Bible Lessons

Compiled by

Virginia Stephenson
Correlated to The Infinite Way and
Spiritual Interpretation of Scripture
By Joel S. Goldsmith

Lesson 19: My Kingdom

Introduction to the Bible Lessons

At Joel Goldsmith's 1962 Princess Kaiulani class in Hawaii, Joel invited Virginia
Stephenson to give daily lectures on the Bible. To his delight, the whole class attended
the lectures, and there was a great receptivity to them. As a result of these Bible
lectures, Joel asked Virginia to make up a Bible study program that revealed the
timeless, universal spiritual principles which are the basis of the Infinite Way. Joel
wanted every student to be familiar with the spiritual thread of Oneness that runs
through the Old Testament and the New Testament. Virginias Bible Lessons originally
appeared in Joel Goldsmiths Monthly Letters starting in January, 1963, and continued
through April of 1965. They focused the students on the various principles and aspects
of mystical unfoldment.
A mystical teaching like The Infinite Way requires study. It is not a religion in which you
can find comfort in a church, temple or mosque. The way one comes to mystical
realization is through study and meditation. These lead to illumination that state of
consciousness in which the presence of God is experienced. The tools we have for this
kind of study go back to antiquity. Many great lights lived as transparencies for the
Divine, and many of them left records of the principles for living in that mystical
consciousness. Joel Goldsmiths work is a message of Christian mysticism, and he left a
large body of work for people to study. To fully understand the principles he left to the
world, it is helpful to know the Bible.
These Bible Lessons require the active participation of the student; they involve more
effort than just reading from a book. They guide the student into finding the connections
between the modern presentation of mysticism and its ancient roots. Not everything in
the Bible is spiritual. Much of it describes the struggle of a people wanting to know God,
and defines their concept of God and how man relates to the divine and to his fellow
human beings. The mystical revelation in the Bible is hard to find, and often it is veiled
behind a human agenda. Because of Joels many years in Christian Science, where the
Bible is essential to the service, Joel knew the Bible and was able to unveil its mystical
thread. In his Infinite Way message, Joel continued to use the Bible as the foundation for
mystical revelation.

How to study the lessons

To study these lessons, first read the Bible passages given in the box. These passages
have been selected to emphasize the theme of the lesson. Then read the selection from
Joels book(s) that is given after the Bible passages. Read just one section at a time
and contemplate and meditate on what you have read. In this way you will increase your
knowledge of scripture, and you will discover the connection between the mysticism of
The Infinite Way and its ancient root.
i

Studying these lessons can also be a group activity. Individuals can take turns reading
the passages and the group can meditate after each section is read.
Please note that the page references for quotations from The Infinite Way (abbreviated
TIW) are from the DeVorss & Company thirty-fourth printing of the book in 2006. Page
references for quotations from Spiritual Interpretation of Scripture (abbreviated as
SIOS) are from the DeVorss & Company twenty-fourth printing of the book in 2003.
If you have older or newer versions of these books, the passage that is quoted may be
on a different page. If you are using the e-book versions of the books, you may not have
page numbers at all. However, you can use the Search function on your e-reader to
search for the first few words of the quotation and easily locate the passage.
Each book reference is given in this format: [Book Title, page number: paragraph
number]. For example, the reference TIW, p. 21: 1-2 refers to The Infinite Way, page
21, paragraphs 1 and 2. The reference SIOS, p. 25: 2 refers to Spiritual Interpretation
of Scripture, page 25, paragraph 2.
The paragraph numbers refer to whole paragraphs. In other words, a partial
paragraph at the top of a page is not counted as the first paragraph on that page. It is
considered the completion of the last paragraph on the preceding page. So for example,
the reference TIW, p. 34: 1 refers to the first complete paragraph on page 34 of The
Infinite Way.
All Bible quotations are from the King James Version. Today, there are many online
Bible study websites such as biblegateway.com and biblehub.com that are rich with
features to facilitate study. Most of them allow you to specify a Bible passage, and then
read that passage in many different translations. While Joel always used the King James
Version, it can be helpful to read the same Bible passage in a few different translations
before contemplating the passage to discern the meaning.

Our gratitude
We are most grateful to DeVorss & Company for their gracious permission to use
quotations from The Infinite Way and Spiritual Interpretation of Scripture for these Bible
Lessons.

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Lesson 19: My Kingdom

Part I

John 18:36
36

Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world,
then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is
my kingdom not from hence.

The seeker of Truth begins his search with a problem perhaps with many problems.
The first years of his search are devoted to overcoming discords and healing disease
through prayer to some higher Power, or the application of spiritual laws or truth to these
mortal conditions. The day arrives, however, when he perhaps discovers that the
application of truth to human problems either does not work or does not work as it once
did, or else he finds there is now less of satisfaction and inspiration in his study.
Eventually, he is led to the great revelation that mortals put on immortality only as
mortality disappears they do not add immortal spiritual harmony to human conditions.
God does not create, nor does He control material affairs. But the natural [human] man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.1

I Corinthians 2: 12-14
12

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but
which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are
foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually
discerned.

