THE WAY TO THE KINGDOM. Joseph Benner
the Master—that it was practically one with His consciousness, and you were seeing with His eyes and with His understanding. In fact the Disciple was temporarily in the consciousness of the Master—showing how simple a matter it is for the loving and obedient Disciple to enter actually into the Master’s Consciousness.
We have given you these two proofs that it is not difficult to hear the Voice of the Master and that a Disciple hears it many times a day. Indeed that which thinks, which decides, which directs you as a Disciple in every activity of mind, speech or body, is the Master—is You, the Christ of you— the one and only Self, telling your brain mind what You want it, your instrument, to think, say or do. You who are living in this body, built it with its physical brain and five senses for Your use, and are now teaching, training and fitting its brain and mind so that it will be fully conscious of You and will acknowledge You as its Master and will lovingly and obediently compel its body likewise to wait upon and serve only You.
We know that many will find it difficult to follow closely the thought of the above, but we earnestly urge that you stay with it, meditating upon its every word, until the meaning becomes clear, and you will surely be rewarded by the consciousness of having made a great truth your very own for all time; and it will unfailingly help you later to enter the Consciousness of the Master at will.
But let no one think one may enter this Consciousness when anything of self, desiring it for the use of self, is in evidence. For as we have so definitely shown, no one can get very far on this journey to the Kingdom when self and personality are prominent; and this Consciousness comes only to one who has dedicated and is requiring self to serve the Loving One within. In fact, it is only such who ever become His Disciple.
By this time you will have realized that these words are especially written for Disciples and that they only can fully understand and appreciate the value of what is stated. This does not mean, however, that those to whom it has a strong appeal, but who feel that they are not yet worthy to be Disciples, are not receiving the benefit intended. For in very truth such are potential Disciples, and these words that make such strong appeal will quicken the soul and accomplish just the expansion of consciousness necessary to permit the Master within to make His presence more definitely felt.
“I AM THE ONLY WAY”
In the third chapter we tried to show that the I AM—the Christ Consciousness—is the only way unto the Father, the only Truth and the only Life; that until the Disciple recognizes and accepts the Christ within as the Higher Self and Divine Master he has not yet found the Way, cannot really know Truth, and consequently the perfect God Life of him cannot express and enable him to be his Real Self. Until then the brain mind—the Disciple—still thinks itself separate from You—the Master—and naturally, therefore, separate from its Source—the One Mind of God, its Father. You in your Christ nature know that You and the Father are One—even as Jesus knew; hence You are trying to teach your brain mind by the words above and by those that follow to realize that only by knowing its Oneness with You, can it come into Oneness with the Mind of the Father.
“I am the Way—the only way you can travel—either without or within; for only by using My power can you be, can you express, can you do, can you go. Hence only by finding and knowing Me as your true and only self, can you ever find the Kingdom.
“I am the Truth. There would be no knowing in you if it were not for Me in you. For am I not the Interpreter—the only Teacher of Truth—the only Knower—for you?
“I am the Life. There would be no life in your body if I were not dwelling in it—for I am the Life that lives it. I am the Life of God that flows into, centers in you, expresses you, and Is you.
“Therefore you must seek and find Me, that you may know and become I AM—for only by entering in and being Me, can you come into the Consciousness of the Father, Who is One with Me.”
Jesus in so many ways proved for our benefit that the Christ of Him knew, and He was all the time teaching His Disciples by demonstration and Truth statements, trying to convey to them the above great truths—even as we are trying to convey them to you. For this consciousness—this KNOWING—is absolutely essential, not only before you can enter the Kingdom, but before you can become a real Disciple—a real servant of the Master.
Is your soul yearning to heal, to teach, to work in the Cause of Brotherhood? Then you know now what should be your first accomplishment. When that is attained you will be able to enter at will into the Consciousness of the One Mind—will be able to connect your mind with It as easily as pressing the electric button turns on the light, or as turning on the faucet causes the water to pour out. This you will prove and demonstrate for yourself in healing, teaching and serving, with the attainment of that KNOWING—for that will make all easy.
Is it worth working for? Then meditate daily upon what has been given, faithfully practicing the exercises, for they will surely bring that KNOWING to the soul that earnestly and persistently seeks it.
I AM THE DOOR
“I am the door; by Me, if any man enters in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you. I am the door of the sheep. He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
“But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.”
—John 10:9, 7, 1-2.
He—the I AM—the Divine Self of us—thus shows us that He is the door—the only door into the Kingdom. Man must become His Disciple—must become the loving shepherd of his thoughts, feelings, motives—dedicating them all to Him, shepherding them ever toward the heavenly pasture— if he would save them, and he, himself, be saved. Once having found his Divine Self—the Christ—and having entered into His Consciousness, he can go in and out at will, and will find that everything needed is always available for use in His service. For having found Him and entered into His Consciousness he becomes One with Him—and thinks only His thoughts, speaks only His words, and does only His will.
He who climbeth up through pure will-power, uninspired by Love; or by great intellectual knowledge, unwedded to Love; or by magical rites claimed to be a short cut; the same thereby is a thief and a robber—no matter how wonderful the things he teaches, the mysteries he reveals, or the seeming miracles he performs. For now you know that the true knowledge, the mysteries of the Spirit, the power to perform real miracles, come only from and are used only by the Christ-Self, Who abides in and works only from the Kingdom.
In the days to come—in the near future—there will appear many seemingly great teachers, revealers of the mysteries, and performers of miracles. Our beloved Master, Himself, told us:
“If any man shall say unto you, Lo here is Christ, there; believe it not.
“For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”
—Matthew 24:23-24.
(Read the whole Chapter and become acquainted with it, for we shall refer to it again.)
Our work is to awaken the elect—and all those who can be saved—to call them forth from out their darkened sleep of self into the light of true understanding, and thereby into the service of the Christ within—their beloved Master; so that when these false Christs without appear, they may know them instantly for what they are—thieves and robbers. (Read all of the 10th Chapter of John.)
All of these wonderful words of truth that Jesus spoke nineteen hundred years ago are so simple and so grandly true that they are easily provable today, and are well known by every Disciple. For does He not speak them to us daily from within in His efforts to win