"THE PROMISES OF GOD"

"Most generous Father, we Thy little children assembled here, ask once more that Thou wilt pour down upon us the grace of Thy enveloping Love. Once again we come to Thee as to our Father and Mother God, and we know that because we are Thy children Thou wilt deny the spirit nothing that can forward its progress. Thus once more we pray for those who are in the twilight, we intercede for those who, as yet, are bound by self, certain that in this intercession so Thou wilt give the power needed to break the conditions which shut the prisoners away from the sunshine of Thy Love.

"Commending ourselves into Thy tender care, drawing to this little room the thoughts of countless others, so this night we commence our work, conscious in part of the mighty gift that Thou hast given to us, conscious in part that we have listened and in a measure we understand, conscious in part that the future is glorious with opportunity, and, that as we strive, so indeed the power will be vouchsafed...

"Resting on Thy promises we look forward to the work in front with valiant hearts; we push back thoughts of failure, thoughts of weariness, thoughts of disappointment - for we know that when the will is given up so Thou, our God, worketh out the perfect plan... Father, we thank Thee. Amen...

"...My little children, we meet together this night conscious that our lives are linked together. What that consciousness means and what lies beneath it, that, as yet, is hidden from you; but when I say that we meet together conscious that it is God's will and that our intention is the same, so then I can add to that, that the linking up has been blessed by the One who loves us best.

"You are not independent; neither am I. No one, in any plane, can say with truth: 'I stand alone' or 'I could stand alone'. No, even as they speak they are drawing power to put the words into that you name a sentence, they are drawing power to use the organs which they possess at that stage, they are drawing power from All-Life, without which they would not be a conscious entity at all.

"From the so-called weakest to the so-called strongest, independence is unknown, and the only difference between those who are bound and those who, in a measure, have freedom, is this: That the little children in consciousness cry out for independence and refuse to be comforted until that which they recognise as independence is made their own.

"It is hardly necessary for me to say that by pursuing, with desire, that which represents 'freedom', they are a little more bound than before. When realisation comes upon us as to our Source, as from whence we came and whither we go, so, portion by portion, the love of independence falls from us. With joy we claim our links, with a gladness inexpressible in words we turn to those with greater wisdom and ask their guidance; and they - because they have that which is the gift of wisdom - they are the ones who never forget their dependence upon the Christ.

"Is it not typical of physical life? The toddler who is so proud of being able to stand, so he thinks, alone; and then, as a few lessons have come and have exacted their price, so confidence - self-confidence - gradually dwindles away; and the boy or the girl who begins to realise something of the hidden volume of knowledge which the physical world holds within its grasp, they turn thankfully to those who have learnt that which, to them, is unknown.

"Again, when age creeps on and the things of the world have been tried and tested and found of little worth - aye, when the years have sped and old age draws close - there are those who instinctively turn to the Sacred Record, and they say: 'Each day, each hour, I am more dependent upon this'.

"My children, that which I have outlined is a physical symbol of a great spiritual truth, and I want you to greet fresh links, fresh responsibilities, as a gift. Sometimes, it seems to the sensitive, that a battery of influences from strange conditions are thrown upon them and they long to get away, as it were, to be free, independent of all those calls upon vitality and spiritual power.

"But no, that is not the Christ way. The Master called to the crowd, and however great the crowd He forbade it not, for All-Holiness knew that by being gathered into those vibrations, that even the ones on the outskirts were gaining a measure of spiritual food. So open the gates of your hearts and minds and draw the stranger in; for only in this wise can you say, with truth, that you are endeavouring to follow the great Example; only by opening the gates of your heart and mind and home can you name yourself a Christian...

"Tonight, dear children, I want to speak to you upon a subject which is applicable to all, not only to you but to the many as well; but this night it was the will of the Father that you should come here and gain reassurance direct.

"And so, following the Master's instructions, I speak on: 'The Promises of God'.

"Little ones, why are promises given? That is the first question, and I want you to look at things in the practical way, which is the truly spiritual way. Why are promises given? My children, perhaps you think to comfort and reassure. That, indeed, is in the Father's heart, but it is not the great grand reason, it is not the mainspring of that mighty gift of a promise from the Most High.

"So, think you like this: When God gives a promise - and, in the Sacred Record, innumerable promises are chronicled for the enlightenment of others - when the Father gives a promise to His little ones, they may be certain that it is to draw them closer to Himself.

