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LIGHT OF THE WORLD INSPIRATIONS Ascending into God Consciousness by Tony den Hartog Preached 8/11/2008 A transcription of tape 2822 Transcribed by Jackie Weber The apostle Peter gives us an outline of how to again become conscious of the one that not only rose from the dead, but was the pattern Son. The pattern Son is the example (or the original idea) that came out of the bosom of the Father and declared grace and truth. Now we know that grace and truth are not found in words or thoughts; they simply come to us by recognition, or by an awareness that brings salvation to us. We have thought that salvation means that I will go to heaven when I die. But that is not what it means. The word "salvation" itself means that we can live in this world and be preserved from the temporal powers that are there. And there are many of these so-called temporal powers. Of course the greatest lie is that death is a power, or a finality. That's why Jesus came. He didn't come here to start another religion. Christianity is not a religion. What is a Christian?--one who is living a God-governed life, not just a card-carrying member of the party, the church or the organization. 2Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God. . . . "The knowledge of God" means knowing the true God, not a God concept that religion has given us. God is none of these things you hear in what we call church today. If you give a name, theology or doctrine to it, it isn't God. Grace and peace can be multiplied to us only through the knowledge of God. There are three kinds of knowledge. 1. The knowledge of the senses (gnosis). You learn to adjust to the environment you find yourself in. The moment you are born as a human being, you begin to learn to adjust yourself to this world and its dangers by becoming aware of natural law--and obeying it. 2. The knowledge of the intellect (epignosis). This is a higher knowledge--a further development of one's mind on an intellectual level. A high IQ can learn to solve a lot of problems that human beings experience in this life. You may also become very theologically minded. Paul was trained under the great Hebrew philosopher Gamaliel, but that didn't help him. 3. The knowledge of God (eido). This is a far higher wisdom. That wisdom is not just to cure disease or do miracles. There is a spiritual dimension which is within us, but which we've never been aware of. It is the impartation we received when God spoke in the beginning and said, "Let us make man in our image and likeness" (Gen 1:26). John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son. . . . This doesn't mean what was born of Mary. What was born of Mary was actually the last Adam. Christ was never born. In theology and history we have learned of the man Jesus who was born of a woman. According to Galatians, this man was born under the law (4:4). Circumcised on the eighth day, He was a complete Jew. But there was something that was also there which was the Christ. Peter saw that. Matthew 16:13 Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? Verse 15 But whom say ye that I am? Verse 16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. "We know who you are. You are the son of Joseph and Mary. Or you are the reincarnation of some ancient prophet." They had a total physical understanding of their heritage as Jews. We are living in a day where we have to cast down every imagination that we've ever had of God, man, and the universe. We have to abandon it all. Saul of Tarsus had a profound knowledge of the theology and concept of the Hebrew God Yahweh, the law god that rewards people for their good and punishes them for their evil. The Jews had that concept right up to Jesus. Then Jesus came on the scene and brought a whole new dimension. It was called the kingdom of heaven, or the government of God. He brought back into the earth what we have lost--a conscious awareness of myself without having any sense of God looking at me and wanting to improve or perfect me. I don't have to approach God and ask Him for forgiveness, though there's nothing wrong with that in a sense. But God doesn't know anything about your sin, or the things you do and don't do. God's eyes are too holy to behold iniquity (Hab 1:13). God is innocence. He will not reward or punish--because God simply IS everything that you can see. There is not God AND the universe. The universe is the expression of the totality of God. Every being that lives on this planet is an emanation of the wisdom and the creative power of a loving God that wouldn't even hurt a fly. God loves the animals as much as He loves you. He is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). You can trust the Lord completely with your coming in and your going out. You must, of course, walk in the laws of the country, obeying them. Jesus learned obedience by the things He suffered (Heb 5:8). It wasn't easy sometimes--when the religious people wanted to persecute Him and throw Him off a cliff and were calling Him the devil. But most of the time He didn't retaliate. He did tell the Pharisees that they were