your
midst
Is the Holy One of Israel.
The
semi-material Melchizedek (Holy One of Israel) will literally dwell "in
our midst," once again in Zion as before. Now we have:
Isaiah 24:14 These shall lift up
their voices,
Exult in the majesty of the Lord.
They shall shout from the sea:
Therefore honor the Lord with lights
In the coastlands of the sea—…
From the end of the earth
We hear singing.
Glory to the righteous!
Notice
here that those who rejoice in God’s victory are located far away from Canaan,
and across the sea from the country Israel and shout from coastlands. Where and
who could they be? Why are they shouting and singing? Next, we change subjects:
Isaiah 24:18 For sluices are
opened on high,
And earth’s foundations tremble.
The earth is breaking, breaking;
The earth is crumbling, crumbling.
The earth is tottering, tottering;
And the prudence of its prudent shall vanish.
Those
who unknowingly bring about God’s prophecy will be totally oblivious to that
prophecy. When we turn away from God, we also turn away from the source of all
wisdom and knowledge. We are "blind and blinded," "stupid and
stupefied." To many of us, living religion is crystallized into "a
commandment of men, learned by rote." We pay lip service to God but have
no living connection to Him. What we say and what we do are two different
things. Since God, and only God, is the source of love and life, we , like the
living branch of a vine, become cut off and withered by our separation from
Him. We are told:
Isaiah
Surely, in a little while,
29:17-20 Lebanon will be transformed into farmland,
And farmland accounted as mere brush.
In that day, the deaf
shall hear even written words,
And the eyes of the blind shall see
Even in darkness and obscurity.
Then the humble shall have
Increasing joy through the Lord.
And the neediest of men will exult
In the Holy One of Israel.
For the tyrant
shall be no more.
The scoffer shall
cease to be;
And those diligent
for evil shall be wiped out.
The
disappearance of ‘the scoffer, the tyrant, and those diligent for evil,’ who
still are all too prevalent among us, tells us that these prophecies lie still
in our, hopefully, not too distant future. This truly will be a transformed
world when Melchizedek takes sovereignty. Yet what will the majority of people think and say when they hear these
prophecies? Isaiah answers:
Isaiah 30:9 It is a rebellious
people,
Faithless children,
Children who refuse to heed
The instruction of the Lord;
Who say to the seers,
"Do not see."
To the prophets, "Do not prophesy truth to us;
Till he has established the true
way on earth;
And the coastlands shall await his teaching.
Who is
this servant? He teaches the true way (or true religion,
mishpat in Hebrew) to the gentile nations. The
true way is the Kingdom of Heaven within, Jesus’ true message.
True religion, the true way, is a way that has never yet been taught "to
the nations". Elsewhere in scripture we are told that before the end of
the age the gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven will be proclaimed to all the
world. Who in the present world knows about the Kingdom of Heaven? Certainly not
the popular scholars. Read their work! Certainly not those who espouse the
gospel about Jesus Christ. Then, just who might this
be? It would appear that the servant in Isaiah 42 is an individual that will
teach about the Kingdom of Heaven within. Note that God ‘puts his spirit’ on
the servant, therefore God ‘anoints’ the servant! Anointment is what happens to
make someone a messiah. This is why the Dead Sea Scrolls speak of more than one
messiah. The Messiah is Melchizedek a divine being, another messiah is God’s
servant, the Final Prophet whom God has ‘put His spirit upon’ (anointed). Also
note that God calls His servant My chosen
one. This provides a
link to a Dead Sea Scroll fragment, which describes a chosen one who reveals God’s truths and wisdom at the
end of the age. The fragment gives us physical characteristics, education, life
history and purpose. I believe this Scroll fragment describes the end of the
age, final prophet to come:
4Q534 …of his hand: two…a
birthmark. And the hair will be red.
Chosen
One And there will be lentils on…and small birthmarks on his thigh.
And
after two years he will know how to distinguish one thing
from another. In his youth he will be like…a man who knows
nothing until the time when he knows the three Books.
And
then he will acquire wisdom and learn understanding…
vision to come to him on his knees. And with his father and
his ancestors…life and old age. Council and prudence will be
with
him, and he will know the secrets of man. His wisdom
will
reach all the peoples, and he will know the secrets of all
the living. And all their designs against him will come to
nothing, and his rule over the living will be great. His designs
will
succeed, for he is the Elect of God. His birth and the
breath
of his spirit…and his designs will be forever…
Isaiah 44:18 Have no wit or
judgment;
Their eyes are besmeared, and they see not;
Their minds, and they cannot think.
They do not give thought.
This is
a good description of many people that lived then and many that live now. We
are told what to think by the mass media. We have stopped thinking for
ourselves because our minds are numb and atrophied. We "hear no evil, see
no evil and do no evil." America, wake up! Turn off the T.V. and the
experts. Listen to God speak through his servants, the prophets........
Isaiah 44:24 It is I, the Lord,
who made everything,
Who alone stretched out the heavens . . .
I annul the omens of diviners,
And make fools of the augurs;
Who turn sages back
And make nonsense of their knowledge;
But confirm the word of My servant
And fulfill the predictions of My messengers.