"Oh, think you: A promise holds expectation and anticipation; it is as a beautiful coveted gift which hangs for a time beyond your grasp; and the man or the woman who is a pilgrim and not merely a traveller, they go on day by day, working, hoping, praying, because the promise is there before their mental vision.

"But some exclaim: 'Yes, the promise is there, but when is it to be made my own?' That, dear children, is why this subject has been chosen for our consideration. Once more I send you back over the past, for in the Sacred Record, there, laid down, are those which you name examples. Those of old were drawn out of earthly things by what? A promise of God.

"Yet, forget not that before the promise was fulfilled, much had been put in. What did those years contain? Ah, you know well: Heartaches, disappointments, setbacks, enemies of many kinds. But those who were pledged to God went on. Had they not gone on, so, my children, I could not say to you that in the Sacred Record there is that which is example. They went on in faith, or in half faith, very often beset by doubts and misgivings, but they had God's promise, and the time came when the promise was fulfilled.

"My little ones, I am conscious that to some of you this sounds hard, that a little chill falls upon you. You ask: 'Is it going to be the same with me?' Go back over your own little past, and as I stand here I am able to look over aeons of time, on all those different stages and conditions in which you functioned for a space until the earth garment was ready for you. Go back over the days of your physical life. There is not one here - thank God - who can say: 'My life has been free from trouble'; there is not one who has not felt the sting of sorrow; there is not one who has not experienced something like despair; and we thank God that this has been our privilege, that we were sufficiently awakened to take the hard road for the sake of the promised glory in front.

"My children, when your first trouble came, your first disillusionment, your first betrayal, so then no longer a traveller were you but a pilgrim. You had taken off, as it were, that which protected your feet, and you had placed your foot - shrinking, apprehensive, in some cases terrified - but you had placed your foot in the first of the sacred footprints left by Christ; and then, although it was hidden from you, you were linked by experience - minute though it might be - but you were linked by experience to the One who suffered and suffers so much.

"So, my little ones, think in this wise over the promises of God: The great Father knows our weakness, our frailty, but the Father draws us close to Him and promises us that which is the greatest gift of all - something of His power in its spiritual sense, something of His Mind, something of His great, great Heart. The Father knows that the child is not ready yet to hold so much, but the promise has been given.

"And so, my little ones, it is as this: As a child in understanding and experience you start to learn your lessons, and as that which you represent gains a measure of release, so then, by the mighty power of God, you are willing that the promise should remain up there as a star to draw you on. You have been told - and God's word remains for aye - that prepared for you are joys out of Himself, but the disciple, before he can hold joy, before he can experience peace, must first clear the path so that the channel is open for the power to penetrate and to be made his own.

"I want each one of you, over your lives, to think like this: 'What the past has held is part of the plan; what the present holds, that is the furthering of the mighty purpose of God; what the future holds, that is the working out of the Divine will'. And until the individual has been tried and tested, until the child emerges out of childish things and cleaves to those which are of utility to others, so, though the promise of God has been made and can never be taken from you, you cannot hold, for the preparation has not been put in.

"But tonight, I would speak on joyous lines, and I say that each and every one here has struggled with themselves, has done their best to build up a measure of faith. Therefore, in your lives and in the lives of those you love, so you can see the first signs of the promise which has been made by God, the first few shoots of that which has been prepared for you, yet fought for by yourselves. And God in His great understanding, God in His pity and His mercy, He takes the past and the present - with its struggles, its heartaches and disappointments - and He shows to you the beginning of great and mighty things...

"When I speak of the promises of God, I bid each one go back in thought over the greatest promise of all: As your faith so shall it be with you (Matt. 9:29); as your work, so you shall draw to you the fruits of effort; as your love, so indeed shall be built up around you the Love that never perisheth.

"But the way of the pilgrim is in short steep stages. By the strength which you have purchased through that which you have undergone, so you take the next span with a bound, but weariness falls upon you. There are very few who can resist the temptation to rest awhile, and as they rest so sadness creeps close and misgivings tear the heart. But the pilgrim is protected by the great Creator, and, even as they rest, so prepared for them is that which shall rouse and spur them on again; and the time comes when drawing from on High healing and peace, reassurance and renewed faith, so the individual can face the future and say and mean: 'With God all things are possible'.

