Power And Wisdom

POWER AND WISDOM : Neville Goddard – 4th Oct 1968

Although man develops more and more power on earth, it is like kindergarten, compared to the power that is his in the New Age. Christ within you as your hope of glory is the personification of this power Knowing himself to be all power, Jesus turned to those who followed him, and said:

"Wait in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."

You are clothed with that power when the Holy Spirit, symbolized as a dove, descends upon you.

Clothed with the power from on high, Jesus entered the synagogue, opened the Book of Isaiah to the 61st chapter, and read:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me. He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor and to release the captives."

Closing the book, he handed it to the attendant  and said:

"Today the scripture  you have just heard has been fulfilled."

The Old Testament predicted the coming of the New Age, called the kingdom of God. By this statement, Jesus claimed to be its fulfillment, for when the dove descended, he knew he was the Messiah, the embodiment of power and wisdom.

When Pilate, the personification of logic and reason, asked: "Where are you from?" Jesus did not answer. But when he said: "Do you not know I have the power to release or crucify you," Jesus replied: "You have no power over me unless it is given you from within." In other words, if I do not give my power to you, you have none.

In the above statement the word "anothen" is translated "from above," but its true meaning is "from within." This same word is used when Nicodemus is told: "Unless you are born from within, you cannot enter the kingdom of God."

The power from within is life-giving and entirely different from the power of this world. If you desired to physically leave this room, as an animated being I would have no power to hold you here. But as a life-giving spirit, I could hold and control your actions.

As a life-giving spirit, I have entered a scene from within. Those who were present could  not see me; yet I was so alive with power in myself, that I knew if I arrested it, everything I perceived would stand still. I did, and instantly everyone and everything was stilled. I examined them to discover that they were dead as though made out of clay. Then I released that power in myself, and everyone once more became animated, and continued to fulfill their intentions. Possessing no power in them,  I did  not release the  power in them but in me.

Only when you wear the Human Form Divine – which is the embodiment of love – will you exercise this power. It is never exercised here, for your power is too great.  You  could,  by  arresting  an  army, rearrange their intention, release them, and they would execute your instructions – even  if it  meant  their death. But wisdom goes hand in hand with that power. Paul asks:

"Has not God made foolish the wisdom  of the world? In the wisdom of God the world does not know God through wisdom. The foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men."

God cannot be found through studying scripture. He must be revealed.  God either reveals himself to you, or you remain ignorant as to who he is. God first revealed himself to Moses as destructive power, saying: "I AM the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty,  but by my name  I AM I did not make myself known to them."

The patriarchs Abraham, Isaac,  and Jacob knew only sheer power, but Moses knew God as I AM. Revealing himself as power, then as I AM, when God’s son calls  you father,  you will know who you really are. This is the wisdom of God as opposed to the wisdom of man.

A friend of mine shared this vision with me. He said: "I  am  driving  my  car,  when  suddenly  I  am airborne, gliding over the treetops. Navigating the car by body-English, it rises as I lighten my body and descend with my body weight. Suddenly I panic, and must have crashed because I lost consciousness and the next thing I knew I was in a humanoid body such as I have never seen. The outside  was dead, beige dust like the coals of a fireplace, with two holes where the eyes should be.

"I am not alone, there are others  but they seem to  be mindless  water carriers.  Asking a question of one, he pointed to a large boulder made of the same substance as my body. I climbed this rock and saw you, Neville, wearing a similar body. At your side was a mindless, brainless automaton.

"We began to talk, and I opened my  wallet to show  you a  card which implied  I was a writer. The man at your side questioned you and you answered him very superficially, conveying to me with a look that the man was incapable of understanding anything. Then you and I were alone, and you said:  ‘No  one  can deny you the next four reunions with God.’ I did not  understand  the  words,  but  your  manner  implied they were very important, and a joy permeated my being as I awoke."

These fleshly garments look like  the  garments  he saw, when seen from a certain level.  Paul tells  us that  the first man (Esau, Cain, etc.) is the man of dust, but the second man (Christ) is the man of heaven. (I Corinthians 15)

These bodies of dust are moved by a power from within. Blake  explained  this  so beautifully,  when he  said:

"Those in great Eternity who contemplate on death (this world) say thus, ‘What seems to be is, to  those to whom it seems to be, and is productive of the most dreadful consequences, to those to whom it seems to be, even of torment, despair and Eternal death. But Divine Mercy steps beyond  and  redeems Man in the body of Jesus.'"

Every vision has a single jet of truth in it. My friend who had  the  vision  is  now being redeemed; because no one – but no one – can prevent him from experiencing the four  reunions  with  God, at  which  time  Divine Mercy redeems him in the body of Jesus.

The first reunion is God’s birth from within. The second is the discovery of his son, David.  This is followed by the third mighty reunion, when his spiritual body is split in two and God ascends like  a  spiral  of lightening into heaven. And finally, the fourth act appears, as the Holy Spirit embodies the form of a dove to clothe him – as you – with power from on high. From that moment on, you are aware of an entirely different world. You will no longer be an animated body, but know yourself to be a life-giving  spirit,  moving  through heavenly  states,  giving  life  and  telling the eternal story.