whitewashed sepulchers, beautiful on the outside but full of dead men's bones on the inside (Mt 23:27). They had no insight into the mystery of the knowledge of God--because they were so alienated from the life of God. God came again and again to Israel. Abraham came out of the Ur of the Chaldees where they were worshiping the moon and the stars; they were under the zodiac. The word "Israel" consists of three words for God. "Is" is Isis, an Egyptian goddess of fertility; "ra" is Ra, the Egyptian sun god; and "el" is El, the Hebrew name for God. "Israel" was a combination of the gods that were in their midst. One of the excavated Hebrew synagogues has a huge mosaic zodiac sign on its floor. They were living by the stars; they were star gazers. They had a little bit of an idea of what God was. Abraham really thought he was worshiping the true God. God told Abraham that He was all that Abraham needed, that He was his exceeding great reward, his shield and buckler (Gen 15:1). If Abraham had accepted that, he would not have had to worry about anything any more. He would have everything that God has, would be totally sufficient in all that he set his hand to do. But instead of acknowledging God as his total sufficiency, he asked, "What will you give me, seeing I go childless and the heir of my household is Eliezer of Damascus?" (Gen 15: 2). If you read Genesis 15 very carefully, you will notice that a great darkness came over Abraham after he started sacrificing animals (v 12). As long as we believe that God requires a sacrifice of any kind, we are worshiping the wrong god. Jesus said Psalms 40:6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears [understanding] hast thou opened [that I may know You, the only true God]. He also said John 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee [in the beginning] before the world was. --before this world was, before there was a cosmos. Now this world is not a bunch of trees, houses and people. This world is an unconscious realm, a dog-eat-dog world where people are here only for self survival, doing the best they can to survive as long as they can. And they walk over everyone else trying to get there. But Jesus said Matthew 5:39 . . . resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also. If they want to crucify you, let them do it--because your life is not in the flesh or in the bones. Your life is hid with Christ in God (Col 3:3). You actually will never, ever see death (Jn 8:51)--once you know God aright. To know God aright (to know the right God), to know the true God is life eternal (Jn 17:3). If you do not know the true God, you are worshiping an idol. Jesus came to reveal the true God, the true Father, the cause of all being, the cause of all life. God is the one who faithfully digests the food in the stomach, the one who looks after the birds. You must learn to see this correctly and begin to worship in Spirit and in the recognition that God has given Himself to you so that you can become aware of Its Presence--for in His presence there is fullness of joy and at His right hand there are pleasures forevermore (Ps 16:11). 2Peter 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you. . . . He is a god of grace. "By grace are ye saved" (Eph 2:8), and it is a continuous process. Every day I am being saved by grace out of every situation. If I drift off a little, God brings me back to grace and truth. And gradually I develop. My attitude changes. Things that I used to do, I'm not doing any more--so much. We all sometimes do the wrong thing. But God is always faithful and just to get us out of the miry clay and set our feet upon a rock (Ps 40:2). He always calls us back. That's why Jesus said that He came to save that which was lost (Mt 18:11). Even if only one is lost, He will go after him to bring him back into the fold--that is the picture of the shepherd of the sheep (Mt 18:12-13). 2Peter 1:2- Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, According as his divine power hath given unto us all [not just a few] things that pertain unto life and godliness. . . . This grace and peace is multiplied unto you only through the knowledge of God. Everything that God has is yours; there is nothing missing. And it is all coming about through what I would call the consciousness of what I am. God is consciousness. Consciousness could also be called the Word. John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And that Word is the life, and the light, and the constitution of all living. And in that Word is a willed action that brings about everything that you need every day, keeps the whole universe in order and hangs the earth on nothing--you don't even have to pray for it to go right. It always happens perfectly and harmoniously, according to His divine will. And there's nothing you can do about it. Your heart will keep on beating, whether you are good or bad. Criminals are often healthier than the "good" people. When Jesus said that the work was finished, He destroyed Hebrews 2:14 . . . him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; and deliver[ed] them who through fear of death [fear of hell and