There are repetitions in this work but each time a truth or passage of scripture is repeated new information is unfolded. The nine digits and the zero are repeated in every mathematical problem of arithmetic, yet each problem is different.
If some of the phrases of wisdom and promise are repeated again know that a new and advanced bit of information is being opened to reveal more clearly the glorious pathway of Light -- The Path He trod.
In Isaiah, chapter forty, verses twenty-eight to thirty-one, is given this divine information: "Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching his understanding . . . He giveth power to the faint; and to them that hath no might he increaseth strength; . . . Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint."
This divine information and promise that "they shall mount up with wings as eagles" is not an idle promise nor are these sacred words vain and meaningless.
Christ repeated and verified this promise in his conversation with Nicodemus in the record of St. John, chapter three, verses one to eight and verse twelve, as follows: "There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
"The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.
"Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
"Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
"Jesus answered. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of the water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God.
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the spirit is spirit.
"Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must be born again.
"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and whether it goeth: SO IS EVERY ONE WHO IS BORN OF THE SPIRIT."
Verse twelve: "If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?"
These books have been written to make that earthly pathway plain and discernible to all who wish to travel it. It is a pathway of utter glory but those who cannot follow even its earthly markers and instructions cannot possibly comprehend the heavenly information. For this reason it cannot be revealed, not that God is not eager to share the most sublime truths of heaven with every child of earth, but they are not prepared to receive them. Only those who begin to apply the sacred, divine teachings Christ left behind will be prepared to enter into and to comprehend the glories of the heavenly realm.
The path is so straight and so narrow it is not wide enough for one to turn around in and go back. Those who enter the path and then cease to travel it will find it is a greased slide going downward toward the Nether Regions, for God will not be mocked. And those who view the splendor of that glorious pathway then return, "like the swine to his wallow, or the dog to his vomit," will the more speedily be destroyed, for they will destroy themselves. However few, who even catch a glimpse of the unutterable glory of His kingdom seldom fail to reach it, It is only those without vision who perish.
The difficulty comes in the effort it takes to find the path, not in the traveling of it.
It is true that as one travels this Inner Way of purification he is required to leave the old, familiar, worldly teachings and orthodoxed conformities behind. But this should cause no regrets for they are musty with age and shabby with use. Even the things which afford a man the greatest pleasures, uncontrolled hilarity, his hidden lusts and weaknesses and the broad open way of secular enjoyments become repulsive and abhorrent as one steps out into the divine pathway of prayer.
Prayer is the path -- the prayer of praise and love and singing gratitude. And it becomes increasingly more beautiful as one travels it. Then finally one learns, to his astonishment, that this upward path of glory is not a horizontal road but a perpendicular one. This pathway is the progressive, exalting one of his own ascension.
One is not aware that the path is almost vertical, as he travels it. He only realizes this fact as he nears the completion of his own journey of purification. As he is given the power to take his spiritualized body of flesh and bones, "to come and go without anyone being able to tell where he came from or where he goes" will he realize fully the stupendous powers and breathtaking glory of that divine path. He will realize that the journey along that upward road was the greatest, most rewarding experience possible to have had. In looking back he will know that every living moment of the struggle was a divine achievement of unutterable worth. He will know fully that he has traveled the path Christ indicated and left the map for.
And the life of such a one becomes sanctified and all powers are henceforth his to use in the great assignments into which he will be directed in a divine service of ever increasing, joyous wonder.
In the achievement of this journey of purification one will become "a pillar in the temple of God and will go no more out," for he will have overcome all the ugly, sordid, morbid, evil, dreary things of mortal living.
He will comprehend fully his place and know that a pillar is one of the glorified columns of strength that supports the whole divine structure of that celestial edifice of eternal truth and divine light. He becomes a very part of that empyreal glory as he lends his strength to uphold the entire works of supreme, celestial truth.
In order to travel this straight and narrow path into the divine realms of Light one must learn to "hold his eyes single to that glory, even to the glory of God." It is in vision that one first glimpses the wonders of such beauty as his soul awakes to behold "those things that can become" -- not "the things that might have been." In adoration and love one's eyes automatically become single to that celestial glory of God.