The
intellectual elite of our world appears daily in newspapers and on our
televisions. They are the "experts" who write the books about
marriage, although they are divorced three times. They tell us how to bring up
our children, and yet their own children rebel against them. They know everything
about anything, and there is no doubt about it. Ask if they believe in God and
somber tones cover the smirk and smile. And yet, the question of God is the essential
question of all philosophy, all ideologies, and all human understanding. If this most essential question were
on a test, it would count for ninety-nine percent of the grade and the
remaining one percent of the test would directly depend on the answer to the
first. If you are wrong about God, then you are wrong about very much else as
well. Yet the intellectual and political elite are all confirmed in the opinion
that "religion is the opiate of the masses." Those who won’t say this
in public believe it in private, as their very actions and behavior betray
them. If our leaders are wrong about the first question, what hope do we have
for a peaceful world guided by wisdom. My answer for that is zero. What do you
think? Many of us deny or question the existence of the very One who gave us
existence. God replies:
Isaiah 45:9 Shame on him who
argues with his Maker,
Though naught but a potsherd of earth!
Shall the clay say to the potter, "What are you doing?
Your work has no handle."
If you
live on this world at this time, no doubt you know of people who display this
level of arrogance.
Isaiah 46:4 Till you grow old, I
will be the same
When you turn gray; it is I who will carry;
I am the Maker, and I will be the Bearer;
And I will carry and rescue you.
And so
our Father tends his children, most often without recognition and without
thanks. Yet, His commitment never wavers, never hesitates,
and never sleeps.
Next,
God has further words for the high and mighty; our elite leaders and controllers:
Isaiah 47:8 And now hear this, O
pampered one—
Who dwell in security,
Who think to yourself,
I am, and there is none but me; . . .
You thought, "No one can see me."
Isaiah 47:10 It was your skill and your science
That led you astray.
Notice
how similar that time is to ours. Ends of ages have highly similar
circumstances and types of people. Human history is monotonously similar, repeating
cycles of sameness. But there is evolutionary progress; the remnant groups have
a survival advantage that results from biologic factors that modify the
capacity for spiritual receptivity. The Adamic genes should therefore become
increasingly prevalent over long periods of time. The comment of 47:10 on
science as the cause of our going astray is well taken. True religion and true
science are complementary and never contradictory, however man’s error exists
in forming a religion
about science that denies
or ignores God and true religion. This religion of science believes that
science has all the answers for man’s every problem, that science is the only
true knowledge, that man doesn’t need the axiom of God, that man can completely
understand his world through science, and that science offers proof and
certainty. All of these beliefs are false, but they go unrecognized and
unchallenged.
Isaiah 47:10 And you thought to
yourself,
"I am and there is none but me."
Evil is coming upon you
Which you will not know how to charm away;
Disaster is falling upon you
Which you will not be able to appease;
Coming upon you suddenly
Is ruin of which you know nothing.
Isaiah
is speaking about Babylon and its upcoming conquest by Cyrus of Persia. But
ends of ages are similar. Perhaps this verse will also pertain to our own
upcoming "world crisis."
"Although Jesus referred
one phase of the kingdom to the
future and did, on many occasions, intimate that such an event
might appear as a part of a world crisis."
"The father of secularism was the narrow minded and godless
attitude of . . . atheistic science. Secularism had its inception as a rising
protest against the domination . . . by the institutionalized Christian
church. The majority of professed Christians . . . are unwittingly
actual secularists. Secularism . . . sells man into slavish bondage to the
totalitarian state . . . the tyranny of political and economic
slavery. Secularism
can never bring peace to mankind. Nothing
can take the
place of God in human society .
. . Secularism
simply ignores God. More recently, secularism
has assumed
a more militant attitude,
assuming to take the place of the
religion whose totalitarian bondage it one time resisted. But Beware:
this godless
philosophy will lead only to unrest, animosity, unhappiness,
war, and worldwide disaster. Complete
secularization . . . can lead only
to disaster."
Those
that argue that this "disaster" lies in our past (WWII) should answer
the question whether or not secularism still governs the world of today or not.
"Christianity unwittingly
seems to sponsor a society, which
staggers under the guilt of tolerating science
without idealism,
politics without
principles, wealth without work, pleasure
without restraint, knowledge without character, power
without conscience, and industry without morality."
Selfish
men and women simply will not pay such a price for even the greatest spiritual
treasure ever offered mortal man. Only
when man has become sufficiently disillusioned by the sorrowful disappointment attendant upon the foolish and deceptive
pursuits of selfishness . . . will he be disposed to turn . . . to the religion
of Jesus of Nazareth. (Man is not yet so disillusioned)
An
international police force will prevent many minor wars, but it will not be effective in preventing major wars.
Worldwide confederations of nations . . . will not prevent world wars nor
control the three, four or five most powerful governments. (Is this applicable
to today?)
"Times of great testing and
threatened defeat are always
times of great
revelation."
Shortly, we will be entering this period of world crisis. Mankind’s latest
Tower of Babel will fall. It will involve not only wars but also ecological,
environmental, meteorological, financial, economic, social and political chaos.
Further:
"Institutional religion
cannot afford inspiration and provide
leadership in this impending,
worldwide social reconstruction
and economic
reorganization because it has unfortunately
become more or less of an organic part of the social order and|
the economic system, which is destined to undergo reconstruction.
(Doesn’t reconstruction imply deconstruction first?)
But, lest we despair:
"The religion of living
experience finds no difficulty in keeping
ahead of all these social developments and economic upheavals,
amid which it ever functions as a moral stabilizer, social guide and spiritual
pilot.
A new and fuller
revelation of the religion of
Jesus is
destined
to conquer an empire of materialistic secularism . . .(our world empire of today)
The hour is
striking for a
rediscovery of the true and original
foundation of present-day distorted and compromised Christianity—
the real life and teachings of Jesus. (The Kingdom of Heaven within)"
However:
"The spiritual renaissance must await the coming of these new
teachers of Jesus’ religion who
will be exclusively
devoted to the
spiritual regeneration of men. And then will these spirit-born souls
quickly supply the leadership and inspiration requisite for the social,
moral, economic and political reorganization
of the world."
