You Can Forgive Sin

You can forgive sin. That to most people will be blasphemy, as you will hear later on, quoting from scripture. It is so common among all of us to ascribe our ills and our troubles to outward things, like the present conditions of the world, to our environment, or simply to things. And these things may be things that are absent from our world, or they may be things that we have in our world but still things, while all along the real cause of our ills is sin. So we’re told he was called Jesus because he came to save men from their sins. His only concern was the saving of man from sin. So what is sin? Sin means missing the mark, missing the road, and missing the goal in life. If you haven’t a mark, you can’t sin. If you have a goal in this world and you do not realize it and you missed it, then you’ve sinned. So his purpose is to show man how not to sin in this world. No condemnation. Tell me your aim and tell me your goal, and I’ll tell you God’s Word; that’s what he said. He’s come only to show a man how not to miss his objective in this world.141 ¶1

Now we turn to the Book of Mark, the 2nd chapter, or we can read the same thing with a little different twist to it in the 9th chapter of Matthew—it’s the story of a paralytic. As we are told, he was preaching the word, that is, the story of salvation, and they brought in a paralytic carried by four men. Seeing their faith, he said to the paralytic, “My son, your sins are forgiven.” Scribes sitting around thought in their hearts, “What is he saying? It is blasphemous! Who could forgive sin but God alone?” And discerning in their hearts what they contemplated, he said, “Which is easier, to say the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’?” And so he said to him, “Take up your bed and walk and go home,” and he rose and went on his way home. Then we are told those who saw him were afraid, and they glorified God who would give such authority to men, for it was a man who did it. We are that man. It is to us that this authority to forgive sin has been given. But the world thought it was simply the exclusive power of some being outside of man. You read it in the 2nd chapter of Mark and the 9th of Matthew.141 ¶2

Now, what is this ability to forgive sin? We know that sin means “missing the mark.” The one that forgave it called himself “the truth.” He said, “I am the truth. If you know my word and you abide in my word, then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” For the whole story begins, he was teaching the truth, teaching the word. Now he calls himself “the truth.” And “if you know the truth and you abide in my word, the truth will set you free.”141 ¶3

If I said to you tonight, “What would you like to be in this world?” and then you name it, “I would like to be…” and you name no matter what it is in this world, then I would turn to you and I’d say, “You are that. But you are it, right now you are it.” You would say, “I am it? Well, I can’t believe it. I am not that,” then you are denying the truth. “I am the truth.” I am everything in this world. Everything that man could ever imagine, I am. All right, so you imagine what you would like to be. If you cannot remain faithful, remaining loyal to that vision of yourself, then you are sinning.141 ¶4

And not to sin is to have a goal. You have a goal, what would it be like were it true? Were it true that I am and then I name it, what would it be like? Then I would see the world as I would see it were it true. If I remain faithful to that vision of the world just as though it were true, no power in the world could stop me from realizing it but no power. I’d realize it. How? Don’t ask me. But I would realize it. If it took the entire world of three billion to play different parts to aid me in the fulfillment of my vision, they would play it without knowing that they played it. Makes no difference if they knew it or didn’t know it; they would all have to contribute to the fulfillment of my vision if I remain loyal to that vision.141 ¶5

So what would it be like were it true? And I ask, “What true?”—that I were the man that now I would like to be. If I said to you right now, “Is there a man in this room who’s rich?” and no one said, “I am rich,” well then, that’s not your goal. Or if it is your goal, you are missing it if you didn’t reply. But “Is there a man in this room”—by man I mean generic man—“who is known, who is contributing to the world’s good?” and no one replies “I am he,” well then, either it is not your goal or else if it is your goal, you’re missing it. So the name is “I am he” as told us in the 24th verse, the 8th chapter of the Book of John, “Except you believe that I am he you die in your sins.” You remain just where you are, missing the mark, unless you believe that I am he. Not a man talking to me; this is taking place in the depth of the soul of man. If you don’t believe now that I am the one that I would be, well then, you’re going to miss your goal. You are sinning.141 ¶6

