It is a joy to welcome you to this hour of meditation this beautiful Sunday morning, as we move from the season of spring to the season of summer. At the beginning of this new week we are reminded that we have the privilege of moving from the beginning of things into the realm of bringing forth. It is not enough to start along the Way of Life; we need to share in the harvest. We need to remember the words of God spoken to those who first dwelt in the Garden of Eden: “Tend it and keep it.” And so we would not be merely beginning something. There are many who start along the Way of Life, the Way which our Master revealed; but let us carry forward in tending and keeping the Garden of God, that the fruits of the spirit may truly appear and that there may be a rich harvest in our lives, to the glory of God and to the blessing of the children of men; for as we gather here this morning to share this hour of devotion and meditation, we are keenly aware of the fact that God's true children are to be found all over the face of the earth, in every color, numbered among those of every creed and belief, that everywhere there are those who are willing to yield to the resurrection and the life, that they may not be dead to the things of the Spirit of God, and that if they be asleep they may be awakened, and on awakening they may begin to know the Way, the Truth and the Life. Let us then have a moment of devotion.
Our gracious LORD and holy KING, it is with humble joy, deep relief and soul-stirring satisfaction that we yield the kingdom of our bodies, our minds and hearts to Thee, that Thy spirit may enter into the Temple of the human form and that Thy presence may be made evident through every thought and word and deed until it shall be that Thy Will is done on earth in us even as Thy Will is done in heaven, for Thine is the Kingdom in heaven and on earth forevermore, and we would so live that it shall be evident in our lives that it is so, in the Christ. Aum-en.
In beginning our period of meditation this morning I would like to read to you a much loved passage that has received your attention many, many times; but in the current of the Spirit as God gives it to us in this hour, surely we can see more deeply than ever before, surely we can lift up our eyes to a higher goal, surely we can open our hearts to a deeper feeling recognition of the wonder of God's love, the beauty of His truth and the reality of life, now and always. Our Master spoke words that have burned themselves in letters of fire into many a heart:
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?”
One of the things that impresses us as we begin to meditate upon these words is that the millions that have echoed the words of Thomas far outnumber the number of those who have echoed the words of the Master. Merely imagining that we know the way and we know the place is not enough. It is by the pattern of life that we can determine as to whether we truly know. The Master said, “Whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” We must acknowledge that He spoke the truth; we must acknowledge that He knew what He was talking about. Therefore we must acknowledge that even though Thomas may have thought he was being honest, he was speaking that which was not true. In the pattern of his conscious mind, by reason of his doubting and unbelief, hesitancy in yielding, it may have seemed to Thomas that he spoke truly. But we must choose between the two. Our Master spoke and then Thomas spoke. Which spoke the truth and which uttered a lie? It is incomprehensible to imagine for even a moment that our Master failed in this moment to know what He was talking about; therefore there is only one other conclusion possible. Thomas was perhaps unconsciously but nevertheless actually lying. He spoke something contrary to the truth when he said, “Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” The reality of the Master's truth and Thomas's failure to comprehend the truth is made evident in the next words the Master spoke: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
Here is a most significant picture. Before we can fully comprehend it, with a deeper realization than we have known heretofore, let us examine the words the Master spoke immediately following: “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father?”
Here we have the picture of another of the disciples failing to speak the truth, failing to comprehend the simple significance of the Master's words. And let us consider how many there are since that day who have followed the lead of Thomas and Philip. They have followed Thomas and Philip, and though they have conceived themselves to be Christians, they have in fact failed to follow our LORD and KING. Following Philip, following Thomas, is not fulfilling the Master's invitation, “Follow me.” Until we can set aside the leadership of the Philips and the Thomases and follow Him, we are not what we should be in the pattern of Being. Now notice the Master's words: “Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”
Now if we are to accept the words of the Master as being true we must cease attributing the words of the Father to the man Jesus. It is all right that it is put in the record that “Jesus said” or “Jesus saith unto him”; it simplifies the pattern of expression. But if we read that statement as if we imagined the words of Jesus to be separate from the words of the Father, then we who read are wrong. In our hearts and in our minds we should never attribute the Word spoken to the man Jesus, as if He spoke something separate from the Father. If we do this we are not following Him; we show that we do not believe on Him truly; we show that we think in some things He said that which was true and in other things He did not know what He was talking about. If we set ourselves up to be judges and say, “The Master spoke truly in this but He did not quite know what He was talking about in that,” we are going to be judged by the judgment with which we judge, and it will be shown that in such things we do not know what we are talking about. Once you begin to remember—always, without any single exception—to never attribute the words of Jesus to the man Jesus, you will begin to understand the significance of the things the Master taught. “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”
Remembering this, let us go back and consider, “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.” Now that word the Master spoke was just as true at any point in the interval of time since the words were uttered as at that time; they are just as true today. “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.” There are untold millions who imagine that they know Jesus and believe on Him, who by word and deed, by pattern of living, show that they do not know the Father. Can you know Jesus without knowing the Father? No! It is utterly and absolutely impossible to know Jesus without knowing the Father, and anyone who imagines that he or she does know Jesus without knowing the Father imagines that which is not true.
If we begin to see the pattern of the so-called Christian world in the light of the Master's own statement here, “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also,” we can begin to understand why the so-called Christian world is such a weak and helpless thing in the face of the world's present difficulties; the challenge of the communistic regime of Soviet Russia for instance, the terror, the enslavement of people, the danger of atomic warfare, all the evils and the ills which beset human beings. For if we knew the Father in actual fact we would not be powerless to meet these issues of life. Why, in a nation that calls itself Christian, must we proceed with feverish haste to build more hospitals, more institutions for the mentally unbalanced, more prisons? What is the word across the land? Our prisons are crowded and filled to overflowing; our insane asylums are filled to overflowing; our hospitals are crowded. There are long waiting lists of those who are handicapped, waiting to get into institutions of some sort for special care or training—all of these things which signify the fact that we do not have the manifestation of the power. Whether we are willing to face the indictment or not it is there, and the quicker we face the facts the better.
Now the Master made two or three positive statements here. “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.” That applies to every one of you here. It applies to every self-styled Christian on the face of the earth. “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.” And when we face the facts, from the standpoint of the great significance of those wonderful words, we must indeed bow our heads in sorrow that we should have so far failed our LORD that such things as these could be. And again He said, “And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” Generally speaking, human beings, having heard those words or read them, allow their minds to jump to the process of ascension, of disappearing in the Cloud of Glory from the eyes of men; of going to some supposedly unknown heaven in some faraway and unknown realm. But any such imagination of the heart is an evil thing, as the Master's own words reveal. Instead of assuming that the interval from the time He spoke these words to the time He ascended is to be conceived as meaningless in relationship to His words, why not stop and look at them from the standpoint of the Way in which He was going?
What was that Way? “The way ye know; whither I go ye know.” And Thomas, the liar, said, “Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” Let us consider those words as applying to His life and living, not merely as if they applied only to His disappearing from the realm of physical vision. Let us acknowledge that the interval between the moment when He spoke these words and the moment when He did disappear in the Cloud of Glory must have some meaning. What was the Way in which He was going? “And whither I go ye know.” What was the place to which He was going? Does the mind immediately answer, “Why, to heaven of course”? Anyone who would stop to think for thirty seconds, with the intelligence of a three-year-old child, would know that that answer would be a lie. Why? Because while He was here on earth He was already in heaven, and He did not need to go to heaven to be in heaven, according to His own testimony. So if you say that the way in which He was going was the way to heaven, you have not even stopped to think about it. “Whither I go ye know.” Where was He going? He was moving along the path of victory. Over what? The world and the evil in it; over the prince of darkness. “Whither I go ye know. I go to the goal of victory.” He said it over and over again. How could they who had walked with Him in the Way have assumed that He was going to a goal of defeat and of failure, as the millions since that time have assumed? For they glorify what seems to the world to be defeat. No! “Whither I go ye know.”
Did He have to ascend into some high realm, perhaps a million miles from here or more, to be with the Father? Did He, now? If we say He did then we make Him a liar; for He said, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. The Father and I are one.” He did not have to go anywhere to ascend to the Father; He did not have to go anywhere to be in heaven, according to His own words. And we believe Him or we do not. Where was He going? Was he going to disappear and go to some other realm? That is not what He was talking about. If we stop and meditate and look and see, it is obvious. “And whither I go ye know.” Could one walk with the LORD along the Wfor even a few moments without being assured that He was moving forward to the goal of victory over all the limitations and evils of the world? that there was power enough, wisdom enough, understanding enough, everything enough to establish that victory? And then He said, “And the way ye know.” The way to what? The way to ascend up into some cloud in the sky and disappear from human view?
Apparently human beings decided that He meant that they knew the way to die, and so they proceeded to die by the millions, just to prove it. That is not “the way” He was talking about—the way to death. “And the way ye know.” The way to what? The Way to victory. “Whither I go ye know. If you know me, you know,” He said. And if you in any time have walked in the Way with the Master for as much as ten minutes, you know the Way too. You know the goal. You cannot, by reason of His Spirit or by any means whatsoever, be in His Presence for ten minutes and not know the goal—the Goal of Victory and the Way to Victory. If you say you do not, you are either declaring that you have never been in His Presence in any moment of time, by reason of His Spirit or otherwise, or you are a liar—one of the two. If we have by any means whatsoever been in His Presence insofar as our consciousness is concerned—oh our bodies have been in His Presence, there isn't any doubt about it. “Where two or three of you are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of you.” Physically we have been in His Presence, whether our minds knew it or not. It is not a question of whether we have been in His Presence; it is a question of whether we are aware that we have been in His Presence. And if we are aware of it then there is no excuse for us; we know whither He was going and we know the Way, and we should not be a follower of Thomas or of Philip. We should follow Him.