eternal damnation]. He delivered them from that fear and from their false beliefs about God. And He gave them a deeper insight into the mystery of what God is. Consciousness is what I am--and what you are also. The Word is not in the Bible, but the Word of God is consciousness. God is consciousness; He is aware of everything going on at the same time. He is omnipresent and omniactive, knowing everything that you have need of, even before you ask. This goes for every living thing that there is; even the trees and rocks are looked after. Everything is cared for by this holy, holy Presence. Holy, holy, holy! The word "consciousness" is the most important word we know as human beings. It means being aware (being conscious). If you know that you are here, you are conscious. But there are different levels of consciousness. There are states of consciousness. I am aware of pain. Pain, lack, fear, anxiety--whatever feelings that you have in your emotions--this is a state of consciousness that is not under the jurisdiction of God. If you are afraid of something, God has no control over that. But the recognition of what I'm telling you tonight will deliver you from your fear. "Perfect love casts out all fear" (1Jn 4:18). What is perfect love?--to know that God has commanded the light to shine out of darkness to give you the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ (2Cor 4:6). You have all the potential--everything that you will ever need is already within you. "You could have fooled me. I have nothing but trouble. Everything I touch goes wrong." That's because you are not yet under the jurisdiction of this thing called God. That's why Jesus came. He came to spoil principalities and powers (Col 2:15) and the rulers of the darkness of this world which exist as the human mind. It's not really a mind, but the human thoughts that we have. This is why Jesus said: Luke 12:27 Consider the lilies how they grow: they toil not, they spin not: The lily doesn't worry and is not anxious about the things happening around it. It just stands there and worships. Without doing anything, it is aware. But of course it is just the awareness of a lily; it doesn't know anything about anything else. And most humans know only the little cage that they live in. They just keep doing the same thing over and over until finally they just die in their misery. But there is a time coming now when this living principle that I would call "God" is becoming present to us. 2Peter 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables. . . . The world is absolutely full of fables--false impressions or feelings that we have within ourselves that have led us astray and caused us to experience untold misery. 2Peter 1:16 . . . . when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Where were they eyewitnesses of his majesty?--on the Mount of Transfiguration--as Peter goes on to say: Verses 17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. 18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount. On the Mount of Transfiguration they saw the pattern Son. They saw the substance that every one of you should stand in. It's hard--because you can no longer judge by the appearances. You cannot look at your problem and wring your hands, saying, "What am I going to do in this situation?" You don't have to do anything in any situation. Verse 16 . . . we made known unto you the power and coming. . . . The word "coming" does not mean coming from somewhere. It means "presence." The Presence (God's Presence) is where we can be now--where there is fullness of joy (Ps 16:11). Jesus said: John 14:1 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place [realm, or Presence] for you. Jesus walked in that realm. After He grew in wisdom and stature (Lk 2:52) and got to know Himself, He transcended His own human identity as Adam and began to walk in the Father consciousness. That simply means that he now was no longer a man, though He still bore the body of a man and still had to suffer as a man. But He also bore the witness of the Father, or the witness that my Father (or this Presence) and I are one. And I am bringing this oneness to you, that you may all know that I and my Father, and you, and everyone else, are all one being. In every one of you is the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Col 2:9). Within you is the potential to be the light to the world--a city set upon a hill that cannot be hid (Mt 5:14). You are the temple of God (2Co 6:16). We no longer worship God in temples made of stone or in holy cathedrals. Why not? Jesus told His disciples that in their generation the beautiful buildings of the temple in Jerusalem would all be overthrown, with not one stone left upon another. And it was--in 70 A.D. Can't we see that all the governments we have trusted in, all the religions we have believed were true--all that is going to be overthrown by a little stone that was hewn out of the mountains without hands (Dan 2:34). It doesn't make sense, does it? It is simply the Christ consciousness that Jesus brought. He brought back the Presence. I want to be there, don't you? But it can be difficult