And so it doesn’t come from without at all; it isn’t caused by anything on the outside at all. My ills, my troubles, and my problems are not caused by conditions and by environment and by all the other things at all; it’s caused only by sin, and sin is missing the mark. There’s only one person, one being in the world, that could hit that mark, and it’s God. God forgives sin, as we’re told in the 43rd chapter of the Book of Isaiah, “I am the Lord… I am thy Savior, and there is no other Savior” . “I, I am he, and there is no other Savior” . No one was formed before me, and no one will be formed after me. I am the Savior.” So you’ll be saved from what you are. There’s only one being in the world that can save you and that being is I AM.141 ¶7

So you say to yourself, “What would it be like were it true that I am now the man that I would like to be?” Assume that you are it. Dare to believe that you are it. Walk in that belief just as though it were true and no power in the world can stop it, but no power. There is no one greater than God. Say “I am”; that’s God. There’s no one greater than God. You stand in the presence of a being; and because he has a little tag and he may be a premier of a certain country or maybe a queen of a certain land or maybe the president of a certain land, and you think that because of that title, he’s greater than you are? You’re missing the mark. You can’t stand in the presence of anyone who is greater than you are if you know who you are. You aren’t going to laud it over them, no, but no one is smaller either, all God.141 ¶8

Then you are told, “Go and tell them all.” So here we are told in the Book of Ezekiel, I think it is the 3rd chapter, the 18th verse, and 33rd chapter, the 8th verse. But you can read it; they aren’t long chapters. “Go and tell them. If you do not tell them and they sin, and you do not tell them, they will die in their sins, but their blood will be upon your head. If you tell them and they do not repent, they will die in their sins, but their blood will not be upon your head. So tell them.” And so Jesus is made to confess that he told them that their blood may not be upon his head. In the Book of Acts, Paul makes the confession, “I have declared it. I did not stray from the declaration of this truth; therefore I am innocent of the blood of all of them.” He told them that he may not carry with him that secret to the grave and did not share it with the world. And so I told them all that this is a principle that cannot fail.141 ¶9

Now let us come back to the paralytic. You came here tonight under your own steam, as it were. If I told you that we are the paralytic of scripture, maybe you’ll be surprised. They were brought into the place by four men. Know who the four men are? The ancients always called by the four senses, spoke of the four rivers that ran out of Eden. They didn’t think of five senses, they always spoke of four senses. They joined taste and touch together because they depended upon contact. To taste something, it must be contacted; and to touch something, it must be contacted. But they separated sight, sound, and scent. These three were separate in the great symbolism of scripture. But taste and touch were joined, so they called them the four senses. We came here tonight borne by these four men, the four senses.141 ¶10

I know my bank balance, all right, in two weeks, Uncle Sam wants part of what I’ve earned. He didn’t ask me to consider anything at all; he told me what I owed him. I don’t even know Uncle Sam, but they tell me he exists somewhere, where I don’t know, but he exists. So I’m supposed to pay on the fifteenth of next month x-number of dollars. Regardless of how I live, I must save something to pay him that much. Perfectly all right; it’s the land of Caesar. So I am fully aware of that; I can see my bank balance. I know what’s in my world. I can take all of my senses and bring them to play upon what I must meet tomorrow. I was brought here tonight on the shoulders of these four men. Now he tells me, “Your sins are forgiven you. Rise and walk.” How can I do it, knowing that I must pay on the fifteenth? Knowing what I must do between now and then, how must I do it? “Your sins are forgiven.” But who can forgive but God? Only God can forgive, and God is what?—I AM. All right, I will now see the world as I would see it were it now May 1, with all things behind me, completely paid and paid in full.141 ¶11

