Those precious Promises of God penetrated our beings and became embedded in our spirits at that time. They became a part of the actual fibres of our existence according to our individual degree of advancement and progress. Each received according to his own capacity to receive and retain. (And that capacity may still be enlarged and expanded with effort and sincere desire). Existence is eternal progress of retrogression. Nothing stands still or remains static. It continually grows more beautiful and perfect or shrivels up, decays and dies. And so it is with man himself.
These great and glorious Promises of God were there-after to become a part of the living essence of our souls, glorifying our lives as we fulfilled them.
It is the cry of these Premises or this WORD OF GOD from within, pleading for fulfilment, which causes such hungry, desolate yearnings in human hearts.
Each has felt at sometime or other in his life moments or days or mayhap years of lonely melancholy or of inner anguish and unfulfilment as his soul cried for -- HE KNOWS NOT WHAT.
Those divine, glorious Promises of our Almighty Father of glory were the WORD. They were His WORD! And each individual who reaches into the depths of his own being and brings them forth as a part of his own living existence becomes the WORD. This is how the WORD BECOMES FLESH! Our Flesh! This is how Christ became the WORD. It is how each individual can become that WORD as all things become subject unto him. In this fulfilling we are truly co-heirs with Christ. Yes, joint-heirs with Him. And this great and holy status can be earned according to the power of the Promises as we take hold of them. This state of achievement must be earned. One must grow into it by effort and desire.
And since God's WORD cannot be returned unto Him unfulfilled or void it can only be returned unto Him as we ourselves fulfill it. And as we take hold of His Promises we become those Promises or His WORD made perfect and fulfilled. And only then and in this manner can we ourselves return back into His Presence.
"We are to purify ourselves, even as He is pure. We are to sanctify ourselves" and in so doing we glorify God and become exalted in an effulgent splendor of eternal radiance and power.
The Devil doctrine, which lulls mankind into carnal security, is that we need do nothing, that Christ did all. And the fallacy of the doctrine of "THE GREAT RAPTURE," in which Christ is expected to come and lift us up glorified into the highest exaltation is a lie! It is a soothing syrup of narcotic deadliness. And he who partakes of it is being cheated. It is the sounding brass music, the tinkling of chiming cymbals to keep mankind lulled into a state of quiescent childishness. It has lulled mankind into a state of stupid passivity in that infant crib that has grown too short, and with a covering that is too infantile for comfort. It is for those who are neither weaned from the milk nor drawn from the breasts, as Isaiah declared.
"The Great Rapture" comes only when man himself has matured into manhood and is weaned from the milk and drawn from the breasts and stands up in his own divine right - A SON OF THE LIVING GOD!
This WORD being made the actual flesh is when those divine, glorious Promises are brought forth as a living part of every cell and tissue of man's body. This is the WORD MADE PERFECT. And God's WORDS must be LIVED in order to be fulfilled.
Self-righteousness brings not the inner fulfilling or the glory of His WORD made flesh. Only the devoted LIVING of His WORD or Promises through FAITH, can possibly perfect an individual. "LIVE MY WORDS AND YOU WILL KNOW!" "You must be doers of the WORD, not hearers only, thus deceiving your own selves."
In the twelfth Ode of Solomon, verses seven to twelve, is given the following information: "For as it (the Word) is, so is its end; for it is LIGHT and the dawning of thought.
"And by it the worlds talk one to the other; and in it the WORD there were those who were silent;
"And from it 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 explanations ran by means of it;
"For THE DWELLING PLACE OF THE WORD IS MAN and its truth is LOVE.
"Blessed are they who by means thereof have understood everything, and have known the Lord in His Truth.
And part of the scriptures, according to Christ, which cannot be returned unto God unfulfilled and void is: "They were called Gods unto whom the WORD of God came." (Psalms 82:6 and John 10:34-36). It is those who bring that WORD of God forth and make it a LIVING part of their existence who are called Gods, for they are on the path toward divinity -- into Godhood.
"To be carnally minded is death. To be spiritually minded is life everlasting." Carnal means physical or things pertaining to the earth life. The scriptures explain that at the time of man's fall "he became carnal, sensual and Devilish." To be carnally minded is to have one's thoughts centered entirely upon the things of the world. To be "sensually minded" is to have one's mind taken over by lusts and physical desires such as gluttony, sexuality and any type of degenerate dissipations. In this day when the teachers of darkness are stressing sex as the real meaning of life realize not that they are creating a cess-pool of sensuality that only the cleansing of the earth by great catastrophes, such as the destruction of Sodom and Gomorah, can possibly atone for. Uncontrolled indulgences of any sort is dissipation that thwarts one's progress. And if it is true, as the wicked would have the gullible and weak souls believe, that sex is the meaning of life then truly life has no meaning.
