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176:3 Later Discussion at the Camp (view source)
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, 21:53, 9 July 2011Created page with 'File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame 176:3.1 As they gathered about the campfire, some twenty of them, Thomas asked: " S...'
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:The_eye_of_all_ur60.jpg|right|frame]]
176:3.1 As they gathered about the campfire, some twenty of them, [[Thomas, the Apostle|Thomas]] asked: " Since you are to return to finish the [[work]] of [[the kingdom]], what should be our [[attitude]] while you are away on [[the Father]]'s business? " As [[Jesus]] looked them over by the firelight, he answered:
176:3.2 " And even you, [[Thomas, the Apostle|Thomas]], fail to [[comprehend]] what I have been saying. Have I not all this [[time]] taught you that your [[connection]] with [[the kingdom]] is [[spiritual]] and [[individual]], wholly a matter of [[personal]] [[experience]] in the [[spirit]] by the [[faith]]-[[realization]] that you are a [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_40#40:5._MORTALS_OF_TIME_AND_SPACE son of God]? What more shall I say? The downfall of [[nations]], the crash of [[empires]], the destruction of the unbelieving [[Jews]], the end of an [[Epoch|age]], even the end of the world, what have these [[things]] to do with one who [[believes]] this [[gospel]], and who has hid his life in the surety of the [[eternal]] [[the Kingdom|kingdom]]? You who are [[God]]-knowing and [[gospel]]-believing have already [[received]] the [[assurances]] of [[eternal]] life. Since your lives have been lived in the [[spirit]] and for [[the Father]], nothing can be of serious concern to you. Kingdom builders, the accredited [[citizens]] of the heavenly worlds, are not to be disturbed by [[temporal]] upheavals or perturbed by [[terrestrial]] [[cataclysms]]. What does it matter to you who believe this [[gospel]] of [[the kingdom]] if [[nations]] overturn, the age ends, or all things visible crash, since you know that your life is the gift of [[the Son]], and that it is [[eternally]] [[secure]] in [[the Father]]? Having lived the [[temporal]] life by [[faith]] and having yielded the [[fruits of the spirit]] as the [[righteousness]] of [[loving]] [[service]] for your fellows, you can [[confident]]ly look forward to the next step in the [[eternal career]] with the same [[survival]] [[faith]] that has carried you through your first and [[earth]]ly [[adventure]] in sonship with [[God]].
176:3.3 " Each [[generation]] of [[believers]] should carry on their [[work]], in view of the possible return of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_Man Son of Man], exactly as each [[individual]] [[believer]] carries forward his lifework in view of [[inevitable]] and ever-impending [[natural]] [[death]]. When you have by [[faith]] once [[established]] yourself as a [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_40#40:5._MORTALS_OF_TIME_AND_SPACE son of God], nothing else matters as regards the surety of [[survival]]. But make no mistake! this [[survival]] [[faith]] is a living faith, and it increasingly [[manifests]] the fruits of that [[Thought Adjuster|divine spirit]] which first [[inspired]] it in the [[human]] [[heart]]. That you have once [[accepted]] sonship in the heavenly kingdom will not save you in the face of the knowing and [[persistent]] [[rejection]] of those [[truths]] which have to do with the [[progressive]] [[spiritual]] fruit-bearing of the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_40#40:5._MORTALS_OF_TIME_AND_SPACE sons of God] in the [[flesh]]. You who have been with me in [[the Father]]'s [[business]] on [[earth]] can even now desert [[the kingdom]] if you find that you [[love]] not the way of [[the Father]]'s [[service]] for [[mankind]].