Suppose I were unemployed. I would walk here tonight on the backs of these four men. I know I’m unemployed, and I have rent to pay, food to buy, all these things, and he tells me that my sins are forgiven and to rise, take up my bed, and walk? How would I do it? I was brought in here on the backs of four men. I’m called upon to rise, ignore these four men, walk on my own steam now. Don’t walk based upon what before allowed you to think and to hear, and to smell and to taste, and to touch. Walk out of here not aided by these four at all. Walk on my own. Well, how would I walk on my own? I would ignore the evidence of the senses. They brought me in here. I completely ignore what they tell me that I really have in this world, and I see what I would like to see. I assume that things are as I would like them to be. I would influence every being in this world to play their part to fulfill what I am assuming that I am in this world. So I came in as a paralytic and walk out on my own steam.141 ¶12

So that’s the story. Every being in the world is called upon to rise and to walk out, for he forgives your sin. He comes into the world only to free man of sin. I don’t care what you’ve ever done in this world. Don’t look back. Don’t look upon the things as they are. Look upon things, as they ought to be. The man that you would like to be, assume that you are it; the woman that you would like to be, assume that you are it. And see that, and see that only. Then you will know what it is to forgive sin. Well, who forgives sin? God forgives sin. Who forgave you? Well, I assumed. Who assumed? I assumed. Well, that’s God. I AM is his name. So I am assuming that I am the man that I would like to be. Well, that’s God. There’s nothing impossible to God. So I am assuming that I am—that’s God. Then I begin to name it, and I walk in that state—and that’s God. There’s nothing but God. So forget what you have done, what you seemingly are doing, and dream of the man or the woman that you would like to be and dare to assume that you are it.141 ¶13

Now we are told by the great Blake, “The Spirit of Jesus is the continual forgiveness of sin,” every moment of time forgiveness of sin. Tonight, when we go into the Silence, we can sit here at this moment for a minute and forgive each other. Suppose now I could actually hear everyone rise and tell the most fantastic story in the world about themselves or about a friend of theirs, a relative of theirs, someone. Suppose I really wanted to be told from this platform, from this audience, that I would sit in the Silence and listen to that and only that, just as though it were true—the most fantastic story in the world that you could tell me, individually, all of us. And if I walked out of here tonight convinced that I have heard it and you heard it and remain loyal to what I have imagined that I have heard, I must hear it. No power can stop it if I remain loyal to it. If anyone should say it hasn’t worked, I am not asking any questions why it hasn’t worked, as far as I am concerned, it has worked; I have seen it. But I know that the vision that I will hold now concerning you, individually, will have its own appointed hour. I know it is ripening and it’s going to flower. If to you it seems slow, I ask you to wait, for this thing is sure and it will not be late. If I actually assume that things are as I would like them to be for every being here and I remain loyal, I either know that this story is true or it’s false. I know it’s true. It can’t fail. But there’s no power in the world to make it fail. It can’t fail!141 ¶14

But if… for instance, another word for sin in the Bible is trespass. In our wonderful Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” It’s a minor infraction of this principle. Trespass means the “individual lapse, just a temporary lapse.” So that tonight, you and I begin to discuss a personality. What am I doing discussing a personality? He’s only in a state. So I [...] think he’s unemployed; and you and I get into a discussion and discuss a man who is unemployed and we see him as unemployed and begin to say, well, the conditions are bad or maybe he wasn’t good enough for the job, and suddenly I am trespassing. I am not applying this principle. I am seeing him as the state. He’s not the state. But I may fall into that little trap. We all do it every day and all day long. We read the paper, and a man is called a great man because he happens to be President or he may be some other person in this world and you read some columnist about him and then you’re carried away with what the columnist tells us, the arguments presented to us, and suddenly begin to think as he would have you think and you’re trespassing. “Lord, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” It’s a slight departure from our goal. We were moved aside by what we heard, by what we read, by what we saw in this world—and that’s trespassing.141 ¶15

And so I discuss someone who can’t find a job, and suddenly I think, “Well, what is his salary? Is he qualified? What did he earn in the past?” I’m asking all these things, and they are irrelevant. Not to this principle do they have any value whatsoever. What does he want? He wants a job? Well, how much do you want? And he names a figure. I don’t care what he names. Now, were it true—suppose it were true that he had it. Well then, let me assume that it’s true. I begin to see the world as I would see it for him were it true and feel the joy that should be mine were he now gainfully employed earning that sort of money. Now this thing is either true or it’s false. I tell you it’s true. And so every day, you and I can say the Lord’s Prayer, but really saying it asks for forgiveness of our trespasses. Then he shows mercy upon us to forgive us for having trespassed this day, for having gotten off the beam as it were.141 ¶16

