The Lord Rebuke Thee

The  Lord  Rebuke  Thee

from  Assembly — Sunrise Ranch

Martin Exeter   July 29, 1980

The archangel disputes with the devil over the body of mankind, not by railing accusation but by rebuke. It is the body of mankind that is in question, finally. Heretofore it has been the devil’s domain. The identity of mankind has been that of human nature. But now there is a question, finally. The real alternative—the only one, incidentally—becomes evident, not to the body of mankind necessarily, at the moment, but to those who are associated with this alternative, which is the Way, the one Way.
 

We see the exactness, the intelligence of the Lord in making use of what is moving in the hearts of human beings when they are somewhat open to His spirit. There is a setting on this continent particularly (which didn’t arrive from nowhere either) in which the good seed may grow. Most have not seen this or understood it—how could they? It has only become possible to comprehend it as the seed began to grow.

The inalienable rights of man, male and female presumably, are enshrined in the Constitution of the United States—life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Because human beings are self-centered, they usually look at these things from that standpoint. We need to have life to get the fuller experience of it for ourselves, if we have the self-centered approach. Also, there is the endeavor to have liberty and to pursue happiness.
 

But these particular words, which have been rather thoroughly mistranslated, can convey the truth if we translate the spirit correctly which was back of them. Life, we know, is something to be expressed, to be given: “I am come that they might have life, and...have it more abundantly.” We reduce life by trying to increase it for our own benefit. The reality of life becomes known when we express it, when our attitude could be said to be one of giving. Aligned with the Lord, we are here to increase life—not for ourselves, but for the experience of the body of the Son of God on earth.

Liberty has something to do with the truth. So there is the spirit of life, the spirit of truth, enshrined in the Constitution. It’s not a matter of getting liberty, getting freedom, but of expressing the truth. Then there is the experience of freedom. Here again is something being given, something outgoing.
 

When people consider the matter of the pursuit of happiness, they see themselves running after it to try to catch up with it. But exactly those same words could be used in the reversed sense: Happiness may be pursuing human beings. It’s hot on the heels of human beings, if they weren’t so busy running away from it. The word “happiness” surely has a relatedness in consciousness to love. There is no happiness without love. So the spirit of love is included here, not as something to be gotten or to be experienced for oneself but to be offered, to be given, to flow, that we may provide a means by which human beings may be pursued by it. Once a person stops pursuing happiness and turns around, he finds that love is pursuing him, or her.

So here was a setting provided to make possible the expression of the Archangel on earth.

That expression would become possible to the extent that there were individuals awakening to an awareness of the spirit of love, truth and life. Now of course, this setting is brought to a particular focus in the United States, but it is not excluded from other places. It may be, and is, present in other geographical places on the face of the earth in somewhat different ways. There is the necessity of adjusting to the geographical position, the political situation, etc., in the way that we handle our own affairs. We handle them one way here in the United States, a little different in Canada—not much. But you go to some other countries and it’s quite different. The Lord is very ingenious—He can use most any situation.

But we see how the devil’s control hardens as one moves away from the setting where the true experience described by the words “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” is present. We have various areas on the face of the earth where the devil’s rule is much more evident; and he is not excluded from other areas on the face of the earth—certainly he is present right here. But the opportunity, the setting which opens the way most easily for human awakening and the actual experience of people of the spirit of God in action is obviously more in some places than in others. We are richly blessed, because we live in a place on the face of the earth where it is the easiest place possible, amidst the devil’s wiles. Woe unto us and others if we do not take advantage of it. 

Something has begun to emerge so that right translation could begin to be made of spirit, and we have shared in whatever measure in this. I think we have been a bit flabby. We haven’t really been on the ball because of this idea that, well, it’s all right anyway. We may begin to see that it certainly isn’t all right insofar as the vast majority of the population of the earth is concerned. The Western cult has tended to insulate those who belong to it from the rest of the world. There was a wall around, and you could hear a few faint cries the other side. We ourselves see that what has been done has been done on the basis of the human nature approach and therefore isn’t really capable of changing anything very much. It may alleviate some suffering here or there, but then it increases someplace else. Chickens have a habit of coming home to roost, one way or another.
 