“And whither I go ye know.” Who spoke this word? just the physical form of Jesus? Oh yes, the physical form spoke the word, yes, but did it start with the physical form? No, it was the word of the Father. “Whither I go ye know.” Did you ever stop to see that? “Whither I—the Father—go ye know, and the way I—the Father—go ye know.” Let us stop acting as if we thought our LORD and KING was a liar when He was on earth. “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself.” It was the word of the Father through the lips of Jesus. “Whither I go ye know.” Jesus went with the Father. That was all right. When the word came forth, “Follow me,” whose word was it? The word of the Father. When He said, “Whither I go ye know, and the way ye know,” whose word was it? The word of the Father. “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.” Have we known Him? If we answer “Yes” we must acknowledge that we have known the Father also; if we say that we have not known the Father we declare that we have not known Jesus. How many are there in the world that believe on Him? Not many, not very many in this world who really believe on Him.
The Master continued on and said, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also.” And human beings have read that as if it were Jesus talking. Of course Jesus was talking, because He was revealing the word of the Father; but it was the Father's word. “He that believeth on me—the Father—the works that I—the Father—do shall he do also.” “He that believeth on me.” And human beings have been trying to believe on Jesus, while they have been rejecting the Father, saying, “We do not know the Father. We will know the Father when we get to heaven. All we need to do now is know Jesus. And we will say we believe on Jesus and we will be saved, and then when we get to heaven we will know the Father.” That is the whispering of the devil. It is not the truth; it is not of the Spirit of God; it is not of the Bible, the Word of God. And until we begin to acknowledge that the Master spoke the truth we cannot possibly begin to know the reality of the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory.
Behold, He said, “And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know,” and He was not talking about going to the Father, ascending to the Father. He was not talking about going to some invisible realm. He was not talking about leaving this sphere of things. He was talking about movement into the realm of victory. And did He do it? Of course He did, and He said, “Follow me.” And if we accept His word as true we must acknowledge in this moment, this moment of this hour, that we know the Way to Victory. If we deny it we make liars of ourselves. And if we refuse to move in the Way we know, it is indeed a shame unto us. If we know the Way we are without excuse; we had better live in it. And if we say that we do not know the Way, so that we can be excused from living it, then we make of ourselves liars. There is no other choice. If we deny that we know, we are denying what we do know. Inside we do know it. We have heard it often enough, we have read it often enough, we have presumably meditated upon it often enough. And then to say we do not know? Why insult oneself by calling oneself a liar? Then you do know, just like that. You do know. And if you do not live according to what you know you are wrong; and if you do live by what you know there will be power, there will be victory.
Every time there is a contest there will be victory; every time there is anything to be faced it will be by the power and wisdom of God. There will be no excuse for failure, not a little failure or a big one, no excuse, regardless of circumstances—no excuse for failure in you, no matter what someone else does or does not do, no matter what you have or do not have, no matter how your neighbors feel or think, no matter what your husband or wife does, no matter what your parents or your children do, absolutely no excuse for you, none whatsoever, if you know. And you do know. If you say you do not, you make of yourself a liar. “Whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.”
What is this Way to Victory? The word of the Father through the lips of Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” Now human beings have gone to great lengths to develop a substitution for the teaching of Jesus Christ, and they have imagined that Jesus was the Way and that if you say you believe on Him and you accept this creed and that belief and so on, then that is all there is to it. But the assumptions of the human mind, motivated by the currents of the devil, have produced that thought and that belief. It is not what Jesus taught; it is not what the Bible teaches. The Bible teaches that the Father is the Way, the Truth and the Life. “I AM”—the Father speaking; coming through the lips of Jesus, yes, vitally important, but to say that it was Jesus talking and to act as if that is all it meant is to make a mockery of the words of our LORD on earth. “The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself.” All right, either He spoke the truth or He did not. If He did and said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” then it was the word of the Father, not the word of the man Jesus; and if it is the word of the Father, then the Father is the Way. And is the Father far away? As long as you can make yourself imagine, by reason of false assumption, that Jesus was the Way, and He was on earth for a little while, but He is long gone, He is high up in the sky somewhere, in fact we do not quite know where He is, but He is in heaven, wherever that is, then you could feel that you had an excuse for being nothing more than just a drifting, weak and helpless human being: “After all, He is far away.” No. The Father is the Way, the Truth and the Life. And what is the revelation of the Father? Why does Jesus have meaning to us? For one reason only: He revealed the Father—the Father.
Is it the first time the Father had been revealed? Certainly not! Is it the first time the Spirit of God had been revealed and made known to man? Certainly not! The Father had said before, “Come unto me. Come near unto me. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” And the Father is with you. “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also.” If we do not know the Father, we declare that we do not know Jesus. If we do know the Father, we are not going to be weak and helpless human beings. We are going to let the Power of the Father have meaning; we are going to let the Kingdom of the Father have meaning. To whom does the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory belong? To the Father. The Kingdom and the Power and the Glory are the revelation of the reality of the Father. How did the Master reveal the Father? By living in the Father here on earth, and He said, “Follow me.”
If you think you must wait until you die and go to some far heaven to live with the Father, then you are wrong, then you are not following our KING. Those who claim to be following Him and yet are not living with the Father here on earth declare themselves to be liars, children of the prince of liars, followers of the devil. If you are not living with the Father on earth you are not following Jesus. Whether we like to face the truth or not, that is it or we make Him a liar. It is better that we acknowledge ourselves to be a liar and repent and respond, and let our lives be redirected, and enter into the Kingdom of Heaven that is at hand on earth, that we may be with the Father on earth and follow Him. And if we are with the Father, what did the Master teach men to pray? “Our Father who art in heaven on earth, at hand, hallowed is Thy name to us.” The name of the Father—is His name hallowed to us if we ignore Him, if we refuse to let Him manifest in and through us? No. If you say, “The power of God is not manifesting in my life to meet the issues of life and to prove the goal of victory,” then your claims of knowing the Father or of knowing Jesus or believing on Him are so much prattle.
Blessed ones, it is time that we should begin to know the Father. In our meditation this evening I anticipate considering that aspect of the matter with you, but this morning let us yield to the basic truth, which the honest mind cannot deny: If we know Jesus we know the Father, and we know the Way and we know the Goal; and if we know the Goal and the Way and do not move toward that Goal in that Way, then are we indeed revealed as unbelievers; for if we believed there would be nothing on the face of the earth, around us or in us or above us, in circumstance or affairs, in national situations or world conditions, nothing could stop us from moving in that Way toward that Goal, that it might be true of us, “He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” And what did the Master say? “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.”
The moment we begin to see the Master in relationship to our conscious comprehension—the eye of the mind and the heart, the processes of acceptance and belief—we begin to see the Father. How do you see Jesus? By looking at a picture out here? By doing what? By looking for a vision in the sky? By hoping to have a dream? By hoping that there will be some kind of a vision take form here in the meeting so we can say, “I have seen Jesus,” or “I have seen the Father”? These foolish fancies have no part or place for those who follow Him. Oh we might conceivably see a form, I am not saying we could not, but that is not what we call seeing. That would be incidental. The Master said, “Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.” How are we going to begin to see? How are we going to begin to actually see our LORD, our Master, Jesus, the Father, however you want to put it? How? If we see the reality of Jesus with the eye of our minds we are beginning to see Him. If we see the reality of His love with the eye of the heart we are beginning to see Him. And if the eye of the heart and the eye of the mind come together in a single eye, then thine eye shall be single and thy whole body shall be full of light, and in the light you see the Father.
Are you going to try to see Jesus? If you do you are wrong. Why should you try to see Jesus? You should not try to see anything, but you should let yourself see the Father. Why not take a look at the Father? Why always be looking to see Jesus? You say the Bible teaches that you should see Jesus? It does not teach any such thing. There is not one authentic word in this Book that teaches any such thing—this Book teaches that you should see the Father; and “If you have seen me,” said the Master, “you have seen the Father.” Well, then you have not seen Jesus, you have seen the Father. Stop making Jesus to be a veil between you and the Father. He is a revelation of the Father, not a veil between, once you begin to know the reality of the Father. Is the Father weak and helpless? Or did the Master fail to know what He was talking about when He taught men to pray, “Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory”? If you see the Father and deny the reality of the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, you have not seen the Father; and if you say you have seen Jesus and yet say you have not seen and known the Father, you are a liar and the truth is not in you. If we believe on Him then the truth is in us, and if we have looked we have seen the Father.
And what is the Father? How can we know the Father? How can we live in the presence of the Father? How can we let that Kingdom be a reality in body and mind and heart, in our affairs? How can we actually let the power manifest? Instead of dreading the supposed power of Soviet Russia, the enslaving power that has made a hell of China and of other countries, instead of dreading that supposed power—oh it is there, and if we remain weak and helpless human beings we had better look out for that power—but what about the Power of the Father, what about the Kingdom of the Father? Do we have to wait until some future time? Some people imagine that we do. We are going to have to wait until something happens up here. They say when Jesus comes. When Jesus comes? Of all the foolish fancies that ever became implanted by the devil in the minds of men! Jesus did come, and as long as you are saying, “When Jesus comes,” you are denying that Jesus ever did come. He did come, and yet to say, “Well now, when Jesus comes everything will be all right”! You cannot be a true Christian and say, “When Jesus comes,” because the very attitude denies that He ever did come. And He came and He did His job. Let us not deny it.