So here is the story. He’s brought in on the backs of four men. He himself had no faith. He’s saying not to the man; he’s telling it to those who brought him in, the senses. In spite of what they knew, there was still a certain faith and brought him into the presence of God, knowing that God could forgive sin. He said, “Because of your faith”—he speaks now to those who brought him; he didn’t speak to the man at first, and then he addresses the paralytic—“My son, your sins are forgiven you.” Here is a vicarious faith. So I can have the faith for you if you don’t have it for yourself. You can have it for me if I don’t have it for myself. And quite often, vicarious faith is easier than the direct faith. That, if I can turn to you, if you really believe that an imaginal act is fact, and if you could actually believe that I am now what I would like to be and although at the moment I doubt and I am unfaithful, you can save me. It’s such a wonderful story. In spite of myself, you can pull me out of it. For the man had no faith. Those who brought him on their backs showed faith in bringing him into the presence of God. God commended them for their faith and then turned to the paralytic and said, “My son, your sins are forgiven.” And those who heard said, “What sort of blasphemy! Who can forgive sin but God alone?” Well, God did forgive sin, for he was the I AM. He said, “Unless you believe that I am he, you die in your sins.”141 ¶17

So I ask you tonight, turn to your neighbor, turn to all, and maybe you could hear what the other one wants and rejoice in his good fortune, and he or she hear what you want and let them rejoice in your good fortune. And actually feel that it’s true. See the world as you would see it were they as they would like to be, and may I tell you, they’ll become it. So this is the story of our ability to forgive sin. So they were afraid when they saw what happened, and they glorified God who had given such authority to men. For we are told, if you retain it, it’s retained and if you release it, it’s released. So I see a man, and I judge him by my senses. I say, all right, so he’s no good, and so I retain his restrictions, his paralytic state. But I could release him by seeing him standing on his own feet and moving in this world in a glorious manner.141 ¶18

And so the material that formerly I would discard as no good, having heard the story, I don’t discard it anymore. I take it and use it. I take the same man that formerly I would discard as hopeless in this wonderful world of ours and see him as gainfully employed, loved, and loving. And believe that the thing that I am seeing for him is true. To the degree that I am faithful to that concept that I hold of him, it becomes true in his world. So that’s our power. We have power to forgive sin, and sin only means missing the mark. If you don’t have a mark in this world, you can’t sin. It doesn’t have anything to do with some moral issue, no, do you have a goal? Do you have some objective in this world? If you have an objective, then this is how you realize it: suppose it were true.141 ¶19

Now he tells us in the 8th of Romans, “Let us walk now not by flesh but by Spirit.” The flesh would be my senses. My senses deny that I am what I would like to be—let us not walk by flesh, and let us walk by Spirit. Well, Spirit is, well, to see it now in my Imagination just as though it were true. Well, tonight I may go home to find an empty cupboard, perfectly all right. To find that there’s a notice under my door that tomorrow or else. That’s perfectly all right. If I believe what I’ve imagined, it wouldn’t make any difference what threat was given me. It would make no difference whatsoever if I really believe in it. Now believe it, we’re told. If you believe it, it will crystallize into fact. It doesn’t really matter what threat at the moment, what my senses tell me, I will ignore the four who brought me into this place. I will not now anymore be borne by these four; I will simply walk by Spirit and not by flesh.141 ¶20

