The first command and law of creation is: "LET THERE BE LIGHT!" Light is the primal substance of all existing things. All things are formed of the element of Light and from it. And Light is generated and put into action by the power of FAITH, which contains the energy of creating or bringing forth into form. FAITH and Light are always united in form and substance in the potency of their energized creating. They belong together. They are one. Where there is no Light FAITH cannot exist. And when there is no Faith LIGHT cannot manifest.
"Ask, believing that you shall receive and you shall have whatsoever you ask."
Or: "If you ask anything and doubt not in your heart you shall have whatsoever you saith."
"Without FAITH it is impossible to please God!" No wonder! Without faith there can be no hope, no vision, no Light and consequently no power of fulfilment. "And he who is without hope must needs be in despair; and despair cometh because of iniquity," or because he is filled with darkness or doubts or negation. He has lost his contact with God and the powers thereof. And that very contact with God is Light. And Light is manifest in joy and praise and love and thanksgiving and in great inner rejoicing.
Darkness is manifest in hopelessness, in despair, in unbelief and in doubting and in all types and degrees of negation and suffering. The darkness is the powers of destruction and disintegration at work, whether upon one's body or his mind or his surroundings or affairs.
"Cast out the darkness from among you and you shall be ordained of God and sent forth * * * and all things will become subject unto you, both in heaven and on earth: the Light and the LIFE: the SPIRIT and the POWER" to use the LIGHT of creation to glorify your life and all things that come into it and to receive every blessing you could possibly hope for or desire.
As one learns to cast out the darkness from his mind and from his feelings and his being he becomes the Master of the Light or the Master of the very powers of Creation. That Celestial Song of Praise and Love and joyous gratitude becomes the divine Creative MELODY OF HIS LIFE. And his life becomes an increasing unfolding of progressive achievements as he "Clothes himself in Light" which contains the power and intelligence to "Comprehend all things!" Thus flows from such a one the power, as he lets his Light shine forth, not in an ego-crazed desire to pound and club others with his beliefs and opinions, but with the healing benediction of his own selfless love. Then truly he automatically becomes "the least and the servant of all."
As one sends forth his Light in a blessing of true, compassionate love he will be able to help glorify the world -- and heaven -- with the very powers that will be vested in him.
THESE ARE THE PROMISES! And they are yours!
"Cast out the darkness! Cast out your fears by love, for perfect love casts out all fear!" Cast out your worries which are but the darkness manifesting in every negation or every negative idea of doubt. Cast out your desperate, moody feeling or moments of despair and hopelessness by praise and love and gratitude and the LIGHT will flow into your being to fill the void left by the elimination of the darkness. This is how one OVERCOMES THE DARKNESS!
This is how one becomes the Master of the Light insomuch that it truly becomes subject unto him. This is how one brings into subjection all things: "For all things become subject unto him; both in heaven and on earth; the LIGHT and the LIFE; the SPIRIT and the POWER!" And in that power is contained the understanding to use the Creative Light or the divine Substance of Creation for forming the things and the conditions of perfection and everlasting joy as one becomes the master of his LIFE and receives the power to exalt it into everlasting glory, without descending through the gates of death.
And the SPIRIT will become subject unto him as he learns not to dissipate or squander the breathtaking wonder of Its God-given revealing. It is in the glory and the majesty of this divine self-control that the SPIRIT is brought into subjection or into Its highest service of perfected excellence. It is never mastered by any desecration of unseemly display. Only majesty can bring it into subjection. And only when the little, egoself ceases to demand all credits and rewards and glory. It is only as the Holy Spirit, or divine Messenger of God is placed on the throne that the Spirit can be glorified and then glorify one's actions with its perfect power of unified companionship.
As one gives forth that divine, all-powerful FIAT: "Let there be Light" he is not thinking of himself at all. He could not possibly be. In the glory of God's great Light and Power of Creating, and of bringing forth, the self is forgotten and cast aside.
The Light, plus its energizing glory of Faith, is put into action as man begins to become filled with Light -- the Light of comprehension, devoid of doubts and darkness.
This LIGHT is sent out from the great Central Sun, the very throne of God, and is held forth for man to use, "For all that the Father has is yours! And "It is the good pleasure of God to give you the Kingdom" of glory and expansion and joy and comprehension and everlasting Power.
From this great Central Source of Light the tiny, infinitesimal rays of Cosmic, universal LIGHT are rayed out to bring life and intelligence and the powers of creation in continual streams of everlasting out-flowing.
Many of these cosmic rays, as they hit the atmosphere of the earth are transformed into atoms. In this transformation the Light Ray is curled upon itself, holding within its nucleus the everlasting wonder of God and the very fulness of His creative power. Every atom is a living, minute cell of intelligence and dynamic glory. And each atom is a marvel of divine, perfect creation. This is the unspeakable power and wonder of God's own glory, for it is true that the very power and intelligence of God "Is in the midst of all things!" Yes! This Light or power is contained within the nucleus of every atom, every man and every inspired idea.