Jesus did come, and if He came then His coming has all the meaning for us that any possible concept of His coming in the future might have. Why project it into the future all the time? Why deny Him? That is not believing on Him. Whether they know it or not, every person on the face of the earth that is looking forward to the coming of Jesus—“When Jesus comes…”—is serving the devil, denying our LORD and KING and refusing to serve God. The Bible does not teach it. It is an assumption, pure and simple, by human minds inspired by the spirit of darkness. When Jesus comes? Jesus did come, and let us stop denying it. He came on earth. He revealed the Father. He revealed the Kingdom, He revealed the Power, He revealed the Way, He revealed the Truth, He revealed the Life, He revealed the Victory. What more do you want?
He said, “Follow me,” and do not wait until some future event. That has been one of the cleverest delusions of the devil foisted upon humanity—putting it off. He did come, and let us stop denying it. And He said, “Whither I go ye know, and the way ye know”—the Way to Victory. Unless we begin to live in it and reveal the reality of the Father in our own lives, we are proving that we do not know Him and that we do not believe on Him. Now, are we willing to face the truth and let the truth make us free? Or do we want to follow the delusions of the devil and continue to be weak and helpless, puny human beings? It is up to you to make your own choice. Shall we follow Him? Shall we serve our LORD and KING and do it truly? Let it be so.
Heavenly Father, we thank Thee. We thank Thee from the depths of our hearts for Thy revelation through the body and being of Jesus, that we might know the reality of Thy Presence and accept that reality for ourselves, and remember that Thy Name is hallowed; for our Master taught us to pray, Our Father who art in heaven—and heaven is at hand on earth—hallowed is Thy Name to us. Thy Kingdom come in our hearts and minds, our bodies, our lives. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done on earth exactly as it is done in heaven. For Thine, O Father, is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, forever. Aum-en.
“In Realization the Blessed One is fully aware that all things necessary to the outworking of the Perfect Plan are already provided in every detail. All the Wisdom required by the Blessed One now is, and is instantly available from within. So also, all Power now is; all Knowledge now is; all Substance now is; all required things now are; for all things are provided already from the foundation of the world, and there never was a time since the world began when they were not. In Realization is the absolute awareness of the Presence of the Wonderful One within.” So writes Uranda in Step Three of Seven Steps To The Temple Of Light, published in 1936. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2014/05/sevensteps-to-temple-of-light-uranda.html] This little booklet covers everything essential to discovering attunement with the Wonderful One within, oneness with the Master of the Temple, and allowing transmutation of the individual and collective body Temple into the Temple of Light. Let's consider the fact that everything necessary is provided, and the truth that the Temple of Light is a reality here and now.
Each individual God Being is part of the Body of God for this world—and all power, all knowledge, all substance, all required things, everything necessary to the outworking of the Perfect Plan of God for the restoration of this world is already provided in every detail, as it is needed in every cycle and, as such, everything needed is provided by the God Beings who form the Archangelic Body, or the Temple of Light, for this whole realm. Each angel incarnate in each little human form provides everything necessary for each individual human life span, and all human lives fused together in each generation, and in each age or cycle or phase of need. All power and all substance, all wisdom and knowledge, is brought by each incarnate angel in any cycle of time in order to meet every need, and it is available to be drawn into manifestation in harmony with the Perfect Plan. If this is so—and it is—then why has this reality not been made more evident in the lives of human beings over the ages?
We must consider carefully, and realize that the LORD of Lords provides everything necessary, all the time, without question and without doubt. In every age, in every cycle, through every generation, the LORD through His Lords, male and female, provides everything necessary to the achievement of what is actually possible in the very moment of every creative cycle—the provision is there. In every cycle of time and need, the LORD sends His angels into the earth, incarnate in a host of human forms, and each one is prepared to deliver into expression every aspect of leadership and government, of education and healing, that is required in each phase of each specific world need. The only thing preventing the deep and clear awareness of this wonderful heavenly fact is the veil which clouds human consciousness—the clouded substance of the human heart and mind. The LORD sends every one and every thing necessary into the earth at all times, ready, available and capable of filling every actual need.
Consider the fact that the LORD of Lords sent me and you into the world, and here we are right now as angels, ready to provide the spiritual influences necessary to the cleansing and healing of the substance composing our own hearts and minds and bodies, and thus the healing of the consciousness of the whole body of mankind. This is now taking place, right now, whether we feel it and know it or not in human consciousness—and whether we cooperate with it or not as human beings, it is a fact. Both the spiritual influence and the consequent inevitable changes are at hand, and it would be wise for each of us to wake up and cooperate with the inevitable. It is going to happen with us or without us, humanly speaking, so we best relax, feel assured, and let go to this wonderful thing emerging.
Consider the fact that the LORD of Lords not only sent you and me into the world, but He also sent Himself into the world approximately 2021 years ago when He incarnated as Jesus. He did not ask anything of us that He Himself was not completely willing to do as well, and the spiritual evidence shows clearly that he did just that. He came—He incarnated to open the Way. Consider as well, that when the LORD of Lords incarnated, He also sent a great many angels into the world during that same period of time. In the few hundred years before His coming, and at the same time as He Himself incarnated, He sent His angels to prepare the Way, and to do what they could to make a success of His and their commission. His coming was well prepared in advance; it was not unheralded. Prophets before Him had foretold of His coming. We remember the stories of the wise men and the shepherds. How did they know? Who told them that He was coming? Preparation had been abundantly made. In the centuries before His incarnation, the whole world was being prepared for Him and for the opening of the Second Sacred School, and the approach which He made for restoration of the consciousness of mankind—we call it the mental plane approach.
Consider something of the global regeneration of human consciousness which was set in motion at the completion of one great Universal Age, and during the 500 years before the incarnation of the LORD of Lords in the body of Jesus. Many of the Greek philosophers began to ascend in prominence—Thales and Anaximander around 600 B.C. Lao Tzu was in China in 600 B.C. Hebrew prophets Daniel and Ezekiel refocused the Word of the LORD of Israel around 570 B.C. Gautama Buddha was in India and Confucius in China in 550 B.C. Empedocles and Heraclitus were both in Greece in 540 B.C. Here is evidence of the incarnation of the energies of a transforming consciousness, wisdom flooding human consciousness in one massive and well-synchronized wave. In 580 BC, with the Hebrew people captive in Babylon, the prophet Daniel was a significant presence during a desolate period. Have we known any periods of desolation in our lives? This was a desolate time. His wisdom was compelling and his counsel was invited; in captivity he served four kings, exercising secular authority and spiritual influence which moved nations into greater alignment with the creative cycle. His work served as a vibrational influence catalyzing a transformation of the human spirit, and specifically for a future generation of Hebrew prophets in their determination to prepare a setting for the coming of the LORD. It is no coincidence that all these leaders were incarnate during the closing phase of one Universal Age and the opening of another.
In 538 B.C. a remnant of Judah returned from captivity to Jerusalem to rebuild the great Temple, and begin a restoration which would prepare the way for the coming of the LORD. A global regeneration of the human mind and heart was underway in the Mediterranean and throughout the eastern world; and we have evidence of significant intellectual, spiritual and material development in the Americas and in Africa—certainly long established in Egypt, and extending from Atlantis. Solon was in Greece in 600 B.C. Pythagoras in 570, Socrates in 470, Hippocrates in 460, Plato in 437, and Aristotle in 384. In 458 B.C. in Jerusalem the prophet Ezra began the work of compiling the Torah, the basis of the Old Testament of the Bible. Hebrew prophets now in Israel were preparing a receptive spiritual nucleus for the coming of the LORD of Hosts. Here are pertinent words from Malachi [500 B.C.]:
“Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts. But who may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap: And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness... I will come near to you… fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts. For I am the Lord… Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts... Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it… And all nations shall call you blessed: for ye shall be a delightsome land, saith the Lord of hosts… For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings… Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.”
Many angels incarnated in many places in order to be on earth while He was on earth, to provide points of receptive agreement and radiant action. A significant number incarnated in the region around Jerusalem to be more directly with Him. And certain angels, key focalizations ordained to function in the Core of His Archangelic Body incarnated to be with Him specifically, and form the body of government and education and healing in what was expected to be victorious outworking in the development of the Second Sacred School. It was anticipated that at a certain point leadership would move into the Third Sacred School under the direction of the disciple John, while the Master Himself would have to return to the inner realms, to His natural place and position, to guide things from that apex point. It was anticipated that with the success of the Second Sacred School and movement into the Third, He would have to ascend to the positive heaven, His natural domain, after He accomplished the forming of His Core Body—with no crucifixion needed whatsoever. The idea was that John would carry it forward from the Third into the Fourth Sacred School, and then it would move forward until the restoration was complete—no crucifixion required, no big failure patterns. Of course, that never happened as planned, and so the plan was adjusted to allow for the impositions which brought about the failure of the Second Sacred School for humanity—but not for Him.
