Love and praise and gratitude are the powers and the very essence of the Light of Christ. In this perfect love the little mortal "self" is left behind. It is outgrown.
It is the developing of this divine, Christ-like love that gives one the power to surrender his individual will, and all that it contains, to the Divine Will of God. In this complete surrender does his progress and development really begin.
When this great love and utter surrender is accomplished the individual is not only sanctified as an instrument in the hands of the Almighty, he is prepared for the divine gift of TRANSLATION.
As the love of God is brought forth, until the heart, the soul and the mind are filled with it, there will naturally be the two accompanying vibrations added to complete the great keynote of eternity, which are praise and gratitude, or thanksgiving. Love, praise and gratitude are the supreme vibration, the Christ vibration of eternal Light.
"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 in the laws and 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."
There have been countless numbers who have fulfilled these higher laws and have been TRANSLATED. These are "The ones whom God has reserved unto Himself, holy ones whom the world knows not of." Of this group is composed the Church of the Firstborn, or the Church of Enoch. Enoch was the first man on earth who fulfilled the requirements of perfected love and devotion.
Enoch understood those divine laws and lived by them. Christ, during His ministry, revealed these higher laws, which were not of this world, but no one would believe in them to the extent they would LIVE them except a very few. However, in Enoch's day he was permitted to remain upon the earth until he was able to establish these divine principles in a community. Not too long before the flood that whole community, which had expanded into a great and beautiful city, was taken into heaven.
In this record we have called the principles of translation "laws". They could more correctly be termed "principles" than laws. A law is a command, to a certain extent, and is more or less obligatory. Principles are not. One can accept or reject principles, live by them or not, according to his choosing and desire to advance. No land has translated these divine principles into laws. No church contains them, nor have they even tried to teach them. But it is time for these laws, or principles of Christ, to be revealed and understood in their full power that all men may be left without excuse.
The status of a translated being is not the same as that of a resurrected being. Those who are translated still may have active contact with the earth, though unseen and often unrecognized by man, even if they become visible. All translated beings will return to earth to take part in the glorious event of Christ eventually being accepted by the whole world, as Lord of lords and King of kings. Only those who are prepared and worthy will participate in this great event. The great acceptance of Christ is first accomplished by the majority, right within themselves, "For when He appears, they will be like Him, for they will be purified, even as He is pure."
It is as one, through love and praise and worship and adoration and gratitude fulfills the laws of Christ and brings forth that divine Light of Christ right within himself, that the powers of translation are released. This takes place when one is filled with Light -- the Light of Christ -- and comprehends all things. This is the point where there is no darkness in him.
This is the point where death loses its claim as man overcomes its laws through the higher principles of glorified devotion.
This experience of translation is not just for the few. This is intended for all. One has only to believe in the great Name of Jesus Christ in all its unspeakable power of glorious vibration. This divine vibration is understood and developed when one learns to be thankful in all things and then, with praise and love, establishes that vibration within himself.
This divine point of excellence MUST be reached by everyone who lives the higher principles of Christ and follows through. It is utterly impossible to LIVE the higher principles without reaching this point of attainment. It is the point where one naturally "evolves from the man kingdom into the God kingdom". One grows into this progressive state as naturally and easily as one grows from infancy into childhood, or from childhood into youth, or from youth into manhood. This condition is not accomplished in a day. One must truly comprehend in a measure the laws and requirements of the higher kingdom.
This point of high attainment is not reached by straining but by training. And one can only become a disciple as he begins to discipline himself. As he drops his fault-finding habits, his unclean traits and his hates and discords and lusts and replaces them with love, he has to advance into this higher status of existence. This stage is most easily attained through man's own glorified adoration and love, filled with a gratitude that lifts one above and beyond mortality, for he who is thankful in all things will be made glorious. And this high vibration of singing glory automatically eliminates or transmutes the negative forces, even as perfect love casts out all fear.
This high point of attainment is not at all difficult to reach. It is very simple and easy. There is no dark, deep mystery about it. It is based, primarily, upon the ability to believe. When one can only believe then he can begin to work it out. It is a natural, progressive experience that is fulfilled by love and praise and gratitude as one opens his heart to comprehend the things of God. Neither "Need a fool err therein". And then as one lives the laws he will know, and to know is to fulfill.
The law of translation is where the earth-born sons leave their dead, unprogressive ways and step out beyond mortality and gravity and the physical conditions into a higher vibration.
As one learns to hold that divine vibration of love and praise and gratitude, it will transmute all negation, all darkness and all evil into Light, which Light is the Light of Christ. This is the gratitude that has power to make one "thankful in all things", even his seeming adversities and immediately they are transmuted, or transformed -- or translated into conditions of power. This is how one becomes glorious and enters into the glory of the Light of Christ in Its fulness.