And why does secularism fail?
"Those who would invent a
religion (any system of strong
convictions) without God are like those who would get the
fruit without trees. . . You cannot have effects without causes.
Man may graft many purely humanistic branches onto his
godless religion, but such an experience is devoid of survival
values . . . only social fruits are forthcoming, not spiritual . . .
of belief proposed by secular humanists."
Humanist Manifesto I was the first major document (1933) of
the modern Humanist
Movement. Consider the following quotes from this document.
"Religious humanists regard the universe as self-existing and not
created."
To say
that the universe has no cause is the equivalent of professing belief in an
astounding miracle of infinite magnitude, unsurpassable by any human mind. And
yet science, the very study of cause and effect, is the pillar of secular
humanism. Secular humanists say that we should discard "super-natural
superstitions" that are non-scientific. The statement that the universe
has no cause is not testable and therefore non-scientific. The statement is an
overt declaration of an unfounded, unscientific, belief, no different than any
other belief, including religious varieties. My beliefs are axioms, yours are
superstitions, would be one way to express this.
"Humanism asserts that the
nature of the universe depicted by modern
science makes unacceptable any supernatural or cosmic guarantees of
human values." (Humanist Manifesto I)
Here
science is used to exclude the possibility of any "supernaturally"
established values. First of all, science can have nothing to say about the
domain of intangible value, only religion can answer the question why? Science
attends only to the questions how, when and where. Ultimate causes, origins,
and destiny are questions of religion. Second of all, humanists have already
declared that the universe merely is and is not created. This statement itself,
as shown above, lies outside the natural world of causes. It is itself a
"supernatural" explanation.
"We are convinced that the
time has passed for theism, deism, modernism,
and the several varieties of ‘new thought’." (Humanist Manifesto I)
Here we
have stated the real battle of the human will. Who makes the rules? God or man?
Whose universe is it anyway? The question has a real answer and if the wrong
answer is given there are real consequences that will result. We truly reap
what we sow. "In the place of the old attitudes involved in worship
and prayer the humanist finds his religious emotions expressed in a heightened
sense of personal life and in a cooperative effort to promote social
well-being." The fruits of the spirit (peace, happiness, and joy)
will only grow from a good tree rooted in God’s spirit. All goodness comes from
God, man has no goodness of his own, regardless of the words he may utter.
"Man will learn to face the
crises of life in terms of his knowledge of
their naturalness and probability. Reasonable and manly attitudes will be
fostered by education and supported by custom. We assume that humanism
will take the path of social and mental hygiene and discourage sentimental
and unreal hopes and wishful thinking."(Humanist Manifesto I)
Now it
is revealed that secular humanists are "reasonable and manly."
Theists are therefore superstitious and weak, and they rely on fantasy
religion, the "opiate of the masses."
"Man is at last becoming
aware that he alone is responsible for the
realization of the world of his dreams, that he has within himself the
power for its achievement. He
must set intelligence and will to the task."
Man is
capable of doing anything and everything. This sounds great, unfortunately it
lacks truth. Man needs God. We can assert our power and mastery, but our
experiences reveal our insignificance. This phrase from the Urantia Book comes
back again and again to my mind, "our arrogance outruns our reason."
Pride goeth before the fall.
"As in 1933, humanists
still believe that traditional theism, especially
faith in the prayer-hearing God, assumed to live and care for persons, to
hear and understand their prayers, and to be able to do something about
them, is an unproved and outmoded faith. Salvationism, based on mere
affirmation, still appears as harmful, diverting people with false hopes of
heaven hereafter. Reasonable minds look to other means for survival."
We now
learn that faith is unproved, ineffective, and outmoded. How many studies have
we ever done to actually find out if there are any differences in the lives of
believers vs. non-believers? The answer is zero. I would bet that you
would find dramatic differences if such a study were done without bias. In
fact, a few recent medical studies have shown strong correlations between faith
and positive health outcomes. The
humanist dogma is succumbing to truth. Lastly, to say that faith is unproved is the equivalent of
saying nothing because there would be no faith necessary if proof were
possible. Similarly, one can prove anything in mathematics if one allows
dividing by zero as this statement does.
"Humanism can provide the
purpose and inspiration that so many seek;
it can give personal meaning and significance to human life."(Hum.
Manifes. II)
Isaiah 50:9 Who would be my
opponent?
Let him approach me!
Lo the Lord God will help me –
Isaiah 50:10 Who among you reveres the Lord.
And heeds the voice of His servant? –
Though he walk in darkness
And have no light,
Let him trust in the name of the Lord
And rely upon his God.
God
Himself has prepared His servant and trained him. His servant stands fast
against his many opponents. He stands fast against ridicule and personal
attacks. He recommends to those who "revere the Lord" trust and reliance on God alone during the period of darkness to come.
And this reliance on God’s inner guidance is the very "religion of
Jesus" that is to come, the "true religion" which the servant
brings forth in Isaiah 42:1-4. Once again, "necessity is the mother of
invention." We must
trust Him to be led by
His spirit during the trial period. Now back to Isaiah:
Isaiah 51:3 Truly the Lord has
comforted Zion,
Comforted all her ruins;
He has made her wilderness like Eden,
Her desert like the Garden of the Lord.
Gladness and joy shall abide there,
Thanksgiving and the sound of music.