To attain to this vision of divine beauty one must go into the center of his own soul, as "he becomes still." Within that center of himself, the very stillness of his own soul, one will learn to abide within the vibrating, exulting praise of divine love and thankfulness and spiritual rejoicing. In this holy, high vibration, which is the pure Christ Light, no darkness can abide. In the vibration, as one learns to hold himself within its divine glow, one is naturally filled with Light. He becomes clothed in this Light and will begin to comprehend all things. To such a one God will unveil His face, according to His divine promise given unto the children of men. And His promises cannot fail. "If ye do as I say then am I bound."
The promises and the information concerning this Path and the glories to which it leads has been there for centuries just waiting for man to begin to LIVE the laws He gave that they might KNOW the truth and the power of God's fulfilment.
"And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen (and heard) of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to the Father which is in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. And when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking."
Within the secret closet of man's self is the place of prayer, the Holy of Holies, the most Secret Place of the Most High, the place of the feast of the Passover, or holy sacrament. While abiding within this holy place of high devotion, one is truly abiding in God. He is literally clothed in the Light of Christ and death cannot touch him. As one learns to abide continually in this Secret Place of the Most High, he will have the power to overcome death -- "and it will pass him by as the Children of Israel and not slay him."
And as one releases his prayers from deep within himself, not just word or lip prayers, but prayers from the center of his soul, he is traveling that straight and narrow way. From the very depths of his soul one must send forth his prayers with real intent. This is the place of holy communion. It is where one partakes of the bread and waters of life. It is the place of divine contact with God. And as one learns to enter this quiet, inner closet of his own soul, he is "asking in spirit. And he that asketh in spirit asketh according to the will of God and he shall receive whatsoever he asketh." So is the promise of God. Or as just quoted: "The Father which is in secret shall reward thee openly." Or bring to pass the outward fulfilling of thy soul's request.
The pathway of glory, that divine, straight and narrow way is the pathway of prayer. And this prayer is the secret, sacred petition of each man's own soul as he lifts his eyes to behold the great glory of God and begins to hunger and thirst for those rays of glory to penetrate his mortal being, that he might be clothed in their Light. This divine prayer is not a string of vain repetitions or monotonous monologues. This prayer is the releasing of the divine Christ Light, through a supreme devotion of everlasting joy as one's eyes become single to the glory of God and his mortal will begins to take on the holiness of God's divine Will. This prayer is the prayer of praise and love and gratitude, released from the soul in that triumphant, glorious New Song of Celestial Creation.
This inner prayer of sacramental feasting, as one partakes of the bread and waters of life, is established in that praising adoration of eternal, victorious triumph released through the heartstrings of the soul. As one uses these powers of praise and love and thanksgiving, the Celestial Cord of eternal glory, his own life is brought into divine harmony with the heavenly glories of eternal progress and stupendous, celestial unfoldment as death is overcome.
As one enters that closet of himself to pray to God, he must close the door to all outside, worldly distractions. And then he must hold it closed. As one practices this he will eventually find that "he goes no more out!"
This is the path in which one lives his life instead of permitting his life to live him. This is the pathway of power in which one is no longer pushed and shoved about by every outside condition, vibration, circumstance or inclination. Neither does one need to stand up battling the eternal, nagging conflicts of a dreary, mortal existence of drudgery or violence.
The path of prayer is the path of power. And in traveling this divine, inner way of praise and love and gratitude and devotion one is lifted into ever and ever higher realms of glorious light until "he is filled with light and comprehends all things!"
And in your praying, thank God for every blessing you have or do receive. Thank Him for every blessing your neighbors or friends have, or receive, as though those blessings were bestowed personally upon you. Rejoice in the blessings of every living soul, for by envy death came into the world. Pray and give thanks for every blessing of your own and of others. Rejoice and give thanks and jealousy will be forever overcome in you.
"The nearer man approaches perfection the clearer are his views and the greater his enjoyments until he overcomes the evils of his life, and loses every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at the point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with Him."
Christ's living, eternal invitation, offered to the world, still stands empty and unanswered: "Come unto me ALL ye who labor." This means literally every child of earth. It is for every mortal soul, for all are laboring to serve mammon in one way or another.