"And now, my children, I wish to speak more in regard to the work you have on hand. I want you, each one, to remember in the first instance that the tests of the past only have provided the present, and I want you still more to ponder on this: Faith untested, untried, to us is scarcely faith at all.

"So it is with the individual during the earthly span. Those who have health of the body sometimes exclaim at the complaints and lack of courage of those who are physically weak. To such as these I say: Take care - great though your faith may seem now, faith under attack is quite a different thing from faith unattacked; and sometimes the confident find, to their great distress, that even that little courage of the other has slipped beyond their grasp.

"This applies equally to the troubles of life. So easy it is to say: 'If hardship or poverty came my way, my faith in God would carry me through'. If that faith has been tested and has stood firm, then, my little ones, indeed you are children of God by experience, by that which you have bought and suffered to retain.

"Faith untested, untried, represents a danger which only those who know can understand. And so I speak to you all, and I ask you, this night, to commune within yourselves, to pray: 'Whatever crosses my path I will endeavour to prove my faith in God'.

"The promise is before each one that God never forgets, never ceases to protect, that He has made due provision for all your needs. But, my children, the only way to prove the promise is to take the test and to cling to the Christ whatever the test may exact. And the promise, even as you go on, is being worked out in a way you cannot comprehend, for God's ways are infinitely greater in love than even those most experienced can comprehend.

"Therefore, this night I want to put on record that the promises which have been made, passed on through the instrument I use, that these, each one, will be worked out to a perfection which you cannot grasp now. But man delays the fulfilment. The child who plays by the wayside forgets to seek, and sometimes forgets even the promise which has been made; and the time comes when those around exclaim out of the ignorance within: 'The promises of God are not fulfilled'.

"My little ones, beyond these vibrations I have called in many strangers who have not been here before. They are drawing the power from you, from me, and from the instrument that I use. But think you like this: Away back in the distant past, they had God's promise that if they would seek the Light instead of the twilight, so the Light should be showered upon them. They sought the twilight and they sought the darkness, and generations passed and still the promise was not worked out.

"But this night, by the grace of God, so they see for the first time tiny shoots from the beautiful plant of that promised in the long ago; and you have done your part. As it were, those who work for God have robbed you to give to another; those who follow the Christ have taken of your efforts, that which the past has built up all around you, and have passed it on to those who, over uncountable time, have been entombed in self. Aye, God's promise, this night, has been shown to them in something of the loveliness and the glory it represents.

"So my children, cheer and great gladness should fill your hearts and minds. Has not each one said within: 'Oh, to be used!' Have not some exclaimed: 'I long to work for this great Truth but somehow the path seems barred'. This night, so I hold up before you the promise of God. As your holy desire, as your dedication, so the time of waiting at last is swallowed up, and you can say, each one: 'I have been used to do that which surpasses my highest hopes and aspiration'...

"Little ones, perhaps this evening I have dealt with the promises of God from a different aspect from that expected by you. But those who know, those who have been permitted to witness something of the plan, we dare not linger on the outward but ever we probe toward the inward. As I said before, instructed by the Master, the meaning, the purpose of God's promises, is to draw His children upward away from the valley of self, and so I tell you that those who are strangers, seeming alien to yourself, that these this night have awakened in part, and they see before them as I speak, something of the light of God which never fades...

"They lived on earth in the time of that which you name the Children of Israel. They were the bonded ones from whom the little group were separated, the little group which was to linger in the wilderness for forty years waiting for God's promise to be fulfilled. These have fought and struggled for them, they have returned again and again into that which you name the dark planes; and linked to me through my father Abraham, so this gift has come to you, my little ones, who are indeed as the nerves of my heart. So God works.

"Think not, my children, that this promise could not have reached them before. God holds out for ever the glory of His Love, the light of His wisdom, but man's free-will cannot be interfered with, and aeons pass before those who so imprisoned themselves can find the desire to get free. Yet, God is not mocked, and His angels fight and struggle, and though many may be 'lost' yet the injunction holds good for aye: 'Seek for the lost and seek until they are found'.

"Little children of the Light, cannot you see around you the flowers of the Tree of Promise? Cannot you sense the beauty, the radiance that has been passed on to you by those who took the same hard road as you are taking now? And cannot you get the inner meaning of the strivings, the sorrows, and the disappointments?