And the great truth of existence is contained in this unfailing power of fulfilling: "As you cast out the darkness from among you you shall be ordained of God and sent forth" to serve in a capacity as you have never before imagined for the very element of creation will become yours to use and to create with. And you will be able to transform those cosmic rays of Light into atoms to form the perfection of your requests. This is the exact opposite of the work of the present day scientists as they use it in reverse, splitting the atoms apart. They do not yet know the supreme or higher power of bringing atoms into being by using and transforming the Light.
And it becomes a simple procedure to use this Light even as the glorious writer of the "Odes of Solomon" declared: "I cast out darkness and clothed myself in LIGHT, and acquired a body free from sorrow or affliction or pain."
Then again is given this wondrous information: "If your eyes be single to my glory your whole bodies shall be filled with LIGHT and there shall be no darkness in you. And that body which is filled with LIGHT shall comprehend all things!"
Any individual on this earth has the power and the right to cast out their own negatious thoughts and feelings of darkness; their doubts and their fears and their evils as they hold out that Almighty fiat: "LET THERE BE LIGHT!" As Light is generated, or used one becomes more and more cognizant of its power and the glory of its creative purpose.
As one holds forth a desire, true and well-formed, he can, with his mind shape the mold or pattern which THE LIGHT WILL FILL, first with the spiritual design of his enlightened thinking, then with its condensed reality as those cosmic rays of living Light are transformed into tangible atoms and molded into the shape of man's requests or desires. This is the gift of creation being used to bring forth the "ALL ELSE THAT WILL BE ADDED," when one finds that Kingdom of heaven, which he is instructed to seek for FIRST and above all else. And it is true: "That all the Father has is yours" -- to use, to enjoy and to develop and to increase and enhance.
Learn to overcome the darkness and the LIGHT will become subject unto you. It will bring you joy and happiness and peace and POWER and the fulness of understanding insomuch that "you will comprehend all things and all things will become subject unto you, both in heaven and on earth, the LIGHT and the LIFE and the SPIRIT and the POWER" with which to form the most glorious, gracious gifts possible to imagine or desire as you use the power to create the fulness of your own envisioning.
LIGHT and FAITH are the primal substance, the creative material or the foundation element of all existing things. They are also the very substance or essence of the things or material HOPED FOR. This Faith-engendered Light is the fact or evidence or the very proof of things unseen, waiting but the touch of man's imagining to transform it into tangible existence as it awaits its own opportunity of "becoming."
Learn to take hold of the LIGHT mentally, at first. The LIGHT eliminates the darkness, dispels the gloom and banishes the despairs for within it is joy and understanding and the power of all creative fulfilling. And "Joy is of the Saints and none can put it on but they alone!" Joy IS Light and limitless happiness and power brought into complete subjection as it is brought to obey your commands. Within it is the keys of LIFE -- even of LIFE EVERLASTING AS THE GENERATIVE ENERGY OF FAITH molds or fashions it into form.
At first this holy substance of Creation, this divine essence of Spiritual Faith-engendered LIGHT, is so sacred it is almost intangible. It is exquisitely divine and is difficult to comprehend and to take hold of. It is so spiritually perfect and glorious it is almost impossible to fathom it even in thought. One must look upon it with his higher, mental vision as desires of HOPES become generated and stirred into the pattern of their forming by that unspeakable element of FAITH. And only the power of FAITH itself can give one the ability to behold the true power and glory of the divine, creative essence of all perfecting -- the very substance of all creation.
FAITH is the energy that manipulates the LIGHT. FAITH is an integral ingredient of LIGHT. FAITH contains the determining factor of action. The LIGHT is activated and set in motion by the substance of FAITH. FAITH contains the divine element of fashioning as the LIGHT is generated into formation for until it is activated or moved upon it is without form or void. This holy substance of all fulfilling is brought into physical existence through unwavering desires held forth in the mind of men -- or Gods. FAITH is the living embodiment of HOPE as it generates the LIGHT into materialization. Therefore as you fashion your dreams into desires and your desire into HOPE be sure it is the most, pure, ardent request possible for your soul to conceive. Then never doubt it! BELIEVE IN IT! This is your own claim as you stake out a portion of the divine, spiritual substance or Kingdom for your very own.
Believe in the possibility of your HOPE taking form! Thank God for it! Cherish it! Love it as you would love a little child and be as protective of it as you shield it from the destructive forces of doubting. Rejoice in it continually! "For we are saved by HOPE; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet Hope for; but if we Hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." (Romans 8:24-25).
FAITH and LIGHT are so intermingled it is difficult to separate them. One is an integral part of the other. Without Light there can be no Faith. And without Faith there can be no Light made manifest to fulfill the glory of the Promises Hope envisions in the human heart. Light and Faith are twin powers, walking hand in hand as they stand poised upon the spiritual borders of here and there. And these stupendous powers are but awaiting the touch of man's mental command to swing into action and do his bidding as they fulfill his holy requests or decrees. The glory of the Creative element of Light, and Faith, the soul and life of its substance are man's to use. And they are powerful beyond man's, as yet unawakened imagining. "For all that the Father has is yours!"
