George Townsend

The consciousness of the Great Presence has already begun to dawn on me and I live now in a new world, awestruck, wondering, humble and uplifted, and wishing eternally for more light in my darkness and more strength in my weakness. ... I never was so happy - I never was happy at all, but I will be happier yet!
The followers of every world religion have invented for themselves a similar belief in the uniqueness and finality of their own Prophet. The result has been that no religion has acknowledged a Prophet of a later religion. The Hindus do not acknowledge Buddha, the Buddhists do not acknowledge Christ, nor yet do the Zoroastrians. The result of this delusive belief has been that the world religions have not tended to the unifying of mankind but rather to its further division.
Moses had announced, and great Prophets had described in inspired language, the establishment of the Kingdom and the restoration of the Jews. Jesus' function was more intimate, more constructive, more creative. He was actually the Herald of the Kingdom, which, He said, was "at hand". But He did not reveal it fully; "I have yet many things to say unto you, ye cannot bear them now." The Kingdom, in His Revelation, becomes a living, glowing reality, both within the believer's heart and shortly to be fulfilled in the world. Jesus reveals its King as none had done before Him, testifies of Him as "he shall testify of me". Jesus created a power of perceiving God which was new, and in order that it might operate clearly, had to cleanse the spirit of man from all worldly encumbrances. Virtue become detachment from the world, sin attachment to it. Jesus demanded this sacrifice — losing the life of the world for the life of the spirit, but He made God so attractive, so joyous, loving, powerful, that the Christian was ready to abandon all for Him, and for Christ Who revealed Him. Thus the tremendous and fearsome Deity of the Old Testament wins men's hearts in the New. We read of the poor sparrow whose fall was watched by a loving Father, of the flower of the field and the bird of the air, and the tenderest stories that ever have won men's hearts — the prodigal son and the good Samaritan. A new quality of love now characterizes the Kingdom, a love which united the believers not only with God, but with each other, and even extended to enemies and "them that hate you." "That ye love one another" became the test of Christian discipleship. The supreme ideal of this love was, as shown in John, the relationship between Christ and the Father, and though revealed in the most simple language and the plainest words, stands as the highest expression of Divine love in scripture. The result was that Jesus' teachings let loose upon the soul and heart of man a spiritual power such as never had been known in the world before. Historians have said that Jesus' teaching has done more to elevate human nature and civilization than all the laws of legislators and the disquisitions of philosophers combined. By releasing religious energies measured to the needs of the hour and the people, He opened the way to the Kingdom of God in men's hearts. New affections and aspirations, hopes and loyalties were brought into being and the whole moral world was carried into a state of flux.

Authors