Zion is
Jerusalem or geographic Israel where Melchizedek and those who love God will
dwell. This occurs after the upcoming war against Israel, when this age ends
and after which the "lion lays down with the lamb" and "the
wilderness is made like Eden." Many blessings will be bestowed to a weary
world when Melchizedek takes sovereignty forever. Now back to justice, the Lord
says:
Isaiah 51:1 Listen to Me, you
who pursue justice,
You who seek the Lord:
Look to the rock you were hewn from
Look back to Abraham your father
And to Sarah who brought you forth.
For he was only one when I called him,
But I blessed him and made him many.
Isaiah 56:1 Thus said the Lord:
Observe what is right and do what is just;
Happy is the man who does this,
The man who holds fast to it:
And stays his hand from doing any evil.
This seems to be a pretty simple
request. Why is it so hard?
Isaiah 56:3 Let not the
foreigner say,
Who has attached himself to the Lord,
"The lord will keep me apart from His people;"
And let not the eunuch say,
"I am a withered tree."
I will give them, in My House
And within My walls,
A monument and a name
Better than sons or daughters.
I will give them an everlasting name
Which shall not perish.
God’s way is
for all and any who will come – regardless of any other factor.
Isaiah 56:7 I will bring them
(foreigners) to My sacred mount
And let them rejoice in My house of prayer.
For My House shall be called
A house of prayer for
all peoples.
Thus declares the Lord God,
Who gathers the dispersed of Israel:
"I will gather still more to those already gathered."
Note
again the universality of God’s love. There is also another reference to the dispersed of Israel. Most importantly, God’s kingdom or family
is for all peoples, all races, all religions, and for all time. Let’s pause here and consider that mysterious word ‘Israel.’
With the single word "Israel" one can discuss the entire past and
future history of the world. We remember that Jacob, Abraham’s grandson, gave
rise to the twelve tribes of Israel by virtue of his twelve sons. Moses, their
great leader, led these twelve tribes through the desert from Egypt The
"guest" is God’s spirit within as is "The Emperor of Men."
We are the physical hosts of the spiritual "Host" within. God’s
infinite spark of divinity lies within each of us. Just as biologic fathers
give a genetic piece of themselves to their children, our spiritual Father
gives us a spiritual piece of Himself. Now let’s switch gears regarding the
kingdom within:
Walt Whitman Song of the Open
Road
Each is not for its
own sake,
I say the whole earth and all the stars in the sky
Are for religions sake.
I say no man has ever yet been half devout enough,
None has ever yet adored or worshipped enough,
None has begun to think how
divine he himself is,
and
How certain the future is.
Song of Myself O, I could sing such glories and grandeurs about you!
You have not known
what you are,
You have slumber’d upon yourself all your life,
Your eyelids have been the same as closed most of
The time.
We are
unaware of the presence of the spirit within and so "we have not known
what we are" and haven’t begun to realize "how divine" we
ourselves can become. The voice within points the way, if we but listen. Follow
the guide within and experience the reality of the divine indwelling. Behold,
"all things are becoming new"-- once we experience and are aware of God’s spirit within; that "little
voice" that speaks silently. And now, back to Isaiah. He turns 180 degrees
and addresses our elite and illustrious leaders: the "blind
watchmen," "the negligent shepherds," and "the greedy
dogs." The
future always comes in through the minority. The last battle won, "conventional wisdom" is one
step from the scrap heap. We fear and resist change, no matter what its
content. Nearly all-conventional wisdom today is wrong! Wrong about science,
wrong about politics, wrong about people, wrong about philosophy, wrong about
religion and wrong about most anything else we can think of. Our leaders, our
intellectuals and our so-called elite will have the same constant refrain right
up to the hour when they are removed from their power and prestige. The
refrain is "everything is fine, going just as we expected." This is
why they are so "confounded" in Micah 7:16 when the World Messiah
steps into the fray. It’s time we started thinking for ourselves and stop
buying the illusions, which are cast up in front of us by the "leadership
class" and the media; one working hand in hand with the other. There is a
Sufi metaphor about identification. Misery
doesn’t come to us; we unconsciously seek it out and hold on to it, like flinging our arms around a
pillar. We squeeze tighter and yell, "Oh if I could only be rid of this
misery and pain!"…We "do" misery we "do" expectation. Hell is not a place,
we "do" it, as American mystic Adi DaSantoshia once remarked…We make prophecy work because we are so
damned predictable… We have repeated again and again the behaviors that make it
easy for the seers to prophesy us unto doomsday. (John Hogue, Millennium Prophecy, Pg. 305). In other words, we have seen the enemy and it is us. . And the silence of "the good
people" is deafening as we stand back and watch the destruction of our country and our
families.
Nahum 1:3 The Lord is slow to
anger and of great forbearance,
But the Lord does not remit all
punishment.
He travels in whirlwinds and storm,
And clouds are the dust on His feet.
He rebukes the sea and dries it up.