to get the mind still enough to enter--for that is what communion is. Communion is that point that we come to which is beyond words or thoughts where the human self is completely out of the way and where the Father is praying in us--"the Spirit making intercession for the saints according to the will of God" (Rom 8:27). It is beyond the comprehension of the human mind. We think, "How can I pray?" The disciples asked Jesus to teach them how to pray (Lk 11:1). He didn't give them a little prayer book. He told them to go into their closet, come into a state of silence, and begin to hear from the Father (Mt 6:6). It is not you that is doing the talking; it is the Father speaking into you. And it is the Spirit within you that begins to make intercession. If you have loved ones who are sick or having a lot of trouble, this is the best way to pray. Just be still, listen to the Father, and give thanks. Think of it! You can actually lift the whole of creation into a place where there will be reconciliation and healing. No one knows what is really happening. But eventually you will see the result of your faithfulness. Jesus would go around healing, destroying all the works of the enemy (the devil); then He would go within Himself and sit on a mountain all night to be still and meditate. He was in communion with the Father. That's what we have to learn. It is still an exercise; and sometimes I myself find it hard to do. There's so much noise and so much stuff around us. You first start with contemplation. That means to join the temple. You focus on a particular thing--perhaps a lily. You think of how everything in it works perfectly--even though it does not do anything. Then you think of how your Father knows everything you have need of even before you ask. And something happens; you are lifted a little higher until you come into a state of meditation where your mind is totally quiet. You can go up even higher into a place of communion. Here there is no longer any you at all. You are gone, and there is only God. That's communion. And that is why Jesus could say, "If you have seen Me, you have seen the Father" (Jn 14:9). There is only God. If you learn to see this, then your developed consciousness becomes a healing agent to the people round about you. And the peace of God that passes all understanding (Phil 4:7) will begin to flood through you. People will notice that. But you must be very careful what you say. They won't understand where you have been. The whole aim is to be lifted into a place where we are actually IN GOD--not praying to God, but just listening. Then you will hear the music that you've never heard before. You have come into a place where death or disease cannot enter. There are no problems and there is no lack. The economy of God functions perfectly and harmoniously. Jesus demonstrated this when the disciples were confronted with the tax collectors. He told Peter that those in (and of) this world must pay tax while the children of the living God are free, not being taxed with burdens of the economy. Yet, to keep the tax collectors happy, we will take gold from the mouth of a fish (Mt 17:24-27) and "render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Mk 12:17). That's how it worked for them, and for us too. When there seems to be no way, God will provide a way out of the situation you are facing. You don't say, "My God, what am I going to do?" You must rather be still and let it unfold. And in the meantime, you just keep on doing what you are doing. In the days of Elijah, there was a drought and a famine. The woman had only a little oil and meal. At his request, she used the last of it to bake him a cake. As she did this, more and more supply came. If you are experiencing lack, give whatever you have to those in need. As you cast your bread upon the water, it will come back to you with butter and jam on it (Eccl 11:1). When you give of your substance to those in need, you will find increase in your own life--in whatever area. Remain faithful. You have been given the substance that you need; it is called "faith." Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen [that you cannot perceive with your senses]. Faith is a conviction that moves one into action, that which makes one dare to act without certainty, without signs, without guarantees. He then operates under grace or, actually, in the resurrection of life. Life is spontaneous activity that increases all the time. Yet the substance which we call "God" does not increase. God is always the same. When there was only Adam and Eve, there was the same amount of God that there is now in all the earth. Even though Christ is in every one of you, God is the same substance. The whole of God is in every one of us. When you have the feeling that everything is going wrong, that very feeling CAUSES everything to go wrong. We must know that when we put our trust and confidence in the Father, everything will work for good for them who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Rom 8:28). You are called according to His purpose to experience LIFE. The Satan, which is your own disposition (not some angel