Spiritual kingdom

“ The scientists say there are three kingdoms in nature—mineral, vegetable and animal. I say there are four—mineral, vegetable, animal and man, or the spiritual Kingdom of God. Man is a soul or spiritual body which is from God and a part of God. He can think, reason, aspire, analyze, and soar into the psychic realms of the spiritual world and commune with angels and Deity, and is a spirit monarch of the universe. ”

“ To enter the kingdom within is to enter health, harmony and happiness, because these three great principles reign supremely in the spiritual life of man. Therefore, by seeking the kingdom, health will be added, harmony will be added, happiness will be added. It is impossible to be sick in the spiritual life; and discord and unhappiness can no more exist in such a life than darkness can exist in the most brilliant light. But to seek the kingdom is not sufficient; we must also seek his righteousness. ”

“ These kingdoms also correspond to the kingdoms of the heart and lungs in the body.
The case is similar in heaven. The celestial kingdom is the will-principle of heaven, and the good of love there rules. The spiritual kingdom is the intellectual principle of heaven, and there truth rules. These are what correspond to the functions of the heart and lungs in man. It is from this correspondence that the heart in the Word signifies the will and also the good of love; and the breath of the lungs, the understanding and the truth of faith. ”

“ In order to make somewhat of a show of sustaining the theory of the present spiritual existence of the kingdom of God, the ingenuity of man has been employed to make it appear that the spiritual kingdom can and does exist contemporarily with the temporal powers of the world, a sort of a kingdom within kingdoms, and one which allies itself with the world's politics, forming a kind of twin relationship. ”

“ It is a transforming event by which one swings over from life in the outer to life in the inner world, from life in the dark world to life in the light world, and is born into the kingdom, or principle, which Christ revealed in His triumphant spiritual Life. The human spirit, by this innermost Birth, reaches the principle of Life by which Christ lived, and the gate into heaven is opened and paradise is in the soul. ”

“ Therefore, to bring about the conscious and willing co-operation of Creation with the pro [146] gressive Will of Love, we have first earnestly to desire the coming of the Kingdom of God, which desire shall be the preparation for our enlightenment, when the pure in heart shall see God. ”

“ And let us when we have done that, claim the promise, that as we have sought first the kingdom and God's righteousness, all things shall be added unto us. Beloved, the kingdom of God is within you, and it is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Come, let us claim it even now in simple, childlike, humble faith. ”

“ This Science of God and man is the Holy Ghost, which reveals and sustains the unbroken and eternal harmony of God, man, and the universe. It is the Kingdom of Heaven, the ever-present reign of harmony, already with us. ”

“ Such is the nature of angelic life—the life which we are all made capable of attaining, and which the Lord is forever seeking to develop or build up within us. Such is the character of that heavenly kingdom whereof the Bible so often speaks—a kingdom of righteousness, joy and peace—a kingdom of pure and loving hearts—the very kingdom for which we pray when we breathe that inspired petition, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven." ”

“ I live in it, delight in it, and expect to die in it, and live to all eternity in it. The spirit and power of justice, mercy, long-suffering, patience, kindness, and good acts to all around, filling up the measure of my life here and to all eternity in doing good, is what I delight in. That is the kingdom I love—the kingdom I am in; and I pray that God may roll on his work, and that iniquity may be swept from our midst, until we overcome, gather the honest in heart from all the earth, and fill it with righteousness. ”

“ Blessed art thou, for the lights of guidance have shone forth upon thee and the bounty of the Supreme Kingdom hath illumined thy heart. The effect of the Spirit will surely increase within hearts, so souls will grow in advancing toward the Kingdom, the wonderful bounty shall appear from the invisible kingdom, the hidden exalted world, and your powers and firmness will increase in the Cause of God, the Lofty, the Mighty. ”

“ And passing through the last great Gate, he stands glorious, radiant, free, detached from the tyranny of desire, of opinion, of self; a divine man—harmless, patient, tender, pure; he has found that for which he had been searching—the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness. ”

“ Purity, Wisdom, Love, Plenty, Joy, and Peace—these are the eternal Realities of the Kingdom, and they are yours, but you cannot possess them in sin; they have no part in the Realm of Darkness. They belong to "the Light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world," the Light of spotless Love. They are the heritage of the holy Christ-Child who shall come to birth in your soul when you are ready to divest yourself of all your impurities. They are your real self. ”

“ O thou who art advancing unto God!
Praise God that He guided thee to the Path of His Kingdom, blessed thee with the word of holiness, and illumined thy heart with a light shining in the lofty Kingdom.
O maid-servant of God! Every star hath a setting, but the star of the knowledge of God in the divine heaven; every light shall darken save the light of the guidance of God; every dignity shall vanish away save the glory under the shadow of the Word of God. ”

