The Jesus MeetUp YOU: The Temple of God Week #4
temple: [noun] a housing for religious practice
141:6:4 That night Jesus discoursed to the apostles on the new life in the kingdom. He said in part: "When you enter the kingdom, you are reborn. You cannot teach the deep things of the spirit to those who have been born only of the flesh; first see that men are born of the spirit before you seek to instruct them in the advanced ways of the spirit. Do not undertake to show men the beauties of the temple until you have first taken them into the temple. Introduce men to God and as the sons of God before you discourse on the doctrines of the fatherhood of God and the sonship of men. Do not strive with men — always be patient. It is not your kingdom; you are only ambassadors. Simply go forth proclaiming: This is the kingdom of heaven — God is your Father and you are his sons, and this good news, if you wholeheartedly believe it, is your eternal salvation."
Let us take note of something Jesus is stating clearly here: The kingdom of the spirit of God is a place that one ENTERS! Some on our world feel that just because they “think” about God then surely they must KNOW God. However, this is not so as Jesus shows us in this passage. Materialistic/fleshly people are not understanding of the deep things of the spirit. The very first thing that one must recognize is their own birth INTO THE SPIRITUAL KINGDOM OF GOD. Once this is done then the advanced things of God may be enjoyed and realized. Without this birth --- the beauties of the temple will be veiled/hidden/hard to find. Always remember that this is our Paradise Father’s kingdom. All humans are HIS children. We are not to spiritually judge anyone’s spiritual standing before God.
We are the living temple of spiritual fellowship.
157:4:5 Jesus, still standing, then said to the twelve: "You are my chosen ambassadors, but I know that, in the circumstances, you could not entertain this belief as a result of mere human knowledge. This is a revelation of the spirit of my Father to your inmost souls. And when, therefore, you make this confession by the insight of the spirit of my Father which dwells within you, I am led to declare that upon this foundation will I build the brotherhood of the kingdom of heaven. Upon this rock of spiritual reality will I build the living temple of spiritual fellowship in the eternal realities of my Father's kingdom. All the forces of evil and the hosts of sin shall not prevail against this human fraternity of the divine spirit. And while my Father's spirit shall ever be the divine guide and mentor of all who enter the bonds of this spirit fellowship, to you and your successors I now deliver the keys of the outward kingdom — the authority over things temporal — the social and economic features of this association of men and women as fellows of the kingdom." And again he charged them, for the time being, that they should tell no man that he was the Son of God.
THIS IS A PROGRESSION BASED UPON OUR CHOICES:
>>> YOU make this confession by the insight of the spirit who dwells within your souls.
>>> THEN I [Jesus] declare this foundation is the brotherhood of the kingdom.
>>> THEN it is STRONG.
>>> THEN upon this rock of spiritual reality IF YOU CHOOSE IT [revelation of my Father to your inmost souls]...
>>> HE will build His living temple of spiritual fellowship.
>>> Nothing can come against it!
>>> IF YOU CHOOSE THIS [revelation of my Father to your inmost souls] God will guide/mentor you.
>>> He THEN gives us the SPIRITUAL KEYS TO THE OUTWARD KINGDOM = SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY over things temporal: social and economic as people of the KINGDOM Our Father of all spirits of whom is wisdom and love!
157:4:7 And ever since that day this same Jesus has been building that living temple upon that same eternal foundation of his divine sonship, and those who thereby become self-conscious sons of God are the human stones which constitute this living temple of sonship erecting to the glory and honor of the wisdom and love of the eternal Father of spirits.
All of the Father’s wisdom and love dwells within US as we are His temple where He lives. We honor and give glory to Him as we may share in His powerful goodness, love and wisdom. Would we like to have more wisdom and love in our lives, yes? Well – here is where it is!
“God who dwells within will lead you”, said Jesus.
133:4:4 To the earnest leader of the Mithraic cult Jesus said: "You do well to seek for a religion of eternal salvation, but you err to go in quest of such a glorious truth among man-made mysteries and human philosophies. Know you not that the mystery of eternal salvation dwells within your own soul? Do you not know that the God of heaven has sent his spirit to live within you, and that this spirit will lead all truth-loving and God-serving mortals out of this life and through the portals of death up to the eternal heights of light where God waits to receive his children? And never forget: You who know God are the sons of God if you truly yearn to be like him."
Why do we look without and around us to discover the facts ABOUT God or Jesus? Why do we look to other mortal humans, like Paul who invented Christianity and did not always teach/say what Jesus did, to tell us what to think about where or WHO God is when we now have the very physical/material expression of our Father Himself, Jesus, to tell us directly not only where to find God [within our souls] but then HOW to KNOW God [allow His guidance].