176:3.4 " As [[individuals]], and as a [[generation]] of [[believers]], hear me while I speak a [[parable]]: There was a certain great man who, before starting out on a long [[journey]] to another country, called all his [[trusted]] servants before him and delivered into their hands all his goods. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one. And so on down through the entire [[group]] of [[honor]]ed stewards, to each he intrusted his goods according to their several [[abilities]]; and then he set out on his [[journey]]. When their lord had departed, his servants set themselves at work to gain [[profits]] from the [[wealth]] intrusted to them. [[Immediately]] he who had received five talents began to trade with them and very soon had made a [[profit]] of another five talents. In like [[manner]] he who had [[received]] two talents soon had gained two more. And so did all of these servants make gains for their master except he who [[received]] but one talent. He went away by himself and dug a hole in the [[Soil|earth]] where he hid his lord's [[money]]. Presently the lord of those servants unexpectedly returned and called upon his stewards for a [[reckoning]]. And when they had all been called before their master, he who had [[received]] the five talents came forward with the [[money]] which had been intrusted to him and brought five additional talents, saying, `Lord, you gave me five talents to [[invest]], and I am glad to present five other talents as my gain.' And then his lord said to him: `Well done, good and [[faithful]] servant, you have been faithful over a few things; I will now set you as steward over many; enter forthwith into the [[joy]] of your lord.' And then he who had [[received]] the two talents came forward, saying: `Lord, you delivered into my hands two talents; behold, I have gained these other two talents.' And his lord then said to him: `Well done, [[good]] and [[faithful]] steward; you also have been faithful over a few things, and I will now set you over many; enter you into the [[joy]] of your lord.' And then there came to the [[accounting]] he who had [[received]] the one talent. This servant came forward, saying, `Lord, I knew you and [[realized]] that you were a shrewd man in that you expected gains where you had not [[personally]] labored; therefore was I afraid to [[risk]] aught of that which was intrusted to me. I safely hid your talent in the [[earth]]; here it is; you now have what belongs to you.' But his lord answered: `You are an [[indolent]] and slothful steward. By your own [[words]] you [[confess]] that you knew I would require of you an [[accounting]] with reasonable [[profit]], such as your [[diligent]] fellow servants have this day rendered. Knowing this, you ought, therefore, to have at least put my [[money]] into the hands of the [[bankers]] that on my return I might have [[received]] my own with interest.' And then to the chief steward this lord said: `Take away this one talent from this unprofitable servant and give it to him who has the ten talents.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_matthew#Chapter_25]
176:3.5 " To every one who has, more shall be given, and he shall have [[abundance]]; but from him who has not, even that which he has shall be taken away. You cannot stand still in the affairs of [[the Kingdom|the eternal kingdom]]. [[the Father|My Father]] requires all his [[children]] to grow in [[grace]] and in a [[knowledge]] of the [[truth]]. You who know these truths must yield the increase of the [[fruits of the spirit]] and [[manifest]] a growing [[devotion]] to the [[unselfish]] [[service]] of your fellow servants. And remember that, inasmuch as you minister to one of the least of my brethren, you have done this [[service]] to me.
176:3.6 " And so should you go about the [[work]] of [[the Father]]'s business, now and henceforth, even forevermore. Carry on until I come. In [[faithfulness]] do that which is intrusted to you, and thereby shall you be ready for the [[reckoning]] call of [[death]]. And having thus lived for the [[glory]] of [[the Father]] and the [[satisfaction]] of [[Creator Son|the Son]], you shall enter with [[joy]] and exceedingly great [[pleasure]] into the [[eternal]] [[service]] of [[the Kingdom|the everlasting kingdom]]. "
176:3.7 [[Truth]] is living; the [[Spirit of Truth]] is ever [[leading]] the [[children]] of [[light]] into new realms of [[spiritual]] [[reality]] and [[divine]] [[service]]. You are not given [[truth]] to [[crystal]]lize into settled, safe, and [[honor]]ed forms. Your [[revelation]] of [[truth]] must be so enhanced by passing through your [[personal]] [[experience]] that new [[beauty]] and [[actual]] [[spiritual]] gains will be disclosed to all who behold your [[Fruits of the spirit|spiritual fruits]] and in consequence thereof are led to [[glorify]] [[the Father]] who is in [[heaven]]. Only those [[faithful]] servants who thus [[grow]] in the [[knowledge]] of the [[truth]], and who thereby [[develop]] the [[capacity]] for [[divine]] [[appreciation]] of [[spiritual]] [[realities]], can ever [[hope]] to " enter fully into the [[joy]] of their Lord. " What a sorry [[sight]] for [[successive]] [[generations]] of the professed followers of [[Jesus]] to say, regarding their [[stewardship]] of [[divine]] [[truth]]: " Here, Master, is the [[truth]] you committed to us a hundred or a thousand years ago. We have lost nothing; we have [[faithfully]] [[preserved]] all you gave us; we have allowed no [[changes]] to be made in that which you taught us; here is the [[truth]] you gave us. " But such a plea concerning [[spiritual]] [[indolence]] will not justify the barren steward of [[truth]] in the [[presence]] of [[the Master]]. In [[accordance]] with the [[truth]] committed to your hands will [[the Master]] of [[truth]] require a [[reckoning]].
