Soul Evolution—Judgment of the Nations

Text

Matt. 25:31-46 But when the Son of man shall come In his glory and all the angels with him then shall he sit on the throne of his glory: and before him shall be gathered all the nations: and he shall separate them one from another as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left, llien shall the King say unto them on his right hand. Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and ‘ ye took me in; naked, and ye olothed me; I was siok, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye oame unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying. Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or athirst, and gave thee drink? And when saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? and when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you. Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my brethren, even these least, ye did it unto me. Then shall he say also unto tham on the left hand. Depart from me, ye cursed. Into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angel for I was hungry, and ye did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not. Then shall they also answer, saying. Lord, shen saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee? Then shall he answer them, saying. Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto me. And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.

Luke 21:37,38 And every day he was teaching in the temple; and every night he went out, and lodged in the mount that is ealled Olivet. And all the people oame early in the morning to him in the temple, to hear him.

Interpretation

The Son of God is Christ, the Divine Idea Man. The Son of man is Adam, the manifestation of Christ, the Lord God. When it dawns upon the Son of man that he is in reality the Son of God, a higher consoiousness is born in him; he rules instead of being ruled. This symbolically pictured: “the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory.”

When the light of divine understanding begins to shine in consciousness the “glory” causes a quickening of the discrimination. The Truth is the standard and all motives, thoughts, and acts that do not chord therewith are denied, and those that do, affirmed. This is the separation symbolized by the division of sheep and goats.

The belief that a great day of judgment at some future time was here prophesied by the Lord, still holds with many Christians, but one of the foremost orthodox Bible commentators says in a recent work, “That there is a day of Judgment is a fact, but it is difficult, and not so important, to decide the exact nature or time of the coming of the Lord to judgment.” It is said (Matt. 24) that “this generation shall not pass away until all these things be accomplished,” and it is not profitable to discuss for a moment any other meaning. The kingdom inherited from the foundation of the world is the kingdom within, which Jesus referred to vftien he looated heaven.

Jesus taught that service was the test of value. “He that is greatest among you, let him serve.” In every department of life we find that the things that best serve us are considered most valuable. This is true in the mechanical, the moral, and the in telle ctual world. In choosing between the emotions and fih thoughts upon which human consciousness, and all that comes out of it, is founded, we should make service the standard.

First of all, man should not be servant of appetite, passion, or thought, but these should all serve him and minister to him. The righteous servants of mind and body should be given greater power, because they minister in all ways to man while he is yet bound in sense consciousness. Tbe body is built and sustained by the serving forces of nature, and in every function of the organism they are clothing, feeding, healing, and giving life and strength to mind and body. All this is being done without thought that they are building a temple for the soul. When the Higher Self comes into dominion and recognizes the service of these silent workers, they are surprised at being set at the right hand, and are told that when they served the body, which is brother of the mind, they were at the same time serving the Christ.

The goats, the adverse states of thought, are sent into the “age-abiding fire,” as translated by Rotherham. This implies purification, but not neoessarily punishment. But there disappointment, and to the “unprofitable servant,” “wailing and gnashing of teeth.”

Transcribed by Mark Hicks on November 16, 2017.