"Enoch changed his carnal flesh to flesh divine without descending through the gates of death!" "To be carnally minded is death!" And it is as true now as it was in the days of Enoch. "To be spiritually minded is life everlasting." It is through the mind that one "lays hold of the best gifts" or Promises and makes them a part of his life, through FAITH, even as the Patriarchs of old. And such advance beyond all the carnal laws of the earth as they transform themselves into a higher status of existence. Such are called Gods because they have accepted the invitation of divinity in seeking to fulfill His Promises. The complete fulfilling takes time even as a small child is numbered among mankind, though he has not yet reached the status of manhood.
In this overcoming of the flesh, through transposing the cells and atoms of the body into flesh divine by imbuing them with the glory of vibrating, selfless love is how the change takes place. This is how death is overcome! It is conquered by one taking hold of the Promises as love is perfected in every tissue and atom of the physical body. Death is banished from man's being as he takes hold of those Promises and perfects them through LIVING them. One must use his mind to cast out the darkness of doubting. As one begins to perfect the gift of Love the Premises become easy to take hold of and to fulfill. They become glorious and one automatically evolves into a higher realm. And it is assuredly true that he who fulfills those first two great commandments of LOVE IS NO LONGER UNDER THE LAW. He has advanced into the realm of the Patriarch, through FAITH, as he begins his own complete acceptance of the Promises. Then is he truly advancing into Divinity.
As one exerts himself to undertake this journey of fulfilling he finds that he is traveling a highway of Lighted glory along that STRAIGHT AND NARROW PATH into the realms of Everlasting Life. And anyone can travel this highway of magnificent wonder who desires to change his carnal flesh to flesh divine by relinquishing his physical, mortal cravings for credits and rewards and for prestige and pride or for his lusts and animal appetites.
The Promises are brought forth and become flesh as one lays hold of them through the exercise of FAITH, or by his own controlled thinking processes and lives by them. This is how one lays hold of the best gifts; the gifts of Eternal Life, in which death is conquered; the gifts of knowledge and of peace and of power and of physical renewing and of perfection and endless glory. This is the Pathway back into the Presence of God. It is the Pathway to the Purification of the Heart. It is the road to Zion -- or to God.
And IT IS YOURS!
The laws were given because of wickedness. And as wickedness has increased the laws have increased. And because of the great wickedness of these last days there are laws being made just to justify the wickedness and the laws that protect the wicked. And in such cases all may know that wicked men have made the laws.
Before any laws were given the ancient Patriarchs lived by the PROMISES, which had been given by God in the beginning. These Promises were lived through FAITH. Faith in the Promises is all that is required to lay hold of any Promise, or all of them. "And the Way is so perfect and so easy a fool need not err therein."
The potential life power in a seed is a living thing of intelligence, though invisible. Any living seed will sprout and grow under the right conditions and environment. This is the eternal, everlasting law and is unchangeable. No one needs to worry or be concerned as to where it is or how it is, not any more than the farmer has to know where every seed was dropped. The seed is there. And it will grow and fulfill the perfectly designed destiny if it is only permitted to do so. And FAITH itself is one with the Promises. One cannot exist without the other.
Lovely Faith is a seed at first. Yet it is so powerful in its potentiality it can Promise all things -- and it can fulfill all things. Faith is the power that can raise the dead and move mountains. Faith is the living power of that seed which automatically grows into a tree and can fulfill any and every Promise ever given by God or conceived by man.
Faith is nourished and brought forth in its full potential of limitless power right within the being of man. It abides dormant and still along with all the holy Promises ever given to man. As one lays hold of the "Best Gifts" or any divine gift, for that matter, the slumbering seed awakens. It is quickened into its first degree of expansion and growth. It is awakened to begin its reaching and its fulfilling. And as it is protected, by man's own thinking processes, from doubts and fears it must grow. It has no other choice. It has the power to fulfill its own divine potential. It becomes a tree in which the concrete blocks of mortal or mental constructions are broken and crumbled and cast aside.
Faith is power! And when Faith becomes directed by the understanding and controlled thoughts of men it can calm the ocean for waves obey it. It can quell the storm, quench raging flames, move mountains of difficulties and achieve anything, even the seeming impossibilities. It can move mountains literally, raise the dead, and fulfill any righteous desire or divine Promise of Almighty God! In fact, those released Promises of long ago are its feed and its purpose and the power and plan of its existence. It is divine energy in action, released from within man to fulfill all things -- ANYTHING -- when used. It is glorious! And without it it is impossible to please God. It contains the boundless energy of all creation for even the worlds were framed through Faith. It is the building energy of Gods, for it is Theirs to use. And They have used it always. And men begin to evolve toward Godhood when they begin to exercise the right to use it.