176:3.8 In the next world you will be asked to give an [[account]] of the [[endowments]] and [[stewardship]]s of this world. Whether [[inherent]] talents are few or many, a just and [[merciful]] reckoning must be faced. If [[endowments]] are used only in [[selfish]] pursuits and no [[thought]] is [[bestowed]] upon the higher [[duty]] of obtaining increased yield of the [[fruits of the spirit]], as they are [[manifested]] in the ever-expanding [[service]] of men and the [[worship]] of [[God]], such [[selfish]] stewards must [[accept]] the [[consequences]] of their [[Intention|deliberate]] [[choosing]].
176:3.9 And how much like all [[selfish]] [[mortals]] was this unfaithful servant with the one talent in that he blamed his [[slothfulness]] directly upon his lord. How prone is [[man]], when he is [[confronted]] with the [[failures]] of his own making, to put the blame upon others, oftentimes upon those who least deserve it!
176:3.10 Said [[Jesus]] that night as they went to their [[rest]]: " [[Free]]ly have you [[received]]; therefore freely should you give of the [[truth]] of [[heaven]], and in the giving will this [[truth]] multiply and show forth the increasing [[light]] of saving [[grace]], even as you minister it. "[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_matthew#Chapter_10]
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_176 Go to Paper 176]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 176 - Tuesday Evening on Mount Olivet]]
176:3.1 As they gathered about the campfire, some twenty of them, [[Thomas, the Apostle|Thomas]] asked: " Since you are to return to finish the [[work]] of [[the kingdom]], what should be our [[attitude]] while you are away on [[the Father]]'s business? " As [[Jesus]] looked them over by the firelight, he answered:
176:3.2 " And even you, [[Thomas, the Apostle|Thomas]], fail to [[comprehend]] what I have been saying. Have I not all this [[time]] taught you that your [[connection]] with [[the kingdom]] is [[spiritual]] and [[individual]], wholly a matter of [[personal]] [[experience]] in the [[spirit]] by the [[faith]]-[[realization]] that you are a [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_40#40:5._MORTALS_OF_TIME_AND_SPACE son of God]? What more shall I say? The downfall of [[nations]], the crash of [[empires]], the destruction of the unbelieving [[Jews]], the end of an [[Epoch|age]], even the end of the world, what have these [[things]] to do with one who [[believes]] this [[gospel]], and who has hid his life in the surety of the [[eternal]] [[the Kingdom|kingdom]]? You who are [[God]]-knowing and [[gospel]]-believing have already [[received]] the [[assurances]] of [[eternal]] life. Since your lives have been lived in the [[spirit]] and for [[the Father]], nothing can be of serious concern to you. Kingdom builders, the accredited [[citizens]] of the heavenly worlds, are not to be disturbed by [[temporal]] upheavals or perturbed by [[terrestrial]] [[cataclysms]]. What does it matter to you who believe this [[gospel]] of [[the kingdom]] if [[nations]] overturn, the age ends, or all things visible crash, since you know that your life is the gift of [[the Son]], and that it is [[eternally]] [[secure]] in [[the Father]]? Having lived the [[temporal]] life by [[faith]] and having yielded the [[fruits of the spirit]] as the [[righteousness]] of [[loving]] [[service]] for your fellows, you can [[confident]]ly look forward to the next step in the [[eternal career]] with the same [[survival]] [[faith]] that has carried you through your first and [[earth]]ly [[adventure]] in sonship with [[God]].
