The Holy Spirit Within

2001-5-5 18:35:00

Sterling responded to my writings that Susan posted on his list and he did so in as positive way as he could, considering that he strongly disagrees with me on some points. He is to be commended for this.

He basically agreed with the parable -- "The Pharaoh Principle. Seeing the truth of this principle is indeed a good start toward unity, for control by authority is probably the greatest hurdle of this age for seekers to overcome.

An interesting point though is that many who believe themselves to be free from control are often the victims of greatest control.

A prime example is the teenager rebelling against the authority of his parents by following the current tends. What he is doing is substituting the authority of his parents for other authorities with even more power over him -- his peer group, his idols, and various ads geared toward youth. While he sees himself as a free spirit, he is, in reality, controlled more than ever, by thoughts that are not his own.

I've also known a lot of people who have rebelled against orthodox religion and who are quite proud of themselves for "being free," thinking that they are now in charge of their destiny. What often happens is that even though they substitute their prophet, priest or king for a book, a guru or a movement of some kind that controls them just as much as the old religion did.

Each of us must indeed continually examine ourselves for the various "Pharaohs" who seek our allegiance and make them subservient to the Holy Spirit within us.

When I commented on the statement "we are Christ too" I didn't realize that Susan coined it, but even though it goes against the grain of many there is a lot of truth to it.

Note from the scriptures that all who are baptized are supposed to take upon them the name of Christ:

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I know that if ye shall follow the Son, with full purpose of heart, acting no hypocrisy and no deception before God, but with real intent, repenting of your sins, witnessing unto the Father THAT YE ARE WILLING TO TAKE UPON YOU THE NAME OF CHRIST, by baptism--yea, by following your Lord and your Savior down into the water, according to his word, behold, then shall ye receive the Holy Ghost; yea, then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost; and then can ye speak with the tongue of angels, and shout praises unto the Holy One of Israel." (2 Nephi 31:13)

"And now there were seven churches in the land of Zarahemla. And it came to pass that whosoever were desirous to TAKE UPON THEM THE NAME OF CHRIST, OR OF GOD, they did join the churches of God." (Mosiah 25:23)

Then in the [LDS] sacrament prayer we read: "That they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son."

Then in stronger language than any new ager uses, the scriptures plainly tell us that the faithful will actually be called by this name:

"And under this head ye are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I WOULD THAT YE SHOULD TAKE UPON YOU THE NAME OF CHRIST, all you that have entered into the covenant with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives.

"And it shall come to pass that whosoever doeth this shall be found at the right hand of God, for HE SHALL KNOW THE NAME BY WHICH HE IS CALLED; FOR HE SHALL BE CALLED BY THE NAME OF CHRIST.

"And now it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall not take upon him the name of Christ must be called by some other name; therefore, he findeth himself on the left hand of God."

(Mosiah 5:8-10)

Then we have another interesting scripture:

"Behold, Jesus Christ is the name which is given of the Father, and there is none other name given whereby man can be saved;

"Wherefore, ALL MEN MUST TAKE UPON THEM THE NAME WHICH IS GIVEN OF THE FATHER, FOR IN THAT NAME SHALL THEY BE CALLED AT THE LAST DAY;

"Wherefore, if they know not the name by which they are called, they cannot have place in the kingdom of my Father."

[Doctrine & Covenants (D&C) 18:23-25]

Note that this is more than just being called a follower of Christ, for the scripture clearly tells us that we must take upon ourselves the name and be called by that name.

And how do we do this?

The name Jesus Christ literally means "anointed to deliver." He who this takes upon himself the name becomes "a savior on Mount Zion" and seeks to deliver, save, or lift up his fellow men and women to a higher station just as Jesus came and lifted us up to a higher station and consciousness.

Who therefore is found on the right hand of God?

Those who are anointed to deliver and with love stretched out in the hand of service to lift their fellowmen -- out of their prisons, out of their hunger, away from their thirst -- and clothe them so they will no longer be naked of the Spirit and truths of God.

The principle behind the name of Christ is the only thing that can redeem any of us. Without help from others stretching forth their hands in service through the principle of Christ which is the name of Christ we must remain forever in the fallen state.

