Peter

A man who ranks before me, because he was before me, and he will take away the sin of the world. And they named this one, and he recognized him externally and said, "Behold the Lamb of God." And the two disciples who heard him followed him. And then Jesus turned and saw the two and asked them, "What do you seek?" And they said to him, "Where are you staying?" Now that is tonight's subject. "Where are you staying?" Man is the ark of God. And like the ark, all things exist in the human imagination, which is the reality of man. Man's true being is his own wonderful human imagination, and all things exist in the human imagination.

But we are told the arc is built on three levels. The lower, the second, and the third deck. The physical, the psychological, and the spiritual. Where you live physically, that's easy to discover. However, whether you tell it to me or not, I could easily find out where you live. Where you live psychologically is more difficult. But I'll tell you where you live psychologically. That state of consciousness to which you most often return constitutes your psychological dwelling place. You may live in a palace physically and dwell in a test pool psychologically. For that state of consciousness, you may have a fortune, and night after night you are afraid of losing it. That's where you live, in the state of fear.

You may have nothing and yet live night after night in the state of optimism; that's where you live psychologically. But I'll tell you, you and I live spiritually in the same place. We live as one man; contracting our infinite senses, we behold multitude. Or expanding, we behold one. As one man, all the universal family and that one man we call Jesus the Christ, and he and us, and we in him live in perfect harmony in Eden, the land of light. You may not know it, but you never left it. You never left the land of life. That perfect harmony. And yet here in this fragmented world we seem to be in conflict with each other.

Here we are, all of us, fighting one against the other, and yet we are one man. And that one man we call, in in Scripture, Jesus the Christ. I tell you this because I knew it. I am not speculating. I am not theorizing. I am telling you what I know from experience. You and I are more one than the fingers of your body. We are truly one being. There is only one being in the world. Call it Jesus the Christ, call it God, call it any name that suits you. That oneness, that's what we are. When the poet said, "Hold fast with both hands to that royal love, which alone, as we know certainly, restores fragmentation into true being."

You hold to that with all your might, for in the end, you'll discover that you and I are one. Without loss of identity, we are one. Now I'll show you how I know it. The story as told in the gospel is the everlastingly true story, but not as the world sees it. We have mistaken these eternal states of consciousness for persons, and they are only personifications. And we have taken the personification for the person. The spiritual states of the soul are all eternal, eternal. Distinguish between the man and his present state. We are the pilgrim passing through states from the beginning to the end. The climax of the states is called, in Scripture, Jesus Christ.

Learn to distinguish between the man, the pilgrim, moving through states states, and the state he is in at that present moment. For he is passing through these states in the form of a dream. He is dreaming this world. You and I must dream the dream of light. And it seems so solidly real and so completely independent of our perception of it, yet the whole is a dream. And we are passing through these states, the states affirm them. But we are the pilgrim passing through the states. Now, when I closed a month ago on the 11th day of December, I told a story of a little girl. A few of you were present, not all of you.

So for the benefit of you who were not present, let me state it again. She was then only eight years old. She recently had a birthday, and undoubtedly she is now nine, but she was eight when she wrote me this little letter. And she said in her letter to me, and if I can quote it correctly, this is her letter. She said, Dear Neville, guess what? You were in my dreams again. You took me on an airplane to France. And when we got off the airplane at the airport, all the people yell, Neville, oh, Neville is here to see the king again. And then when we got to the town, they yelled the same thing.

They said the same thing. And I was frightened. And so I held your hand as tight as I could. And then you took me to a huge hall. And here at the end of the hall was a throne. And the back of that throne reached to the ceiling. And the hall was covered with red velvet. And seated on the throne was the king. And he wore a crown and a red cape. And do you know what? He was you. So I looked back at you to see the resemblance. And do you know what? You began to fade. And when you faded, the king said to me, come, come closer. So I went to the the king and I held his hand, as tight as I held yours.

But of course, he was you. And do you know what? He faded too. But then I got home safely. And that's how the dream went. And then she signed her name Melo. Melo McCasling. Her mother was not here that night, but her grandmother was. So when she returned home, she called her daughter and said, Neville told Melo's dream tonight. And the mother was so overcome, the mother could not resist the impulse to go to the bedroom and wake Melo, which she did. She went to the bedroom and shook Melo, and Melo woke out of this deep sleep, bewildered. And she said, never told your dream tonight, the dream about the king. And the little girl simply looked at the wall as though it's now a monologue and she said he has appeared to me three times first as a man then as the king and now here as Jesus Christ the Lord then she turns and faces her mother and said he is the son Son of God.

The mother turned cold, tucked her back into bed, kissed her, and said, good night, and go to sleep. Then she said to me in her letter, I have retired to the living room and tremble for over an hour. That was the confirmation I have been waiting for Therefore, since the experience of Christ awoke within me, it's the experience that every being in this world is going to have. There is only God in the world. And everyone in the world will experience the story of Jesus Christ and know that he is the Lord Jesus Christ. and there is no other. You're told in scripture only one person knew he was the Christ until he departed this world and that one was called Peter.

