Oh, the marvel and the wonder of God's greatness! The unspeakable glory of His power! The breath-taking beauty of His love! And "the extent of His doings none can find out!"
These divinely directed books have been written under the hand of Almighty God. And they lie not! They have been given to prepare the children of men for the complete fulfilling of all the holy PROMISES given since time itself began.
This particular volume contains the final keys and the last unfolding of the directions and the powers along that divine road of fulfillment and of OVERCOMING. This record unfolds the method by which one may purchase the "gold tried in the fire that he might be rich indeed, and the white raiment" that he may literally become clothed in Light, that the shame of his nakedness will never appear.
Those who accept this record and fulfill its PROMISES will truly be "Born of the Spirit," as Christ explained to Nicodemus. To "be born of the Spirit" is the power of translation, which so few understand and so many deny. Those who have the faith to live by the higher laws will be "born of the Spirit" and will become translated beings and death will have no power to touch them. And "Everyone who is born of the Spirit will have the power to come and go as the wind and no one will know from whence he came or whither he goeth." So declared Christ and His words cannot be broken.
And the Master declared: "The Father himself, which hath sent me hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.
"And ye have not his word abiding in you; for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
"YOU search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
"AND YE WILL NOT COME TO ME THAT YE MIGHT HAVE LIFE." So spoke Jesus to the multitude, as recorded in John 5:37-40.
In the thirty-ninth verse of the King James version of the Bible it reads thus: "Search the scripture: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me." This is a mistranslation. The word YOU was left out. But according to the original Greek writings, from which the above reference is quoted, it is not given as a command to search the scriptures but rather as a rebuke or an accusation, this constant searching of the scriptures.
And thousands down the ages and thousands today have searched or are searching the scriptures, thinking that in them they will find eternal life, while they ignore Christ completely with His continual outpouring, personal information and loving direction for the constant emergencies of life. It is in that personal contact with God, as one opens up his soul to be "taught of God" that all power lies. The great power to do the works which Christ did is not contained in the scriptures but in the living contact with God. And those who hold their minds continually within the pages of the Bible will become word-bound in their thinking and their lives will become as dried and brittle as parchment. It is these who have failed to go to Christ, in a love of devotion that will reveal the TRUTH and go beyond the dead letter of the law, that remain in their dead, orthodoxed conformity of unprogressiveness.
The tragedy of the thousands, as they have accepted of the mistranslation "to search the scriptures," is that they are living only by the letter of the law as various passages have appealed to their unopened, uninspired, unenlightened understandings. And their views become narrowed as they go forth to preach their own private doctrines with a fanatical, often self-righteous attitude of intolerance.
And there are those blessed, misguided ones who have overburdened the minds of their precious children with memorized verses and passages of scripture which the children comprehend not. Such over-zealous ones believe the road to glory is paved with dogmas and scriptural passages. They assume that the more passages of scripture one has stored in his brain the farther he will be able to ascend into the kingdom of heaven.
The most regrettable part of such erroneous conceptions is that those who believe thus have LIVED none of the things with which they have crammed their minds even while their souls and hearts are empty of everything except quotations.
Any individual who constantly quotes scriptures, which he has not PROVED by the living of them, and so obtained the powerful fulfilling of the PROMISES, is like a man who has eaten but has not digested or assimilated the food, then spews it out -- as "VOMIT" "to defile the banquet tables of the Lord," as Isaiah proclaimed. Unlived scriptures is as unacceptable as undigested food, spewed out. It is not only defiling but an insult to those who are invited to partake of it. These spewed-out, hashed-over words that have not been digested or lived, are a mockery. And from this time forth they will be totally unacceptable, for those who profess to carry the powers and authority of God will be required to prove their claim by doing the works which Christ Did -- and GREATER WORKS. "For my kingdom is not in word, but in POWER saith the Lord."
Yes, "YOU search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. AND YE WILL NOT COME TO ME THAT YE MIGHT HAVE LIFE!" The great command is to learn to go to Christ who will forever pour out the LIVING WORD of His enlightening power to all who will seek for it or who request instruction. The living, eternal invitation is to: "Come unto me," (Not to the scriptures) "all ye who labor and are heavy laden" (with mortality and its earthly burdens) "And I will give you rest;" ("which rest is the fulness of my glory!" This is according to the fullness of this divine spiritual PROMISE.) "Take my yoke upon you (for my yoke is love) and my burden is Light!" It is the great Light of Jesus Christ which He offers to share with any who will only ask or who will go to Him, the great LIVING CHRIST with their burdens.
This near-sightedness to the scriptures was a failing of mortals even in the days of Jesus Christ upon the earth. He told how the letter killeth, that little written letter of the word. But "THE SPIRIT GIVETH LIFE!" Or that contact with Christ, which maketh alive all things.
In those ancient days they kept their eyes so centered upon the letter of the law they failed to behold Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God -- and so they crucified Him.
Here is Paul's explanation of it as given in the second chapter of Galatians and the sixteenth verse, which is as follows: "Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, BUT BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST, even we have believed in Jesus and not by the works of the laws FOR BY THE WORKS OF THE LAW SHALL NO FLESH BE JUSTIFIED."
Then in verse twenty-one of the same chapter, Paul adds: "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ died in vain."
Also in Galatians, chapter three and verses ten to thirteen, Paul continues: "For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law TO DO THEM.
"BUT THAT NO MAN IS JUSTIFIED BY THE LAW IN THE SIGHT OF GOD, it is evident: FOR THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH.