During His thirty-three years on earth, the Master Jesus drew together a Body that included more men and women than just the Core of 12 male disciples. We might imagine that some of these 12 disciples had women partners who were responsive to the Master. There would be four-and-twenty elders represented somewhere in the design of His close-in Core and growing congregation. John the Baptist [foretold by Malachi as the coming again of the Prophet Elijah] was present at the beginning too; and John’s parents, who were of the Levite Priesthood; and the Baptist’s mother was a relative of Mary, the mother of Jesus. It must have been a great blow to the Master’s ministry when John the Baptist was executed—John had been close throughout His life. We see that Mary’s family would have been present; and Joseph’s too. Jesus had relatives, brothers, and they were likely a close-knit Jewish family. He was charismatic, and the refined spiritual nature of the maturing Jesus would have been closely observed by those who knew Him and watched Him develop into manhood.
Jesus sent out His 12 disciples to teach and heal and transform. He drew 5000 for the feast of the loaves and fishes, and some lingered close afterward. Then He took His disciples into the mountain apart, and shared what is called the Sermon on the Mount. Later, He took Peter, James and John up the Mount of Transfiguration, which is the Temple of Light, to unveil core aspects of the Shekinah Pattern, the invisible heavenly focalization of angels who are participating in this Archangelic work. The Master showed the Way up the Mount that He would lead, and all must follow. He ordained and sent out 70 disciples to inspire, teach and heal. Mary, Martha and Lazarus were vitally important within of His Core, and they no doubt had a following that came along to listen and learn, and receive from His hand. Mary Magdalene was a significant presence. He was well known to those who paid attention in those intense and climactic days in that region, and in His final three years in particular. Plenty was gathering around Him. If there had been no crucifixion more people and more substance would have been drawn into focal points of leadership, and a design would have clearly emerged. He drew a significant number of men and women to be a part of His Body during His short ministry. There were at least 120 close followers in the Upper Room several weeks after the crucifixion, on what is called the day of Pentecost. As a magnetic focus point, He was drawing resonant substance and response who would have become disciples, ministers, attunement healers, focal points, educators, those who would have formed communities, homes, classes and healing centers, had it carried through.
Even as Uranda and Martin worked to build a visible collective Body, so did He. He drew significant angels to His Core, those who specifically incarnated to be with Him. It was gathering, and it could have developed into a complete pattern, with restoration accomplished in relatively short order, and without the horrors and the suffering which developed after the failure which lead to the crucifixion and the close of His short life in human form, and then His ascension. He lived on earth for thirty-three years, developed an adequate body of response, even a Core Body, and power began to develop through that Body; but nonetheless He was largely rejected while He was alive as a man. Even so, at the end of His life He said: “I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.” He was incarnate but a little time and even though so much preparation for His coming was made in the centuries before, there were few who actually, deeply and clearly, realized the import of His Presence, few who clearly understood that the LORD of Hosts was walking the earth in human form, and even fewer who understood and received the purpose for His Presence.
Uranda comments, and asks a few questions: “He accomplished His task. What does the record say for those who followed after? Where are those who have followed Him to the point of completing the task? If all those who follow Him according to their idea of following Him actually finished the work, how could evil withstand such Divine expression on earth? How could there be millions enslaved? How could there be dictatorships? How could there be such poverty and suffering as there is in so many places in our own land?” [Uranda 12-21-49]
Yes, great power was moving through His Body—both His personal body and His responsive collective Body—while He was on earth. But how quickly that power was turned back in self-destruction upon those who used the power unwisely after His crucifixion and ascension. However, His profound influence endures, and 2000 years later here we are with a consciousness of being angels incarnate within His Body—the Archangelic Body, we say. It is a Body of Light, or as stated by Uranda in 1936, a Temple of Light. Jesus told those who were close to Him back then, “Many prophets and kings have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.” The same is true of us and of these times in which we now live. We have seen and heard and experienced something similar, so these matters as outlined should be quite familiar to us, and known to be part of all that went before. We have been participating in this new but intimately related development, and we are aware that so very much has gone into the work of preparation for the emergence into visibility of His Temple of Light now.
2000 years of preparation has been made, on many levels of function, for the developments which bring us to this day, stemming from that point where the Master Jesus said, “I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do,” and from that point where He said, “Into thy hands I commend my spirit.” From those hands, and through the action of His Spirit at work in the hearts and minds and bodies of all mankind over these past 2000 years—and long before, as we have seen—we are here, with so much having been carefully and deliberately prepared. Uranda was sent into the world. Martin was sent into the world. We were sent into the world to be with them. They allowed His Temple Body, and we with them, to be birthed in the womb of His world—a collective Body Temple was conceived and born, and came forth from the womb as the beginning manifestation of the Temple of Light. Yes, we too were sent into the world. We are His angels in His Temple of Light on earth. Let that sink in; feel it deeply; feel and know that it is the truth. Here we are, moving from the Third Day to the Fourth Day of that development, where we can clearly see and understand that, “All things necessary to the outworking of the Perfect Plan are already provided in every detail.” And we move, live, from this point in assurance that it is so.
Every thing and every one needed is here. All the human beings that are needed—more than seven billion of us—all the angels needed are incarnate. Every aspect of every detail of the Divine Design for this whole world is present in heaven and on earth. Nothing and no one is missing. It is just that the substance is locked up in humanly devised plans and patterns. If it were possible to throw a switch and turn on all the lights in the Temple of Light, it would be immediately seen and known that every thing and every one, and all substance necessary in this moment, and in every moment to come, is already here and provided in every detail. The whole angelic and Archangelic design in all of its intricacy and subtlety is here, in heaven and on earth, and available from the inner realms of this holy world. But who knows that truth, that fact? Precious few. We begin to know, and while the Wonderful One within has not yet fully come forth, there has been a coming forth to this extent, and His Spirit is moving through the whole, and the provision is adequate in every way, sufficient unto this day. The easy way is the way of letting go of concern for what seems to be missing and letting go to what is right at hand, completely adequate to meet all true needs.
In closing, consider these words from Martin: “We should have a very keen consciousness of what really is back of us. The awareness of God in this regard is based in the fact of the Hosts of Heaven, the focalizations, the angelic focalizations of deity, who are quite adequate to cover the whole range—there are enough to go around, in other words. And it is not a big man trying to rush hither and yon, but there are focalizations of consciousness everywhere, encompassing everything. We will find that, in actual fact, immanent in everything is all that is necessary to allow the manifestation of the Garden of God on earth. We need not think of it solely in terms of animals and vegetation. Everything! The very substance of this structure in which we now are is ready to sing before the Lord; not simply because we sing inside it, but because the composition, the material composition of things, is of a vibratory nature, and when it manifests in the true design, it brings forth something beautiful. In the Psalms, the psalmist talks about the trees clapping their hands. That’s right. There is the release of a vibrancy which occurs when man comes back into his place. It has remained unknown and unknowable as long as he’s been out of it. And he has long forgotten what went before, although there may be some sort of a feeling memory at times. But when there is the true expression of life through human beings, individually and together, that brings things together.” [Martin Cecil 08-29-76]
So there we have it! When there is the true expression of life through human beings, and consequently the generation of the finer qualities of that substance which resonates with the radiance of the Wonderful One, resonates with the angel incarnate, and with the radiance of the Archangel, that brings things together, and that holds all things together in the ongoing development of the Body of the Archangel. It was indicated long ago that all failure comes from within, not from without. During our Master’s final days, the betrayals and denials came from within, not from without. Because of what He did, along with a very few who did not betray or deny, He personally did not allow failure to govern. He finished His part of the work on earth at that time, and He made detailed and completely adequate provision for all that has been unfolding over the past 2000 years, right up to this present hour. Every angel, every human being and every thing necessary to finish the work is and has always been provided in every phase of the cycle of restoration, according to the need, and according to what actually could be accomplished during that cycle. This is as true today as it was at any point in the past.
We are here with opportunity to coordinate in spirit, not lock-step like little robots physically marching along behind a leader, but spiritually coordinate step-by-step in the work of restoration of the fine substance of the Temple of Light in a consciousness of Seven Steps and Seven Days. And here we are, with a dawning awareness of the Sun of righteousness rising on the Fourth Day, and the Fourth Step now being taken, leading onward and upward—Five, Six, Seven. Here we are on the Mount of Transfiguration, moving upward and around the ascending spiral. Vision becomes multi-dimensional, increasingly transparent, and it is possible to see more of what previously was invisible and unknown—present all along, but the Temple was dark and vision was limited. Now we see through the clarifying substance of the Temple of Light. There is much that is yet invisible because it is of a higher vibrational range, but it is present, and as we remain responsive, open and humble we know the Tone of it. We begin to hear and see the overtones of those higher frequencies, and the undertones of His wonderful life are also present—we can hear them sounding down through the ages.
So we recognize and acknowledge that everything has been provided. The angels are here. The human beings are here. The sons and daughters of God are here. The Temple of Light is here. You know that, don't you? We know that! Our work as sons and daughters is to let the glass which composes the Temple be clarified and purified, and transformed like transparent crystal, during our individual period of incarnation. And we may trust that, having commended our Spirit into His hands, and as we complete our individual work, He is taking care of everything necessary at His level of provision, and He will send into the world precisely who and what is needed in all the days to come. So let us wisely use the provision, the opportunity, and the power now gathering. Let us be assured in our realization and experience in the Temple of Light at this point of emergence now.
For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the Glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea. In quietness and in confidence is my strength. The LORD is in His Holy Temple, here and now. Let all the earth keep silence, while the angels and the sons and daughters of God speak their Word. Aumen
Praise ye the LORD! Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD. Let everything which gives evidence of the Spirit of Life reveal the true nature of God. We enter into the Holy Place through the Gates of Praise. Praise and the spirit of thanksgiving are the character of the Outer Court of the Tabernacle—entrance to the Tabernacle is through the Outer Court, which represents the consciousness of man.