The power to transmute all negative conditions of darkness and evils into Light is also the power to translate. With conditions it is known as transmuting them. With man it is translation. Translate your conditions of failures, your ills and sufferings and sorrows by this method of glorifying acceptance, offered in praise and love and thanks and you will eventually be TRANSLATED. This is how one is made glorious.
These are "The great and marvelous things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation of the world, and it hath not come unto you, because of UNBELIEF. Behold, when ye shall rend the veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you", be revealed, and fulfilled.
If man has developed any degree of belief, it is usually directed toward some church instead of toward God and His powers. Too often the churches stand between man and God and the members begin to worship the church and its empty traditions. This always leads to bigotry which, if continued in becomes fanaticism.
This is not the type of belief that is required. Allegiance and devotion to God alone can purify any individual. This great power of belief that is required must be in God, and in His promises and in the ability to follow His instructions as one learns to listen to His voice.
Exult in God and in His nearness for He is as near as you permit Him to be. Believe in His power! Kneel to Him instead of to some organization, or its leaders, which is but the arm of flesh! God only must you love! God only must you serve! Seek to know His will! Adore Him with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind and back it up with all your strength.
As you render this type of devotion you will become filled with His love -- a love that automatically includes the whole brotherhood of man. This type of devotion can contain no cruel self-righteousness, no bigotry, nor can it ever be fanatical and actually believe it contains all the Light. This devotion excludes no one. It is as all-inclusive as the sky and the sunshine -- and the great enfolding love of God.
Love God in this manner and you will be given the power to believe for the hardness of your heart will be melted and the blindness of your mind will be removed -- and you will be filled with Light and comprehend all things -- even God. "And all power will be given unto you, both in heaven and on earth; the Life and the Light; the Spirit and the Power, sent forth by the will of the Father, through Jesus Christ, His Son." These powers are sent forth by the will of the Father and it is through the Light of Christ within man that they must operate. Man is the instrument through which they must be released.
Translate any feeling of dismay or annoyance into power by turning instantly within and holding it in the flame of the divine Light of Christ which is given to abide in you. Every dark thought that seeks to enter your mind, even every tiny shadow of darkness, or fear, or doubt, must be instantly transformed into praise and adoration. Let no evil emotion run wild and rampant but translate its power into divine thanksgiving and glorious love.
This is the power of the Light of Christ to transform these slight disturbances into glory as It is first brought into active service within one. As one calls upon It constantly for this help It will begin to glorify his life. By using this power every evil condition can be transformed into infinite beauty and one will thus overcome all the evils of his life. This is how all things will be brought under one's feet. This is how one can overcome all things. This is the power of translation. First, all the evil thoughts and emotions are translated into love and peace. Next the conditions and vicissitudes are translated into beauty and loveliness. Then one's life will begin to be purified and transformed and the full powers of translation will be a definite reality as one steps forth into a higher realm of service.
Live these laws and you will know of their power. And by so doing you will become powerful or be endowed with power.
Professed Christianity has often been but a mild form of Devil worship. "Hell and damnation" has been the major theme of the churches. A cruel, vicious God of vengeance, taught through fear, and esteemed in trembling, has been the basis of devotion. A spiteful God who disclaims all His creations and denies His children, except those who profess some narrowed, bigoted creed, has been worshiped. The Pilgrim Fathers worshiped a God much inferior to themselves. Many Christians still do.
Thomas A. Edison, an unprofessed Church goer, did more to lift the burdens of the human race than any minister in many generations. True Christianity means to live the laws He gave, not just profess them. And to live them one must give service, understanding and compassionate love.
There are many professed Christians who are violently protesting against the higher laws. Some have even stated that it is wicked to even think anyone is to work for perfection in this life. These are the ones who love their weaknesses and are trembling lest they fall. There are many more who decry the law of "forgiving their enemies", for in their hearts is the bleak hope that they might be privileged to appear before the Judgment Seat of God and bear witness against every individual whom they consider has ever injured or slighted them. This sad idea of being an "accuser", which means a "devil", is their only idea of heaven. Just the hope of testifying against their enemies is the only satisfaction they can think of. This alone could be heavenly to their immature minds. And because they have not outgrown their hope of vengeance they worship a God of vengeance. They know nothing about the great God of love and His higher laws of infinite glory.
"God is love!" God is also power! His powers are ineffable, boundless, all-encompassing and eternal! And it is impossible to ask anything too great or too powerful! The more powerful are the desires of one's heart, the nearer that one is to God and the nearer God is to him. The more dynamic one's vision and requests the more pleased God is with him. As one throws off the shackles of small thinking and small asking he beings to approach the throne of God's glory! As one binds God down with little mortal thoughts he is restricting His great powers from operating in his life. If one can but lift his thoughts to His heights his vision will be enlarged. And if his "eyes are single to His glory" he will comprehend His powers and those powers will become active in the life of that individual.