"And the law is not of faith: but the man that doeth them shall live in them.
"CHRIST HATH REDEEMED US FROM THE CURSE OF THE LAW."
Then in verse nineteen, Paul adds: "Wherefore serveth the law? It was added because of transgression, till the seed would come to whom the promise was made."
Paul then explained that: "Abraham lived under the glory of the PROMISES, BY FAITH." It was four hundred thirty years later that the laws were added because of the wickedness and transgressions of the people. And the law is: that those who are wicked must live under the CURSE of the law.
The wicked not only must live under the curse of the law they must be judged by the law. They must be ruled by the law instead of by LOVE and FAITH and TRUTH, which comes under the direct contact with God. When Christ came it was again granted unto man to leave the law and to live according to the power of the PROMISES by FAITH. And again man failed to accept the PROMISES in their literal meaning or to exercise the FAITH TO PROVE or fulfill them.
The scriptures are to be used to PROVE and to verify all instructions received and to establish TRUTH, for no newly revealed truth will ever contradict the Bible. But the Bible does not contain ALL of God's words, nor can it bind God down to eternal silence for much of it can only be fully comprehended by a continual outflowing of the divine Spirit of God.
"AND THEY ARE CALLED GODS UNTO WHOM THE WORD OF GOD COMES!" This does not refer to the scriptures, remember. There are millions to whom the Bible has come who are wicked, unbelievers, disobedient, or fanatical and sometimes sanctimoniously self-righteous and without the tiniest ability to love. "The WORD" that is referred to is the LIVING WORD which is that divine contact with God at all times.
This WORD is best explained by the inspired writer of the Odes of Solomon, contained in the Lost Books of the Bible, as follows: "And from it (THE WORD) came love and concord; and they spake one to the other whatever was theirs; and they were penetrated by the WORD:
"And they knew Him who made them, because they were in concord; for the mouth of the MOST HIGH spake to them; and His explanation ran by means of it:
"FOR THE DWELLING PLACE OF THE WORD IS MAN: AND ITS TRUTH IS LOVE.
"Blessed are they who by the means thereof have understood everything, and have KNOWN THE LORD IN HIS TRUTH! Hallelujah!"
These books which God has commanded me to write, have been written under the direction of God, to reveal the great, dynamic PROMISES OF THE ALMIGHTY! There are no new revelations in this work -- no new PROMISES. These books only contain the PROMISES which God has given down the ages. And at a casual, unthinking glance there will be those who might proclaim them to be the most beautiful Fairy Tales ever written. But this is not so. Every promise quoted in these books is one of the ETERNAL PROMISES given by GOD HIMSELF, or by His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, or by some divinely chosen prophet. None of these promises has been made by me. I was only appointed to hold a giant magnifying glass over them to make them apparent, yes, so that "ALL MEN MIGHT BE LEFT WITHOUT EXCUSE." These are God's PROMISES and He will fulfill them unto all those who BE-LIVE.
Too many have sat back with their hands folded awaiting Christ's glorious coming to fulfill all PROMISES for them. These mistaken ones, who have become the blind followers of the blind, will be the ones who will have no oil in their lamps when He does appear. Christ left these words behind for man's guidance, "If ye believe in me YE SHALL DO THE WORKS WHICH I DID AND GO ON TO GREATER WORKS!" Every professing Christian is required to exercise Faith in the PROMISES until he is able to do ALL the works which Christ did -- then go beyond them. And "Without FAITH it is impossible to please God."
Those who do accept the PROMISES of God and who begin to LIVE by them, THROUGH FAITH, are no longer under the law. Such as can reach beyond the law unto His divine PROMISES, AND live by them, become the true followers of the Lord Jesus Christ for they go to Him for fulfillment as they accept every promise ever given and LIVE according to these dynamic, breathtaking PROMISES, by Faith, even as Abraham did.
It is not by the law or by quibbling over obscure passages of scripture that one is justified or exalted. It is only by fulfilling the PROMISES as one LIVES by FAITH that he can possibly be glorified and exalted above earthly mortality.
This Spirit of understanding, or of revelation, if so you choose to designate it, or the ability to be taught of God, or to receive that power to have "The Word of God come to you, that you might be called Gods" is something which any humble, searching soul may receive. "The Spirit of Revelation is in connection with these blessings. A person (any person) may profit by noticing the first intimation of the Spirit of Revelation; for instance, when you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it, you find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i.e.) those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God WILL COME TO PASS: and thus by learning the Spirit of God, and understanding it, you may grow into the principle of revelation, UNTIL YOU BECOME PERFECT IN CHRIST JESUS." This can only be achieved as one opens up his soul so that the LIVING POWER OF GOD can instruct him personally.
The following gives a perfect analysis of man's capacity to be taught of God. "We consider that God has created man with a mind capable of instruction, and a faculty which may be enlarged in proportion to the heed and diligence given to the light communicated from heaven to the intellect and that the nearer man approaches perfection the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has OVERCOME the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at the point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with Him. But we consider that this is a station at which no man ever arrived in a moment; he must have been instructed by proper degrees, until his mind is capable in some measure of comprehending the propriety, justice, equality and consistency of the same."
"And they were called Gods unto whom the word of God came. And the scriptures cannot be broken” so said Jesus Christ as He reaffirmed the ancient scriptures before Him, that they might become ALIVE in the hearts of the children of men. "Lay hold of the Promises!" LIVE by them! Prove them! "For nothing is impossible to him who believes!" Such is the PROMISE!