In the original Encampment of the children of Israel the Levites, or the Priesthood, occupied a position around the Tabernacle. Beyond them was the Encampment of the Twelve Tribes of the children of Israel. The Priesthood represented God to the people and represented the people to God. The Tabernacle itself provided a symbol of the means by which God and man are unified. Here was a reminder which apparently was not recognized for what it was—and did not in any adequate sense call to remembrance in the children of Israel what had been forgotten. That forgetfulness has persisted. When our Master came on earth He provided another reminder, which has also had little effect. If we examine the nature of the pattern as it was at the time of the children of Israel let us not see it merely as history, for the principles portrayed there are as true today as they were then. It is essential that we understand now what the application of those principles is at the present time. The application is different now to what it was then, even as it was different at the time when our Master was on earth to what it was with the children of Israel.
The tribes of the children of Israel in their Encampment represent for us the responding ones of the world: those who, consciously or unconsciously, have integrity toward the LORD. These are the children of Israel today. We may use other words to convey the same idea—the body of the Son of God and the children of Israel are, properly, the same thing; and insofar as the world today is concerned this body is composed of responding ones with integrity out of every kindred, nation, tongue and people. This is the Encampment of the Twelve Tribes. The word Jehovah indicates God in action on earth. The children of Israel are the means by which this action is made manifest on earth. Jehovah and the children of Israel represent the two aspects, positive and negative, of the reality of being—the inner and the outer, the invisible and the visible. Using other terms, we would say the Son of God and the body of the Son of God.
Those who begin to have a conscious recognition of the truth in this regard and who reveal the reality of integrity constitute the Priesthood, who provide representation of God to the people and the people to God. We may well be reminded of what occurred on the third day of creation, when God said, "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear." The waters symbolize the truth of the external aspect of the duality: Jehovah and the children of Israel—the Son of God and the body of the Son of God. The Twelve Tribes of the children of Israel represent the body of the Son of God. The Priesthood represent that body to God and God to that body. The Priesthood were the Thirteenth Tribe—relating to the true design which has never been allowed to operate as it should since man fell.
The water, the truth of the external manifestation, must be gathered unto one place. The water, the external truth, provides the setting for the manifestation of the spirit on earth. The gathering together of the waters brings again the setting by which Jehovah, the Son of God, may be revealed in action on earth. The waters, the truth in the external sense, indicate response and integrity. This is the real nature of man: responsive to God and revealing integrity. The gathering together of the response of those who have integrity throughout the whole world must be brought to one place—the point of focus represented by the Priesthood, those who are consciously in position to let this occur—the point which has position but no magnitude, that is beyond the comprehension of what is contained in the dimensional world.
When the waters are gathered together unto one place, then the dry land appears: the manifest form of the body of the Son of God begins to become apparent. We begin to become aware of what it is. It is understandable that when the waters are gathered unto one place the dry land is not immediately particularly dry; it's muddy, it's a mixture, so that the actual form itself cannot be clearly discerned. All that presently can be discerned in form relates to the mountain top, from which the water has drained for some little time. But there is also a consciousness from the standpoint of those who are on the mountain top of what it is that constitutes the body of the Encampment—the body of the Great Nation—those who are responsive to the spirit of God and who exemplify integrity. There are many such the world around. Through the Priesthood they are gathered unto the one place of the Encampment; and through the Priesthood the response may be lifted and brought into the Outer Court of the Tabernacle, the place of the consciousness of the body of the Son of God. The awakening of that consciousness is made possible through praise and thanksgiving—this is truly the gate to the Holy Place. This new spirit is represented by the Priesthood, revealed by the Priesthood, exemplified by the Priesthood, so that all who compose the body of the Son of God may be restored to the consciousness of praise and thanksgiving. This is far from the usual state in the consciousness of human beings, generally filled with turmoil and complaint; it is filled with fear and shame and guilt; it is filled with resentment and hate; and it seems, from this standpoint, to be the height of hypocrisy to allow the consciousness to be filled with praise and thanksgiving. Human beings say, "What is there to praise? What is there to be thankful for?" Nothing, if you look away from the Lord; nothing, if the Tabernacle remains invisible. The Tabernacle does remain invisible until it is approached through the Outer Court. There is no approach through the Outer Court without praise and thanksgiving.
There is a sense of thankfulness which wells up in men and women of integrity. That thankfulness relates to the very experience of integrity. If there is no experience in that regard a person may well say there is nothing to be thankful for, there is no reason for praise. But for those whose response is open to the spirit of God and who in their living exemplify integrity there wells up from within a sense of praise and thanksgiving which is not, initially at least, related particularly to external events but to the very experience of Life and Being. Because most people are so thoroughly mired in externals, response to the spirit of God is minimal and integrity falls by the wayside. There is then desolation indeed, and the core within such people, which should be the Holy Place, is a place of desolation. Insofar as they are concerned the abomination of desolation stands in the Holy Place. But where there is true response and integrity, praise and thanksgiving are natural. Such find again the Outer Court, with the Tabernacle in the midst. Praise ye the Lord in the spirit of thankfulness for the integrity which is sensed at the core of one's being. If there is no integrity sensed, there will be no experience of praise and thanksgiving. Those who deny and betray the reality of integrity within themselves classify themselves; those who are true to that integrity also classify themselves—not by what they say or believe in but by what they are in their own living. Nobody can fool the LORD.
Does a person need a lofty intellect to praise the LORD? to experience the spirit of thanksgiving? Usually the more intellect a person has the more reasons he has for not praising the LORD and for not experiencing a sense of thankfulness. He thinks he sees everything so clearly and it's awful! That is deep darkness; nothing is seen; it's all hallucination. But the world of God is not so; it springs into manifest expression through the facility which was designed to let it be so. As long as human beings have their backs to this facility it means nothing to them. But turning to see the voice which speaks on earth because the Priesthood begins to be present on earth, the Encampment of the true Israelites begins to be unveiled—with the Priesthood at the core, camped round about the Tabernacle. It becomes possible once more to enter into the Outer Court with praise and thanksgiving. When the consciousness begins to be permeated by this quality, the reality of the Tabernacle becomes evident. The consciousness of the body of the Son of God is brought into the Outer Court, gathered into one place by those who provide the facility for so doing—the Priesthood, into whose hands this responsibility has been placed because they have become consciously aware of it.
This morning, having breath, the Spirit of Life, praise ye the LORD! Provide the focus of thanksgiving for responding men and women of integrity the world around. Here is our service in this one place, one place for us and for many others in this new state of consciousness, which is not limited, certainly, to our experience here but is shared in by those who have accepted the responsibility of the Priesthood wherever they may be. It is still one place, the same state of consciousness, characterized primarily by praise and thanksgiving. Glory to God in the highest. What an excellent opportunity is offered to let it all be brought to focus in the Outer Court of the Tabernacle, preparatory to bringing it before the Lord in the Holy Place. There is no entrance into the Holy Place except through the Outer Court, and the Outer Court only provides the Open Gate when there is a consciousness of praise and thanksgiving.Praise ye the LORD!
The Holy Place
Martin Cecil December 24, 1972 p.m.
There is a Holy Place for the world and there is a Holy Place available to the experience of each individual. Individually speaking, to be a part of this Great Nation, that Holy Place must be known by those who compose it in the individual sense. There is a Holy Place for the world into which all do not enter. The Priesthood rightly enter and minister in and from the Holy Place, but the great mass of the True Nation do not come in. All that is needful insofar as they are concerned is to know the Holy Place within themselves, individually speaking, and share in the ministry of the Priesthood who represent God to them and them to God. Mention has been made of the mountain peak. From this mountain peak the true ministry extends—the Glory of the LORD fills the Tabernacle and shines round about. It extends into the Whole Nation, into the whole earth. But the means by which the atmosphere of holiness is known on earth is through the very specific design which was established in the beginning and still remains to this day. To be meaningful this design must be activated within the experience of mankind, and it is only activated by people. There is no other means on the face of the earth by which the spirit of God may be active in this very specific creative sense—it is activated through man. If there are no men and women on earth to let it be activated on earth, it is not activated within the experience of human beings and within the experience of the realm for which they carry responsibility.
An essential element in the design is the Holy Place. We mentioned the Outer Court and the Encampment; all these are necessarily present. There is a physical form to mankind and that physical form includes a consciousness, a capacity for something. To allow the fulfilling of that capacity the gate must be opened to the Holy Place, because out of the Holy Place come the essential qualities which fill the consciousness of man, shining through his physical form round about. The requirement in relationship to that consciousness, if the gate is to be opened, is the attitude of praise and thanksgiving—without that the door is shut. When this essential requirement is present the gate begins to swing wide so that what is inherent in the character of God may begin to fill the capacity for character in man. When praise and thanksgiving are present in the consciousness of the individual, then it is natural to accept and rejoice in the true qualities and characteristics of being: the spirit of God. These are found in the Holy Place; consequently there must be a Holy Place if they are to be found. There must be a Holy Place in the individual if he is to find himself in the truth of his own being—and that Holy Place cannot be discovered by any external means. What is required is to make available the right setting—to be born of water—so that the setting of praise and thanksgiving and openness of response, and, above all, of integrity, may be available for the outpouring of the spirit, the outpouring of the individuals' own character. This is the discovery to be made. He can't find it by shopping around in the external sense. Only those who turn away from the shops because their integrity impels them to do so may come again into the Outer Court which surrounds the Tabernacle and, coming there, become aware of the Tabernacle itself, of the fact that there is a door through which entrance may be made—because of the attitude of praise and thanksgiving. The awareness begins to permeate the consciousness that there is something present now with oneself, with each individual, that is not discernible in an external sense but which nevertheless is known to be of supreme value—what is present because of the Holy Place.
