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148:5 The Purpose of Affliction (view source)
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, 23:02, 12 July 2011Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame 148:5.1 At another of these private interviews in the garden Nathaniel asked Jesus: " Maste...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:The_eye_of_all_ur60.jpg|right|frame]]
148:5.1 At another of these [[private]] interviews in the [[garden]] [[Nathaniel]] asked [[Jesus]]: " Master, though I am beginning to [[understand]] why you refuse to [[practice]] [[healing]] indiscriminately, I am still at a loss to [[understand]] why the [[Universal Father|loving Father]] in heaven [[permit]]s so many of his [[children]] on [[earth]] to [[suffer]] so many afflictions. " [[The Master]] answered [[Nathaniel]], saying:
148:5.2 " [[Nathaniel]], you and many others are thus [[perplexed]] because you do not [[comprehend]] how the [[natural]] order of this world has been so many times upset by the [[sinful]] [[adventures]] of [[Lucifer Rebellion|certain rebellious traitors]] to [[the Father]]'s will. And I have come to make a beginning of setting these [[things]] in order. But many ages will be required to restore [[Satania|this part]] of the [[Nebadon|universe]] to former [[paths]] and thus release the [[children]] of men from the extra burdens of [[sin]] and [[rebellion]]. The [[presence]] of [[evil]] alone is sufficient test for the [[ascension]] of [[man]]—[[sin]] is not [[essential]] to [[survival]].
148:5.3 " But, my son, you should [[know]] that [[the Father]] does not [[purposely]] [[afflict]] his [[children]]. [[Man]] brings down upon himself unnecessary affliction as a result of his [[persistent]] refusal to walk in the better ways of the [[divine]] will. [[Affliction]] is [[potential]] in [[evil]], but much of it has been produced by [[sin]] and [[iniquity]]. Many [[unusual]] [[events]] have transpired on [[Urantia|this world]], and it is not strange that all [[thinking]] men should be [[perplexed]] by the scenes of [[suffering]] and affliction which they [[witness]]. But of one thing you may be sure: [[The Father]] does not send [[affliction]] as an [[arbitrary]] [[punishment]] for wrongdoing. The imperfections and [[handicaps]] of [[evil]] are [[inherent]]; the [[penalties]] of [[sin]] are [[inevitable]]; the destroying [[consequences]] of [[iniquity]] are inexorable. Man should not blame [[God]] for those afflictions which are the [[natural]] result of the life which he [[chooses]] to live; neither should man [[complain]] of those [[experiences]] which are a [[part]] of life as it is lived on this world. It is [[the Father]]'s will that [[mortal]] man should work [[persistently]] and consistently toward the betterment of his estate on [[earth]]. [[Intelligent]] [[application]] would enable man to overcome much of his earthly [[misery]].
148:5.4 " [[Nathaniel]], it is our [[mission]] to help men solve their [[spiritual]] [[problems]] and in this way to quicken their [[minds]] so that they may be the better [[prepared]] and [[inspired]] to go about solving their manifold [[material]] [[problems]]. I know of your [[confusion]] as you have read the [[Scriptures]]. All too often there has prevailed a [[tendency]] to ascribe to [[God]] the [[responsibility]] for [[everything]] which [[ignorant]] man fails to [[understand]]. [[The Father]] is not personally [[responsible]] for all you may fail to [[comprehend]]. Do not [[doubt]] the [[love]] of [[the Father]] just because some just and [[wise]] [[law]] of his [[ordaining]] [[chances]] to [[afflict]] you because you have [[innocently]] or deliberately [[transgressed]] such a [[divine]] ordinance.
148:5.5 " But, [[Nathaniel]], there is much in the [[Scriptures]] which would have instructed you if you had only [[read]] with [[discernment]]. Do you not remember that it is written: `My son, despise not the [[chastening]] of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction, for whom the Lord [[loves]] he corrects, even as the [[father]] corrects the son in whom he takes delight.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Proverbs#Proverb_.3] `The Lord does not afflict willingly.' `Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now do I keep the [[law]]. Affliction was [[good]] for me that I might thereby [[learn]] the [[divine]] statutes.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Psalms#Psalm_119] `I know your [[sorrows]].[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Exodus#Chapter_.3] The [[eternal]] [[God]] is your [[refuge]], while underneath are the everlasting arms.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Deutoronomy#Chapter_.33] `The Lord also is a refuge for the oppressed, a haven of rest in times of trouble.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Psalms#Psalm_9] `The Lord will [[strengthen]] him upon the bed of [[affliction]]; the Lord will not [[forget]] the sick.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Psalms#Psalm_41] `As a [[father]] shows [[compassion]] for his children, so is the Lord [[compassionate]] to those who fear him. He knows your [[body]]; he remembers that you are dust.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Psalms#Psalm_103] `He [[heals]] the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Psalms#Psalm_147] `He is the [[hope]] of the [[poor]], the [[strength]] of the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, and a shadow from the devastating heat.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Isaiah#Chapter_.25] `He gives [[power]] to the faint, and to them who have no might he increases [[strength]].'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Isaiah#Chapter_.40] `A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax he will not quench.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Isaiah#Chapter_.42] `When you pass through the waters of [[affliction]], I will be with you, and when the [[rivers]] of [[adversity]] overflow you, I will not forsake you.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Isaiah#Chapter_.43] `He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to [[proclaim]] [[liberty]] to the [[captives]], and to [[comfort]] all who [[mourn]].'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Isaiah#Chapter_.61] `There is correction in [[suffering]]; affliction does not spring forth from the dust.' "[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Job#Chapter_.5]
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_148 Go to Paper 148]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 148 - Training Evangelists at Bethsaida]]
148:5.1 At another of these [[private]] interviews in the [[garden]] [[Nathaniel]] asked [[Jesus]]: " Master, though I am beginning to [[understand]] why you refuse to [[practice]] [[healing]] indiscriminately, I am still at a loss to [[understand]] why the [[Universal Father|loving Father]] in heaven [[permit]]s so many of his [[children]] on [[earth]] to [[suffer]] so many afflictions. " [[The Master]] answered [[Nathaniel]], saying:
148:5.2 " [[Nathaniel]], you and many others are thus [[perplexed]] because you do not [[comprehend]] how the [[natural]] order of this world has been so many times upset by the [[sinful]] [[adventures]] of [[Lucifer Rebellion|certain rebellious traitors]] to [[the Father]]'s will. And I have come to make a beginning of setting these [[things]] in order. But many ages will be required to restore [[Satania|this part]] of the [[Nebadon|universe]] to former [[paths]] and thus release the [[children]] of men from the extra burdens of [[sin]] and [[rebellion]]. The [[presence]] of [[evil]] alone is sufficient test for the [[ascension]] of [[man]]—[[sin]] is not [[essential]] to [[survival]].