Sterling brings up a point of contention concerning the Holy Ghost:

"Notice his wording here regarding the Holy Ghost. I will agree that the Holy Ghost functions from within, but JJ's wording is reflective of basic New Age philosophy in which the Holy Ghost not only FUNCTIONS from within, but actually EMANATES from within (as part of the universal oneness), rather than emanating from the Lord -- that already-exalted being that we generally call God. In other words, we ARE god (it is within us, emanating from within us), rather than the scriptural take that has God (the external, glorified Being) dwelling in us, refining us, perfecting us to eventually come into a fullness of his glory, as a child grows into mature adulthood."

JJ:

I did a word search of my writings and could not find the word "emanate" in relationship with the Holy Spirit.

I suppose that if the Holy Spirit is within us there would be some sort of emanation or radiation, but he seems to imply that I see myself as some originator of the Spirit of God and such is not the case.

Now I do have a problem with the typical Mormon belief in the Holy Ghost [Spirit] which goes something like this:

"The Holy Ghost is an individualized spirit in the form of a man and this one man can somehow stretch himself (or uses some other magical means) so he can reside in millions, perhaps billions of people. This one individual whispers diverse things in the ears of millions simultaneously."

Exactly how this happens is a question that few faithful Mormons will dare ask for fear of giving the appearance of having little faith.

Some few on the fringe who dare think about the subject have the theory that there is one Holy Ghost who is the leader with a large crew under him who work with the hearts of the faithful.

This explanation at least has some appeal to the mind in that it offers an explanation as to how the Holy Spirit (many spiritual entities) can be in many places.

That said let me give you my view so you can have the correct teaching from which to comment.

There is hierarchy in all things whether it be the atomic kingdom, human or spiritual.

There is indeed hierarchy among all spirits that are holy who are working with the sons of men on this earth. These spirits are "just men made perfect" who are operating with no physical body, have taken upon themselves the name of Christ, and are committed to aid in the deliverance of mankind from their lower nature.

These spirits do not emanate, or originate, from within but work as individual entities from without who speak to our souls within.

BUT...

The whole principle of the Holy Spirit goes one step further. If the Holy Spirit consists of all holy spirits working in oneness through God, then there is an important spirit that we do not want to leave out of the equation, and that is our own spirits within ourselves. And why would this spirit be holy?

Answer: Because it came from God, and of course, that which comes from God is holy.

And where is this spirit from God that gives us life?

Within us.

This helps us understand the words of Jesus that "the kingdom of God is within you."

This phrase which is backed up by the Dead Sea Scrolls and apocryphal gospels makes sense when we understand that we have a holy spirit from God within us.

Now where most metaphysical doctrine differs from Mormonism and other religions is in the belief that the spirit which is in us cannot be corrupted and is one with God and perfect from our point of view.

When Jesus said "I and my Father are one," He merely reached a realization of the relationship of His own holy spirit in relationship to God and this principle applies to us all when we attain to "the stature of the fullness of Christ." We are Gods because this Spirit within us is one with God.

So what does become corrupted in people who we view as evil?

Answer: An individual's own Holy Spirit is beyond corruption, but there are three lower "vehicles" in particular which can become corrupted. These are the physical body, the emotional body (also called the astral) and the mental body. When our feelings and thoughts become corrupt then the mind, the feelings and the body likewise become corrupt and a barrier is thrown between ourselves and the Holy Spirit within us who is always in communion with God. When this barrier is complete then we are disconnected from "the higher angels of our nature" and it appears that one has a corrupt spirit. A more accurate statement would be that the carnal mind is in charge and is cut off from the highest part of himself and from God.

So what is the doorway that makes it possible for us to manifest the spirit from God within us?

This is the soul.

Soul is the interplay between spirit and matter and when an individual seeks the spiritual path and achieves "soul contact" he then opens the door to the spiritual world and is able to commune with the Holy Spirit within him as well as receive impressions from other individual holy spirits from without.

Question: Have you felt a spiritual presence that is indeed one with yourself and God that is far above the carnal mind?

Have you also felt spiritual entities guiding you through life?

Tell us of your experiences.