The Holy Place does not originate what is present in it, but what is present in the Holy Place would not be present without the Holy Place. The attitude of holiness must be present in a person, maintained there because he has integrity, a place in himself that he would never allow to be violated under any circumstances. It is a place into which others, in the general sense, may not enter, just as in the Holy Place in the Tabernacle in the overall sense, only the Priesthood minister there. It is the place of purity, the place from which springs all that is beautiful, all that is creative, all that is worthwhile. The Holy Place adjoins what was called the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle, another place behind the veil. That is the place from which springs the treasure to be found when there is a Holy Place in the individual's experience and when there is a place kept holy because there is a true Priesthood—a place kept holy for the world. The true Holy Place has been long absent from the face of the earth. There has been an endeavor to substitute a distorted Outer Court for the Holy Place—the consciousness of man. It was thought that this could be developed, increased in capacity, made to be supremely meaningful, to rule the world. All it has done has been to bring chaos and tragedy to the children of men.
We are concerned to come again to the Holy Place, that there may be a Holy Place for the world. Without it, what is there? A very bleak future, to say the least. But through the Holy Place may spring forth the creative power of God—God in action on earth, Jehovah, the Son of God. Those who begin to become conscious of these things—and we must necessarily speak of them in parables or in symbols—have the responsibility of maintaining the reality on earth. The Holy Place cannot be here in any meaningful sense until there is a Priesthood to administer what springs forth by reason of the Holy Place. It could spring forth forever without effect if there was nobody on hand to administer it. So here we are, knowing where the LORD is to be found—through the Holy Place, presenting ourselves to the LORD that we may, with others, play our part in the service of the Holy Place, bring again the vessels which have long been in disuse or been subject to misuse, that the true service may be rendered through them once more. As we all surely know, those vessels are thought and words and deeds, the vessels which become meaningful when they are filled with the Oil of Love, the Truth of Love, the Creative Fire.
How recklessly human beings allow thoughts and words and deeds to find expression. Is it any wonder that the beautiful world of God has been wrecked? Yet the creative power of God is present; the Holy Place is available the very moment that there is a Priesthood to enter in. They enter in through the gate of praise and thanksgiving, bearing the vessels of the Tabernacle for use in the Holy Place. If you come into the Holy Place you bring with you your thought processes, your ability to speak and to act. Fortunately the Holy Place is self-cleansing, so that those who bring defilement with them are shortly ejected by their own attitudes and actions. There have been many who have approached the Holy Place only to find themselves ejected. All down through the ages it has been done, so that it has remained empty, unknown, insofar as the world is concerned. It only becomes known when there is a Priesthood who represent God to the people and the people to God, when the holiness of the Holy Place is made evident through the Priesthood. That holiness is made evident by reason of thought, word and act.
If we approach the Holy Place, let us remember that we come bearing these vessels of the Temple, and let us remember that we have heretofore been receivers of stolen goods. The vessels of the Temple are for the LORD's use, filled solely with His spirit, with His character, with the qualities of His being, and consequently under His control and brought forth in the true design. When this is so, the Shekinah fills the Tabernacle and shines round about. Here is the creative power of God once again present and working through man on earth—not through all mankind, certainly, but through those who represent God to the people, that the people may rejoice and themselves partake of the character of God, and live. Those who refuse, die. What all this means in the experience of the world remains to be seen and to be experienced, which occurs as there is the Priesthood ministering in the Holy Place. In the atmosphere of holiness we may share the thoughts and the words and the actions which are fitting in the Holy Place, coming into position to allow what is present in the Holy of Holies to shine forth unhindered because it may be received into the Holy Place—there is someone present to receive it. To the extent that there is a Holy Place occupied by the Priesthood, then the apex experience may come as it relates to the Holy of Holies, not that there is an entering into the Holy of Holies but that what is present by reason of the Holy of Holies may be the experience in the Holy Place. It is so as there are those with integrity, filled with praise and thanksgiving to the LORD, bringing the openness of yielded response and the clarity of thought, word and act in living into the Holy Place. Glory to God in the highest!
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The Holy of Holies
Martin Cecil December 25, 1972 a.m.
In the story told in the Book of Job, "There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them." Satan is the self-centered, self-willed consciousness of man. The self-centeredness and the self-will of man is what impels him to do what he does. In that day long ago, it is said that Job was a perfect and an upright man who feared God and eschewed evil. There was, however, evidently a weakness in the hedge about him. Because of whatever weaknesses there were in Job's hedge Satan was able to enter in, bringing disaster. Because the Holy Place was not maintained by those who were responsible for it the hedge was breached. The self-centered, self-willed consciousness of man, Satan, the adversary, took command of the situation temporarily and there was disaster and tragedy. As I welcome you to the Holy Place this morning as the sons and daughters of God the question arises as to whether Satan comes with you, whether there is anything remaining in your consciousness which is in agreement with the self-centered, self-willed state. At that time, because there was a weakness in the hedge, what Satan had to say necessarily had to be listened to. This morning I trust that we may ignore anything that he may have to say, but relinquishing this state of consciousness in favor of praise and thanksgiving to God, Satan may be ignored—certainly not agreed with. Because our agreement is with the Lord in the Holy Place we may come before the veil which connects the Holy Place with the Holy of Holies.
I welcome you to the Holy Place on this Christmas morning 1972. In the story told in the Book of Job long ago, “There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and satan came also among them.” Satan is the self-centered, self-willed consciousness of man. The self-centeredness and the self-will of the consciousness of man is what impels him to do what he does. Satan is certainly not an unknown quantity in the world as it is in this day and hour, for here is the compulsion which drives men to do what they do. In that day long ago, it is said that Job was a perfect and an upright man who feared God and eschewed evil. There was, however, evidently a weakness in the hedge about him. One of the evidences of this weakness was indicated at the point when his wife suggested that he curse God and die; she was not in agreement with him. Because of whatever weaknesses there were in Job’s hedge, satan was able to enter in, bringing disaster, because the Holy Place was not maintained by those who were responsible for it. The hedge was breached. The self-centered, self-willed consciousness of man—satan, the adversary—took command of the situation temporarily and, as I say, there was disaster and tragedy.
As I welcome you to the Holy Place this morning as the sons and daughters of God, the question arises as to whether satan comes with you, whether there is anything remaining in your consciousness which is in agreement with the self-centered, self-willed state. At that time, because there was a weakness in the hedge, what satan had to say necessarily had to be listened to. This morning I trust that we may ignore anything that he might have to say. He has many specious arguments to maintain his position in those who are self-willed and self-centered; but relinquishing this state of consciousness in favor of praise and thanksgiving to God, satan may be ignored—certainly not agreed with—because our agreement is with the LORD.
In the Holy Place we may come before the veil which connects the Holy Place with the Holy of Holies. To you this morning I represent that most Holy Place. And remember that only the High Priest enters therein. But the High Priest—whoever he may be at any particular time in the unfoldment of the creative purposes of God—represents the LORD to the Priesthood and represents the Priesthood to the LORD. The High Priest and the Priesthood represent the LORD to the people and the people to the LORD—these are the people of the encampment. The High Priest, the Priesthood and the people of the encampment represent the LORD to the world and the world to the LORD. Here is a first recognition of a certain detail to the pattern of representation. There is an intricacy to it, in one sense, requiring each individual to be faithful and true, maintaining integrity in his or her particular place in the overall design.
In this pattern of representation, over the last few days, we have moved out of the encampment into the Outer Court, and through the Outer Court into the Holy Place, to provide the setting in the Holy Place for the spirit of the living God. That spirit is represented to you this morning by the spirit of the words which I speak, that you may know that the Holy Place is a reality because of the reality on earth of the Holy of Holies. All that is essential to every human being on the face of the earth springs from the Holy of Holies. To deny this truth is to die. Because the children of men, in their self-centeredness and self-will, have been persistently denying this truth, and betraying the LORD in consequence, they have died—and the whole world moves to the point of death. Death to what? To self-centeredness and self-will. If a person is identified with this, a dupe of satan, then it is death to that person. But if the Priesthood is present on earth in right relationship to the High Priest, then the door is opened to life. There is life for the world. There is a future for the world on this basis. Those who indulge in self-will and self-centeredness take the attitude so often described by the words, “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” That's true, of course, for those who indulge in such fantasy. Death is the chosen course, but only by reason of their own attitudes, by reason of their own decisions—for the LORD has ordained life. This is a world of life. This is a world uniquely created to reveal the Glory of Life in all its fulness. What remarkable variety there is on earth for this purpose even now, even now after all these thousands of years of human self-centeredness and self-will.
So we stand again in the Holy Place, aware of the reality of life, life which is revealed by the Cloud of Glory of the Shekinah Pattern. The Cloud of Glory emanates from the Holy of Holies because therein is the Light That Glows and the Fire That Burns—the source and the origination of everything that is required for the manifestation of life at every level on earth through mineral, vegetable, animal and man. But man holds the key to life or death. Assuming the posture of ignorant self-centeredness and self-will, he dies, and he takes his world with him.
