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TOPIC: Gordon, Samuel Dickey - Quiet Talks on Life After Death (Other Topics in this Collection)
SUBJECT: 34. Spirit-Level Accuracy
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Spirit-Level Accuracy
Now we want to turn to this Book of God. And we want to get all of what it says, and fit together in one simple clear story. Clearly this is the only sane thing to do, get all the Book says, take its statements at their plain common meaning, and let that tell the story, regardless of how it may send our theories and ideas helter-skelter. Any thing else is clearly a fool's job.
Have you ever watched a skilful bricklayer at work He has a delicately constructed instrument called a spirit-level. The instrument is so constructed as to indicate if a surface is quite level, or, is out of the level. As the brick-mason lays his bricks, layer-by-layer, he is constantly holding the spirit-level to the work to test its being level or straight.
He puts it on top of the bricks, and in front, and up and down, constantly testing. He would tell you it's the only safe thing to do. All surveyors and builders use such a device, a standard gauge for determining levels accurately. They must. They have no choice. Otherwise they and their work would be rejected.
Recently I watched a sort of scrub bricklayer at work on the foundation of a small frame house that had been moved. He had no spirit level. He went "by his eye." That was quite satisfactory to him. But the work he did was anything but satisfactory. It was painfully out of level, though as it happened, in this small unimportant case, apparently, not dangerous.
But as I watched him I thought of other builders, builders of character, who go "by the eye," or by what they prefer to think is sufficient standard. And pretty wobbly work they do in character-building. And the bother is, there's serious danger to life, in their inefficient standardless work.
Happily there is a spirit-level by which to test all human teachers and teachings. And there's only one, as with the brick-layer and surveyor. And whatever work is not done by the standard spirit-level, is worthless, and worse yet, may prove very dangerous to human life.
This is a three-part spirit-level: the Holy Spirit, in the Book, and that in the hands of a man strongly yielded to the Spirit's sway. The Spirit Himself is the standard. He speaks in this Book. And so it becomes the standard. And its teachings can be fully and clearly grasped only by one in touch with that Spirit, naturally. Though any one may read and get the general drift of teaching.
And so, now, we want to turn and try to find out just what the teaching of this Book is, the rounded-out, poised, full, teaching, on this most vital subject. This talk and the last one of this series, "Another Chance," belong together. They touch two phases.
They are put separately as a matter of teaching principle, to get a clearer look at each phase and so a clearer grasp of the whole thing. This talk gathers up the facts in the case. The last talk touches the principle and process underlying the facts.