"The Spirit of Revelation is in connection with these blessings. A 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 may 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." (Joseph Smith, the American Prophet). It is through this divine gift of REVELATION that one's mind is conditioned and opened to behold and to desire the BEST GIFTS, and to bring them into manifestation. (See next chapter for Spirit of Revelation).
"We consider that God 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 this 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 in the laws and the government of that Kingdom by proper degrees, until his mind is capable in some measure of comprehending the propriety, justice, equality and consistency of the same."
Since this perfection and the power to fulfill must be attained gradually one must use the glorious power of PATIENCE. It is when "Patience has had her perfect work that one becomes perfect and entire, wanting nothing." This developing of patience is as much a part of one's spiritual growth as is food and time for the forming and maturing of the physical body. One must be conditioned mentally, spiritually and physically in order to "BE BORN OF THE SPIRIT" that all things might become subject unto him, both in heaven and on earth. This gift of translation is as great a change as the chick's emergence from the egg, the child from the womb. It cannot be rushed or hurried. It is a condition into which one grows or evolves through the joy of fulfilling the laws pertaining to such divine developing and power.
As PATIENCE is developed one out-grows the tendency to be a wavering wave of the sea. Patience is the element on which HOPE is established and FAITH is fulfilled. As one develops patience he cannot be driven and tossed at random in an uncontrolled, haphazard way by his own negative emotions and doubting. He becomes firm and steady, like a rock -- THE ROCK OF REVELATION, promised to Peter.
One learns to hold his course by keeping his eye on his goal. As one aims for a target he must never aim for the outer circles of that target. He must always aim for the bull's eye, the point of his deepest desire. This is how the image of his Hope is implanted upon the celestial substance of all-forming -- the element of creation and of fulfilling. As one holds his attention upon his own greatest hope or desire he will of necessity bring it forth. This Path belongs to man and the powers thereof. And the glory of its fulfilling is sealed by THE HOLY SPIRIT OF PROMISE which is the divine, Holy Covenant of Almighty God! IT CANNOT FAIL!
When one uses this power of Creation to bring into outer manifestation the substance and reality of his needs and desires he is PLEASING GOD, indeed!
My blessed mother, in her mortal life, could forgive anyone any sin or transgression but one. That one, unforgivable sin, in my mother's mind, was EXTRAVAGANCE! She did not realize that the GREAT extravagance was in not using God's abundant source of all-supply fully, but in permitting it to go to waste. This is EXTRAVAGANCE! There are those who limit God and His great source of supply by holding warped, mediocre, skimped little ideas of His boundless plentitude. They believe that all want and poverty and suffering is their own allotted service to God. And they mock Him in their destitution of misery and lack, denying His proclamation that man was to have dominion over the earth and all things pertaining to it.
The "illions" of cosmic rays that bombard this earth every hour of every day cannot be measured or numbered. They are boundless and limitless. And they are the source of all substance whether mineral, vegetable, animal or pure perfection in man himself and in his surroundings. And those with mortal thinking qualifications only do not realize that the very cosmic rays, and the promised atoms of their forming are but awaiting the glorious PROMISE to come forth and fulfill - or take form.
It is for man to learn to use their potency for man was given dominion over the earth and the sky and the elements thereof.
Christ gave the full understanding of the law of creation when he rejected the temptation to turn the stones into bread to appease his hunger. The stones were already formed into tangible substance. They did not need to be brought forth into material manifestation. The same substance of which the stones were made was there to be used. It only required self-restraint and a higher understanding to use the law in its highest demonstration of perfection to produce the needed requirement. Christ may not have fully comprehended the law at that time, but His soul must have comprehended the higher accomplishment. In refraining from misusing that holy law Christ's needs were ministered unto by the very Angels of Heaven. And he was then taught the fulness of the law and the glory of it. He was instructed in the use of the divine law of creation and the sacredness thereof.
So it was that when He turned the water to wine He did not misuse the law. He used the water, blessed it, and added to it from the original element the pure ingredients of perfect wine.
The alchemists of old failed in this one thing. Their greatest desire was for wealth and they misused the law by transforming one element into another. They transformed lead into gold, which is quite possible, but inferior. It is but a mediocre achievement. It is only accepted by those who are willing to sell their great inheritance and their birthright of creatorship for a mess of pottage.
Had the alchemists learned to fully master themselves and their desires they could have literally clothed themselves in LIGHT and the full intelligence of power as they would have created from the Universal Substance the fulness of their desires in a purity of divine bringing forth according to the Holy Order of God. If they had refrained from using the law amiss their works would have lived forever. They however failed in that they accepted the temptation for appeasement instead of for the fulness. Their greed for wealth and prestige was their downfall.