Kingdom of Heaven

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Sunday, May 3.

Charles Fillmore

John 14:1-14

There has always been confusion among Christians as to the character of what is called the kingdom of heaven. Jesus Christ’s descriptions of the kingdom of heaven were so multitudinous and mystical that no definite understanding has been arrived at, even by those who have claimed to be very wise in the geography of the Scriptures. The reason is that man has not understood the character of creation itself; living in the senses almost wholly, he has tried to grasp sense conditions in everything that has come into his life.

Jesus Christ tried to liken the kingdom of heaven unto certain relations or conditions. The sense man immediately took it and put it in some geographical location, not knowing the underlying law itself. Jesus, being a master in the creative world, and being in very close union with the Cause Side of Existence, knew this Law, and when his disciples pressed him for a fuller description of the kingdom, he gave a little here and a little there. He said: The kingdom of heaven is like a man who wants to take a journey to a far country, and he leaves his lands etc. in the hands of his servants. When he comes back, those who have increased the talents are commended.

The kingdom of heaven is a place where man increases the conditions in which he is placed. We have thought the kingdom of heaven was all fixed, ready for man to enter, and all he had to do was to play upon a harp, singing “glory to God.”

But, Jesus Christ indicated, very clearly, that the kingdom of heaven was likened unto a place where man must grow. He is given certain talents.

When John came, he said: “Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” That does not mean it is a way off in Mars or somewhere, but it is at hand.

When the rich young man came, he said: “You are very close to the kingdom, indicating that it is right here, so far as geographical location is concerned. Again, the kingdom of God is within you. Yet, we have just read that he went away, telling his disciples that he was going to prepare a place for them, and where he was, they should be also. What does that mean, describing the kingdom of God as a state of mind, and then again as a place?

Look at man’s relation to God, and the underlying creative process through which everything is brought forth. It is Mind. I AM, and I AM manifest. Everything has its inception in Mind. If you think conditions, you produce conditions. This is the key to the situation. The kingdom of heaven is both a state of mind and a place, and if our minds are in what we call TRUTH, and we are thinking along lines laid down in the Principle, we will, through the force of creative thought, throw ourselves into surroundings, into relations, or, into a world that will be to us the kingdom of heaven - that is, a place that will be in harmony with our highest ideals.

But there is such a thing as not expressing conditions conforming to the thought that He established. He came forth from the invisible. He came into our world to bring us to a higher understanding, and a better environment. We, as a race, had gotten off into confusion.

Not understanding the Creative Law, we become lifeless. We need more energy - more force, more electricity, more magnetism, more mesmerism - anything that will charge us with more LIFE. Jesus Christ understood that as part of the kingdom of heaven. In order to get more LIFE we had to have the door open, with the understanding that LIFE comes from Omnipresent Principle. We must go to the Source of Life. A new state of consciousness must be established. You must know, in order to * heaven in its outer manifestation, you must enter into the consciousness of it as Mind or Spirit-Place. The kingdom of heaven is within me, as a mental force, working to the surface, when I harmonize all my forces with the Principle. We must adjust ourselves to this kingdom which is coming into manifestation - which Jesus Christ has made for us, we must adjust ourselves to that, not only in thought, but in Substance; that means that our bodies, themselves, must come under the Law. People enter into the kingdom of heaven, in a measure, when they have that lifted-up feeling, when they get into heavenly state, but it is apt to be followed by depression, and that is because you have not been adjusted to the * * within. You run up against sense. It says: “Why, I would like to have this,” and it stops the greater * of Spirit.

This means that we shall adjust ourselves in sense consciousness - that it shall be transformed. This corruptible shall put on incorruptibility. Purification of mind should be followed by purification of environment.