148:5.3 " But, my son, you should [[know]] that [[the Father]] does not [[purposely]] [[afflict]] his [[children]]. [[Man]] brings down upon himself unnecessary affliction as a result of his [[persistent]] refusal to walk in the better ways of the [[divine]] will. [[Affliction]] is [[potential]] in [[evil]], but much of it has been produced by [[sin]] and [[iniquity]]. Many [[unusual]] [[events]] have transpired on [[Urantia|this world]], and it is not strange that all [[thinking]] men should be [[perplexed]] by the scenes of [[suffering]] and affliction which they [[witness]]. But of one thing you may be sure: [[The Father]] does not send [[affliction]] as an [[arbitrary]] [[punishment]] for wrongdoing. The imperfections and [[handicaps]] of [[evil]] are [[inherent]]; the [[penalties]] of [[sin]] are [[inevitable]]; the destroying [[consequences]] of [[iniquity]] are inexorable. Man should not blame [[God]] for those afflictions which are the [[natural]] result of the life which he [[chooses]] to live; neither should man [[complain]] of those [[experiences]] which are a [[part]] of life as it is lived on this world. It is [[the Father]]'s will that [[mortal]] man should work [[persistently]] and consistently toward the betterment of his estate on [[earth]]. [[Intelligent]] [[application]] would enable man to overcome much of his earthly [[misery]].
148:5.4 " [[Nathaniel]], it is our [[mission]] to help men solve their [[spiritual]] [[problems]] and in this way to quicken their [[minds]] so that they may be the better [[prepared]] and [[inspired]] to go about solving their manifold [[material]] [[problems]]. I know of your [[confusion]] as you have read the [[Scriptures]]. All too often there has prevailed a [[tendency]] to ascribe to [[God]] the [[responsibility]] for [[everything]] which [[ignorant]] man fails to [[understand]]. [[The Father]] is not personally [[responsible]] for all you may fail to [[comprehend]]. Do not [[doubt]] the [[love]] of [[the Father]] just because some just and [[wise]] [[law]] of his [[ordaining]] [[chances]] to [[afflict]] you because you have [[innocently]] or deliberately [[transgressed]] such a [[divine]] ordinance.
148:5.5 " But, [[Nathaniel]], there is much in the [[Scriptures]] which would have instructed you if you had only [[read]] with [[discernment]]. Do you not remember that it is written: `My son, despise not the [[chastening]] of the Lord; neither be weary of his correction, for whom the Lord [[loves]] he corrects, even as the [[father]] corrects the son in whom he takes delight.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Proverbs#Proverb_.3] `The Lord does not afflict willingly.' `Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now do I keep the [[law]]. Affliction was [[good]] for me that I might thereby [[learn]] the [[divine]] statutes.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Psalms#Psalm_119] `I know your [[sorrows]].[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Exodus#Chapter_.3] The [[eternal]] [[God]] is your [[refuge]], while underneath are the everlasting arms.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Deutoronomy#Chapter_.33] `The Lord also is a refuge for the oppressed, a haven of rest in times of trouble.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Psalms#Psalm_9] `The Lord will [[strengthen]] him upon the bed of [[affliction]]; the Lord will not [[forget]] the sick.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Psalms#Psalm_41] `As a [[father]] shows [[compassion]] for his children, so is the Lord [[compassionate]] to those who fear him. He knows your [[body]]; he remembers that you are dust.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Psalms#Psalm_103] `He [[heals]] the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Psalms#Psalm_147] `He is the [[hope]] of the [[poor]], the [[strength]] of the needy in his distress, a refuge from the storm, and a shadow from the devastating heat.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Isaiah#Chapter_.25] `He gives [[power]] to the faint, and to them who have no might he increases [[strength]].'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Isaiah#Chapter_.40] `A bruised reed shall he not break, and the smoking flax he will not quench.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Isaiah#Chapter_.42] `When you pass through the waters of [[affliction]], I will be with you, and when the [[rivers]] of [[adversity]] overflow you, I will not forsake you.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Isaiah#Chapter_.43] `He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to [[proclaim]] [[liberty]] to the [[captives]], and to [[comfort]] all who [[mourn]].'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Isaiah#Chapter_.61] `There is correction in [[suffering]]; affliction does not spring forth from the dust.' "[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Book_of_Job#Chapter_.5]
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_148 Go to Paper 148]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 148 - Training Evangelists at Bethsaida]]