And now if I said Peter you would think of a man with a beard, an old man. For we We have made hundreds of millions of pictures of Peter, and they're all over the walls of those who believe in the historicity of Scripture. And it is not secular history. But we have made them. There they are on the walls, and people pray to them. And they cross themselves before these pictures. And hope for luck. You're told in Christ there is no bond, no free. There is no Greek, no Jew. There is no male or female. We're all one person in Christ. Peter is a state of consciousness. Jesus Christ is a state of consciousness. You are the reality.

Moving through all these states, the climax of all the states is Jesus Christ. We have personified it and then made a picture of it and worshipped the personification, not knowing that you yourself are the reality moving through all these states. A little girl, eight years old, entered the state. That state of consciousness personified in Scripture as Peter, a little girl, eight years old, enters it. the act was instantaneous and she could not resist the confession recorded in scripture concerning Peter's confession for the question is asked who do men say that the son of man is and they answered some say John the Baptist and others say Elijah And others say, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.

And then he said, but who do you say that I am? And Peter answered, you are the Christ, the son of the living God. And he said to Peter, blessed are you, son of John. For you did not learn this from mortal man. It was revealed to you by my heavenly Father. It's a revelation from the depths of the soul of man, the Father. And here the little child, only eight years old, and she makes the confession. He's appeared to me three times. first as a man, then as the king, and now here as Jesus Christ the Lord. He is the Son of God. Now, you may be embarrassed to hear me make that claim from this platform and think what arrogance, what blasphemy.

I wouldn't care what to think. But I'll tell you this much, you too are going to have the same experience. There is nothing but God in this world. In spite of all the horror that surrounds us, there is nothing but God. He conceived the play, and he and he alone plays all the parts. His name forever and forever is I Am. Before you can say, I am unwell, you first said I am before you said unwell I am happy before you said happy you said I am that's his name forever and forever it's the root your essential being and you can't get away from it but you are dreaming you are dreaming the part that you are now playing the day will come you will awaken and when you awaken you will pass through all the experiences described in Scripture as the experiences of Jesus Christ.

And you will know from the experiences who you are. But your testimony will not be acceptable. For your witness is internal, and it cannot be accepted. Scripture is external, so you have the written word.

In Scripture, you know that your own experiences parallel everything said in Scripture. But how can you convince anyone of this world? For we are told that no one can bring witness of himself alone. It is not acceptable. The charge cannot be sustained if only one person appears as witness. If two or more witnesses agree in testimony, testimony, it is conclusive. You say, I have had these experiences, but it's an internal, and therefore it is not accepted by the world, because it is invisible. You have the external witness, and you're waiting now for the witness, and the only one who actually saw is recorded in Scripture as Peter. How do I know the state? His words become her words, a little child.

Now, the mother does not take down these lectures on tape. The little child does not hear these lectures. She knows nothing of them. The child goes to her little school. The mother is busy. She has three children. So it's not that she's teaching the child. She woke her out of a sound sleep, and the act is instantaneous when God reveals himself. And the little child could make the confession as told us in the 16th chapter, the 16th birth of Matthew. You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Now, flesh and blood, mortal man has not taught you this. You didn't learn it from man. It was revealed to you by my heavenly father, and blessed are you, Simon, son of John.

Now, on this rock, I will build my assembly. It's not on Peter, not on the little girl. It's on the confession. Now, following that confession, he who has been waiting for it, when he departs in the not distant future and takes off this mortal garment for the last time, then he will appear once more and first to Peter, as told us in the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians. To Peter first, and then to the twelve. Didn't say the twelve would be all at once, but to the twelve. And then to more than 500 at once. The 500, you're told, were not all in this world. Some had departed this world. Yet he appeared to more than 500, some on this side of the veil, the majority, and some on that side of the veil.

But when he takes off this garment, for the last time, he is the Father. And the Father is not only above all, but he is through all and in all, therefore omnipresent and imminent. And therefore, throughout the entire world, whether it be visible here, it be called the live world, or the invisible world, it's all the same world. That world is terrestrial, just as this is. He will appear at once to his choice. 500 more. Because being omnipresent, he simply unveils himself, and the act is instantaneous. And they will know he is the one he claimed himself to be while here. And then he will appear to James. James was his brother who denied that he was the father of the child.

And then to the apostles. And then, last of all, as to one untimely born, he appears to Paul. Paul is a state of consciousness. These are all states of consciousness. The last one is to that state called Paul. For in that state, you are incorporated into the body of the risen Lord. He will ask you to name the greatest thing in the world. When you're in that state, and you stand before the risen Lord, there's only one being, and you will answer in the words of Paul, faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love. At that moment, the risen Lord will embrace you, and your bodies will fuse, and you'll become one with the Spirit of God the Father.

One body, one Lord, one God and Father of all. He who is united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. There is a union that takes place, and not any power in the world can separate you from that moment on. You are then sent into the world to tell the eternal story. And you will tell it, as I am telling it. And you will tell it from experience. You will not be speculating. You will not be theorizing, trying to set up some workable philosophy of life, as all the little isms of the world, based upon theory, based upon what they think it ought to be in this world, not as it really is in eternity.

