Neville Goddard 09-25-1967 TEST YOURSELVES

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Neville Goddard 09-25-1967

TEST YOURSELVES

Faith is not complete u n t i l tlirough experiment it becomes experience. God's promise cannot be tested. Itcannot be earned, for it is given by grace. But your fai th v \ i l l be ina-eased vvlien you experiment, whenyou test God's law. It is easier to accept the Christian faitli than to l i v e by it, but you must l i v e by it foryour fa i th to grow*I n his 2nd letter to the Corinthians, Paul is speaking to the whole w o r l d vAien he says: "Examineyourselves to see i f you are holding to the fa i th . Test yourselves' Do you not realize that Jesus Christ isi l l you? - unless of course you fa i l to meet the test. I hope you w i l l discover that we have not failed."N o w , in the eai'Uest gospel, the Gospel of Mark, we find these woixls: "The time is f u l f i l l e d and thekingdom of heaven is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." T l i e w o i x l "repent" means "a radicalchange of attitude (of thinking) towwds anything that you either dislike or want to change." A radicalchange on your part w i l l produce a corresponding change in your outer w o r l d . So now you aie ui^ed toexamine yourse lf to see whether you are holding to the f a i th . Art you accqj ting as facts the headlinesyo u see in the paper? The telephone call you just received' The morning's mail or the news on T\'' v\hichsuggest unlovely, honibl e tilings to you? A friend calls, and pouring out all the bilge in the w o r l d tellsyo u how bad things ai'e and how they are destined to get woi^e. As you listen, theii* woes enter and areassumed by you. Now, i f you underetand this l aw that imaging creates reality, you sliould, l ike acomputer, choose what you are going to allow to enter, . ^ i d when the conversation is finished and yourfriend's voice is s t i l l fresh and clear in your ear, hear her changed woi-ds, the changed tone of her voice,and feel the joy emitted there.L et me now shai^ three stories of a lady who is here tonight. She said: " I have found my telephonetechnique i n fa l l i b l e . It never fails me. One day a friend called to t e l l me she wanted to take anexamination to become a court reporter. Giving me nine reasons w l i y she could never pass the test, Ichanged even,' one as I heard it , and when the conversation was fmished I imagined an entii'ely differentone. I heai'd her t e l l me she had passed the test w i t h flying colors. My friend took the test, and althoughduring the intei'val of six weeks she remained negative, I continued to believe she had passed. T l ie n oneday she called, saying: 'Do you remember when I took the test?' and I replied: Y'es, and you passed.'T l ie n she said: 'Yes, but arent you suiprised?' I have been t i y i n g to t e l l her t l ia t imagining creates reality,but she cannot understand how an imaginal act unseen by the human senses can be held onto andproduce results, but I know it always does'"H er letter continued in this manner: "M y telephone technique never fails. I can give you dozen of stories

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o f the results I have received through its use. Here is another. A fiiend, in her 50's desired to change herjo b for financial reasons. She wanted to return to the electronic plant where she formerly worked but feltthat because of her age she would not be accepted. Ignoring all o f the negative thoughts, I simply heardher excited voice t e l l me she had the job." One week later she called, saying: "They not only gave metlie job w i t l i a large salaiy increase, but I am rece iv ing a-edit for the ten yeai's I worked there before,which w i l l be added to my retirement."