Acknowledging again the reality of life as represented by the Priesthood and the High Priest, the experience of what has been called the resurrection immediately applies. There are two ways: the broad way in which human beings have been treading recklessly for centuries, and the narrow way, the way of integrity, the way of honor and honesty, the way of beauty and meaning, the Way of Life. Out of the Holy of Holies the Word is spoken through the Priesthood, “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve: If the Lord be God then serve Him, but if Baal, Satan, self-centeredness, then serve him.” Every human being on the face of the earth must make this choice. This choice has been made in every generation all down through the ages, but now we come to the time of culmination when the whole stupid mess of self-centeredness may be swept from the face of the earth. This occurs by reason of the creative power of God, not by any mighty effort of man, whose sole effort is the digging of his own grave.
This is Christmas morning. This year, as never before, the unfoldment of what has been occurring during this weekend of Christmas has been placed in my hands, so that the spiritual aspects of Christmas might dominate. Heretofore, the material aspects have tended to dominate. Because it has been in my hands, and because there has been the openness of response that has appeared, because of whatever measure of integrity is present, we have moved to this hour. We have moved to stand before the veil, a place of trembling, and yet a place longed for in the hearts of those whose response and integrity brings them to that place.
The veil connects the Holy of Holies with the Holy Place. It is not a veil of separation. It is a veil that is rightly there, impenetrable to all but the High Priest, and no one with integrity would ever seek to tear it aside. It is of the quality that allows what is present in the Holy of Holies to shine forth into the Holy Place, so that the Holy Place may be the place of the experience of what originates in the Holy of Holies. The setting of holiness is maintained that it might be so, that the birth of water and of the spirit might be the constant experience. As this hedge is maintained to preserve the holiness of the Holy Place the creative power of God becomes increasingly evident, shining forth as the veil into the Holy Place, through the Priesthood, into the Outer Court, where the consciousness of those who occupy the encampment comes to focus in praise and thanksgiving. The Glory of the LORD fills the Temple, the Tabernacle, the Outer Court, the Encampment, and shines round about. There is nothing on earth that can contend with the power of God when it is made manifest in this fashion. The world is inevitably restored—and man comes again into his place, made in the image and likeness of God, walking upright and perfectly on earth, fearing God and eschewing evil. Behold, all things are thereby made new. The world becomes again a world of life and not a world of death, the world of God and not the world of satan.
Lift up your hearts and eyes in this hour in praise and thanksgiving to God in the consciousness of the quality and the character of God, which is your own, and in the awareness of the Lord God in the Holy Place, in the midst. As the LORD Himself said when He was on earth, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name”—in the consciousness of me—“there I am in the midst of them.” So it is in this hour. So it is in every hour when there are men and women of integrity who stand in that integrity revealing the truth of themselves in the expression of the Glory of Life on earth. That Glory of Life made manifest is the Cloud of Glory of the Shekinah. Behold, in this hour, of this Christmas morning, so it is established, to you, and through you, and all those of integrity who share the responsibility of the Priesthood of God on earth today.
O LORD, I am present before this company this morning representing Thee. To this end, I am present on earth in this physical form, in this place, at this time. My word spoken in the current of Thy Spirit in this hour, has been brought forth by reason of those of integrity and open response, who are present in person or in spirit. I am thankful for these blessed ones who make all this possible, that what is yet to come may continue to unfold with certainty and power in the hours and days to come.
I am Thy servant; and these are Thy servants. Let them prove the truth of my words in the future, that it may be known on earth that Thou art the LORD, that Thy Will is done, that the reality of life comes again in the fullness of true expression because there are those who have accepted the responsibility of letting it be so; those who are no longer moved in any way by satan, by self-centered self-will, but are moved only by Thy spirit, that through Thy spirit, according to Thy Word, all things are made new. Glory to Thee, O LORD, in the highest expression of our living on earth, now and always. Aumen.
The Tabernacle #1
Martin Cecil December 31, 1972
We may choose to let a change come in any moment. We do not have to continue to base our living upon the results of our past living. We are at a point in any moment when we may, if we will, allow something to be introduced into the world that is not merely a reflection of what is present with us now—in other words of what came out of the past—but is something new, a new seed to be sown, a right seed to be sown, which each one as an individual is alone capable of sowing, and a seed that has never been brought into the world before. This is really our purpose when we are in our right minds.
Recently I have touched again upon the story of Job—one description of him was that he was "the greatest of all the men of the east." Let us not suppose that this merely means that he was a prominent Oriental! The Garden was originally planted eastward in Eden. The place of man is, rightly, in the present moment, allowing what is coming out of the east, out of the future, or to put it another way, down from God out of heaven, to be introduced into the earth. This is his place and purpose: to provide the facility by which what is coming out of the invisible realm may be introduced and given form on earth. If this were done correctly the earth would be a heavenly place. Unfortunately, it seems that most have forgotten that this was even possible. What should be appearing on earth should not merely be the result of what happened in the past but the evidence of what is putting in an appearance in the present out of the future.
Job evidently occupied the primary position at his time in this true process: he was the greatest of the men of the east; he was the greatest of those who had assumed the responsibility for allowing what was coming out of the east, out of the invisible future, to be given form and expression in the present on earth. It could be said that he was in the position at that time of the High Priest.
There is more to us than the flesh, and the more to us than the flesh is invisible and indefinable, although we may talk about it in words. There are those who speak of the Father within. We have made mention of the God Being. Nowadays this is often described as the true identity. The question is as to who is saying that, because if it is a false human ego, then the false human ego can never find the true identity. Only a real person can experience a real person. But if we want to talk about these things, which may be helpful, to start with at least, we may say that within the physical form there is a true identity; there is a true being there and, in fact, the flesh has potential meaning only because of this.
Because this is present, there is a flesh body which otherwise wouldn't exist. The elements of it wouldn't have been brought together and allowed to appear in the physical form if it wasn't for this invisible being or invisible identity that is present. Because the flesh has been brought together in the physical form, that physical form has a consciousness; there is a mind. However when this mind becomes predominant and assumes an importance which it does not really have, then of course whatever the reality may be is obscured and the individual assumes that he is the flesh entity. This is the self-centered, self-willed state and as long as it exists in a person it may truly be said that he doesn't know who he is.
However, in view of the fact that the reality is present, the potential of change is present too, so that there may be an awakening to the truth of oneself. It isn't a false self trying to become a real self; it is simply an awakening to the reality which one is. Now this awakening is essential if a person is to be in position to allow what is coming down from God out of heaven to be introduced into the earth. As long as he is merely involved with the flesh identity this cannot happen; he remains in a confused and uncomfortable state.
Now, who is going to awaken, or by what means is this awakening to occur? Only those are capable of so awakening who have some experience of integrity in their living in the sleeping state. Not because they have been trying to do so but because it is the natural experience. This is based in something that is already in operation in the person, not something that can be instilled from the outside.
As there are those who awaken there begins to be present on earth what we have referred to as the Priesthood. The experience of Priesthood is not an earthly experience in the sense that one could be externally trained and ordained in some fashion to be a priest. The Priesthood is the experience of the truth of oneself and begins to allow the facility that is needed on earth by which what is coming down from God out of heaven may be introduced into the world. This is the answer to all the so-called problems of humanity.
From the standpoint of those who begin to awaken, the need is to find those who have sufficient integrity to become aware of the truth. The need is not to convert the world to some sort of religion or philosophy or way of life; the need is simply to seek those who will awaken, that there may be a Priesthood, so that there may be the facility by which what comes down from God out of heaven may be introduced into the world. In that seeking it may be that there is a need to sift a very great number of people. There must be those awakened ones who are in position to do what is necessary to allow what is coming down from God out of heaven to be introduced into the world. When that can be done, everything else takes care of itself, because what is being introduced in this fashion is far more powerful, far more effective, in a sense far more overwhelming, than the pallid reflection of those things that are already in the world that is the usual function of human beings. Then all that results from self-will and self-centeredness may be dissipated.
The only reason why there is a need for those who discover their true identity is that they may function in this design of the Priesthood. Let us look at this in a little different way. Supposing that somewhere in some unexplored part of the world, maybe up in the mountains somewhere, there was a Temple, a beautiful structure built in ancient times, but a building that had not deteriorated at all over the years. It was still the way it originally was, with all the furnishings in it, everything needful for whatever the Temple Service might have been. But seeing that it was lost to human beings—there was no one there; there had been no one there for a long time—the fact that it existed would mean nothing to the population of the world. Here is a building without anyone: it is meaningless because there is no one there. The only way that that temple could become meaningful would be for a priesthood to come into it again with an awareness of how to handle what was present in the temple for the creative purpose of the Temple.
The fact of the matter is that there is such a Temple—we have called it the Tabernacle—but it is not hidden away in the mountains somewhere. It isn't a physical structure; it is a vibrational or a spiritual structure, just as fresh and new and perfect as it has ever been, just as surely present on earth as it ever was, but lacking real people—the Priesthood, in other words—present in it to operate the undertaking. Consequently it has been meaningless; it has been lost and assumed not to exist. Now this same picture is portrayed in the story in the Book of Genesis about the fall, when man put himself out of the Garden. The Garden is still there, but he put himself out, so then he assumes that there isn't any more Garden. The point is that the Garden, the Tabernacle, is still present, but it can only be handled by true people.
Only the Priesthood can enter into the Tabernacle, into the Holy Place; therefore for the Holy Place to be known there must be a Priesthood to enter in. As a Priesthood begins to appear, then those who are the Priesthood become aware of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of God which is with men. The Tabernacle of God is with men, but nobody knows it. Why don't they know it? Because they are not experiencing the Priesthood. The Priesthood enter into the Tabernacle; they know it's there.