So I ask you to try it. If you try it, you can’t fail. And realizing your objectives, may I also ask you to share it with me that I may tell others of your wonderful stories. A man sat in this audience, he and his wife, a little while ago, well, it is now about three months, and he wrote me a sweet, wonderful letter, which I got this morning. He expected a big bonus. He had worked hard; found a good job, with all the promises; and then came Christmas and all the bonuses. One who was never on the job, one who was always off, but by his estimate, one of the girlfriends of the boss, and so she got the great big bonus. She was never on the job. He who had done all the work got practically nothing. He and I agreed just mentally that he would have the most wonderful job, with more money, with everything. This is now going on April. It seemed a long while, but today he is on that job with more than he had, more than he expected—more responsibility, more opportunity, and more of everything. And I received that letter this morning. I remained faithful to that letter that I knew would come from him when he would write it. Maybe he could have written it two weeks ago, maybe he could have; I do not know. I see his mother-in-law in the audience tonight. Maybe she can tell me after the meeting. But I got the letter today, and I can’t tell you the thrill that was in our household this morning when we read the letter from this man, who told us of this wonderful thing that had happened to him. Within the area that he wants to work, just what he wants to work, just what he wanted, everything. And all that I did, I heard him tell me what he would tell me were it true, and I never wavered. So I haven’t heard and didn’t hear, but this morning’s mail brought it.141 ¶21

So I only ask you to be as faithful to any imaginal state in this world; I don’t care what it is. Take anyone but anyone, because in everyone God resides. Everyone has to say, “I am”—that’s God. So you may say, “Well, I am an Einstein.” Wonderful! But you still say, “I am” before you say Einstein, and I AM transcends all the Einstein’s of the world, for I AM is God. When I say, “I am Neville,” Neville is a tiny thing resting upon the foundation that is God. If I say, “I am rich,” I don’t care what you call wealth, that’s a little tiny thing on the foundation of God. And God is infinite; God is everything. Therefore, whatever you say, before you say it, you say, “I am”—that’s his name; that’s God’s name. “Go and tell them I AM has sent you. When they ask, just say I AM. That’s my name” . And so before you make any claim, you say, “I am,” and that’s God’s name.141 ¶22

And so no matter who the being is, suppose now he would say to you, “I am… and [...],” and you listen. At the moment the four men who brought him into your presence brought him in paralyzed. He isn’t that at all because they deny it. For the four senses are bringing him, and his four senses deny that he’s that, that he’s [...] that he would like to be. So he’s called upon the name of God. And when you call upon the name of God, you don’t say, “In the name of God so and so.” You ask with the name of God, and to ask with the name of God, and God’s name is I AM, you say, “I am,” and you name it. I’m known, I’m wealthy, I’m secure, and I am healthy. Whatever you claim, ask with the name of God, and then believe it. If you ask with the name of God and believe it, mentally you will see the world as you’ve never seen it before you made that claim. And then seeing it as you would see it were it true, remain faithful to that claim, and it must crystallize in your world. This is this principle.141 ¶23

And it goes for every being in the world, regardless of nationality and regardless of the pigment of the skin. It’s all God because everyone in the world has to say, “I am,” before he says, “I am this.” He said, “Who are you?” “Well, I am a man.” All right, but you said, “I am” before you said man. You said, “I am an American.” But you said, “I am,” before you said American. You said, “I am an Indian. I am a Japanese. I’m a Chinese.” But before you said anything you said, “I am.” That’s God.141 ¶24

Now what kind of a being would you like to be? Well, I would like to be, and you name it. I would like to be loving. I would like to be loved. I would like to be sexy. I would like to respect. I would like—and you name all these things. All right, but it’s I AM doing it. Well, then, take this fabulous world of yours, and take all your dreams and put it on the only foundation in the world. There is no other foundation than God, and God is I AM.141 ¶25

So here, the paralytic came here tonight in all of us, and we were borne on the backs of four men; and the four men are our four senses: sight, sound, scent, taste, and touch. Taste and touch are joined into one because they depend upon contact. So these are the four streams, the four rivers of life that come out of the garden of Eden, and they bear us all over this world. But every moment of time we are in the presence of I AM. Let them put me down, and let me forgive me my sins. And so I forgive myself by daring to assume that I am what I would like to be. Assuming that I am what I would like to be, I walk in that assumption and that assumption slowly crystallizes into fact. So you try it. Try it and you’ll be able to share with me as this gentleman shared with me today his wonderful story of his good fortune. No power in the world can stop it, but none.141 ¶26