N o w in the third story, she said: "My friend's maid weighed 25 pounds more than she wanted to, and herdoctor had told her she must lose t l i i s additional weight. Desiring to weigh 140 pounds, she told me howslie had fried and fried but could not lose a pound. I ignored her comments regai'ding her past attemptsand heard her t e l l me she had reached her goal. Tliat she now weighs 140 pounds. Soon after that I lefttlie city for two months, and when I rehinied the maid called again, saying: " I ha\'e been tiying tocontact you to t e l l you tliat I have lost weight. I couldn't f i n d you when I weighed 140 but now I weigh139" 'H o w the weight was lost mj' friend does not know; she only knows that she examines hersel f to seev'thetlier she is holding to her faith in imagining creating reality. She fuTnly believes in God's promiseand knows that eventually Christ w i l l awaken in her as her veiy self But in the meantime, vvfrile shewaits in faith for the fulfillment of that promise , she is exercising God's law. She now knows thatwiiatever she desires, i f she w i l l but believe she already has received it , she w i l l . So instead of making afalse statement on the outside, saying: " I am Christian" and doing nothing about it, she lives by thisprinciple on the inside and makes it apait o f her l i f e .Y o u ai-e told: "Why call me Lord, Lord and do not the things that I say?" W e l l , what did he say? Tliat allthings Eire possible to God, that no matter what you believe, it w i l l come to pass. I f you don't wantunlovely things to happen in your world then you must watch what you ai-e thinking in the course of aday. You need not wait until the day's end to change a thought to f u l f i l l a desire. Why not do as myfriend does and revise the conversation as you hear it? I f the words ai e not what she wants to hear shedoes not l isten, but puts on that same wire the thoughts she wants to hear come through. She h ea i^ whatslie desires to hear and believes it w i l l come to pass.Sciipture tells of those who - calhiig themselves leadei-s - ai'e blind guides, and when the blind lead theblind they all f a l l into a p i t . Who are these blind leaders? Those v\ho teach docfrine as the law of Go dTliose who teach the precepts of men, saying you can't eat this orwear that, are not the law of God, forin God's law ever>'thing is in order. Me we not told that food w i l l not justify or get you to God, that youai'e no worse of f i f you do not eat and no better off i f you do? I know and I am persuaded by the law ofChrist Jesus that there is nothing unclean in itself, but to any man to whom it is unclean, to him it isimclean. The uncleanliiiess is in his thinking and not in the thought itself.I f someone wants to wallow in self pity, let him. You are not asked to test the man but to test yourselfY o u aixi not asked to prove it to another, just yourself. See the world as nothing more tlian yourselfpushed out and eveiything in it as aiding the birth of your imagination, for the behavior o f the worldrelative to you detenu ined by the concept you hold of yoursel f It doesnt really matter vvhat yourindividual personal l i fe is, the whole vast world is yourself puslied out and everj'one in it is there to aidfrie birth of all of your imaginal acts. Regardless of whether i t takes one or one hundred thousand,eveiyone w i l l play his part, and you dont. have to ask his pennission for your vt'Orld is animated by youro w n wonderful human imagination.So the first thing you are asked to do is examine yourselves to see i f yo u are holding to the faith. I f youare satisfied that you are, then test yourselves. Then he asked the question: "Do you not realize that JesusChrist is in you?" Tlie average pei-son would answer negatively, but I ask you : Is Jesus Christ in you as

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another? Do you think of h i m as a second person to be addressed as Lord or Christ? Do you not realizethat you ai-e the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?" I f y o u can answer this last questionin the affinnative, are you s t i l l going to test him as another?G o d first reveals himself as God Almighty (El Shaddai) telling us in the 6th chapter of Exodus: " I mademyself known unto Abi-aliam and Isaac,, and Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did notmake myself known." The word "Lord" means " I am." God's name has now been revealed to you as " Imn." Now, ask yourself this question: "Do I realize that I am the temple of God and that the Spirit ofG o d dwells in me? My avrareness is the Spii'it of God which dwells in me, God's temple." I f you knowyour awaiTeness, your I .Amness, is Jesus Christ, you cannot think of h i i n as a second pei-son, as someoneother tlian yourself, can you? I know it sounds airogant but this is what Paul is tiying to t e l l eveiyone.D i d this lady turn to anyone and ask him to take 25 pounds off her friend? No' She d id it all w i t h i n herwonderful human imagination. Scripture tel ls us: " A l l things ai-e made by him and without him was notanything made that was made." Di d 25 pounds come off? Yes' And i f a ll things ai-e made by him, who ishe who removed the excess pounds? He is the Lord Christ Jesus, the human imagination'A t the end o f his poem called "Reverie", Robert B r o v \ T i i n g said:"From the first. Power was - 1 knew,L i f e has made cleai- to meThat, st'ive but for closer view.Love were as plain to see."L i f e is God's power on display, but i f you w i l l look closer love w i l l be plain to see' Many years ago Iwas taken in Spirit into the divine assembly wliere the gods hold judgment. There I encountered ElShaddai, God pei-sonified as Infinite Might' He was a man no lai^er than you are, but w i t h the power todestroy the universe i f he so desired. It was Power, who - after the recording angel checked my name -took me into the presence of Love. They are the same being, for you cannot separate God's povv-er fromHmiself; but what a different face was infinite love' Weai'ing the human forai divine, the .Ancient ofDays, all love, embraced me and made me one with his body and I s t i l l feel that presence today. Myfriends know me as Neville, my daughter as her father, my wife as her husband - but I no longer feel thisbody o f flesh and blood. I feel only the body of love. But power came first, that I knew, but lookingcloser love can be plainly seen. Tliese two beings cannot be separated. Love is Spirit and Christ is thepower of God and the wisdom of God - but God is love' He is the Father of a l l , and one day ever>'onew i l l receive his g i f t of love'I n the meantime exercise your power. Have faith in the promise by exercising his law and proving it inperformance, for faith is not complete u n t i l through experiment it becomes your experience' T l i i s ladyknows what she has experienced. She knows the law vt^orks. She would never be interested in heai ing ofany special diet to become more spiritual, or any meditation to become awai'e of her so-called cosmicconsciousness. But tlirough exercise, tlirough testing herself, God's law is becoming her experience, andone day the real g i t l , the g i f t of God Himself w i l l be hers.N o one can earn God's g i t l It could happen to all w l i o are here this night, or to one. It is my desire tliateveiyone w i l l have the experience before I depait, but I am not to know^the time tliat God tlie Father hasfixed in his own accord. I do know that we reconstnict the temple one by one. A l l the things you and Ido here w'lW vanish like castles in the sand. But the Bible, vvhich is the Word of God, is forever. It v t i l lnever pass away. It is engrai\''ed on the Rock , the Rock that is Christ., the gospel contained in all.Paul uses the word "rock" because of vision. I know, for back in the 30's while sitting in the silence notthinking of anything in particulai-, I closed my eyes in contemplation and saw aquaitz, a solid rock (the