Actually God never angers, we project our human feelings onto him. He is an
infinite, never changing, and perfect Being. He is the source and center of all
existence, all creation, and all reality. Perhaps the prophet is referring
unknowingly to Melchizedek here, but much more likely he is projecting his own
feelings and emotions upon a God that he reveres but does not fully understand. It is our perceptions of God that change and that
God is eternal and unchanging. When we are at the beginning of our development
we fear the great and powerful God, but as we develop, we begin to understand
that God’s true motive towards us is one of love. Our fear evolves through awe,
reverence, and appreciation, and finally to love. "Fear is the beginning
of wisdom, but love is at its end." And so, this passage above is one of
many in scripture that misunderstand God’s true motives and intentions. The Urantia Book tells us that "Jesus did not
hesitate to appropriate the better half of a scripture…" and that he
"appropriated the positive portion…" (Paper 159). All human truth
is partial and
incomplete. We must
always separate the wheat from the chaff, using both the external facts
available and the internal guiding of The Spirit of Truth. Logic and intuition
are both necessary and interdependent. The approaching age will be the age of
Faith and Reason; Science and Religion; Intuition and Logic; Divine and Human; Matter and Spirit. And is
replacing either/or
in the harmonized
philosophy of our near future as the Cartesian dichotomy is sealed by new
revelation. The Urantia
Book is the stone on
which such a philosophy will be built.
Jeremiah 3:14
Turn back rebellious
children (Israel) – declares the Lord. Since
I have espoused you, I will take you, one from a town and two from
a clan, and bring you to Zion. And I will give you shepherds after My
own heart, who will pasture you with knowledge and skill. And when you
increase and are fertile in the land, in
those days – declares
the Lord – men
shall no longer speak of the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, nor shall it
come to mind. They shall not mention it, miss it, or make another. At that
time, they shall call
Jerusalem "Throne of the Lord," and all nations shall
assemble there…They shall no longer follow the willfulness of their evil
hearts. In those
days, the House of Judah
shall go with the House of Israel;
they should come together from the land of the north to the land I gave
your fathers as a possession.
This
passage refers to the end of this age when Judah is reunited with Lost Israel.
The shepherds (leaders) are replaced by good leaders and "the Lord"
is in Jerusalem on his "Throne" symbolizing the sovereignty of
"the Lord," Planetary Sovereign, Melchizedek. We are told that the
new reunified Israel of Christians and Jews, will not revert to the traditions
of ancient Judaism but instead will go forward with religion in the new light
in which they stand at ages end. We are also told indirectly, that ‘the
nations had followed the willfulness of their evil hearts’ in times past. This
is consistent with the negative judgment of the nations and their leadership
expressed many time elsewhere in scripture. This passage definitely refers to
the messianic end of the age by virtue of : ‘in that day’, ‘in that time’, ‘the
assembling of all nations in Jerusalem,’ and the reunification of Judah and
Israel. And now Jeremiah speaks about the onslaught of Jerusalem by Babylon in
ancient times. The Lord says:
Jeremiah 4:19 Oh the walls of my
heart:
My heart moans within me…
Disaster overtakes disaster…
"The Lord’s" heart breaks watching
his children’s chosen
fate of destruction at
the hands of the Babylonians. With frustration the Lord says:
Jeremiah 4:22 The people are stupid
They give Me no heed;
They are foolish children,
They are not intelligent
They are clever at doing wrong.
But unable to do right.
"Good crops depended on the favor of Baal. The cult was largely
concerned with land, its ownership and fertility. In general, the Baalites
owned houses, lands and slaves. They were the aristocratic landlords and
lived in the cities. Each Baal had a sacred place, a priesthood, and the
"holy women," the ritual prostitutes of the Baals were many, Yahweh
was
one; monotheism won over polytheism.
And this is one of the purposes of Melchizedek’s incarnation:
that a religion of one God should be so fostered as to prepare the
way for the earth bestowal of a Son of that one God (Jesus)."
And so
we can readily compare the evolutionary religion of man with the revealed
religion of God. Man’s religion (Baalism) centers around self-interest and
self-gratification while God’s religion is the selfless pursuit of truth,
beauty, and goodness. Is it any wonder why the former is the more popular and
the latter is "the road less traveled?" Isn’t Baalism without Baal
still the most prevalent ‘religion’ today? Disconnected human history is a
cross section of a higher dimensional reality, the reality of eternity. If one
takes successive horizontal cross sectional views of a vertical tree and its
branches, you will first see one large circle (trunk) and then several smaller
circles (main branches) and then finally a great multitude of still smaller
circles and ovals of variable size and separation (small branches). If you give
these cross sectional views to someone who has no idea of how it was formed, he
will not see a tree – but rather various patterns
of circles with no particular connection to one another (similar to looking at
a wood ceiling with its "knots"). From Antioch the Pauline
version of the Teachings of Jesus and the teaching about Jesus spread to all the Western World;
from Philadelphia the missionaries of the Abnerian Kingdom of heaven spread throughout Mesopotamia and Arabia
until the later times when these uncompromising emissaries of the teachings of Jesus were overwhelmed by the sudden rise
of Islam.
"The believers at
Philadelphia held more strictly to the religion of Jesus, as he lived and taught, than
any other group on earth. Now prophecy is true both in the context of the time
of its writing and in the time of its prophetic future fulfillment. And so, the
church of Philadelphia spoken of in Revelation as existing in the latter days (now) would have
characteristics like the church of Philadelphia existing at the time of John’s
vision and writing. One might then expect this congregation or church of the
latter days to be a group, like Abner’s, true to the message of Jesus (the
gospel of the kingdom of heaven), and to be concerned with issues of brotherly love such as
the brotherhood of man predicated on the Fatherhood of God. The elect are those
who choose (elect) God's Will. Now if we integrate these concepts from Revelation about the Church of
Philadelphia with
the concepts of Enoch, one could envision a group in the latter days that:
1 is blessed with book(s) of joy
and great wisdom;
2 that give them knowledge of the way of God which they practice and point out
to others; (the choosing of God's Will)
3 that know the true message
of Jesus and are faithful
to it, (the choosing of God's Will)
4 and have reached the enlightenment stage of brotherly love.