The preachers and ministers may believe they are laboring for God, but without realizing it they are laboring, perhaps even harder than others, for the approval of men and for their financial hire.
Many individuals are only laboring mentally as they scheme to increase their incomes, their prestige or their popularity. Or they may be laboring for a mere, physical existence of bleakness and hardship.
Yet every individual on the earth who is laboring in any manner or fashion (and all are), are invited to come to Christ. And those who go to Him will be released from the bondage of mammon. Then the rich man will learn that "He is poor and wretched and miserable and blind and naked." The poor man will comprehend his tragic state of affairs fully and realize he has remained in this unhappy condition because of his gross ignorance and his blind unbelief.
Neither the rich man nor the poor man has understood the full desolating condition of his existence and so each has remained in his state of unprogressiveness for a full lifetime, unless he has accepted Christ's holy, loving invitation.
Those who can open their eyes to behold "the glory of God" will comprehend the tragedy of this lone and dreary world, the futility of its emptiness, the drabness of its rewards, the empty bleakness of its recompenses, the impermanence of its compensations. To such "the great hungering and thirsting for a better way, for truth, for righteousness and for release" will become an increasing hunger that will demand appeasement. And for all such there is awaiting "That kingdom of righteousness, where all else will be added” if they will only "ask, seek and knock; for all who ask shall receive and those who seek shall find, and unto those who knock it will be opened."
Now, to complete the promise of Christ's eternal, divine invitation: "Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest." All who are heavy laden with debts, poverty, sickness, suffering, sorrow or with the burden of their lusts and greeds and hates and prides, or whatever it is that is holding back their progress, He is inviting them to go to Him. Any who become weary with the burdens of life are invited to go to Him. And the eternal promise is awaiting all, "And I will give you rest." He will give you rest from your pain, from your afflictions, from your burdens and from every earthly, mortal tribulation and vicissitude. And to clarify this quotation and enlarge upon it this divine revelation is added: "Which rest is the fulness of my glory!" (D. & C. 84:24).
In the completion of this promise is contained the full invitation of everlasting, dynamic wonder: "Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest -- which rest is the fulness of my glory!" This promise is so dynamically breathtaking none have ever lifted their eyes to behold its unspeakable, wondrous beauty. Nor have any lived it that they might know if it is true or not.
His divine promises are all so stupendously glorious none have lifted their vision high enough to behold their true meaning. None have seen their full glory because none have tried to live the laws pertaining to the promises. Man has continued to dwell in the darkness of unbelief. Men have clung to their doubts and their fears and consequently to their evils and misfortunes even while professing His Holy Name. And quite unknowingly they have helped to hold back the great Light as they have blocked its way with the darkness of themselves.
To become a pillar in the temple of God, so that one goes no more out, one must himself become a pillar of Light by traveling that holy, highway of Light. As one becomes a pillar in the temple of God, by overcoming mortality and all its clutching, frustrating claims, one stands forth filled with Light and with power as he lends his strength to support the whole, sublime structure of everlasting, glorious, celestial power and truth. These "pillars" become the upholding supporters of the whole, divine edifice of God. They become one with the Light and the glory.
Lift your eyes to behold His glory! "Hold your eyes single to that glory" as you close the door of mortality and ascend along that "straight and narrow path" into the realms of eternal Light. Leave the dark, muddy road of earth and go to Him, all ye who labor and are heavy laden and receive the fulness of His glory!
This pathway of prayer is not a sanctimonious praying, "to be seen or heard of men." This is the secret, inner way, in which one prays from his heart until that prayer is established in the soul and imprinted upon the very atoms "waiting to become." Then it will be reflected out to glorify and to fulfill and to complete all things, including one's own life. This divine method of prayer becomes a very part of life, in time, as it is practiced in love and joy and thanksgiving. One's life is sanctified as he becomes the prayer, the praise, the glory and eventually the Light. As one establishes that prayer within himself he naturally becomes the prayer of vibrating glory and of eternal Light and is glorified in that Light as he comprehends all things.