There is no limit of material out of which to build our kingdom. Jesus Christ is right here in this room, in a state of consciousness, because in Spirit there is no such thing as taking. The Spirit tells us we can lay hold of that Substance, and use it in the re-construction of our bodies – of our surroundings of every character. Jesus Christ entered into that Substance; he knew of this Ether, and of the possibilities of man, and that man could make in that invisible a place where he could come into harmony with his ideals. That is the place he goes to prepare. We are not abiding, in our present consciousness, to place; we are constantly changing, hut when we enter into the Invisible Ether and adjust ourselves to it, we will abide; our thoughts will make a permanent place. We will enter into the abiding of consciousness, and through the manifestation of the thought-consciousness in us, we will make an abiding place. “Ask what ye will in my name, and it shall be done unto you.” If you believe in Jesus Christ, if you believe he did what is claimed, you must believe these promises. He was not an idle talker. He demonstrated, and he said: You shall do these things and greater because I go unto the Father. Now there is a relation between his going to the Father and our ability to do these things.

We must concentrate our efforts if we want to bring new avenue for the purification of the body, not that this is going to make me a resident of the kingdom, but it makes the Spirit easier in its use of the body.

Physical Science is bringing us right to the place where invisible forces are to help in the adjustment of the outer world to the inner - the physical world to the mental. They tell us there is an invisible substance, which they call Ether, and out of it everything comes. Everything has an invisible Substance-side, and that has in it everything that is necessary to the visible.

tubs for coal, and for sleeping. They had no adjustment. Jesus had gotten back of the eye of sense to that of Spirit, and hearing - everything had taken on a new capacity. He changed his appearance at will, and yet it conformed to the original idea. He had, in his new power of body-transformation that capacity which made him (word unreadable) of his environment. He has prepared his place for us, and that is a kingdom where there is * within and without. We can change the Substance of our bodies instantly, and yet this is not a ghost; it is something substantial. Jesus Christ took all of the man with him. Mystical history says there have been many men and women who became so refined in spirit and body that they physically disappeared. The life in their organisms vibrated at such a rapid rate that the cells became rapid, causing them to enter another state of consciousness.

We can enter into that place where Jesus Christ is. If you have entered into that place where you have seen ME, you have seen the Father. I AM God manifest, when I am manifesting God. When I am manifesting the Truth – Spirit, I am the manifestor of (word unreadable). What people in the world want is something in the way of a nice house; they want it nicely furnished and be according to some set idea, but they don’t always get happiness that way, because the mind is not adjusted; there is friction in the mind. You cannot make environments control the mind; it has something to do with adjustment, but we can’t appreciate good things in the world unless we have appreciation in ourselves.

A certain man decided he would put modern houses for his tenants, and inside of thirty days he found they were using the bath up room. Jesus Christ then is here establishing the nucleus of this new kingdom of heaven. This kingdom comes down out of heaven (the Mind) on to earth. Here is all potentiality - all things necessary to the making of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus Christ proved to his followers that they saw him again and again, and to many people, many times, since then. Paul saw him. He said: “Don’t be afraid to go down to Jerusalem.” You probably have met people who have claimed to talk to Jesus Christ. I have seen men who have seen him, and they say the pictures we have are a very good portrayal of him, and naturally, artists have painted the pictures very much alike. He reveals himself to all who enter into a spiritual state of mind. “Ask and it shall be given unto you.” “Seek and ye shall find.”

Then it is possible for us, not only to enter into the kingdom, but to have that kingdom manifest ln our everyday affairs. You can establish a kingdom in your home. We are, today, and entering into it just to the extent that we realize the manifestation of it. If my body is part pf the kingdom of God, and must be transmuted and absorbed (unreadable text), I should seek to make my heaven right here and now. Heaven is in the Mind and it is in the environment; it is in thought and in the manifestation, and there are many abiding places in this universe. There are millions of heavens, and you must make your own before you can go to those who have made other high states of consciousness.

It is good for us to know that we can create our own heaven, and Jesus Christ will assist us to enter in.

“Where I AM there ye may be also.”