Faith is indeed power when put into action as doubts and fears are cast out and overcome by its understanding glance. And when used FAITH advances from the unseen energy into knowledge. It is transformed from the invisible realm of vibration into the tangible world of complete and full knowledge. It becomes an established reality of full power, for knowledge is POWER! It transforms the Light of an idea or dream into solid substance.
The more Faith is brought forth into the powerful action of fulfilling the more pleased God is. And the more dynamic an individual becomes who learns to wield so great an instrument of glory. Faith is the very power of God in action. It is also the power of man in action as he uses it for it is his to use. It is breathtaking to comprehend that man can be the wielder of a power so great. It is always awaiting his command to arise and hold forth his pure desires.
Lay hold of them, THE BEST GIFTS, the most dynamic Promises, for they are yours as they await your awakening to lay claim to them. Arise from your infant crib, cast aside your scant covering which man has long since outgrown, and stand forth a child of your Divine Sire as you begin your own development into Divinity.
Love alone opens up the heart, the soul and the mind to bring forth the Promises in a complete power of fulfilling as they become flesh. As one loves with all his heart, and soul (which includes the spirit and the body) and with his mind, the LOVE he generates through his being transforms the physical cells into cells divine and death cannot touch him, neither old age nor sickness nor suffering.
And the law and the power thereof belong to all who will only LIVE the Promises, through FAITH. To believe is the first requisite of fulfilling. One must BE and LIVE according to his own deepest desiring. And as this great transition is accomplished the lower levels of mortality are left behind, outgrown and overcome like the infant crib and the skimpy covering.
This is how one advances into the realms of the Patriarchs. And from the status of the ancient ones one continues to go on to ever higher degrees of exaltation and advancement and wondrous glory without relinquishing the flesh to death. This is how one's body is changed and exalted as he takes it with him and is "born of the Spirit with the powers to come and go as the wind," even as Christ explained to Nicodemus. And through their beings flew the GREAT RIVERS OF LIVING WATER, OR THE ETERNAL FOUNTAINS OF LIFE as they go forth to bless and heal and to glorify a world. This is the Greater Works Christ promised.
This very perfecting of the physical body is the completion of that divine, holy "ROAD TO ZION," the pathway of the purification of the heart. And "Blessed indeed are the pure in heart for they shall see God!" This complete fulfilling is accomplished only by LIVING the glorious Truths contained in the PROMISES.
The great Promises given by God upon that eventful day when the "Foundations of the earth were laid" are just as much a part of our existence now as they were in that long ago. And there are again the true Patriarchs, who are inspired by God, having the authority and the spiritual power to lay their hands upon the heads of individuals to unveil a glimpse of his or her own individual pattern of life. But there are also those who need no such intermediary or go-between to bring forth those holy Promises from within themselves. Any who begin to take hold of the Promises are on their way to becoming Patriarchs, or ones advancing beyond all mortal laws. One begins to emerge into the status of the divine as he fulfills the promise of his own potential covenants of Promise. These are the ones of Promise brought forth out of the ages to fill a special place in this day and time.
A Patriarch may give a blessing of Promise and encouragement and revelation and it is but the pattern, the design, the plan, or the architectural dream of the reality. One's life contains the material from which the edifice, the pattern, the divine plain is to be formed. And it is the individual himself who must make use of his life, which is the material of the forming as he lives according to his own highest hopes and worthy ambitions and righteous desiring.
This is how the Promises are fulfilled. And how all Promised Blessings are attained. This is how one lays hold of the best gifts. This is how one works with God to perfect the pattern of his own individual life, as he travels that divine Road to Zion -- the road of the purification of his own heart and life as he changes his carnal flesh to flesh divine.
Not one of the great Promises of God can be taken hold of and LIVED without the life and heart and soul of that individual being purified. And as Isaiah declared: "The road is so simple a fool need not err therein; though the wicked can never cross over it."
This is the work about which God spake in Prophecy through His holy, anointed ones, in "WHICH ALL MEN WOULD BE LEFT WITHOUT EXCUSE!"
No one can possibly fail to reach the highest goal of fulfillment as all Promises are completed and glorified in him who walks the radiant path of their fulfilling -- "THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW PATH" of joyous, ecstatic wonder, the Road to Zion -- The Road of Eternal Life.
