Neville Goddard Lecture, The Spirit Of Truth

The Spirit Of Truth

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THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH

When I speak of Jesus or any other character of scripture, I am speaking of a personification of a principle, not of a person as you are or I am. The Bible records vision, and makes no reference to persons or events which occurred on earth. Unfortunately, man has mistakenly taken personifications spoken of there for persons – the vehicle that conveyed the instruction for the instruction, and the gross first sense for the ultimate sense intended. It is difficult to discuss a principle without personifying it and giving it words to speak. This the evangelists have done; but to see Jesus as an historical character, is to see truth tempered to the weakness of the human soul, unable to bear the strong light of revelation. In the very first scene of “Hamlet”, Shakespeare personifies the morning as “Morn, in russet mantle clad, walks o’er the dew of yon high eastward hill.” Here Shakespeare has given the morning feet, and clothed in russet it walks over the dew on eastern hill. I love it! Shakespeare was a master of the English tongue. Like Blake, he had an inflamed imagination and personified everything. Blake tells us: “Cities, mountains, valleys, rivers, all are human. When you enter into their bosoms you enter into heaven and earth, just as you enter your own 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.” The evangelists did not write history, but theology, as they told their own experiences of God in dramatic form. They told of Jesus standing before Pilate, who questioned him, saying: “So you are a king?” to which Jesus replied, “You say that I am. For this I was born. For this I came into the world to bear witness to the truth. All who are of the truth hear my words.” Then he goes on to explain that those who accept this truth will find it to be in conflict with the traditions of men, whose concepts of God are not based upon experience, but what they believe God to be. Men without vision teach the theology of the Word. Because of their authority in the church, people accept the statements prominent theologians make regarding the great mystery of Christ, as fact. But, having been cast in the central role of the Christian mystery, and having played the entire drama from beginning to end, I tell you their teaching is far removed from the facts, and has nothing to do with the Christian mystery.

I recall, maybe fifteen years ago, in New York City, a friend invited me to the Bohemian Club at Harvard University to meet one of the world’s great metaphysicians. Questioning my education, and learning from me that I teach scripture from revelation which comes from within, he turned his back on me in the most insolent manner. Unless I had some tag given me by a recognized body of men to support my claim, he would have nothing to do with me. Well, the gentleman is gone from this world, and so is my friend who introduced me to him. Death will, however, cause them to modify or radically change the ideas they championed while here. Metaphysicians have tried to compose a workable philosophy of life which has nothing to do with scripture – which is one hundred per cent vision. And when I speak of vision, I am personifying the ultimate in truth; for this I was born. In his gospel, John tells us: “You are from below and I am from above. You are of this world, I am not of this world.” John is not saying he is a supernatural being who came from an entirely different world, but that his experiences did not take place here. While walking the earth as a man, the truth unfolds from within. Personified as the Lord Jesus Christ, truth has unfolded within me – not as another, but as myself. And when I tell of my experiences, some will believe while others disbelieve. The majority will reject my story because they know the body of flesh I wear, my background, weaknesses, and limitations; and I, a man, am not what they are looking for. Men looking for the spirit of truth think in terms of a Messiah who will come and save them – not a personification of a principle. But the spirit of truth is a pattern, buried in all, which erupts in the fullness of time as the one in whom it erupts. This pattern is dramatized as events in the life of a man called Jesus, but the events are supernatural. A scriptural episode is not a record of a historical event, but a parabolic revelation of truth which will be experienced in another region of the mind. We are told: “Thy word is truth” and “I am the truth”- therefore, I am the word! You will literally fulfill the statement in the 148th Psalm: “By a storm wind he fulfills his word.” When the wind possesses you, you are under its control, as it clothes itself with you and intensifies.

When it happened to me, my entire being vibrated; and when I stood and looked at my skull from which I had emerged, I felt it must be a hurricane because of its intensity. Those present had the same feeling of a storm wind. You are destined to fulfill God’s word. Recorded 1000 years B.C., His word will be fulfilled by a storm wind, so wait until you are clothed with power which comes as a storm wind. Now, Luke and Acts are one book, which was divided by the early fathers of the church ( why, I do not know). In the Book of Acts, the story is told that while the disciples were together, a mighty wind filled the room and their foreheads became luminous. Then they began to speak in multiple tongues, so that each one heard in his own tongue wherein he was born. Many have attempted to change these words, yet they are literally true. I know, for I speak from experience. The Spirit of truth is personified, as you are a person just as I am. I ask you to set your hope fully upon the grace which is coming to you at the revelation of this principle within you, called Jesus Christ. Make no mental image of Jesus, for he is a pattern housed in every man, which erupts in the fullness of time. And when it does, you will know that you are God – a knowledge you will never forget. And from that day on, what you accomplish in this world will mean nothing. Since the pattern fulfilled itself in me, I have no more interest in the world of men. Every night I fall asleep dwelling upon the four mighty acts of God, never what the day brought forth here in the world of Caesar. When I hear good news from friends, I rejoice, display empathy and happiness for them; but as far as I am concerned my back is turned to all of the accomplishments of this world, and I remain facing the vision.

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