Religion

Hunger and thirst for righteousness

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (Matthew 6:33)

Rev Ian Arnold on the Beatitudes: “… no one reaches out for righteousness, for the Lord’s order in their lives, unless they are dissatisfied with the way things are at present.” (https://static.swedenborg.com.au/pdf/transcripts/136TheBeatitudes4.pdf)

2 Kings 2:19 – A strange story, and a strange cure

Rev Dick Keyworth – rubbing salt into the wound

What is “righteousness”? Living according to the ten commandments – obeying the rules?

Dictionary meaning: “the quality of being morally right or justifiable.”

HOWEVER, you can behave yourself perfectly well, but still be dissatisfied with the outcome of your life. Is this an EMPTY PROMISE?

dikaiosuné: righteousness, justice [Gk 1343] – justice, justness, righteousness, righteousness of which God is the source or author, but practically: a divine righteousness.

What is the difference between God’s Righteousness – and human righteousness?

“The righteous in the Word mean those who have lived in accordance with Divine order, since Divine order is righteousness.” (True Christian Religion, 96)”

When I think of Divine Order, I think of three laws:

“… all the statutes commanded to the sons of Israel were laws of order in the external form, but those things which they represented and signified were laws of order in the internal form.” (Heavenly Secrets, 7995)

Just as there are natural laws – conservation of energy, momentum – there are spiritual laws.

What are those “laws of order in internal form”?

* Spiritual Attraction

  • “Judge not, that you be not judged.” (Matthew 7:1)
  • “Like are drawn spontaneously as it were to their like.” (Heaven and Hell, 44)

* Spiritual Influx 

  • “As in heaven, so upon the earth” (Matthew 6:10)
  • “… it is a law of order that exterior things should be subject to interior things, or what is the same, lower things to higher ones, and should serve them as servants” (AC 5127)

* Equilibrium

  • “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” (1 Corinthians 10:13)
  • NATURALLY, NOT TRUE!
  • “… it is in accordance with the laws of order that no one should become convinced of the truth instantaneously, that is, should instantaneously be made so sure of the truth that he is left in no doubt at all about it.” (AC 7298.2)

How do these laws work out, in real life? Recent FACEBOOK conversation:

1. Why wouldn’t a “perfect” God create a “perfect” world? 

  • What do WE mean by a “perfect” world? A world without suffering.
  • What does GOD mean by a “perfect world”? Perhaps, “fit for purpose”: a world which achieves what God intends for it. A world in which we can learn the meaning and practice of love.

2. The desire for freedom.

  • What is freedom? 
  • Freedom is an illusion as is free will. Free will is not free will when it comes with punishment and reward. It is coercion. Freedom implies no responsibilities no consequences and we know that is untrue.

“Few know what freedom is and what non-freedom is. Freedom seems to entail everything that is in keeping with any love and associated delight, and non-freedom to entail everything that is at variance with these. That which is in keeping with self-love and love of the world, and with the desires belonging to those loves, seems to man to be freedom; but that is the freedom of hell. That however which is in keeping with love to the Lord and love towards the neighbour, consequently with the love of what is good and true, is true freedom, being the freedom that exists in heaven.” (AC 2870)

A world free of suffering and free of consequences is a fiction, an impossibility. Every world that might ever be created will have its laws, inescapable principles, by which it operates. And the same is true of the world of relationships, the spiritual world.

We are blessed:

  • By the acknowledgement that we lack what is Divinely, spiritually, good and true.
  • When we recognise that our perspective has been too outwardly and naturally focussed.

Recorded on Sunday 2 June 2024