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sj'mbol of death, the l i m i t of confraction vvhich God took upon himself) As I watched, t l ie rockfragmented i t s e l f T l i e n I saw all the t i n y pieces gather together as i f by some unseen hand and moldi t s e l f into a l i v i n g statue sitting in a lotus position. Looking at this wonder&l creature, I realized I wasseeing mysel f As I recognized Ne vi ll e the whole thing began to glow, to become radiant, and when itreached the l i m i t of intensity i t exploded and I awoke sit ting in my chair.T l i e symbolism is tnie. Engraved upon the Rock that is Christ is the eternal Word of God. Having putthe eternal Word (the Rock) into the mind of M a n , when he reaches the end of t l ie race God's Word w i l lbe f u l f i l l e d as t l ie being in which it is revealed, so the symbol ism is true. I saw t l ie Rock w l i i c h is Christfragmented. Everj' l i t t l e piece was a part that I had played in t l ie drama called l i f e . The v i l l a i n , the hero,the rich man, the poor man, t l ie beggai", the t h i e f - 1 have played them all , and having f i n i s l i e d the race Ihave gathered my vaiious selves together to f o n i i t l ie being that comes to the end of the journey. .And asI watched I saw it glow l i k e the sun and when it reached the l i m i t of intensi tj', it exploded. Scripture,from the beginning to the end, is all engraved on the Rock and placed w i t l i i n the mind o f M a n .Tonight you can take this simple principle as recorded in t l ie 13th chapter of 2 Corinthians and"Examine yourselves to see whether you are holding to the f a i t h . " When you are satisfied that you ai-e,then tesi; yoursel f I f the morning's mail brings bad news don't call the person and t e l l him he shouldn'thave vwitten the letter, but revise it. Change the letter completely. When you aiisw^er the telephone testyourself again and hear only what you want to hear. Do as my friend does, for her telephone techniquenever fails her.A s Fawcett said: " T l i e secret of Imagining is the greatest of all problems to the solution of which themystics aspire, for supreme Power, supreme Wisdom, supreme Delight, lie in the solution of this fai"-offmysteiy." I invite you all to shai'e in the solution of thi s niyste iy. My friend has contr ibuted herdiscoveiy. She calls it her telephone technique using revision. N ow the Bible does not use the wordrevision. I t uses the word "repent" which means "a radical change of attitude." I use the modem wordrevision because the word "repent" has grown barnacles. We think of a person repenting by gett ingdowai on his belly and moving fonvard l i k e a worm towards someone to v\hom he repents. But whenyo u revise (or repent) you don't confess to anyone. How can you confess any sin to anj^one when you ai'et o l d in the Book of Psalms: "Against thee and only tliee have I sinned, O L o r d . " You cannot sin againstanother, you can only sin against yourse lf for your tnie setf is God. I should go to someone just asfoolish ci s I and say: "Father, I want to repent?" Never'T l i e priestlioods of t li e w o r l d give us man-made precepts and call t l i em the docti'ines of God. T l i e y ai'eb l i n d leaders of the b l i n d . When the Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus, saying: "Your disciples ai-eviolating the precepts, t l ie traditions of the elders by not washing t l i e i r hand w l i e n they eat," Jesusreplied: " W h y do you transgress the commandment of God for the precepts of men? It is not what goesinto the mouth t l i a t defiles a man (for that goes through his stomach and passes on), but what comes outo f the mouth of man that defiles hi m. " T l i a t which comes out of the heart defiles, not that which entersthe belly. Call your man-made precepts as a something coming from God and you fransgress hiscommandments. T l i i s is true eveiywli ere. Man is forever condemning another for what he believes theother ought to do to obtain salvation. But salvation is yours. It is coming to you whether you hve wiselyor foolishly. No matter what you have done you are going to receive God's g i f t and not one w i l l be lost.So w f r i l e you are here, why not use God's law and hve wisely. I f i n d it much easier to pay my bihs thanto run from creditors, so why not pay them when the law allows me to. I simply imagine having enoughmoney in the bank to pay them' I f i n d it easier to l i v e in the feehng of plenty than to feel a sense of lack.L i v i n g this way doesn't make me better in the eyes of myse lf called God than the one who does notknov\ this law, or - knowing it, does not apply it. It makes no difference in the end, because both of usw i l l be the one being who is God the Father. You and I are not only brothers, we ai-e God the Fatlier, for