This is the path Enoch trod and Moses and Elijah and the many, many others of olden times. And this Path is now opened wide and the Way made so plain even a fool need not err therein.
It is your own Path as you follow it into the true Promised Land where death is overcome and Eternal Life awaits the triumphant Overcomers with songs of joyous, unspeakable welcome. This is the Great Rapture so many erroneously expect Christ to fulfill and bring to pass for them.
They truly err greatly in such a belief as they let their own appointed time of fulfilling slip away before their journey ever began. Such will find themselves waiting in desolating disappointment.
Christ does not travel this path for any individual or group of individuals. Each must travel it for Christ, for "When he appears we are to be like Him!" "We are to purify ourselves even as He is pure!" And it is up to every individual to sanctify his own life. This is the only way man can truly glorify God as he fulfills His WORDS or PROMISES and returns them unto Him completed -- himself -- glorified!
Christ truly did the works of overcoming as he traveled the Road in its most difficult aspects, alone and without precedent. He left the perfect pattern for all who desired to travel the divine Road of Overcoming, that Straight and Narrow Way which leads to Life Eternal. And the command was: "you are to do the works which I did."
This is man's road to travel. It is yours! It belongs to you NOW! Not in the afar-off! This road is the street paved in transparent gold, spoken of in the scriptures. This Road is being paved now with the glorious, radiant vibrations of the marching feet of those who are beginning to travel it in the power and the purity and the divine wonder of their own OVERCOMING. This is the "Road to Zion!" This is "The Pathway in which a fool need not err therein," as Isaiah foretold.
"And the Spirit and the Bride say COME! And he that is athirst let him say, COME! And let all who will, say, COME! AND PARTAKE OF THE WATERS OF LIFE FREELY!"
This is the gift of Eternal Life which God has Promised, which is being held out to you now, freely and without price!
Yes! The time is NOW! And may your hearts rejoice in the glory of your journey as you leave all pride and selfishness and self-righteousness behind. For as you journey along this road you become, like John the Baptist, the greatest that is within you to become. Then it is that you discover that you are clothed in the hallowed, radiant robes of pure humility, as you feel yourselves to be the least, for you will realize that as you travel this Highway of Truth you are walking with God. Then you will know, as Enoch of old was informed, "THAT HE PLEASED GOD!" This is FAITH made perfect!
And as "The first requisite to knowledge is the ability to believe" so is the fulfilling of the Promises based upon this ability. And the first step toward having the ability to believe is to have the desire to believe. It is within that desiring that one opens up his mind to "ask, to seek and to knock!" And with that desiring can come the petition, "Dear God, help Thou my unbelief!" This is an eternal invitation to use when only the desire stands alone. The very sincerity that can be generated in such asking can produce profound results.
With the ability developed to begin to BE and LIVE according to one's deepest desiring comes the germination of that precious seed of FAITH. And Faith itself grows with use. It expands to the need or the call for assistance as the seed responds to sunlight, water and the richness of good soil.
Doubting itself is a killer so deadly poisonous that even FAITH cannot stand up against it unless one takes upon himself the responsibility of eliminating the weeds of doubt that would destroy this priceless crop. Faith must grow if given the opportunity for it is the seed of production. And Faith grows with use and exercise until eventually it becomes a tree in which the messengers of heaven find lodgment. And as FAITH grows and matures it evolves into knowledge. Its invisible essence takes on a tangible body of everlasting beauty and power. It has clothed the wish, the desire, the dream with substance as it holds them forth full formed.
Faith was destined in its essence and formation to evolve into knowledge. And Knowledge IS POWER! It is the fulfilment, the accomplishment, the realization of wishes or ideas or hope brought into form.
When I was still young enough to be enthralled with fairy tales and fairy godmothers and wishful thinking I used to wonder about those privileged ones who would be granted just ONE WISH. And in my contemplating of such a breathtaking opportunity I decided that if ever I was given the chance to make such an entreaty I would wish that 'EVERYTHING I EVER WOULD WISH FOR WOULD COME TRUE!"
I did not then realize that if that one wish were fulfilled I would be granted the very fulness of the gift of Faith, for through Faith alone can all else be added or accomplished. Faith is the master key to all achievement. It is truly the magic switch. Through Faith one can receive the fulfillment of every divine Promise and the powers of them. He will have received the fulness of the WORDS: "Whatsoever you ask for when you pray believe that you receive and you shall have whatsoever you ask."
Faith can perfect the gift of love. Faith can overcome death! Faith can renew the body, bring to pass that state of glory in which "all else is added" in an overflowing abundance in which there is not room enough to receive the great out-flowing. Faith is the golden key that unlocks the doors of that magic Kingdom of Promise -- The Kingdom of heaven. It is truly power unspeakable! But faith without works is dead. One must Be and Live according to his requesting -- without doubting, for Faith can only be used when doubts are banished.