“ And when the Christian tells us of his Lord's Prayer—Thy kingdom come, as it is in heaven, we feel that heaven is not alien from us or from our desires and our hopes. If heaven is indeed the crown and consummation of personal and social life on earth, then it is to heaven we ourselves are looking forward, looking, fearing, longing. We, too, have our vision of a kingdom where love shall be the king, and self-seeking, with all its dreadful consequences, be done away. ”

“ Oh, that thou mayest fully reign in me and in all men, by grace now, and by glory hereafter. Oh, that my soul may seek first the kingdom of God, and may mind and desire the things which are above, not those which are upon the earth. Oh, that, weary of its present exile, where sin reigns, where ambition, pride, &c., predominate, it may aspire incessantly to that blessed life, and the possession of an eternal kingdom. ”

“ If he have a great and holy faith he can do it now, and, letting fall from him like a garment the self to which he has been clinging, stand free. If he have less faith, he must rise above self more slowly, and find the Kingdom by daily effort and patient work. The Temple of Righteousness is built and its four walls are the four Principles— Purity, Wisdom, Compassion, Love. ”

“ And if thou art the least in the Kingdom of God, all this may be thine, by the Holy Spirit, who introduces the very nature of the Son of Man into the heart that loves Him truly. "He that is least in the Kingdom of heaven is greater than he." ”

“ Again, the truth, the spirit of the kingdom of the soul, is like a ball of leaven that a woman hid in measures, three, of flour and in a little time the whole was leavened.
24. Again, the kingdom of the soul is like a treasure hidden in a field which one has found, and straightway goes his way and sells all that he has and buys the field. ”

“ My kingdom comes to the kingdoms of this world, the interests, aims, pursuits, and common life of men, like this breath of Divine inspiration: without it they all languish and must perish; with it they live: it is a descent of heavenly truth, heavenly love, heavenly life, into the sphere of the earthly, to make it live anew ”

“ In their greatness lies their homage. The divinity with which they are invested is the noblest glory of God. God is the father of spirits, and the constitution of the eternal kingdom rests on the vassalship of love. ”

“ I answer, God, seeing the heart of him who seeks him within, draws near to him, and teaches him a just moderation in all things; and, by this retrenchment of all excess in externals, the soul begins to perceive the peaceful kingdom. It realizes within itself a guide, who provides for its necessities, according to divine laws, who takes away the burdens that sin imposes; a guide who does not foster corrupt nature, nor forbid innocent pleasures. ”

“ Learn how they feel towards His people; learn what is the state of the world; and then look back upon the people of God in these mountains, and you will see them lifted up and perceive that they are pure in heart in comparison with the world, and are striving with all their might and main to build up the kingdom of God on the earth. ”

“ But whilst we are here in this mortal life, thy kingdom is within us, as long as thou reignest within our souls, by thy grace and by thy love. I earnestly beg both for myself and for all others, a share in thy eternal kingdom, that we may there be witnesses of thy glory, and see, love, praise and enjoy thee for ever. In the meantime, I beg that the kingdom of thy grace, and of thy love, may come into our souls; that thou mayst ever reign in us without control, and make us all according to thy own heart; that nothing in us may any more presume to rebel against thee, the true king of hearts ”

“ That we must not only send up petitions and thoughts now and then to heaven; but must go thro’ all our worldly business, with an heavenly spirit, as members of Christ’s mystical body, that, with new hearts and new minds, we are to turn an earthly life into a preparation for a life of greatness and glory in the kingdom of heaven. ”

“ We say we believe we are the Kingdom of God on the earth—this is our profession. Let us, by our every act, prove this profession to be true. It has been told you before, time and again, and we want to keep sounding it in your ears, take the course to save yourselves both spiritually and temporally. ”

“ In order for the kingdom of God to have an existence upon the earth, we naturally need the radiant light of heaven, we need the divine sanction of the Almighty, and He will set a man to properly organize His people, and execute those things which He designs to have carried out. ”

“ Make them signs and tokens of the Kingdom, luminous stars above the horizons of this nether life. Make them to be a comfort and a solace to humankind and servants to the peace of the world. Exhilarate them with the wine of Thy counsel, and grant that all of them may tread the path of Thy commandments. ”

“ What is this kingdom, and how is it sought? It is the kingdom of eternal life, and the kingdom of our own soul, for this kingdom of the soul, unless it is possessed through reason, never becomes part of the kingdom of God. ”

“ Every inch he looked a king as he continued to speak to this breathless multitude: "You would make me king, not because your souls have been lighted with a great truth, but because your stomachs have been filled with bread. How many times have I told you that my kingdom is not of this world? This kingdom of heaven which we proclaim is a spiritual brotherhood, and no man rules over it seated upon a material throne. ”