Now again we are using these words Priesthood and Tabernacle to describe something which is indescribable, something which must come to be known. It comes to be known because one is restored, awakened, to one's own reality, one's own true identity, so that there is an awareness, "I am present in the flesh. I am present in my mind, in my consciousness. I am present so that I may convey, introduce, what is in every moment coming out of the east into the world." But we don't do it alone; we do it because the facility is here. The facility described by the word Tabernacle is present, vibrationally present; it has never been absent, but there is something to be done in the Tabernacle by those whom we have been calling the Priesthood, those who have awakened to the truth of themselves. But we can't consider what it is that needs to be done with people who are asleep; it wouldn't be very successful, would it? There must be those who are awake to the truth of themselves, otherwise there is nothing to be said.
So we have this opportunity. Everyone has it but not everyone is sufficiently aware of their integrity to let it be meaningful. We seek those who are, that there may be present on earth the Angels of God in the flesh serving in the Tabernacle, serving vibrationally but in the flesh. Because it is this way, then what is vibrational, what is spiritual, what is heavenly, may take form. When the facility is present by which this may occur there is nothing that can stop it. As it happens in the world, of course those who try to stop it get pushed out of the world; there is less and less space in the world for them. We are looking for those whose integrity is absolute and who therefore can be trusted to provide what they are here to provide in letting what comes out of the east be brought on earth—the true blessing, the true manifestation of heaven, whatever heaven is. We need to find out what these things are by experiencing them. It's the only way we can find out.
The Tabernacle #2
Martin Cecil December 31, 1972 p.m.
"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." The Tabernacle of God is with men. There has never been a time in all the ages past when it was not so, but somewhere along the way someone needs to behold it. The Tabernacle of God is with men; the dwelling place of God is with men, not separate from men.
The Tabernacle of God is the invisible, spiritual facility by which God can be with men in His creative capacity. The concern then is, rightly, to come again into a consciousness, an awareness, of the Tabernacle of God that is with men, because here is the means by which God's dominion is established on earth, the means by which the unholy mess that humans in their state of separation from God have produced can be cleared. There is no means by which that mess can be cleared other than this. There is one way. "Not by might, nor by power"—not by physical effort, not by mental effort—"but by my spirit, saith the Lord." It is by the working of the spirit of God that we may allow the creative expression of true being to appear on earth, making all things new.
The fact that the Tabernacle of God is with men means nothing until there are some men on hand who know it and who are in position to serve in it, to know what the purpose is and to participate in that creative purpose. In view of the fact that this facility is invisible and spiritual, material man knows nothing about it. Only those who are, in that sense, invisible and spiritual can enter in. True identity, individual identity, is invisible and spiritual. The experience of the truth of being only comes as there is an emergence out of the self-centered, self-willed state which is the common experience of every human being on the face of the earth.
So, we come again to the Tabernacle of God, letting the wakeful experience be restored, so that, becoming aware of the truth of ourselves, we may at the same time become aware of the truth of the Tabernacle of God which is with men. The tabernacle of old was in the midst of the encampment of the Israelites, and the Levites, or the Priesthood, were camped immediately around the Tabernacle; they were the Thirteenth Tribe. The Tabernacle itself consisted of an Outer Court, a Holy Place, and a Holy of Holies. Those who awaken to the truth of themselves and become conscious of the reality of the Tabernacle are the Priesthood. Their place of responsibility is in the Holy Place. Those who are capable of functioning in the Holy Place can also function in the Outer Court, which represents the human mind; and they are also capable of functioning in the Encampment, which represents the physical realm. Those who do so awaken are more keenly aware of the fact of their own integrity and the responsibility that is consequently carried with respect to daily living. In the ordinary course of events, when people think about responsibility they think of it with respect to external circumstance. Obviously there are responsibilities in that regard, but the responsibility which relates to integrity is an internal thing; it is responsibility for oneself, responsibility for one's own attitude, for the spirit of one's own expression; responsibility, we could say, to be right in the invisible spiritual identity, to be true to that, to be true to the qualities which are inherent in that identity, and this regardless of circumstance. It doesn't really matter what the circumstance is, because one's responsibility remains the same in relationship to it: to express and to reveal the qualities of the truth of one's own being.
Now something new is going to be introduced: action, not reaction; something coming down from God out of heaven—the qualities, the characteristics, of one's own true being expressed into whatever the circumstance is. The circumstance no longer dictates to the individual what his attitude is going to be. The dominion begins to be in the hands of the reality of being instead of in the hands of the external environment. This makes possible the awareness of the reality of the Tabernacle of God, and the service in that Tabernacle begins to be understood. Now, that service relates to one's own particular environment. It is not separate from the environment, it is not separate from the circumstance, but it is uncontrolled by the environment and the circumstance. It emerges out of the tabernacle of God. What is done in the Tabernacle of God will be done in the Outer Court and will be done in the Encampment.
Now one of the most important aspects in the expression of the truth of oneself is to keep inviolate the Holy of Holies. Only those who are holy, who have been restored to wholeness in the awareness of the truth of themselves, in the expression of the truth of themselves, may serve in the Holy Place, and a primary attitude in the Holy Place is to make sure that nothing ever violates the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies is the place of the LORD on earth. Again, it is an invisible spiritual place; it is not some spot that one could find here or there. "Ye shall not say, Lo here! or, lo there! The Kingdom of God is within you." It relates to the truth of your own being, and to keep your integrity is found to mean that you keep inviolate the place of the LORD on earth. You may remember that in the Tabernacle of old there was a veil between the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place, a veil that was said to have been rent at the time of our Master's crucifixion. It was rent in the sense that it need not provide a barrier anymore between God and people.
The High Priest enters the Holy of Holies alone. The hedge relates to the Holy Place and to those who properly occupy it. There is a hedge about the Holy of Holies, so that nothing is ever permitted to enter that would defile or work abomination or make a lie. Now how can you stop those things entering? Simply because they do not enter into you; they do not enter into the truth of the individual's own being. When you know yourself there is no more defiling, no more working abomination or making lies. But until a person comes to the point of this awakening to himself he cannot help but defile and work abomination and make lies. This state of affairs is reflected in the world everywhere. It is an abomination, simply because the tabernacle of God, though with men, has remained unknown.
Finally, there are those who begin to awaken again to the truth of their own being, that there may be present a Priesthood to minister in the Holy Place, in the Tabernacle of God that is with men. This does not remove these, who are living in the flesh on earth, from the world. There was no prayer, ever, that those who function correctly should be taken out of the world, but that they should be kept from the evil. What is the evil? The self-centered, self-willed state—that is the evil; and the world reflects the evil which man has accepted in the expression of himself. That evil is there even though he tries to be good. Only when there is an awakening to the truth of one's own being is it possible to be delivered from the evil. No matter how one tries or struggles, no matter what techniques one may use, and there are many in the world, it is impossible to emerge out of the evil. Only by remembering, awakening, may it be done—remembering who one is, the truth of oneself, the reality of being made in the image and likeness of God, a Priest after the Order of Melchizedek, who in his day was the High Priest, a Priest in the Tabernacle of God, ministering on earth in the Holy place, with the primary attitude of protection, enfoldment, care, of the Holy of Holies. Most human beings think of care and protection as related to themselves. "That is primary," they say. "We must take care of ourselves." Self-centeredness! The true attitude is first to take care of the place of the LORD on earth, so that nothing that defiles or works abomination or makes a lie is ever allowed to approach the Holy of Holies.
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all," everything! The First Great Commandment. Human beings fuss about what they imagine the second to be: "Oh we have got to love our neighbor as ourselves. We have got to have the brotherhood of man by some magic means." How about the first commandment? Unless that is first there isn't any second. Trying to put the second first simply doesn't work. Coming again into a consciousness of the truth of oneself, then it is natural to love the Lord thy God and to provide what is necessary of enfoldment and protection, so that there is a place on earth where He can be. That was one of the problems, wasn't it, when He came on earth. He said, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head," no place on earth anywhere. It proved out that way, didn't it? There was no place of safety on earth because human beings were intent about their self-centered ways, and they have not changed since that time. It is exactly the same thing now as it was then. However there are some who are beginning to awaken. There were very few when He was on earth, very few who kept their integrity. There was only one of His disciples who entered into the palace of the High Priest after the Master was arrested. Where were all the others? They had forsaken Him.
Where are those with integrity who will permit, because of their awakening to the truth of being, the establishment on earth of a safe place for the LORD? It takes those who are restored to a consciousness of the truth of being to allow a safe place to be established. Now most people give no thought to it; they follow out their good ideas in the world, all the things that are going to make the world a better place for human beings. How about making it a safe place for the LORD? When that is the sole concern, then the Tabernacle is known once again, the true ministry is established in the Tabernacle, the creative power of God is on earth and all things are made new, whether anyone likes it or not. To be sure, most people don't like it, because it interferes with what they want to do; it interferes with their self-willed self-centeredness. People have it all set up nowadays as to what the good life should be; they think they know and they try to make it be that way.
Let God do it, do what is right, do what should be done; not what human beings think should be done by reason of all their knowledge about everything under the sun while at the same time remaining abysmally ignorant, not knowing anything except perhaps that momentarily they are still alive. But the truth of being? Who cares? We do, I trust, and there are others the world around who do because basically they have integrity; it has not been totally covered up. So there are those who are capable of awakening, and these are the hope of the world—not of the world of man but of the world of God.