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H e is a compound unity of one made up of others.Eve iyone is predest ined to know he is the One, but in the inter\''aJ all ai e invited to take this wonderfull a w and apply it wisely toward definite objectives. L i k e the fellovi'-who came into the bar, and when theywouldn't seive him a drink said: "You think I'm a bum, but I want you to know I am a veiy importantperson. I know what it is to be r i c h and I know what it is to be poor, and of the two I'd rather be r i c h . "N o w , I'm not telling you what to desii'e, but I am telling you that I know v\hat it is l i k e to bedispossessed because of lack of means to pay the rent. During that, time I owned the w o r l d and didn'tknow it . Eveiything w^as mine but no one t o l d me about it. T l ie w o r l d is yours for the taking but i f youdo not know it you can go hungiy for want of a d o l l a i ' . No one w i l l hold your money in deposit for youor go out on the sfreet and t e l l you of your investment. Instead he w i l l use it , and u n t i l you make thedemand., he w i l l not release it to you. You must claim it by appreciation. No one is going to force yourdesire upon you. Eveiything is yours for the taking. Appropriate your eveiy desire by qjplying God'sl a w , just as this lady did in her wonderful telephone technique.

Start examining yourself Do you believe that imagining creates reality? I f y o u do, then test yourself. Doy o u not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? Do you have the courage to claim; " I am He and besides methere is no othei"?" hi the 8th ch^ te r of John, the statement is made: "You vv i l l die in your sins unlessy o u believe that I am He." T l i i s is not a statement of another telling you that you must believe he is Go dN o ' You are forever talking to yourself L i m i t e d by the f ive senses, " I " - Christ in you - w i l l miss mygoals in l i f e unless " I " beheve that " I A M " that which " I " formerly desired to be.A sk yourself: " I f I now believe t l i a t I am He that the w o r l d woi-ships as the L o r d , and all things ai'epossible to me, then I must test myself and according to my f a i t l i in myself w i l l it be done unto me." It isup to the individual to peifomi the action, for the evidence alw^ays follows the acfion. Act as thoughtilings ai-e as you would l i k e them to be. Persuade yoursel f that it is true and let the results f o l l o w . Tl i i s isho w you ai-e called upon to opei-ate in this w o r l d It is not vwitten in detail, but only sketches t l i a t you f i l li l l w i t h your l i f e .Now let us go into the silence.

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Neville Goddard 09-25-1967 TEST YOURSELVES