Walk in all the ways which the Lord your God has commanded you. (Deuteronomy 5:33)

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THE LAW OF LIFE

Rt. Rev. George de Charms

The Lord’s Word is different from all other books because it is holy. It contains the law of life, or the laws of the Lord’s kingdom, according to which people must live if they would be happy. By means of this law the Lord gives power to angels and people, so that in keeping it they may be strong, but in breaking it they become weak and helpless.

It does not seem as if the Word has any power, or as if we had any power by means of it. It appears like an ordinary book, and we do not usually consider that a book has power. Yet all spiritual power comes from the Word and is given to us in the degree that we become wise from it. This is because the Word is the law of life.

Even in this world the laws of a country are the source of power to all its citizens. If there were no laws to protect us, evil people would continually be stealing, killing and destroying. We would be in constant danger. We would have to defend ourselves and would dwell in fear. We would have no power. But the law protects us. It makes evil people afraid to injure us. It takes away fear from those who wish to live well and places it on those who wish to do evil. So long as we keep the law, we dwell in safety. But if someone breaks the law he at once comes into danger, because he is no longer protected by the law. He may be put in prison and kept from doing further injury; thus his power is taken away from him, and he becomes helpless.

That the law is powerful is clear from the strength it gives to people. When someone represents the law he becomes powerful in a way he was not before. A policeman, because he represents the law, is respected by good citizens and feared by evil people who wish to break the law. One such person can hold in check a whole mob, not because they fear him, but because they know that all the power of the country and of its law is behind him.

So it is also with the law in the spiritual world. It is the source of all power there. And those who receive the law from the Lord’s Word and seek to keep it because they love the Lord are given great power. An angel, by the power the Lord gives him, need only look at an evil spirit and he will fall into a faint, and appear like a cringing animal rather than as a human being. A whole society of hell may rise up in anger and seek to injure the good. But if a single angel draws near and stretches out his hand, they will lose all their power.

We may not see the power of the Word clearly in this world, but in the other, spiritual, world it is very clear. Every society of heaven has a copy of the Word kept in sacred place. When the angels look at it they see light coming from it as if from a star. If they draw near and open the Word, the light increases until it is as bright as the sun. An angel who touches the Word will be seen to shine by others. A light will shine from his garments and face, Just as light shone from Moses when he came down from Mount Sinai carrying the two tables of the Commandments. For his face shone so brightly that no one could look at it, and he was forced to cover it with a veil. But if any person who is in evil touches the Word, there is a loud explosion, and he is thrown down as if he were dead, where he remains unable to move for some time.

The hells are continually seeking to injure you spiritually; they are continually seeking to steal goods and truths from you, which are the riches of heaven. There are so many evil spirits that you could not possibly resist them by yourself; you are helpless before them. And when you disobey the Lord’s Word, you come into their power. But so long as you keep that law, all the power of the Lord is with you; all the power of heaven is given to you; and no evil can come to you. For when the hells tempt you and seek to destroy you and take away your happi¬ness, an angel stretches out his hand toward them, and they fall down as if dead. Then they flee back into hell, overcome with fear and dread of the mighty power of the Lord.

So, read the Word; learn its laws and keep them, for in keeping them there is great reward. The Word is like a rock against which the hells cannot prevail. And from the Word alone and the Law of Life it contains, we can have the power to resist temptation.

Amen.

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