Are we seeking the things of the Spirit of God for some human purpose, or are we
really endeavoring to put off the mortal in order that we may behold the harmony of the
spiritual realm?
While we strive and struggle and contend with the so-called powers of this world,
combating sickness and sin or lack, spiritual sense reveals that My kingdom is not of
this world. Only as we transcend the desire to improve our humanhood do we

The Infinite Way (DeVorss & Company, Thirty-fourth printing, 2006), p. 22: 2. Please note that
all subsequent references to this book will be abbreviated as TIW.

Lesson 19: My Kingdom

Page 2

understand this vital statement. When, however, we leave the realm of human
betterment, we catch the first glimpse of the meaning of I have overcome the world.2

John 16: 33
33

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye
shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God
Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which
the Holy Ghost teacheth ... But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of
God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned.
How often do we go on the rocks on this point! How frequently do we attempt to
understand spiritual wisdom with our human intellect! This leads to mental indigestion
because we are attempting to digest spiritual food with our educated mentality. It will not
work. Truth is not a reasoning process; therefore, it must be spiritually discerned. Truth
does not as a rule appeal to our reason, and when it appears to do so, we must search
deeply to see if it really is truth. Be suspicious of a truth that seems reasonable.
Jesus, walking on the water, feeding the multitudes with a few loaves and fishes,
healing the sick and raising the dead does all this seem reasonable to you? If the
principle underlying these experiences could be understood through reason, all the
churches would be teaching it as a present possibility, and they would recommend its
practice. But this principle is apparent only to spiritual sense, and this cultivated spiritual
consciousness can do all the things that the Christ has ever done. What was possible to
Christ-consciousness in Jesus time is possible to that same Consciousness now. 3

2
3

TIW, p. 23: 1-2

TIW, p. 27: 1-3

Lesson 19: My Kingdom

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Part II

Luke 12: 29-40

29

And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful
mind.
30
For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth
that ye have need of these things.
31
But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
32
Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
33
Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a
treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth
corrupteth.
34
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
35
Let your loins be girded about, and your lights burning;
36
And ye yourselves like unto men that wait for their lord, when he will return from the
wedding; that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open unto him immediately.
37
Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily
I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will
come forth and serve them.
38
And if he shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them
so, blessed are those servants.
39
And this know, that if the goodman of the house had known what hour the thief would
come, he would have watched, and not have suffered his house to be broken
through.
40
Be ye therefore ready also: for the Son of man cometh at an hour when ye think not.

Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, says the Apostle James. Have you
ever thought of this when you have prayed for some time, and then found no answer to
your prayer? Ye ask amiss. There is the reason.
Prayer, when based on the belief that there is a need unfilled or a desire unsatisfied, is
never in accord with true scientific prayer. A prayer for God to do something, send
something, provide, or heal is equally without power.
It is sometimes believed that God requires a channel through which to fulfill our prayer,
and this leads us to look outside ourselves for the answer. We may believe that supply
can come to us; and, therefore, we watch for the person or position through which it is to
come; or we may be depending on a healer or teacher as the channel through which the
healing is to come. Ye ask amiss.
Any belief that that which we are seeking is anywhere but within us, within our very own
consciousness, is the barrier separating us in belief from our harmony.4

TIW, p. 101: 1-4

Lesson 19: My Kingdom

Page 4

Habakkuk 2: 1-3
1

I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what he
will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved.
2
And the LORD answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables,
that he may run that readeth it.
3
For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie:
though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.

True prayer is never addressed to a Being outside ourselves, nor does true prayer
expect anything from outside our own being. The kingdom of God is within you, and all
good must be sought there. Recognizing God to be the reality of our being, we know that
all good is inherent in that Being, your being and mine. God is the substance of our
being; and, therefore, we are eternal and harmonious. God is life, and this Life is selfsustained. He is our Soul, and we are pure and immortal. God is the consciousness of
the individual, and this constitutes the intelligence of our being.5
Spiritual illumination does not come from a person, but from the impersonal Christ, the
universal Truth, the illumined consciousness of your Self.
Illumined consciousness dispels the personal sense of self with its problems, ills, age,
and failures. It reveals the real Self, the I that I am, unlimited, unfettered, untroubled,
harmonious, and free. This Selfhood is revealed as we retire within ourselves each day
and there learn to listen and to watch. Likewise, instead of anxious care about the work
of the day or the events of the future, we let the Soul, or our divine Spirit, go ahead of us
to smooth and prepare the way; we let this divine Influence remain behind us to
safeguard every step from the illusions of sense.6

5
6

TIW, p. 102: 1
TIW, p. 37: 2-3

Lesson 19: My Kingdom

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Part III

I Kings 19: 15-16, 19-21

15

And the LORD said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus:
and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:
16
And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the
son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.
19

So he departed thence, and found Elisha the son of Shaphat, who was plowing with
twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the twelfth: and Elijah passed by him,
and cast his mantle upon him.
20
And he left the oxen, and ran after Elijah, and said, Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father
and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said unto him, Go back again: for
what have I done to thee?
21
And he returned back from him, and took a yoke of oxen, and slew them, and boiled
their flesh with the instruments of the oxen, and gave unto the people, and they did
eat. Then he arose, and went after Elijah, and ministered unto him.