5 live in the latter days, the time of tribulation, in a distant generation
from Enoch.
6 have but little worldly power, probably a small group.
7 Are found among ‘gentile’ Christians.
These
descriptions from Enoch
and Revelation seem to mesh very well. The
"elect" congregation is one and the same as the "church of
Philadelphia."
The
previous dispensation and age is ending and a new one is beginning now. The Urantia
Book itself
is a harbinger of the new dispensation, which will shortly follow the
ending of the
present age. The present age is ending now and its messianic ending is just
before us. What holds up this messianic ending prophesied in scripture?
"The spiritual renaissance must await the coming of these new
teachers of Jesus’ religion who will be exclusively devoted to the
spiritual
regeneration of
men."
The
diagnosis of the problem is spiritual degeneracy and moral corruption. The
treatment is spiritual regeneration..
Therefore, we need teachers and leaders who have an enlarged revelation of his
(Jesus) saving message.
"There must come a revival
of the actual teachings of Jesus,
such a restatement that will undo the work of his early followers
who went about to create…a system of belief regarding the fact
of Michael’s (Christ) Sojourn on earth."
The
"actual" teachings and "saving message" of Jesus is the
gospel of the kingdom of heaven, which has never yet been preached or taught to the whole world, only tiny sections of
it. This gospel is still yet to be taught and preached before the
"fullness of the age is come to pass." God's servant and others will
come forth ‘to teach the true way.’ (Isaiah 42:1)
"However, you should understand that when this gospel of the
kingdom shall have been proclaimed to all the world for the
salvation of all peoples, and when the fullness of the age has come
to pass, the Father will send you another dispensational bestowal,
or else the Son of Man will return to adjudge the age."
Malachi 2:8 You have made the many stumble at your rulings…
You disregard My ways…
You have wearied the Lord, with your talk.
But you ask, "By what have we wearied Him?"
By saying, "All who do evil are good in the sight of the Lord,"
And
in them He delights, or else,
"Where is the God of Justice?"
God
explains through His prophet exactly what it is that "His people" do
that He finds so displeasing. The lack of justice makes "many stumble at
your rulings" God says to man. "The disregard of His Ways" means
the lack of compassion and love as well as of justice. On top of it all, the
people show no understanding of what they are doing
wrong and "weary" God by excusing and confusing evil for good and
asking incredible questions such as: "where is the God of Justice?"
In the first instance, this means that the people mistake evil for good, as
evidenced by the false shepherds, they follow and support. In the second
instance, the people project their own failings onto God Himself blaming Him
for their own
failures, thus washing
their hands clean of all responsibility. And so it is, we so easily deceive
ourselves, preferring fantasy to reality. Living honestly and sincerely
requires effort, courage, and self-sacrifice. Rather than an escape from
reality, the opiate of the masses, true religion requires the full
engagement of reality
with body, mind, and spirit.
Malachi 3:1 Septuagint Behold, I send forth my messenger, and he
will prepare the way
before me: and the Lord you seek, shall suddenly come into his
temple, even the angel (messenger) of the covenant; whom you
take pleasure in: Behold, He is coming, saith the Lord Almighty.
God is
speaking through Malachi: "Behold, I send my messenger…" The final prophet depends on the
olden prophets to explain and interpret the events unfolding in the messianic
age and to "make them (the elect) understand all the ages of time." The final prophet is also God’s servant
of Isaiah who addresses the coastlands, and who "brings forth true
religion (or the true way)" in Isaiah 42:10, which is the kingdom of
heaven within. He is also the "Elijah to come before the end" of
Malachi. Next, consider the Teacher’s comment that "those who uphold
the covenant (do God’s will), turn from walking in the way of the people."
It may be necessary
for those who follow God’s will, to separate themselves from the opinions,
people, and possessions of our present culture to follow the truth on an
isolated, lonely, and perhaps dangerous road. Such painful and trying choices will act to establish our
priorities and expose them to view. Choosing God’s will in the face of such
trials will be the "flame of affliction," which will soften our
mettle (metal) for the anvil of adversity and the hammer of mercy. And so we
will count the cost and remember that this road is also called the ‘Sacred Way’,
and that the ‘redeemed shall walk it.’ Consider further this road:
Isaiah 57:14 Build up, build up
a highway!
Clear a road!
Remove all obstacles
From the road of My people
This
"road" is referred to and described in many places and by many
prophets in the Old Testament. God will be removing obstacles to its use by
those who elect His will.
Isaiah 62:10 Pass through, pass
through the gates!
Clear the road for the people
Build up the highway,
Remove the rocks!
God chooses us all but
only some of us choose Him:
1QS For without Thee no way is
perfect and without Thy Will nothing is done.
This is essentially the religion of Jesus himself, one hundred years before
his birth. Jesus stated this truth in a slightly different way using seven words in complete perfection:
Thy Kingdom come, thy
Will be done. (Lord's Prayer)
Ultimately, Jesus had to follow his own internal guide and move away from the
Messiah role to offer the spiritual salvation that was to become his mission.
This mission was not preordained, it was a conscious choice by Jesus made over
and above other possibilities. Returning to Enoch we have:
1Enoch 47:1 In that day the prayer of the holy and righteous, and
the blood
of the righteous, shall ascend from the earth into the presence of the Lord of
spirits.
1Enoch 47:3 At
that time I beheld the
Ancient of days, while He sat upon the
throne of his glory, while the book
of the living was opened
in his
presence, and while all the powers which were above the heavens
stood around and before him (Rev. 20:12).