176:3.3 " Each [[generation]] of [[believers]] should carry on their [[work]], in view of the possible return of the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Son_of_Man Son of Man], exactly as each [[individual]] [[believer]] carries forward his lifework in view of [[inevitable]] and ever-impending [[natural]] [[death]]. When you have by [[faith]] once [[established]] yourself as a [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_40#40:5._MORTALS_OF_TIME_AND_SPACE son of God], nothing else matters as regards the surety of [[survival]]. But make no mistake! this [[survival]] [[faith]] is a living faith, and it increasingly [[manifests]] the fruits of that [[Thought Adjuster|divine spirit]] which first [[inspired]] it in the [[human]] [[heart]]. That you have once [[accepted]] sonship in the heavenly kingdom will not save you in the face of the knowing and [[persistent]] [[rejection]] of those [[truths]] which have to do with the [[progressive]] [[spiritual]] fruit-bearing of the [http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_40#40:5._MORTALS_OF_TIME_AND_SPACE sons of God] in the [[flesh]]. You who have been with me in [[the Father]]'s [[business]] on [[earth]] can even now desert [[the kingdom]] if you find that you [[love]] not the way of [[the Father]]'s [[service]] for [[mankind]].
176:3.4 " As [[individuals]], and as a [[generation]] of [[believers]], hear me while I speak a [[parable]]: There was a certain great man who, before starting out on a long [[journey]] to another country, called all his [[trusted]] servants before him and delivered into their hands all his goods. To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one. And so on down through the entire [[group]] of [[honor]]ed stewards, to each he intrusted his goods according to their several [[abilities]]; and then he set out on his [[journey]]. When their lord had departed, his servants set themselves at work to gain [[profits]] from the [[wealth]] intrusted to them. [[Immediately]] he who had received five talents began to trade with them and very soon had made a [[profit]] of another five talents. In like [[manner]] he who had [[received]] two talents soon had gained two more. And so did all of these servants make gains for their master except he who [[received]] but one talent. He went away by himself and dug a hole in the [[Soil|earth]] where he hid his lord's [[money]]. Presently the lord of those servants unexpectedly returned and called upon his stewards for a [[reckoning]]. And when they had all been called before their master, he who had [[received]] the five talents came forward with the [[money]] which had been intrusted to him and brought five additional talents, saying, `Lord, you gave me five talents to [[invest]], and I am glad to present five other talents as my gain.' And then his lord said to him: `Well done, good and [[faithful]] servant, you have been faithful over a few things; I will now set you as steward over many; enter forthwith into the [[joy]] of your lord.' And then he who had [[received]] the two talents came forward, saying: `Lord, you delivered into my hands two talents; behold, I have gained these other two talents.' And his lord then said to him: `Well done, [[good]] and [[faithful]] steward; you also have been faithful over a few things, and I will now set you over many; enter you into the [[joy]] of your lord.' And then there came to the [[accounting]] he who had [[received]] the one talent. This servant came forward, saying, `Lord, I knew you and [[realized]] that you were a shrewd man in that you expected gains where you had not [[personally]] labored; therefore was I afraid to [[risk]] aught of that which was intrusted to me. I safely hid your talent in the [[earth]]; here it is; you now have what belongs to you.' But his lord answered: `You are an [[indolent]] and slothful steward. By your own [[words]] you [[confess]] that you knew I would require of you an [[accounting]] with reasonable [[profit]], such as your [[diligent]] fellow servants have this day rendered. Knowing this, you ought, therefore, to have at least put my [[money]] into the hands of the [[bankers]] that on my return I might have [[received]] my own with interest.' And then to the chief steward this lord said: `Take away this one talent from this unprofitable servant and give it to him who has the ten talents.'[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_matthew#Chapter_25]
176:3.5 " To every one who has, more shall be given, and he shall have [[abundance]]; but from him who has not, even that which he has shall be taken away. You cannot stand still in the affairs of [[the Kingdom|the eternal kingdom]]. [[the Father|My Father]] requires all his [[children]] to grow in [[grace]] and in a [[knowledge]] of the [[truth]]. You who know these truths must yield the increase of the [[fruits of the spirit]] and [[manifest]] a growing [[devotion]] to the [[unselfish]] [[service]] of your fellow servants. And remember that, inasmuch as you minister to one of the least of my brethren, you have done this [[service]] to me.
