1959 London Closed Class
Tape 274, Side 1
By Joel Goldsmith

Part 3 of 4

        Now you see with that, even with that short meditation, you have fulfilled the purpose of scripture; you have denied yourself as if you of yourself were anything; you have acknowledged God in all your ways; you have acknowledged the presence of God, the power of God, the life of God, the wisdom of God, the direction of God, the protection of God.  You have realized that you do not live your life alone but Christ liveth your life.  You have made yourself receptive and responsive to this spiritual influence “that is closer to you than breathing and nearer than hands and feet.”  You have brought yourself to the realization that it makes no difference what the day’s experiences may be.  If you mount up to heaven, I will be there; but if for some reason you have to go into hell, I also am there; even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, this very I is there. And, this Iis my food, my clothing, my housing.

        My daily work, my daily activity isn’t for the purpose of earning a living; it is for the purpose of showing forth God’s handiwork.  It is for the purpose of fulfilling God’s purpose in me.  Ah yes, I know . . . very few in the human world are at this moment performing their spiritual activity, or the activity which approximates it. Therefore, they must do that which is given them to do today and let the future take care of itself by acknowledging God today, as Brother Lawrence brought it out even in scrubbing the floor or cooking in the kitchen, even acknowledging God in these activities would seem so mundane.  Even in this, we are bringing God into actual expression; and then you may be assured that we will be led from that activity to another and another and another until we are being fulfilled spiritually.

        Now regardless of where we may be today – and I am addressing this not only to you, but to the man in prison, those in hospitals, those in mental institutes – wherever you are today, wherever you are at this minute, disregard the appearances, and declare for yourself:

The kingdom of God is within me; therefore, the place whereon I stand is holy ground; up in heaven, down in hell, in prison, in the valley of the shadow of death – where I am is holy ground, here and now in this very place, regardless of appearances to the contrary.   Here where I am, God is “closer to me than breathing, nearer than hands and feet.”

And starting with this acknowledgment, and recognizing that I in the midst of me is every God being – one with God – thou seest me, thou seest the Father that sent me, for I and the Father are one.  And when you say I, remember I – that I – and the Father are one and not two.  I – the I that you declare – I, that I and the Father are one and not two, and all that the Father hath is yours.

        What the appearances are have nothing to do with at this moment; what the condition of the purse may be, I have nothing to do at this moment; whether you are prisoner or free, sick or well, living or dead, Ihave nothing to do with that; that is the appearance of this moment, andI am picking you up where you are at this moment.  And from this moment on, I in the midst of you will lead you, direct you, govern, feed, clothe, house.

        Only remember that this must be brought to your conscious remembrance; you must abide in this word; you must let this word abide in you; you must dwell in the secret place of the most High; you must live and move and have your being in this consciousness that I and the Father are one, and all that the Father hath is mine here and now, where I am!  And as you continue to disregard the appearances – don’t try to change them or improve them; stand fast where you are and let the Spirit move you, as you are prepared for It.

        Just a few weeks ago I spoke to a group of men who were behind bars, and I said, “I know that you are hoping that I can tell you how to get out of here, or that I have the power to release you.  I won’t tell you how to get out of here, and if I have the power to release you, I won’t.  You must be released from here only through a change of consciousness; then we’ll both be sure you won’t return.”

        So it is, to leave the place where you are now in the same consciousness in which you are now would serve no purpose because without a higher consciousness of truth, you would eventually return to the same place where you are at this moment. The Master said, “Neither do I condemn thee but go and sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”  In other words, don’t try to live beyond your attained state of consciousness because you will not be able to retain it.  Therefore, where you are now is good enough.  Then abide in this truth that I in the midst of me is one with God; I in the midst of me, being one with God is heir of God, joint heir to all the heavenly riches.  All that the Father hath is mine.

        Then as you abide in this truth, your consciousness becomes enriched, deepened, broadened; your consciousness becomes filled with spiritual truth.  And spiritual truth, as you will discover, is the I – I am the truth.  And this truth which fills your consciousness literally appears outwardly as the greater harmonies in your experience.

        Now you see, you must know the truth in order for the truth to make you free. Regardless of what sense of limitation may be binding you, nothing is going to free you except knowing the truth.  Knowing the truth is something far more than reading it in a book or reading statements; knowing the truth means exactly that –knowing the truth.

        Now, as you take this truth into your consciousness; as you live it and relive it; as you ponder it, meditate upon it, cogitate, you will find that gradually – sometimes slowly, sometimes quickly – truths become alive in you.  They take on an entirely different nature than just statements of truth.  They become living truth itself; and this is when the demonstration of God’s presence comes forward into active expression.

        So remember this:  You have only one demonstration to make.  Do not make the metaphysical mistake of trying to demonstrate things or persons or conditions.  You have but one demonstration to make, and that is the conscious realization of the presence of the Ithat I am as one with God.  You have only to realize the presence of God and that realization will appear externally as fulfillment.  Seek ye the kingdom of God, and all these things will appear outwardly in your experience, but the things can’t appear without the attainment of this kingdom of God.

        That is why in this message of The Infinite Way we have one, only one real demonstration to make, and that is the conscious realization of truth, the consciousness of the presence of the I that I am, the realization of God’s presence.

        In Thy presence is fullness of joy; therefore, the only demonstration we have to make is to find ourselves in Thy presence, but this Thy presence we are talking about is already present.  It is already the Iwithin our own being; therefore, we don’t have to bring God to us; we have to bring ourselves to God realization – to the realization of God’s presence within our very own being.

        At every step this week, we are going to remember that it is in knowing the truth that we find our freedom, and therefore we are devoting this week to consciously knowing the truth – consciously knowing every truth necessary to the development of our spiritual consciousness; every truth necessary to the building of a spiritual awareness within us; consciously knowing every truth necessary to bringing forth spiritual consciousness, healing consciousness.  We are attempting this week to bring forth from within ourselves our healing consciousness.  It is already there, but there are certain specific truths which we must know, which we must abide in, which we must let abide in us in order that this healing consciousness may be evolved.

        The message of The Infinite Way has two parts.  Its first part is its metaphysics. This we call the letter of truth – the letter of truth which we consciously know, remember, declare in order that we may build the consciousness of truth.  The consciousness of truth is the mystical side of this message.  The metaphysical side is the letter of truth; the mystical side is the consciousness of truth – that which is attained through realisation or attainment, sometimes called illumination; perhaps better understood in the word realization.

 

End Part 3