"Ah yes, it dawns upon you: In fighting in this wise, so, through the Perfect Mind, you have put into operation a law of the Spirit which ordains that the individual, by struggling, can create within the stranger a faint desire to struggle in turn; which means that they have placed their foot on the first rung of the ladder, and once that has been done, though they seem to stumble and to fall, the protectors are all around, and, out of their anguish over their failures, so another rung is made their own...

"This is God's Truth passed on through the grace and the love of the Perfect One, given into your possession with all its mighty ramifications of meaning, all its many applications to the details and incidents of your life...

"One word more, and then I must give place to others. A point, dear children, which has not been impressed sufficiently on the physical mind by the teachers and the preachers, is that faith, to bring power, to create strength, must be put into action. The faith of the mind is good, but it is limited. The only faith which is recognised in the Spirit as faith is the doing as well as the praying, is the fighting as well as the hoping, is the taking of fragments and though the tears fall, insisting on making something whole of that which represents fragments.

"Never forget that in God's work - that mighty work of saving humanity - in the construction, the putting together, so faith must leave the region of thought and take definite form. To the teachers and the preachers I speak, for I am instructed by the Saviour to pass this on; I ask them individually: How far have you put faith to the test? I say to them: If the promises of God have been only half fulfilled, what have you done to bring about the completion of those promises which God means shall be your own?

"Oh, I entreat them to pass on to those under their charge that the way to God is the way of action. The only way to draw down to the individual that supply of Spirit-power which is the will of the Father, is to do, and not merely to think or hope or pray. I beg them to go over their equipment and to fill in the gaps in the hedge, for there the enemy creeps through; and they cannot pass on faith to others if their own faith is weak in quality. As the child senses doubt and misgiving in the mother, so the sheep are conscious of incomplete faith in the shepherds, and the influence is terrible in its damage to God's most perfect plan.

"So, my children, instruments every one, say not to yourselves: 'My faith is weak', but rather: 'My faith may be weak but in spite of that I will put it to the test', and lo, as the test comes and the storm breaks upon you, so you see the glint of the sunshine beyond. That is the way to the Father, that is the way which the Master trod Himself, taking the difficulties, the obstacles and the enmity of others, and challenging it all by faith in action. And faith in action fills the physical mind with a flood of the true light on the imperishable faith of the spirit; and what was missing no longer is absent, for by the will to do, you have built up in the physical mind that gift which had escaped you.

"So, my children, we part, but there is underlying my words a direct message for each one, aye, for the many who read my words, and, above all, I speak to the ones of old. I say to them: Out of your weakness go forward even though you fall; out of your bondage strike off the chains of another; out of your ignorance keep that one word 'Love' in your mind, and in the sweet by-and-by those garments which seem terrible even to you shall demonstrate to others the Light of the great God who has sought for you and at last has gathered you in...

"My children, thank the Father, for He has given us this night that which no tongue can tell, and its branches shall be uncountable, its influence shall grow and grow... And now I leave you for a space..."

"...I must ask your pardon. Perhaps you will allow me to give my message without revealing my name. I've come tonight because the instrument over there (Mrs White) has dragged me out of the darkness into something of the light which I can claim as my own. And this night, by the intervention of the one who guards these conditions, I have come to speak to her direct.

"My child, you cannot realise what you have done for me. I spoke through you that night when this girl was present, and I asked her and I asked you all to pray for me. Some remembered and some forgot with the physical mind, but they made up for it during the sleep state. Oh, I want you all to know that I was a man who desecrated his gifts, who went with the swim, who forgot that the day of reckoning had got to come. I am here tonight for one purpose, as a demonstration to all those who have been attracted by the love-light from these gatherings. I'm a demonstration of what is possible through the miracle of Divine Love.

"I want to put on record that when we have done the wrong thing, when we've betrayed ourselves and others, that there is a second chance, yes, a million chances; and at last, at last I managed to grasp the rope. It was like swimming about in inky water, always on and on. I dared not rest for something sucked me down. I struggled, and others pushed me and I pushed them. It was always fighting but we didn't know for what, just to keep our heads above water...

"Oh I cannot describe the horror of it all, but at last there was a rope and I caught at it, and after many slips I managed to get out and I stood on the water holding on to the rope. And that night, that night I spoke and I prayed that you would remember me. Oh God...

"But what I want to tell you is that all the darkness and the slime and the horror and the sucking in - it's only what we should call imagination. I look back now and I see that it's what I had built up by my thoughts, my evil desires, my lack of self-control, my utter disregard of the real man within.