It is impossible to ask, or to desire anything too great so long as it is for His glory, instead of one's own, and is for the good of all concerned. If one includes, in his thinking, the needs of mankind, his own glorious thinking will be lifted to the heights of His glory. Any power one can possibly desire to assist in lifting the race of men is glorious, and such desires will be fulfilled in one's life if he will learn to live the higher laws and hold to them without doubting.
It is impossible to believe too much! It is impossible to ask too much!" "Man is damned for believing too little!" And he has remained impotent because he asks too little! Thinks too little! Hopes too little! He has been restricting God in His great creative works by his own skimping, meager, bleak little thoughts. He has conceived a picayunish, vengeful, little-minded God according to the standards of his own mortal thinking.
God is a God of power! He is a God of miracles! And truly, "Nothing is impossible to him who believes!" If you are serving a lesser being than the great, all-powerful, all-mighty, all-loving God of all creation then you do not know the God in Whom you can trust!"
"God is all power! He is Almighty! He is love! He is glory! He is goodness! He is compassion, understanding and knowledge! There is no problem that one could possibly have that He does not comprehend altogether! How is it possible for me to give even a small glimpse of His GREATNESS? I can only implore all to seek to believe, and to turn to the divine Light of Christ which He has given to abide in them, that Christ Himself might reveal the great God of eternal glory. Only Christ can reveal the Father. It is when one is completely filled with the Light of Christ that it is possible for him to comprehend all things -- even God.
God is power! And it is through man that His powers must begin to be made manifest. "For if there be one upon the earth that doeth good he shall work by the POWER and gifts of God.
Believe in this True and Living God of infinite power! Know that He is anxiously waiting to pour this power through you as soon as you are prepared to receive it. And know also that in seeking to use His powers, and in desiring them to assist in helping a world, you are not robbing Him. Know that in the releasing of His powers into your life His glory is increased. It is within your possibilities to increase His powers by your awakened comprehension and use of them. And they cannot be diminished.
They can only be increased by your use.
The great, ineffable, all-mighty powers of God, that are awaiting man's awakening, will be revealed as one brings forth that Light of Christ, which is given to abide in him. And then he will know that even the exalted request for TRANSLATION is a small request indeed.
Perhaps it is now possible to reveal the very keys of glory. The statement, "Eyes single to the glory of God" is about as clear a guidepost along the pathway of Light as it is possible to make. When one is in the "dumps" or the depths of gloom, or in despair, his thoughts are upon his own worries and lacks, or on the fear of them. At least his thoughts are engrossed in his own mortal level of existence. Such a one is completely immersed in "The evils of his life," be they real or imagined. He has lost that "inner quiet" or the contact with the Light of Glory and may even be abiding in the gloom of the "Nether Regions".
If one has "Eyes single to the glory of God" he has to lift his consciousness to the very heights. This is most easily done through praise and gratitude. One can so fill himself with love and gratitude for what he has, he does not behold any lack. He becomes so grateful that God's Will is being done, regardless of what condition prevails, he can, by his very devotion, transform or completely glorify any circumstance or condition of darkness. This is the only possible way one can "overcome the evils of his life"! As one keeps his vision or thoughts steadfastly lifted to the heights of God's glory, he will be filled with Light and there can be no darkness in him. He will begin to comprehend all things. And the law is that such a one will become purified and will, in time, behold the face of God.
The law is exact. It is also simple and easy to fulfill. To be fully comprehended it has only to be lived. As one keeps his eyes "Single to the glory of God" he realizes that God is a God of glory and ineffable power and sublime goodness and love.
To behold God one must first train his inner vision to behold His glory. He must first comprehend, or behold the Light of Christ, which is always awaiting the extended vision of the individual who has banished unbelief. When one's mind is awakened, through love and praise and gratitude, to encompass God's glory, or power, he will know his own place as he is prepared to enter the higher realms of Light.
It is a conscious awareness of this divine Christ Light which develops and brings It forth in an individual so that he can be prepared to behold God. Every conscious thought turned to the Light of Christ makes It more manifest and more vitally real. Every conscious thought and desire directed toward this Light, especially when that consciousness is mingled with love and praise and gratitude, helps to open that great Christ Door within. Man's conscious awareness of that divine, unspeakable Light, as he worships and adores, brings It forth. His very consciousness is the door to It. It is always awaiting man's awareness and acceptance of It to begin to do Its works of healing, restoring, glorifying redemption as It swings into action and power within one's life. This, only, is the power which can do the works He did. This glorious Christ Light can work only through the individual who is aware of It and permits It to come forth. It is manifest only through those who are so humble they are but the instruments awaiting the Master's touch when the "self" is overcome and He stands forth.
When this Light of Christ is comprehended and brought forth It will reveal the Father, even the great God of Glory and Light and Power and Eternal Love.