Having joined those in great eternity, you too will  contemplate  on those  who  sleep  in death and  know that what seems to be is – to those to whom it seems to be. You will not raise a finger to change their experiences, as you will know they are necessary in the world of Caesar. Having entered the New Age, where there is no time or space, you will discover that you are every place at the same  time  if you so desire, and that you are the creator of it all.

You see, when you emptied yourself of your power and wisdom to take on the form of a slave  in the  world of time, it was at once a tragedy and yet a triumph. Just like  a sucker, which breathes and  feeds on its parent, knows tremendous tragedy when detached and planted separately -but it becomes the parent because of the separation. So your separation is a tragedy and  yet a  victory,  for  you  do become  aware of being God the Father because of it.

The fall into decay and death was purposely planned. We are all awakening and returning to the awareness of being the one body, one Spirit, one Lord, one God  and  Father of all.  Having fallen into  division,  we  are gathered into the unity of being the one Father, enhanced by our experiences in this world of death.

I can describe this power in words, but its true feeling must be experienced. One evening, while sitting in MacArthur Park, I watched a man walk by,  stand  on a  corner,  and  light  a  cigarette.  Then  I arrested that power in me and the match remained lit yet did not burn beyond the place it  was only a  moment before. The man, standing as a statue, appeared to be  totally  unaware  of the  lighted  match,  while  the park took on the stillness of death. Then I released the power within me and watched the man blow  out  the match, throw it away, and continue to walk  with the  others. When you are clothed with the power from on high you feel it, and these things happen to you.

Because of his disbelief, man sees this power as foolishness. So Paul told the Corinthians: "Since in the wisdom of God man did not by wisdom know God, it pleased God through the  folly of what we preach,  to save those who believe." All that you are called upon to do is to listen to the eternal story of salvation and believe by responding to it. Then go  about  your business by using your  power to cushion the  blows of life; and when it pleases God, you will be saved.

Although your power here is like a little firecracker compared to  your real power, when you know what  you want and believe you have it, your power of belief will make it so. Construct a scene which implies the fulfillment of your desire. Give it all  of the  sensory vividness you are capable of giving, and rest in the knowledge that its implication is the power to bring your desire into your world.

You don’t have to be a brilliant scholar to use your creative power. In fact, the more brilliant  you are, the  less you are likely to try it. The so-called brilliant mind believes only in that which is  physical and  visible,  and therefore does not believe a desire can be fulfilled by a simple imaginal act.

But I know the power of imagining, for I have sat quietly in my chair in my living  room,  constructed a  scene which implied the fulfillment of my desire, gave it all of the qualities of naturalness so that it felt right – and let it be. Then, just as I would drop a seed into the ground and  wait  for  its  maturity,  my  seed of  desire matured and fulfilled itself in my world.

Imagine whatever you desire. Believe you will receive it and go about your business in the world with patience and confidence, knowing your desire will erupt and become a reality. Use the  law  while  you remain in the city waiting to be clothed with power from on high, for it will come.

Believe me, for God’s pattern of salvation has unfolded in me. The divine drama has reached  its  climax. Only Caesar’s history continues, and every child born of woman is fulfilling  it.  Moving across  the  screen of space for thousands of years, man experiences moments  of joy and  sorrow,  sadness  and  pain,  until the dramatic story of Christ unfolds from within. It takes 1260 days from God’s first mighty act to the final one. Then, if the brothers decide it is your  task  to  remain and  tell  the  story,  you will.

Like  Paul,  I  long to depart. I feel as though there is a thorn in my side and I pray to have it removed. But I will remain, knowing my grace is sufficient, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

I recall the first night I met Abdullah. I had purposely delayed going to  one  of his  meetings,  because  a man whose judgment I did not trust had insisted on my attendance. At the end of the meeting, Ab approached me and said: "Neville, you are six months late." Startled, I questioned how he knew my name, when he said: "The brothers told me you would be here six months ago." Then he added: "I will remain until you have received all that I must give you. Then I will depart." He, too, may have longed  to go, but he had to wait for me.

If you are serious about the study of the Bible, read  the  eighth  chapter  of  Proverbs.  Begin  with  the 22nd verse, and as you go through to the end you will discover it is all about wisdom.

Personified as a little child, wisdom says:

"He who finds me,  finds  life  and receives  favor  from the Lord. He who misses me injures himself. He who hates me  loves death."

One day,  finding life  in  yourself,  you  will hold wisdom in your arms and receive favor from the  Lord. But  if you  would  rather  have  more  of  the world of Caesar, you will hate the idea of the child, because you love death.

The world and all of its conflict is essential to the work that is being done in you. But in the end, you will  have these four wonderful reunions with God and find yourself in  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Your awakening and resurrection takes you from this world of death. The discovery of your Son, your ascent  into heaven, and the descent of the Holy Spirit is your entrance into the New Age, where  you wear the body of Christ, the power and the wisdom of God.

Now let us go into the silence.