To those unfolding on the spiritual path, come the discordant experiences of human life,
until the transition from this world has been completely accomplished. The desire is to
avoid or escape these inharmonies of mind, body, or economic affairs but this cannot
be done, since the discords result solely from the battle with Spirit and the flesh, that is,
with spiritual consciousness and material sense.7

Luke 9: 57-62
57

And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord,
I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.
58
And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the
Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
59
And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury
my father.
60
Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the
kingdom of God.
61
And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell,
which are at home at my house.
62
And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking
back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

To those on the way, harmony in human affairs often is a lack of spiritual awakening;
and, therefore, when the battle, leading to the overcoming of this world is on, the initiate
7

TIW, p. 165: 4

Lesson 19: My Kingdom

Page 6

will remain as quiet as possible under the adverse circumstances, endeavoring to refrain
from fighting erroneous conditions and insofar as possible letting the warfare go on until
the moment of transition arrives.8

Matthew 10: 34-39

34

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a
sword.
35
For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against
her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
36
And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
37
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth
son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
38
And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.
39
He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.

When your spiritual study is sincere, the breaking-up of your material world the
desertion of friends, students, or family, a change of health or other outer activity often
ushers in the spiritual transition, or rebirth. This is the attainment of that which you have
sought.
A tremendous movement is taking place as the initiate discerns the difference between
physical harmony and spiritual wholeness.9

Part IV

1 John 2: 15-17
15

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world,
the love of the Father is not in him.
16
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride
of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17
And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God
abideth for ever.

We have not overcome the world while we are seeking to have less of the worlds pains
and more of the worlds pleasures and profits. And if we are not overcoming the sense
of struggle over worldly affairs, we are not entering the realm of heavenly affairs.10
8

TIW, p. 166: 1
TIW, p. 166: 2-3
10
TIW, p. 23:3
9

Lesson 19: My Kingdom

Page 7

For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world. Spiritual consciousness

overcomes the world both the pains and pleasures of the world. We cannot accomplish
this evangelization of humanhood by mental might or physical power, but by the spiritual
sense of existence, which all may cultivate through devotion of thought to the things of
the Spirit. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and
the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. Here is the guide. Watch your
thoughts, aims, and ambitions for just a short while and see if your mind is on your
health, the pleasures of the senses, or worldly gain. Then as these worldly thoughts
appear, learn to reject them because now we are no longer set on the path of improving
our human affairs, but on attaining the spiritual kingdom.11

1 John 3: 1-2, 17-18

1

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be
called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.
2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but
we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he
is.
17

But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up
his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
18
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world,
the love of the Father is not in him. Does this sound as if we were becoming ascetic? Do
we appear now to be desiring a life apart from the normal, joyous, successful walks of
life? Do not be deceived. Only those who have learned to keep their attention on spiritual
things have tasted the full joys of home, companionship, and successful enterprise. Only
those who have in a measure become centered in God have found safety, security, and
peace right in the midst of a war-torn world. Spiritual sense does not remove us from our
normal surroundings, nor does it deprive us of the love and companionship so necessary
to a full life. It merely places it on a higher level where it is no longer at the mercy of
chance or change or loss, and where the spiritual value of the so-called human scene is
made manifest.12
Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto
everlasting life . . . For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.13

11

TIW, p. 24: 1
TIW, p. 24: 2
13
TIW, p. 25: 1
12

Lesson 19: My Kingdom

Page 8

1 John 4: 6-8
6

We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us.
Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
7
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born
of God, and knoweth God.
8
He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

Immortality is attained in proportion as personal sense is overcome, whether here or

hereafter. As we put off the personal ego and attain the consciousness of our real Self
the Reality of us, divine Consciousness we attain immortality. And that can be
achieved here and now.
The desire to perpetuate our false sense of body and wealth ensnares us into death, or
mortality.14
The first step in the attainment of immortality is living out from the center of our being,
as in the idea of unfoldment from within, rather than accretion: It is the giving sense
rather than getting; being rather than attaining. In this consciousness, there is no
condemnation, judgment, hatred, or fear, but rather a continuous feeling of love and
forgiveness.
It is not a simple matter to show forth the joy and peace of immortality, because to those
intent on preserving their present concepts of being, immortality would appear to be
extinction. This is not the case: It is the eternal preservation of all that is real, fine, noble,
harmonious, gracious, unselfish, and peaceful. It is reality brought to light in place of the
illusion of sense. It is the conscious awareness of the infinity of individual being replacing
the finite sense of existence.15
Selfishness and conceit fall away in the realization of the divinity of our being.
This realization brings forth patience and forbearance with those still struggling in
mortal, material consciousness. It is being in the world but not of it.16

14

TIW, p. 31: 1-2

TIW, p. 31: 3-4
16
TIW, p. 32: 1-2
15

Lesson 19: My Kingdom

Notes: My Kingdom

Page 9