But here, when we speak of sin, don’t let anyone scare you about sin. He comes to forgive the sinner. His only interest is in the sinner. And so the so-called moral violations and all these violations, forget them! I’m not asking you to go through violations, but forget them. Everything will be wiped out, but everything. But it is my duty having heard the story and having proved it to tell you. For I am told through the confession of Paul, through the confession of Ezekiel, through the confession of Jesus, that if I don’t tell you what I know of God’s law, well then, your sin is upon my head. But if I tell you and you still do not believe me, you will die in your sins, but your blood will not be upon my head. So Paul said, I will tell them. I have declared the entire counsel of God to them, so I am innocent of their blood. Read it, the 20th chapter of Acts, the 26th through the 28th verses: I am innocent of their blood. I told them, they didn’t believe it, and I am innocent of their blood, for I declared the entire counsel of God to them.141 ¶27

Infinite states… A man falls into a state, so he’s in a state, but he is not the state. Take him out of the state by saying to him while he’s in the state, “What would you like?” He says, “I would like to be” completely opposite to the state he’s in. But he names the state that he would like to enter, and you put him into that state by asking yourself, What would it be like were it true that he now . . . and you name the thing that he would like to be. Then, as you name it to yourself, you see the man as he would be seen were it true. Then you remain faithful, leaving him just where he is, but you remain faithful to this concept that you hold of him, and he comes out of it. On reflection, he may say, “It would have happened anyway.” Perfectly all right, you know how it happened. So you tell every being in the world the story if you have the chance to tell them, and telling them, it’s entirely up to them. They either believe it or disbelieve it.141 ¶28

As we are told, “If you do not believe that I am he, you die in your sins.” Read it carefully in the 8th of John, “If you do not believe that I am he.” Well, those who read it, you might think a man is telling you that I am God and you are not. If you don’t believe that I am God and you are not, well then, you die in your sins. That’s not it at all. The whole story is taking place in the soul of man. If you don’t believe that yourself saying “I am” is the being that you would be, well then, remain as you are and die in that limited state. That’s the story. So, “Unless you believe that I am he, you die in your sins.”141 ¶29

Now, he tells you the truth: “Know the truth and the truth will set you free.” And they complain, “Well, we are free.” Here they are enslaved, and they thought they were free. That’s the whole vast world; you and I say, “We’re Americans. We’re free!” Can’t pay rent, to what state are we free? Can’t buy the soup, to what state are we free? By saying that I’m an American? These are all words. I must be free to move across this world. I can only be free if I know the art of forgiving sin, and the only one who can forgive sin is God, and God’s name is I AM.141 ¶30

In this world today, right in our wonderful land, there are hundreds of thousands who are imprisoned physically, but they are Americans. There are hundreds of thousands; in fact, they said six million who are unemployed, who can’t pay the rent. Free? They’re Americans. I say, go tell every being in the world of the story of God, as told us in both Old and New Testament, and set them free. They can be free if they know who they are. There isn’t one being in jail tonight who if you ask him “Who are you?” before he tells you the name says, “I am John.” I am John what? “I am John Smith. I am so many years old.” But before all these things, he tells you “I am.”141 ¶31

For I have seen this; you see, it frightens people. As you’re told in that 9th chapter of the Book of Matthew, they were frightened: “When they saw what happened, they were afraid, and they glorified God, who had given such authority to men.” In San Francisco, when I told this story, a lady sat in my audience who had just received notice from the army that her brother had been tried, court-martialed, and sentenced to six month’s hard labor. She went home and said, “If this man is telling the truth, I can set my brother free.” She sat upstairs in her apartment. She had to go down the stairs to the door if anyone came to it. And sitting alone upstairs, she lost herself in this imaginal state that the bell was ringing, and she ran down the stairs, threw the door open, and embraced a brother who was waiting there. And she did it. And she did it. For one solid week, she sat there in the morning when she had breakfast and imagined that the bell was ringing, and she ran mentally down the stairs, threw the door open, and saw her brother; and she embraced him. The next Sunday morning, before she came to my meeting, it happened. And when she came to my meeting, she couldn’t restrain herself any longer; she couldn’t restrain the impulse to rise. She jumped up in the audience, a thousand people present, and she jumped up and said, “I must tell this story.” And she told her story of redeeming and setting free her brother. He was honorably discharged. Although he had been court-martialed and sentenced to six month’s hard labor, it was retried, and he was honorably discharged, and he came home that Sunday morning, one week later.141 ¶32