1Enoch 47:4 Then were the hearts of the saints full of joy, because the number
of righteousness was arrived, the supplication of the saints heard,
and the blood of the righteous appreciated by the Lord of spirits.
1Enoch 90:16 I will again point them out to you, that you may know what is to
come.
Again,
men and women will cause their own downfall, their own "punishment,"
as a result of their foolish disregard of God’s laws and warnings. We truly
reap what we sow. Free will implies the freedom for error, the freedom for sin,
and the freedom for iniquity. Unfortunately, people with good intentions
project their intentions onto others and therefore have difficulty understanding and recognizing the
self-serving and controlling intentions of others. The essence of God’s presence is his free
willingness; His total lack of force and coercive intent. He respects
absolutely the domain of free will of every individual. On the other hand, the
essence of evil is characterized by the use of force, coercion, and fear to
dominate and control the actions of others. It is these behaviors that
can easily identify those who seek to possess power over others. If you are
busy asserting your will you are not following God’s. This is why our
"leaders" and our "elite" end up on "the top of the
heap." They are willing to disregard ethics and religion for power and politics. Many others will not. Unfortunately, the
well intended are confused and altogether too passive, thus allowing the
controllers to dictate the way unopposed.
In 90:6, Enoch discusses
the pre-flood iniquity that was cleansed by the flood and then states that such
iniquity will be again "embraced a second time," which is now.
Hardship is coming and it will bring out the best and the worst in human
nature. Since "the worst" controls the power of the world the
"best" will be at a distinct worldly
disadvantage. But it is
not man’s world that counts in the end, but rather
it is God’s world that counts. Human and sacred
history will finally intersect at the point of Melchizedek’s arrival. The
kingdom of heaven within intersects with the Kingdom of God on earth. The
harvest time comes, and the weeds are bundled up and thrown in the
"fire." The good harvest is stored up and the newly plowed earth is
reseeded with good seed. 1Enoch 90:11 ends with sin perishing forevermore, which is only possible when "the
rebellion" against God is ended and the kingdom of God on earth begins.
1Enoch 91:1 That which was
written by Enoch. He wrote all this instruction of
wisdom for every man of dignity, and every judge of the earth; for
all my children who shall dwell upon earth, and for subsequent
generations, conducting themselves uprightly and peaceably.
1Enoch 91:2 Let not
your spirit be grieved on account of the times; for the
holy, the great One, has given days to all (Jno. 14:1).
1Enoch 91:3 Let the
righteous man arise from slumber; let
him arise, and
proceed in the path of righteousness, in all its paths; and let his
goings be in goodness and in eternal clemency.
The
"righteous are confident that sinners will be disgraced" because all
of this has been revealed to them through 1Enoch and other prophets of
scripture as well. Wealth "is suddenly ascended" away from the
wealthy who covet in 96:6. The "crafty" men are "adorned more
than women" in stylish and expensive clothes (not to mention haircuts). We
of the modern age are not accustomed to hearing such "harsh" verbiage
as we have been taught that there really is no right and wrong; just differing
but equally valid points of view. The words evil, sin, and iniquity are almost
never used anymore. We
will tolerate anything and everything, except the moral-religious perspective, of course. There is a covert war on God
on this world and it is waged by the powerful elite, the
"intellectuals," the propagandists, the government, and the media
establishment. Our public schools are instruments for the indoctrination of an
alternate, unacknowledged, value system of no-values; the official,
unannounced, state religion. This secular humanistic state is slowly enslaving
its citizens and will lead them into crisis. The war against God has only one possible outcome,
and that outcome is, and forever will be, failure! The most difficult task is teaching
the well intentioned that such a war actually exists. The well intentioned project their own
intentions onto the intentions of others, because the reality of evil intent is
so totally foreign and so totally irrational to them. But evil and iniquity does exist and unless we learn to recognize
it, we will continue to be its victims. Jesus has spoken well: "Be as wise as serpents and as gentle as doves." To be
as wise as serpents we must first recognize and understand those serpents of
wrong choosing. Lets
take a detour here and review some information regarding "the
rebellion" against God’s will on our world.
"Rebellion brought sin to
this world.
rebellion changes
the world so much, people have no
idea what is normal.
Lucifer misled and
deluded the orders of seraphic ministers
by the sophistries
of unbridled personal liberty."
As we
look around today, these same "sophistries
of unbridled personal liberty" are
all around us. The rebellion is ongoing and coming to full fruit at age’s end.
We see this in our youth, on our TV sets, in our government, in our marriages,
and in our academies. Power has replaced religion and politics has replaced
ethics. The time of trial approaches. Rebellion still has its last gasp to
breath. There are
two mistakes that can be made with regard to evil. One is to be blind to it and
therefore become powerless to effectively overcome it. The second mistake is to
overly focus on and stress evil. Limitations
were imposed on the idea of democracy and sovereign citizens passively accepted
them. Money defined the social hierarchy, the rank ordering of citizens, which
valued some above others. Money expressed the culture’s deepest longings and
obsessions, the fretful belief that a dead substance could somehow confer
immortal life on those who accumulated it. Money was a living creed in American life, as Veblen said, a more
convincing realty than human toil or material needs or the tenuous things of
the human spirit. Now consider the presently reigning world system and world
religion – secular humanism. Government by the elite substitutes for God and is
the answer to every need and every problem. The High Priest is replaced by the
scientist who knows all, explains all, and who conquers all. Man has put his
trust and faith in "science" and in government. God doesn’t seem to be
necessary.