Physical rules vs. Spiritual Transformation
143:2:4 "By the old way you seek to suppress, obey, and conform to the rules of living; by the new way you are first transformed by the Spirit of Truth and thereby strengthened in your inner soul by the constant spiritual renewing of your mind, and so are you endowed with the power of the certain and joyous performance of the gracious, acceptable, and perfect will of God. Forget not — it is your personal faith in the exceedingly great and precious promises of God that ensures your becoming partakers of the divine nature. Thus by your faith and the spirit's transformation, you become in reality the temples of God, and his spirit actually dwells within you. If, then, the spirit dwells within you, you are no longer bond-slaves of the flesh but free and liberated sons of the spirit. The new law of the spirit endows you with the liberty of self-mastery in place of the old law of the fear of self-bondage and the slavery of self-denial.” ~ Jesus
Did you catch that? God actually “performs” IN your mind! It is your CHILD-LIKE faith that is your pathway to not only finding God within but then knowing His gracious and perfect actions within our own souls as we grow them. Note the word there of “become”. We should not assume that we are the temples of God in total simply because we wish it to be so. We BECOME the temples of God as He transforms us to eventually be so. Example: A child has the potential for becoming an adult but is not one until they grow into such an adult. In like turn, we do not become the complete temples of God until and as we allow Him to transform/transcend us from within.
God speaks within the human heart!
148:6:10 "Job was altogether right when he challenged the doctrine that God afflicts children in order to punish their parents. Job was ever ready to admit that God is righteous, but he longed for some soul-satisfying revelation of the personal character of the Eternal. And that is our mission on earth. No more shall suffering mortals be denied the comfort of knowing the love of God and understanding the mercy of the Father in heaven. While the speech of God spoken from the whirlwind was a majestic concept for the day of its utterance, you have already learned that the Father does not thus reveal himself, but rather that he speaks within the human heart as a still, small voice, saying, 'This is the way; walk therein.’ Do you not comprehend that God dwells within you, that he has become what you are that he may make you what he is!" ~ Jesus
Do we desire the comfort of God in our daily living? If we are suffering, would having our longed for soul-satisfying revelations directly from God to our minds help us through these trying times? Do we yearn for God to speak to the core of our hearts in that still and small voice that has the power to give us heavenly encouragement and spiritual insight for better living? What then are we waiting for?
Jesus defines true spiritual fellowship.
157:6.14 “And now have I brought you apart with me and by yourselves for a little while that you may comprehend the glory, and grasp the grandeur, of the life to which I have called you: the faith-adventure of the establishment of my Father’s kingdom in the hearts of mankind, the building of my fellowship of living association with the souls of all who believe this gospel.” ~ Jesus
Ever since Paul of Tarsus created Christianity [Jesus did not do this] and organized churches to function in an ecclesiastical/hierarchical/monetary system our understanding of “spiritual fellowship” has been one of an actual social gathering with talks ABOUT God/Jesus from someone talking in the front of a room of people/audience. Although Christianity has been the most outstanding religion on our world so far it has not embraced this teaching from Jesus Himself. What was/is this foundation that Jesus speaks of? He said it in this passage. It is our Father’s kingdom in the hearts of mankind, all men and all women. His true fellowship is comprised of those souls on this world who believe in this gospel of God dwelling within the hearts of our planetary siblings. Proclaiming this gospel is what Jesus declares He hopes for each of us to be about. This removes the need for any man or woman to stand in between our indwelling Paradise Father and His own human child.
Personal revelation comes directly from God within you.
165:3:7 "And when our enemies bring you before the rulers of the synagogues and before other high authorities, be not concerned about what you should say and be not anxious as to how you should answer their questions, for the spirit that dwells within you shall certainly teach you in that very hour what you should say in honor of the gospel of the kingdom." ~ Jesus
Jesus is telling us plainly that the Person of our indwelling Father not only wants to teach us what we need to know now but He is completely supportive especially when we are in pursuit of honoring His promotion of His spiritual kingdom [within the soul/mind]. What this means is that if we want to have His help in our lives, given any difficult situations that we may find ourselves in, we should first and foremost be about doing our Father’s will. This is verbally defined here in Jesus’ explanation that anything related to honoring His gospel of His kingdom will be met with His happy response and the angelic hosts of heaven are part of this as They all work for Him/Jesus. Do we want spiritual help for our lives to go better? Well, now you have your answer and pathway.
Enjoy your journey to the Father!
Some questions to discuss:
What is your understanding of what it means to be “born of the spirit”?
Where do you believe the spiritual kingdom of God resides?
What do you think Jesus’ living temple of spiritual fellowship is? How is it to be built? Why?
Why is this living temple of spiritual fellowship built upon a progression of personal choices?
What are we given as a result of these personal spiritual choices?
If we are able to find God then how can we “know God”? Why?
What is our pathway to knowing God?
Why do you think that Jesus never mentioned starting churches as Paul did?
If you desire God’s help for your own life what must you do to gain His advice or teaching? Why?
To our indwelling Paradise Father who has the spiritual power to transform our daily living with transcendent faith just as Jesus possessed!
Now is a good time to say as a loving group The Lord’s Prayer all together.
Please turn these sheets back in.
Write down any questions you may have and give them to your leader.
Feel free to write down a prayer request and give it to your leader.
Next week we will discuss Follow Me: What He Meant.
