To you who have read "Heavenly Ways of Earth's Graduates", and believe it, I now speak.
Many of you have wondered why God exercises such perfect solicitude and gives such divine assistance to those who die and cross that sacred River of Life while mortals on earth seem to be so bereft and neglected. At first glance it appears as though God lacked interest in, and concern for, His children lingering in mortality.
But be it understood that those who directed the writing of that book are the soldiers who gave their lives in the great sacrifice to bring the gift of peace to the world.
Look not with longing eyes upon the road they traveled, the road of death. It is possible for you to help glorify their offering more by your living than by your dying. It is not by dying that one can most glorify God. And you may be sure that He has not forgotten those who still linger in mortality.
For you there is a more glorious entrance than those who die ever dreamed of. For you is given something far beyond anything that can possibly be reached by the road of death.
Psalms 49:6-14: "They that trust in their wealth and boast themselves in the multitude of their riches; none of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him; that he shall still live forever, and not see corruption. For he seeth that wise men die, likewise the fool and the brutish person perish, and leave their wealth to others. Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue forever, and their dwelling place to all generations; they call their lands after their own name. Nevertheless man being in honor abideth not; He is like the beast that perish. THIS, THEIR WAY IS THEIR FOLLY. Yet posterity approve their sayings. LIKE SHEEP THEY ARE LAID IN THE GRAVE. Death shall feed on them; and the upright shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their beauty shall consume in the grave from their dwelling."
It is true that most of mankind have followed like sheep to the grave. None have sought to prove Christ's words, "He who believeth in me shall never die."
This belief which is required is more than believing that Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, walked the earth with power, gave His life willingly upon the cross for our sins, then rose from the grave -- overcoming death. This form of belief is not enough to bring forth the power to do the works He did. The devils believe to this inactive, dead, impotent extent. They do more. They know.
When that great "Christ door", or veil, is opened one need never die. This is not only the door that permits this Holy Light of Christ to enter and permeate one's being, as it comes forth in the individual, this door is also the gateway into the higher realms as one learns to open it. This is the "Front door" into heaven. It is the entrance of honor and glory which each man must enter through the help of the great Light of Christ which is given to abide within each individual.
As that veil separates one is taken into the loving embrace of the Redeemer of the world and is literally filled with Light. It is then that he will "comprehend all things -- even God."
This is the great "Front door" into heaven. Death is the back door. This front door is the door of honor and infinite glory in which one receives a "Fullness of Joy" which joy is of the Saints. This joy is not fleeting and transitory as are all earthly delights. It is eternal. This joy is indestructible and is as complete and glorious as is the Light of Christ in its Almighty fullness. The back door of death is but the servant's entrance.
God is not the author of death, Lucifer is. When the powers of darkness beguiled mankind into sin and error, this shameful way of eventual escape was instigated. It was not intended by God. It was permitted as a last resort that man would not live forever in his sins. "O Satan, Prince of all evil, author of death, and source of all pride." (Nicodemus 18:12-13; New Testament Apocrypha). Death came through sin. Sin is of darkness. Sin is every thought, feeling and vibration that is out of tune with the divine symphony of the universe, which symphony has for its foundation the vibrations of eternal ecstasy released in love and praise and adoring gratitude of joy.
Every temple, built in divine conformity and according to the true specified pattern, has the front door facing the east. And those great front doors have never been opened since the temples were dedicated. Those who officiate and those in charge understand that those doors are to remain closed until the triumphant coming of the Son of Man. The officiators do not realize, however, that this door is only a symbol as are all temple ordinances. They do not comprehend that man himself is the true and living temple of God. They do not fathom the great truth that when one has opened the "Christ door" or "rent the veil of unbelief", so that the Light of Christ can completely fill the temple of his being that the individual can also step through that great "Front door" into the higher realms of Spirit, for man, in his redeemed state IS SPIRIT. And man is only fully redeemed when he has overcome sin and the powers of it.
Temple ordinances have been used as a guide to dying instead of being a guide to living. The robes of the temple are used as robes to be buried in instead of becoming the reality behind the symbol, "the white raiment" that will cover a man's nakedness so that the shame of his lack of power will never appear. He, who believes and lives the higher laws, will be clothed in the Light and the power of the Almighty. This is the truth behind the symbol of temple robes. And as man himself is the true temple of the Living God, his whole being will not only be filled but will be clothed in this Light. And "All things will become subjected unto him 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," or through "That Light of Christ that is given to abide in every man who cometh into the world."