Emily Dickinson #1483 The Robin is a Gabriel
1879
In humble circumstances –
His Dress denotes him socially,
Of Transport’s Working Classes –
He has the punctuality
Of the New England Farmer –
The same oblique integrity,
A Vista vastly warmer –
Translating, Emily tells us that the word Robin is used to denote an angel,
like Gabriel, except that Gabriel is a high-level archangel unlike Emily’s
Robin, which is a plain, lowly, working class angel of a lower order that are
known as "transport seraphim". Birds are
used by Emily as code words to describe different types of non-material beings.
Revealed religion is
unified because it comes from a common source – the divine world. The Thought Adjuster
is a fragment of
infinity bestowed by God
upon all men and women. Since God puts a spiritual piece of himself inside each human being, He is our spiritual Father and we are his spiritual sons and daughters. This is exactly analogous to the biologic
father and mother who give a biologic-genetic
piece of themselves to
their biologic
children. This
spirit fragment is the foundation for the living spiritual connection between
God and man. God is in
us and we are in Him. By nature of this living spiritual connection, God "becomes what we are, to make us
what He is." Each
of us are a potentially part of the divine circuit of energy which pours forth
from God, out through his sons and daughters, and into the lives they lead and
the people they touch. And
what goes out from the Source of love, returns in the end through praise,
transforming our hearts and our minds in the process. This new heart and new
mind lies dormant within every man and every woman, awaiting the day they
wholeheartedly choose and desire to be led by God from within. When the self yields sovereignty to
the spirit, the process of new inner growth begins. Most importantly, it is our
will that decides and chooses between: self or other, anger or forgiveness,
hate or love. The will is the ultimate determining factor in all of man’s
existence.
"When the worship urge is
admonished and direct by wisdom…it
begins to develop into the phenomenon of real religion."
First hand spiritual experience is what we lack and what we need most of all. It is only as far away as was Kansas in
the Wizard of Oz; just as far as our hearts desire. "Ask and you shall
receive." "Search and you shall find." "Behold, all things
are becoming new." The spirit fragment or Thought Adjuster acts as a guide
showing us "the way" if we only so desire. The mind which chooses
becomes progressively attuned to God’s will or way, which is the way of truth, the way of beauty, and the way of goodness: each in all and all in each – fused in
the triune experience of living joy. Our minds are adjusted, by right of our desire, to connect the
dots between what we are and what God would have us to become. And our Father
encourages our spiritual striving; saying, "Become perfect, even as I Am perfect." Perfect not in mind, thought, or deed but
perfect in love; our lives a fount of blessings to all those we meet. St.
Francis said it best, "Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace." In
Emily’s poems she makes analogies between the outer and inner states to talk
about the inner, spiritual world – "the Kingdom of heaven within."
And so, darkness is absence of light for our physical eyes, as well as the
absence of understanding from our minds, and the absence of joy for our souls.
Emily Dickinson #45 There’s something
quieter than sleep
1858 Within this inner room.
It wears a sprig upon its breast –
And will not tell its name.
Emily Dickinson #419 We grow accustomed to the Dark –
1862 When
Light is put away –
As when the Neighbor holds the Lamp
To witness her Goodbye –
A Moment – We uncertain step
For newness of the night –
Then – fit our Vision to the Dark –
And meet the Road – erect –
And so of Larger – Darknesses –
Those Evenings of
the Brain –
When not a Moon disclose a sign –
Or Star – come out – within
–
The Bravest – grope a little –
And sometimes hit a Tree
Directly in the Forehead –
But as they learn to see –
Either the Darkness alters –
Or something in
the sight
Adjusts itself to Midnight –
And Life steps almost straight.
Poem
#45 describes something that is "quieter than sleep" within the inner
room of consciousness that "will not tell its name" because the
thought adjuster is that silent, "little
voice within." We
have all had the repeated experience of listening or not listening to that
"little voice within" which is always accurate. It is always accurate
because it is the spirit fragment from God Himself. The real goal of human existence is
learning to hear and follow that voice as much as we are possibly able. We stop listening when we don’t want to
comply with the guidance, therefore we assert our will over His and lose the
connection. Other times we are afraid of repercussions (which there will surely
be) that we don’t want to face. Faith or trust in God is always the answer.
Soon we see, if we give it a chance,
that all things do work to the good for those who love and follow God. This way is the true way and is the entire sum of God’s religion;
the message of Jesus, the Kingdom of heaven within. Man’s religions are best
evaluated by the extent that they connect the real person to the real God: the
God of truth, the God of beauty, the God of goodness, and the God of love. This
God has been progressively revealed to the minds and hearts of man through
Melchizedek, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the Prophets, and most recently Jesus
of Nazareth. This is a progressive,
evolutionary process that
does not stop and sit still. Progressive revelation has been, is, and will
forever be an ongoing
process; as the Infinite
becomes progressively grasped by the finite. We are not meant to put the truths given us into a hole
in the ground to keep it safe and untouched. Like the wise servant of the parable, we are expected to make gain from
what we are given. If we
are not growing on the vine, then we are dying on the vine. There is no standing still in the
Kingdom of heaven –
if we do not bear the
fruits of the spirit, then we are not of the spirit. We can not praise God with
our lips but leave Him out of our lives if we do not act on what we know. Some fruits of the
spirit are love, wisdom, forbearance, faithfulness, loyalty, perseverance, and
humility.
The Excerpts above are from the book, "The Kingdom of Heaven is at Hand" by Ed Roache