"Even the Devils believe!" But they have no power to take hold of the Light or to fulfill the Promises because of their own encouraged hates and darkness.
There have been many miracles wrought by Faith when the human intellect has been transcended by dynamic emergencies, when the habitual thinking processes have been stilled and placed in abeyance.
When I was a small child in Pocatello, Idaho, I used to play with little Josie Norton. We were both four years old and when all the other children of the neighborhood and our own brothers and sisters were in school we always played together. I have never forgotten Josie Norton. He was a gracious, kind little boy with red hair and freckles.
Then the Nortons moved away and so did we. And several years later I heard that a load of lumber had tipped over on Josie, and his older brother, in the excitement of that moment, lifted the whole load from his little brother's body. The very shock of the occasion put in suspension the process of thought in which doubts are generated.
And then there was the man named PETER, who walked on water until his mortal mind took over with its faulty reasoning and its doubting, and he began to sink.
And the question remains, "Wherefore didst thou doubt?"
Faith cannot function with the negative vibrations of doubts.
"And if your eyes be single to my glory your whole bodies shall be filled with Light and there shall be no darkness in you." Darkness is the doubting and the fears and the source of all the failures to achieve, or even to believe. When the darkness is overcome the doubting is eliminated. "With eyes single to the glory of God," all darkness or doubting is forever conquered and one becomes filled with Light, that divine substance of creation. And whenever LIGHT exists FAITH, its generator, is also present, waiting to swing into action. Faith, remember, is the generator of Light. And Light is the substance from which all desires are formed and all Promises fulfilled and Faith itself is the substance of things hoped for.
"Perfect LOVE casts out all fear!" Perfect desiring casts out all doubting. When doubting and fear are conquered one has "OVERCOME THE WORLD" and "ALL ELSE WILL BE ADDED."
And now, another mystery about FAITH I am instructed to share. That "Magic Switch" which holds the key controlling the mystic power of FAITH also has the divine power to OVERCOME darkness and doubting. It is the switch that can banish the darkness and turn on the breathtaking, effulgent, powerful glory of LIGHT, which is the power and the substance of creation. It is put into action as FAITH takes control. FAITH IS THE SWITCH, THE LEVER, THE RELEASING POWER OF ENERGY, directed by intelligent desire to use the fabulous, limitless element of LIGHT.
As one takes hold of the manipulating button of FAITH, which controls or turns on the voltaic current of power he can truly turn on the LIGHT. And in that process he can lift himself out of the deep caverns of darkness and doubting and despair into the realms of lighted glory. He can lift himself from a craven creature of negation and failure into one clothed in LIGHT and joy and power.
The primal command to "LET THERE BE LIGHT," when spoken with deep desire, becomes authoritative, and must be obeyed. As it is uttered with BELIEF, the LIGHT is made apparent. First the darkness of doubting and unbelief is banished. The doorway to despair is closed and sealed. Next the Light of understanding and comprehension is permitted to permeate one's mind. And third, the joy of the Power of God is released into one's life.
There can be no joy or true happiness or achievement brought forth from the regions of doubting and despair. "And despair comes because of iniquity," or as one joins forces with the desolating anguish of "THE LOST" those desires are squelched and smothered and only failure reigns with the desolation of agonized distress and darkness. And "Woe be to those who go forth to foster their darkness and unbelief upon others!" These are the ones who have completely rejected the Witness of that Holy Spirit of Promise and have become UNTRUE and UNJUST and are left to wallow mayhap forever in the darkness of their own selection.
"The Road to Zion" is truly the inner Pathway of purification "in which a fool need not err therein." It is the Path which is LIGHTED and revealed by that divine, Holy Spirit of Promise. And as one lays hold of those PROMISES, through FAITH he will no longer be a "fool" but will be directed into ALL-TRUTH and will eventually comprehend all things. He will become wise and gracious and wonderful. He will indeed "deck himself in majesty and excellence and array himself in glory and beauty," even as God commanded Job.
Such will complete the purification of their own hearts, in righteousness and TRUTH and will assuredly be admitted into the Presence of God -- AND THIS IS LIFE ETERNAL! In other words: "They will have reached the point of FAITH where they will be wrapped in the power and glory of their Maker and will be caught up to dwell with Him!"
This is the Road for which Christ left the map. And the guide to it is that divine Holy Spirit of Promise, for it is only as one believes in the PROMISES and holds to them, through FAITH, that he can possibly fulfill all things.