176:3.6 " And so should you go about the [[work]] of [[the Father]]'s business, now and henceforth, even forevermore. Carry on until I come. In [[faithfulness]] do that which is intrusted to you, and thereby shall you be ready for the [[reckoning]] call of [[death]]. And having thus lived for the [[glory]] of [[the Father]] and the [[satisfaction]] of [[Creator Son|the Son]], you shall enter with [[joy]] and exceedingly great [[pleasure]] into the [[eternal]] [[service]] of [[the Kingdom|the everlasting kingdom]]. "
176:3.7 [[Truth]] is living; the [[Spirit of Truth]] is ever [[leading]] the [[children]] of [[light]] into new realms of [[spiritual]] [[reality]] and [[divine]] [[service]]. You are not given [[truth]] to [[crystal]]lize into settled, safe, and [[honor]]ed forms. Your [[revelation]] of [[truth]] must be so enhanced by passing through your [[personal]] [[experience]] that new [[beauty]] and [[actual]] [[spiritual]] gains will be disclosed to all who behold your [[Fruits of the spirit|spiritual fruits]] and in consequence thereof are led to [[glorify]] [[the Father]] who is in [[heaven]]. Only those [[faithful]] servants who thus [[grow]] in the [[knowledge]] of the [[truth]], and who thereby [[develop]] the [[capacity]] for [[divine]] [[appreciation]] of [[spiritual]] [[realities]], can ever [[hope]] to " enter fully into the [[joy]] of their Lord. " What a sorry [[sight]] for [[successive]] [[generations]] of the professed followers of [[Jesus]] to say, regarding their [[stewardship]] of [[divine]] [[truth]]: " Here, Master, is the [[truth]] you committed to us a hundred or a thousand years ago. We have lost nothing; we have [[faithfully]] [[preserved]] all you gave us; we have allowed no [[changes]] to be made in that which you taught us; here is the [[truth]] you gave us. " But such a plea concerning [[spiritual]] [[indolence]] will not justify the barren steward of [[truth]] in the [[presence]] of [[the Master]]. In [[accordance]] with the [[truth]] committed to your hands will [[the Master]] of [[truth]] require a [[reckoning]].
176:3.8 In the next world you will be asked to give an [[account]] of the [[endowments]] and [[stewardship]]s of this world. Whether [[inherent]] talents are few or many, a just and [[merciful]] reckoning must be faced. If [[endowments]] are used only in [[selfish]] pursuits and no [[thought]] is [[bestowed]] upon the higher [[duty]] of obtaining increased yield of the [[fruits of the spirit]], as they are [[manifested]] in the ever-expanding [[service]] of men and the [[worship]] of [[God]], such [[selfish]] stewards must [[accept]] the [[consequences]] of their [[Intention|deliberate]] [[choosing]].
176:3.9 And how much like all [[selfish]] [[mortals]] was this unfaithful servant with the one talent in that he blamed his [[slothfulness]] directly upon his lord. How prone is [[man]], when he is [[confronted]] with the [[failures]] of his own making, to put the blame upon others, oftentimes upon those who least deserve it!
176:3.10 Said [[Jesus]] that night as they went to their [[rest]]: " [[Free]]ly have you [[received]]; therefore freely should you give of the [[truth]] of [[heaven]], and in the giving will this [[truth]] multiply and show forth the increasing [[light]] of saving [[grace]], even as you minister it. "[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Gospel_of_matthew#Chapter_10]
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=Paper_176 Go to Paper 176]</center>
<center>[http://nordan.daynal.org/wiki/index.php?title=The_Urantia_Text_-_Contents Go to Table of Contents]</center>
[[Category:Paper 176 - Tuesday Evening on Mount Olivet]]