floating around out there), is a thief and has stolen from you. The arguments which you have in your own mind, the self-condemnation or the condemnation of others that you feel--these are the Satan. What you sow is what you are going to reap (Gal 6:7). So we must put a watch over our mouth (Ps 141:3) that we will not sin against ourselves (Ps 119:11). If you are in lack, if you are troubled by what you are experiencing in life, get a little recorder and record the words of your mouth for a week. Listen to it, and you will know why you are experiencing what you are experiencing. It is by your own words that you will be justified, and by your own words you are also condemned (Mt 12:37). So you must believe the things that are not as though they already are (Rom 4:17). God said to Jeremiah, "What do you see?" Jeremiah said that he saw an almond tree, the emblem of awareness and alertness. God then said to Jeremiah, "What you see, I will perform" (Jer 1:11-12). So make sure that you are seeing correctly with a single eye. See it as it is and "I" will perform it. But if you see it wrongly, that will also be performed--for that is the law. If you sow potatoes, you don't get cucumbers. If you sow lack, you will get more lack. But the one who has the sense and the awareness that God is his total sufficiency will get a 30-fold, 60-fold and even 100-fold harvest out of his own consciousness. For it is your own consciousness that either puts you down or sees you over. That is the mystery. Let us see it the proper way and don't condemn ourselves that we are not making it. You will be making it if you change your attitude and begin to sow life. The realm of the kingdom is the mind of the new creation man who has transcended the physical and mental realms of existence. I have now come back to the Father realm as a son or daughter; I've returned to my true identity, which is Christ, the image of God. I have awakened from my Adamic sleep, or the darkness that Adam experienced when he became afraid. Fear is F-alse E-vidence A-ppearing as R-eal. It is false evidence that you create about yourself and about others; then you are in a deep sleep. Now we must awaken out of the sleep that Christ might give us light (Eph 5:14). I call this the realm of NOW. "Now is the day of salvation; now is the accepted time" (2Cor 6:2)--never tomorrow. God is not going to heal you tomorrow. Now you have to believe that you have received, and you will have it (Mk 11:24). The new creation realm is the realm where the flowers grow, where true life is expressed out from the invisible now realm. The now realm is the Presence of God. Now is where life flows spontaneously for all eternity without death in it. Proverbs 12:28 In the way of righteousness is life; and in the pathway thereof there is no death [at all]. Isaiah 32:17 And the work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness and assurance for ever. The consciousness of righteousness is peace; it is assurance; and it is quietness forever. You will never have to worry about anything any more. In total harmony you will experience the song of the Lamb, the song of those not born of a woman, but were born (or generated) of God. They will sing the song of the Lamb. You can read that in Revelation 14. This is why the Scripture says, "Come out from among them" (2Cor 6:17) Come out from this world where there is so much strife, financial crises and wars. If you abide in the Presence of God, none of these evils that are in this world will come nigh your dwelling place (Ps 91:10). Actually, the people of this world will come to you for healing, quietness and assurance. They sense your quietness and want it for themselves. Give them a little parable, a little sample; but don't give them what they can't handle. Gradually we are growing up into a higher realm--the realm of IS where only God is our life. In the realm of now there are no opposites, good or evil; for now is the consciousness expressed as you and I. That is the house where Jesus now lives. You can enter by grace. He prepared this realm for you to live in. "For where I am, ye may be there also" (John 14:3). That is what Jesus said, and that is what I now say. For I have become flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone (Eph 5:30); "it is no longer I that live, but Christ is my life. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who died and gave Himself for me" (Gal 2:20). These words that you are hearing now have become flesh in me. I can never forget, for they have performed their work in me day by day. It's all by grace, not by works, not by being good or praying long prayers or going on a holy mission to Mecca or Rome. Your only mission is to stay where you are, go within yourself, be still and know that I am God (Ps 46:10). There's not God and I. There's only God AS me, AS you, AS all. When we become that aware, we begin to trust that all things begin to work together for the good to those who perceive it, who understand it; for now we are lifted above the world's knowledge, above religious knowledge. Now we are living in the realm of IS--where God is, where I am.