However it is not in the overcoming of death wherein the greatest victory lies. It is in the overcoming of the cause of death that brings the great triumph. Sin is the cause of death. It is in the overcoming of sin and unbelief that death is destroyed so that it has no claim. Overcoming sin and unbelief contains the great victorious powers of supreme reward.
This inward pattern of overcoming and triumphant annihilation of sin is the pattern Christ gave. It is the Way of Truth. And He IS the WAY and the TRUTH and the LIFE.
"The WORD of the Lord" (which Word was made flesh, or put in flesh) "is TRUTH; and whatsoever is TRUTH is SPIRIT: even the SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST," "Which is given to abide in every man who cometh into the world."
"Know this TRUTH and you will become free, eternally free, free from sin, sickness, darkness, all negation and harassments and all limitations -- even death.
It is not knowing this TRUTH just to believe that this Light of Christ is given to abide in you. To know this TRUTH it is necessary to experience it. To obtain such knowledge it is essential to fulfill the laws connected with it. It is necessary to open that inner door that Christ might enter. This door must be opened by each individual for himself, that the Light of Christ might fill his entire being, until he becomes one with It. This is the union indicated by the parable of the Bridegroom's coming and the preparation of the bride for the marriage feast. This is the truth behind the symbol. To know this TRUTH one must keep the commandments, or laws, or divine principles that go with it. "Then is Christ bound". His laws are irrevocable and unfailing.
The opening of this door to "The Light of Christ that is given to abide in every man who cometh into the world" is THE WAY. It is the Way of glory! It is the Way which Christ IS. This is a door, or Way, by-passing death, or going completely beyond it. It is so far beyond the way of death there is no comparison. It is beyond description. It is blinding in its glory and power and perfection. This Way has always been the true Way and has always been there waiting for those who would only be willing to live the laws connected with it.
Because this Way is not the one used by the multitude, it is denied. It is much easier to live a falsehood than to prove a truth. It took eighteen years for Columbus to prove that the earth is round, because for many, many years all mankind had accepted the belief that it was flat. And now, for centuries and centuries, generations have been following that beaten path to the back door of God's kingdom. The race of mankind has been completely satisfied with decay -- and death -- and that dingy back door entrance of no effort. Yet the only effort required is that man believe and live the higher laws that he might know.
This way of "overcoming" is so far beyond anything one can possibly experience by laying down his life in ordinary death it is like trying to compare the darkness of midnight to the brightness of noonday. There is no comparison. It is only in the extreme contrast that the truth is revealed. Death is one end of the pole of existence. Life is the other end of that pole. It is Life Eternal in which a man need never die.
There is no power to describe the grandeur, the glory, the splendor and the rewards for those who learn to open that door -- the great Christ door, which is the door of man's own temple.
This great Christ door is the front door into the kingdom of heaven. It is the way of triumph, of overcoming, of celestial perfection that by-passes all the slow processes of spiritual attainment and releasing that is required by the supervised training that is necessary to develop those who were satisfied with taking that back door through -- the door of death.
This divine Way, by-passing death, is the Way Christ came to reveal. It is the Way of the Light of Christ and He will reveal it to all who will only trust in Him and turn to that Light of Christ which is given to abide within himself in true and believing trust. This is the Way promised to those who would only follow HIM -- the Way by which a man need never die.
Death has been the accepted way for a dark and sinning world. It has been the path trod by the multitudes since time began. It has been the lazy man's way out for it is always easier to follow the herd, like sheep, than to make the slight effort needed to overcome. But when one finds that door, through reverence, love and diligent seeking, he is no longer a sheep. He is a shepherd.
Daniel 12:2-10: "And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars forever and ever. But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased.
"Then I, Daniel looked, and, behold, there stood other two, the one on this side of the bank of the River (of Life) and the other on that side of the bank of the River. And one said to the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the River, how long shall it be to the end of these wonders?" (When the grave shall lose its power for those on either side of the River of Life?)
"And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the River, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and swear by him that liveth for ever, that it shall be for a time, times, and a half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people all these things shall be finished.
"And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things? And he said, Go thy way Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand."
We have reached the time when it is most necessary that the wise do understand as they begin to "Be purified, even as He is pure." "For when He appears we are to be like Him."