I say everyone can be forgiven. He’s not the same being that he was. Whatever he did to warrant the court-martial, why must he, so called, pay the last ounce? If she could redeem him by pulling him out of that state that caused him to do whatever he did, he’s not the same person. If I pull out of a state into another state… if I had tonight someone that was a horrible beast in my world but I determined to make him a loving, kind person in my world, and then he comes into my world and he demonstrates his kindness by his acts, by everything; he isn’t the same being he was when I disliked him. The same immortal soul, but he’s in a different state. Formerly I was judging the state. But I keep him in that state and make him pay a price that only belongs to that state? You see, there is such a thing in this world as God’s mercy. All sins must be expiated unless God intervenes and is merciful. Well, you are God; you can intervene. He gave it to you. Only God can forgive sin and you could forgive sin; therefore, are you not he? And God is merciful. But can’t you be merciful and completely transform any being in this world? Oh, what a thrill it is to be able to transform a being and see them differently at the end of a little while! So I ask you to try it, just try it. And you will share with me your good news and tell me how you’ve done it. It works, may I tell you it doesn’t fail. It can’t fail.141 ¶33

But believe that statement in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses,” for today we trespass; we actually trespass. We heard a rumor and we got off the beam and we simply went upon the other land, as it were. We see the sign No Trespassing all over the place, and we step on the other fellow’s land; well, that’s the way we trespass: we step upon it. Don’t! No matter what you hear of anyone, just have no ears to hear it if it is not something that is lovely. Because they’re only discussing a state, and they’re seeing that being in a state. So just don’t listen to it. Pull everyone out. But don’t forget to pull yourself. Put yourself right into the most glorious part in this world and be successful. Not a thing wrong with being happy, being successful, and being wanted, one who contributes to the world’s good. You try it. I promise you it will not fail you. And then do me a favor and share with the platform your success that I, in turn, may share with those what happened to you.141 ¶34

[Lady interrupts from audience.] “Neville, may I say something? Many years ago, in New York City, the old [...] church, and I was very, very new in all of this. I would sit there and listen to you, and I was going through a very, very dark picture. Only the soul listened to the good news of the kingdom. I had a son that was in the service at that time, and how it was not a crime or anything like that, but it was a very, very dark picture. It looked so dark. Well, it was one of the things where it seemed that everything wrong happened to him besides the fact that he had [...] and everything else. But he was on a ship that was sunk, and everything was wrong. I asked you about it one evening, and you said, ‘Will you let me hear good news of his deliverance?’” Of course, I was overjoyed. “And I sat for one day… on George Washington’s birthday, I got up early in the morning, and all day long I just sat there and I did just what you told me to do, to hear this good news. I hadn’t seen my son for three years. Every time I’d get a letter from him, it used to—well, I’d almost quiver all over. He was ready to commit suicide, and the boys were leaving the ship, and everything was, well, in a condition that was almost impossible for any human to take. And I sat there all that day knowing and knowing and knowing and feeling just the truth that you had told me to try to impart to myself—when all of a sudden, something happened and such a thrill, a joy went over me, and I cried with gratitude. The next day, I received a letter from him, and it was another one of these indigo letters and I could look on it and destroy it and just laugh because it doesn’t mean anything. Within four days, I received a cablegram saying that he was coming in on a luxury liner and was coming into the States, returning home.”141 ¶35

Thank you, my dear. “I’ll never forget you, Neville Goddard. You don’t remember me, but I’ll never forget you.” May I tell you, thank you! It doesn’t fail!141 ¶36