"Yes, yes, I wallowed on earth, and, when I passed out, I wallowed in a way which seemed to me as real and as actual as myself. But when I was young I was different, when I was a boy at school, I used to think, if not holy thoughts, yet those which had rays of light in them; and that stood me in good stead and I was able to see the rope. There are millions of ropes there for us all, but according to the light that is in us so we can see or not see. My youth and wishing for better things gave me the chance; it was like the end of a sheet, white, and I grasped it and found myself amongst friends. And why I spoke to the one I am using tonight, was because I saw behind her someone, yes and as I looked into his eyes, I knew that he meant to save me...

"I'm sorry, I was back in that room again, I'd forgotten I was here. But that night I had a promise, and the promise has been kept. But what I want to say is this: You see, Mrs. White, how you were used, how this girl is used, how you all are used. And those of you who have got sight and know something about what you call the dark planes, what do you think of it? What would you have thought suppose you had been in my place?

"You see, it's a question of values. When you're in hell - the hell you've built up for yourself - think what it feels like for someone to pull you into heaven. Oh, I've got to work out the past, but I don't care about that; I'm free, and the bright ones, the pure ones, instead of turning from me they are like this. It's so wonderful... Oh, I hope it's not a dream, I pray God it's not a dream. No, it's all right. The tender eyes of the one you call Zodiac, they steady me. I can pull myself together.

"Don't you see, my dear girl, what you are doing, what a big thing it is that you are all doing? Isn't it a miracle? When people say that the age of miracles is past, they are just fools, blind fools. Miracles are wrought - I like that word 'wrought' - minute by minute, because the One who has got the power is Love - Love.

"Oh, it's too dreadful, but I'm going to do better; and, Gregory, I thank you and your wife in a way you can't understand that I'm here, for it was through you and your friends that I was drawn out of the horror of the past...

"Yes, I'll go now. Thank you, all of you, and don't forget whatever a man or a woman has done, the saving rope is there waiting until they have got the sight and the sense to grasp it. Goodnight..."

"...My children, only a few words in closing. This night the conditions have been somewhat changed in order to work out the promises of God. Think to yourselves: 'This is an indication of what shall take place in my life and the lives of others'. Suddenly, unexpectedly, so the promises given by God shall be worked out, and then the past and the sorrow it has held shall be wiped out of your memory by the peace and the joy of the present.

"So, my children, go on your way rejoicing. Remember ever to clasp the Cross, for with it you are powerful, without it you are at the mercy of every passing breeze. Cling to the Cross, and though it may seem to you that you grasp the stem of the rose and the thorns pierce deep, again the promise of God comes down, perfect in every sense, and the wounds shall be forgotten in the sweetness you have made your own.

"And so we part. Inconceivable links have been made, and these again shall be added to in time to come. We are one under Christ, and He blesses us as we gather here. His instruments in part if not in whole; and again the promise comes that as we strive so each instrument shall be found a little nearer to that perfection which we and the Father both desire.

"Now we part; yet, one thing I would underline, and this is - as you would name it - physical alone, yet it impinges on the spiritual. Little ones, when you meet in this room, whoever comes and for whatever purpose, I want you to exercise your love in this respect. When that which you name by the clock half-past-ten arrives, to disperse.

"The only reason why I bring this in tonight is because the resources on the physical side of these my children have been used and drawn upon to the uttermost. It is hard to part. You cannot guess how hard it is for us to leave you thus. Some say: 'Oh stay'; but in order that the Father's will should be worked out and the plan preserved, it is essential that when that which you name half-past-ten arrives, whichever night it may be, on whatever occasion, you should show your love for each other by being willing to part, certain, positive, that in the briefest time in that which is the sleep state you meet again, continue your loving converse, learn together, work together. You give up so that you may gain in another way.

"Yes, the times are pressing, much has to be done and the work comes first. The promise of God - that because the work comes first, so the power shall be poured down in that unlimited way, possible only by the past - the past which has been used through the grace of God.

"So, my little ones, I bless you with renewed confidence in the promises, bless you with consciousness that the Master, the Tender One - the One who understands so much more about yourself than you can understand - that the Tender One has drawn you in, is guiding you, teaching you, using you. I bless you with the consciousness of the mighty gift which has been made your own. Farewell, yet we shall meet again."

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