Showing results by author "Neville" in All Categories

Figuring out who we are in relation to what is in the world around us is a necessary part of the process of getting what we want, but it is not sufficient. Going for gold is always at the heart of the thoughts and actions of distinguished achievers and outstanding performers. Nevertheless, what those who find their pot of gold are motivated and enriched by is Sven!

While considering scripture, always bear in mind that it is a story of salvation and not secular history, that the characters - from Adam to Jesus - are states of consciousness. The first five books of the Bible are called the Torah, or the Law, with Abraham as the symbol of the beginning of civilization.

The Christian world claims to believe in Christ, but they do not know him for he must be found. This challenge is given in scripture. "Examine yourselves to make sure you are holding to the faith. Test yourselves!" If you want to find Jesus Christ you must test yourself!

"All are men in eternity. Rivers, mountains, cities, villages, all are human, and when you enter into their bosoms, you walk in heavens and earths; just as in your own bosom you bear your heaven and earth, and all that you behold, though it appears without, it is within, in Your Imagination of which this World of Mortality is but a Shadow."

Defining Christ as God's power and wisdom, Paul makes this statement: "No other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Christ. If you build on it with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or stubble, your work will become manifest. It will be revealed by the day. If the work survives, you will receive a reward. If it is destroyed, you will suffer loss; but you yourself will be saved, but only as through fire."

William Blake, in his poem "The Four Zoas: A Dream of Nine Nights" tells of God's fall into division and his resurrection to unity.

In the 37th chapter of Genesis we read the story of Joseph, a dreamer whose dreams always came true. His father, Israel, loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, and made him a long robe with sleeves. Now I ask you, who is Joseph? He is the foreshadowing of Jesus Christ, your true identity. Historical evidence for Jesus, the man, is nonexistent, yet he is the only reality and the true identity of every child born of woman.

"In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The Word became flesh and dwells in us." (John 1). Our physical birth is God's incarnation, for incarnation signifies the assumption by a divine being of human or animal form. When you were born your little human form was assumed by God. Christmas marks the departure from God's incarnation and your birth as God.

Tonight is a bit of a riddle, but you listen carefully, for it's very, very important. It is "The Morning Star", a promise made to man. "He who conquers...I will give him the morning star." (Revelation 2:26, 28 RSV1 ) Then, in a realization of this promise, he identifies himself as the morning star. He says, "I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star". (Revelation 22:16) The Bible ends on this note, in the last chapter of the book of Revelation.

Well, my first proposition is this one. The individual state of consciousness determines the conditions and the circumstances of his life. The second proposition is that man can select the state of consciousness with which he desires to be identified; and the third follows naturally - therefore, man can be what he wants to be.

Tonight I will call this, "A Riddle", for every creative mind rises to the challenge of a riddle. Now a riddle is defined in the dictionary as "an imperial object or person; that which is difficult to understand". It is also "a sieve to separate the chaff from the wheat, or a puzzling question". Now I ask you: who is the greatest of the great of earth, who was never mortal born, or lived - as you and I understand the term - in this secular world?

I tell you that imagination creates reality and I ask you to imagine a state, any state, which would imply the fulfillment of your desire. It doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks; it's what you think that matters to you! If you create a scene which implies the fulfillment of your desire and dwell in it until you have an inner conviction that it is real, what does it matter what another thinks?

Tonight's topic is: "The Most Precious Gift". If God who created the Universe and all within it gave it to you, and with the whole vast universe owned by you, you would consider that the greatest gift in the world. And, yet, he gave you something far greater than that. He gave you himself! God actually became as you are, that you may be as he is.

Entering this world of death, you brought all you have (or can have) with you. You are like a garden, already planted and sowed, for this world is too poor to produce one seed. Although William Blake was called a madman, he knew this great truth, and said: "The human imagination is the eternal body of the Lord Jesus." I tell you: The Lord Jesus is your own wonderful human imagination, who became as you are that you may become as he is.

All cause is spiritual! Although a natural cause seems to be, it is a delusion of the vanishing memory. Unable to remember the moment a state was imagined, when it takes form and is seen by the outer eye its harvest is not recognized, and therefore denied.

If you find yourself miserable or helpless here, may I tell you that you are not condemned to that state by a deity outside of yourself, for everything that takes place in your world is but a movement within God. We are told that in the very beginning the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and things came into being. Everything - your misery, your helplessness, your joy, your sorrow - no matter what it is, comes into being by a movement within God, and he is not a deity outside yourself.

Tonight's subject is: many mansions. You may be familiar with the subject from the 14th chapter of the book of John: "Let not your hearts be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my father's house are many mansions. Were it not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And when I go, I will come again and receive you to myself, that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:1-3, Moffatt's translation). Now, who is this one speaking? Scripture tells us it is Jesus Christ.

The mystery of creation is to be understood in terms of faith, so what is faith? It is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen with the mortal eye. Through faith we understand that the world was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was made out of things which do not appear.

I think you're all aware that this is the most dramatic week in Christendom and yet I dare say that not an nth part of one percent of those who call themselves Christians really understand what it is all about. It's the story of the fulfillment of God's purpose. That's the week, the triumphant march into Jerusalem, the crucifixion and then the resurrection. And it's told as though it took place on earth. That's how the story is told. Man cannot think abstractly, so it's told in the form of a story. And man has mistaken the story for the reality.

Examine yourselves to see if you are holding to your faith. Test yourselves! Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? Now, faith is not complete until through experiment it becomes experience! When you test the Christ in you and prove from experience that it works, then you have the faith. But first you must find who Christ is, where he is, and what he is. You are not called upon to test a tradition of man as something on the outside, but Jesus Christ who is in you!