So you will now be sent and you may think I am not educated. I am not qualified. I have no intellectual, social, financial or any other background. You don't need any background. You will speak with the authority of the one who sent you for you are the very one who sent you. He who sees me sees him who sent me. But you have never seen me. As you are told, the work that he granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear witness that the Father has sent me. and the father who sent me himself bears witness to me but his words his voice you have never heard his form you've never seen for had you seen his form you would have seen me Had you heard his voice, you would have heard me.

You hear a mortal voice. You see a mortal frame, but you do not see me. If you saw me, you would see him. That's what he's saying. And the only one who saw was the state of consciousness called Peter. After he departs this world, those that I've just mentioned in these states they will see the truth of what I'm talking about and you will know that not one person is greater than the other we are all one there is only God in the world let no one think for one moment that the wisdom of this world will stay any chance whatsoever in the world to come The wisest of men is like foolishness in the eyes of God.

The strength of man or the power of the world would mean nothing. We speak of a nuclear age that is like a little firecracker. We speak of this enormous power that man has discovered, the nuclear age. Can you compare that to this kind of a power? That you can stop time and everything stands still? And then you change the motivation of the frozen world. And then release the world that you froze. And it executes your change command. man. Do you know of any power comparable to that? He is the entire world. And time stands still. And you change the motivation. And then release the frozen world. And once more it becomes reanimated. All from within you.

You don't do it on the outside. You freeze it and you actually feel it stand still within you. So I started off by telling you all things exist in the human imagination. And one day you'll stand still and the whole thing will stand still. And then having changed the motivation you simply release it and it will move under compulsion believing it It wants to do it. Even the most horrible thing in the world, if that's what you did. But you will not have this power until you are first, I would say, embraced and incorporated into the body of love. Because with this power, not motivated by love, what horrible things you could do in this world.

You will never possess this power until you're embraced and incorporated into the body of love. You will stand before infinite love and its man. It is the risen Lord. And when you answer in the words of Paul, faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love. Love embraces you. And love sends you. You're still weak because you're still wearing the cross. The only cross he ever wore is the human body. The only cross that Christ ever wore. No wooden cross. He was never crucified on any wooden cross. He's crucified at the birth of a child. That is when Christ is crucified. And he wears it until the very end when he comes into the state called the birth of Christ.

And you're born from your own skull. That's where you're born. Not from the womb of a woman. That's crucifixion. You are born from the skull, your own skull. And you come out of it. And then memory returns. The whole thing is the returning of memory. You never left your immortal home, save in your dream. But you had to dream the dream of life. As your forefathers did, so must you. And in the end, we are all one. One universal family. Without loss of identity, we awaken from it all and we are God the Father. So where do you live? Well, where you live psychologically, may I tell you, is entirely up to you. I repeat, you live in that state of consciousness to which you most often return.

You could tonight determine to be, and you name it, you want to be wealthy, all right, it means nothing. It's a shadow anyway. way. But if that's what you want, you want to be secure, what would the feeling be like if you were? You assume that you are, and that assumption may be denied at the moment of the assumption, denied by your senses, denied by reason. But if you dare to persist in that assumption, it will harden into fact, and the world will bear witness of that persistent assumption on your part. So, that's where you live psychologically. Tonight you go home, and you may go to a place where 12 people live. And no two of the 12 live in the same psychological place.

They could sleep in the same bed. And physically, they're under the same roof. But psychologically, they're in different dwelling places. So, you can determine where you want to dwell psychologically. You want to be secure? What's wrong with that? Not a thing wrong with it. You want to be known in this world? Nothing wrong with it. I only tell you that it will all vanish and leave not a trace behind it. But you're moving towards the fulfillment of Scripture. Has nothing to do with secular history. But while you're in the world of Caesar, pick out what you want in this world and dwell in it psychologically. So what would the feeling be like were I the man that I would like to be?

Am I that vain that I want to be known? Well, all right, don't ask anyone. Do I really want to be known in this world? Well then, assume that I am. Do I want to be secure, as the world calls security? Well then, assume that I am. And then tonight, though I sleep in a house of 50 or more, I differ. Therefore, as far as they're concerned, they have different selections as to where they are sleeping psychologically. I pick out the place where I want to sleep and I sleep in it, and night after night I return to that state and sleep in it, and then the whole vast world reshuffles itself. And then that state where I dwell psychologically externalizes itself in my world, and here I'm confronted with the fulfillment of my assumption.

Though at the moment that I assumed it, it had no foundation in fact. So, where do I live psychologically? I alone can answer that. Maybe some psychiatrist, psychologist might in some way detect it by probing and probing. But you know, or you should know, where you live. That state to which you most often return, that's the place where you're living psychologically. And physically, what does it matter? This night, many a miser who has a fortune is living in a horrible state. He's afraid of the loss of his fortune. There are others who, they also have in a peculiar way, a sense of loss. You read in the paper here this past week, Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.