Within this power of prayer is released all the burdens of life, all the ills, all the dismays and the evils and one fulfills literally Christ's holy invitation: "Come unto me all you who labor, and you who are heavy laden, and I will give you rest -- which rest is the fulness of my glory!" And one goes to him by traveling that holy pathway of his own ascension, that "straight and narrow way of overcoming."
It is utterly impossible to keep praying, until every thought and every breath becomes a prayer and not get there. This road of prayer is the pathway of glory -- the Path He trod -- the secret, inner way of holiness and fulfilment -- the Way of God!
This is the reason no man can possibly travel the road for another. It is each individual's own pathway and each must travel his own secret, inner path of purification and fulfilment. This is the Path Christ trod, "The Straight and Narrow Way, which so few find."
There are so many, wonderful facts revealed as one travels this pathway of prayer it is impossible to share them all. I can only reveal a few of the breathtaking marvels of this stupendous road of eternal glory.
The journey is long or short according to the individual's desiring. Some can mosey along it for a lifetime. Others will travel it with speed and concentrated power.
When the prayer has reached into the innermost being of a man and becomes an established part of his make-up, when every cell and fiber is brought under the supreme vibration of that praise and love and gratitude, the journey is completed. It is the journey of man as he takes his body with him into the higher realms through an inner purifying glory of singing ecstasy.
The journey only lasts as long as it is necessary to bring every atom and cell into the rhythm of that high, spiritual vibration of Light as it rejoices in the Celestial Song of Creation, releasing it from his own heart and soul, and finally from his entire being.
The time will come, according to prophecy, when those in an advanced state of spiritual understanding "Will pray day and night for deliverance" from every mortal tie and inclination and claim. For such the journey will be speedy and swift indeed.
The pathway of glory is the pathway of discipline. Only under the regime of self-discipline can one become a true disciple. And only as one chooses to discipline himself can he travel this straight and narrow road, which leads to life eternal -- not by dying, but by overcoming death.
Along this pathway of prayer, this sacred, inner way of dynamic, yielding, melting devotion, in which every mortal cell is converted, transmuted and translated into the divine, spiritual excellence, one learns to abide in the great, eternal NOW. One outgrows the past and all the physical, earthly claims. The great, eternal NOW blends into the forever, endless, perfect, powerful and sublime. In the NOW is the fulfilment -- and TIME is no longer. One enters eternity and receives the gift of "Life Eternal," which Christ came to give.
Along this divine pathway of progress and perfection there is no room to carry the great burdens of past errors, mistakes and heartbreaks. One learns to unload these heavy burdens of the flesh at the feet of Christ as he fulfills literally that heavenly invitation: "Come unto me all ye who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest -- which rest is the fulness of my glory!" Take my yoke upon you; for my yoke of love is easy and my burden is Light" -- even the great "Christ Light" of eternal glory.
As one travels this path of prayer he soon becomes clothed in the white raiment so that the shame of his mortal weaknesses, bigotries and failures and all the sins of human defilement will never appear. Neither will they come in remembrance before the Lord, and though they were as scarlet they shall become white as snow.
The divine, white raiment is spun out of the pure, divine Christ Light as it is woven upon the loom of prayer. Only in, and by prayer, can one be clothed in His Holy Light, for the Light is the armor of Christ, the seal of protection, the light of glory. No evil can penetrate this robe of white Light. No darkness can destroy it. It is the fulness of His glory. This Light not only clothes the outside in a protecting armor of power and vibrating ecstasy, it clothes the inside as well for every individual cell receives "the life more abundant," which is Christ's eternal gift to those who fulfill the law.
All are invited to travel the pathway of His glory, this divine, inner way of ascension as "man evolves from the man kingdom into the God Kingdom!"
The road is not difficult! It is beautiful beyond description! Every glorious step of it! It is the road of Light, of love, and of singing ecstasy and eternal happiness in which the dismal ugliness of mortality, and the shameful victory of death is fully "overcome!"
Live His laws and you will Know! Fulfill the divine admonition of Paul, the apostle, "Prove all things and hold fast to that which is good!"
*(That men ought always to pray: Luke 18 and the command to pray without ceasing: I Thes. 5:17).