So we have seen more clearly our own responsibility, and we are aware that only in the assumption of that responsibility do we come out of the cult state. I think maybe it would be more descriptive, more understandable, if the fallen state was referred to as the cult state, because that is exactly what it is. And while there are many people who have attempted and do attempt to place what we are about in the cult category—and those people were not only the ones who were disassociated from what we were about, but some of those who were supposed to be associated with it, because every refusal to accept responsibility is a determination to establish a cult. And we, in our experience, have found at times this endeavor to be strong—I know I have—that people have been trying to make a cult out of what we are doing. Those who are associated with it, let alone those who were beyond it.
 

That would defeat, of course, what we are here to do—which can only be done on the basis of the fact that all concerned have come to the point where they are capable of taking spiritual responsibility in their own living. And this does not scatter people abroad, of course, because taking spiritual responsibility reveals the fact that we are all part of one body, and we all take responsibility in that one body, just as all the parts of our body, most of the time, take responsibility for what they are supposed to be doing. If the parts of our body didn’t, how long would we last? And if one part of the body said, “Well, I’m tired of doing this; I would prefer to do whatever it is some other part of the body is doing,” and if everybody wanted to be the heart, where would the body be? Dead.

 

So taking responsibility brings us into position in the body, not because somebody said, “That’s your position—go into it,” but because we ourselves took responsibility and found that that was so. And when we actually do that, we can never duck out. There’s been a great deal of ducking out, one way or another. It’s sometimes been dressed up in pretty clothes. Sometimes it’s been described in terms of “Well, it’s an increased ministry that I’m going to be doing,” but in all too many cases it wasn’t that at all. The individual was still deceived, still ducking out from taking actual responsibility rather than imaginary responsibility, because the imaginary responsibility is usually someplace else, isn’t it? It may also be close at hand, when there are “ifs” in the situation: “If such-and-such was the case, then right here I could really serve.” Well, we accept spiritual responsibility and it doesn’t matter where we are.
 

Accepting spiritual responsibility, we may find that we move from here to there. In the cult state, some people consider themselves to be homebodies; others are trippers. We are not interested in the cult state, so it doesn’t depend upon the human nature background, the earthly hereditary, as to what we do at all. The Lord may use earthly hereditary to advantage on occasion, yes, and presumably we emerged out of whatever our earthly hereditary is so that we might do what we are required to do now. And that, in fact, never has been any hindrance. It only became a hindrance if we made it so ourselves. From the Lord’s standpoint, it prepared everything just perfectly: “Come along! This is the way it is set up!” And if we move with it, we find that that is just perfect. But if we keep bucking it, of course, we remain in bondage.

But now we begin to see the spirit behind the words of that Constitution as the inalienable rights of man. That is righteousness—not something that can be claimed humanly speaking, but something that is known when it is expressed, and that is righteousness. When life, truth, love characterize our expression, that expression is righteous. And we know the reality of life, of course, then, and freedom and happiness—not because we pursued it but because it caught up with us. Then we share it.
 

But now we see in the larger picture in the world how the devil has had his way heretofore and the body of mankind has suffered. Oh, how it has suffered! That suffering comes to individuals, those individuals who compose that body. Is it not to be expected that somewhere along the way the Lord said, “That’s enough”? As it was put, it repented the Lord that He had made man.
 

And what man is in this cultic state is brought to focus in the various areas of cultic leadership. The devil has many heads—the great red dragon had many heads; the beast had many heads. Our concern is that the archangel should be incarnate on earth to dispute with the devil over the body of mankind. While the body of mankind is tarred with the human nature brush all the way through, the primary responsibility rests upon those who are offering leadership in that body. We begin to become aware of how it is we rebuke the world. This is entirely different to what would be done from the standpoint of the cultic approach. The cultic approach builds up its armaments and gets ready for a real hassle. It brings railing accusation; it tries to run the devil out on a rail. But of course the devil is on both sides! So nothing is ever accomplished in that fashion.
 

“The Lord rebuke thee.” Now we have perhaps seen a little of this from the standpoint of our own personal experience in assuming spiritual responsibility for ourselves. There has been the need to face up to various things that were present in ourselves that we had likely been accusing others of. If you are in the business of accusing other people of things, you may know that what you are accusing them of is in you every time. When you reach a point where you are not accusing other people, then you can begin to see what may be present in them that is the fact and is not merely a reflection of what is present in you.

So we are discovering the nature of the rebuke. It has been a very little thing so far, a small, personal thing. But unless we have undertaken to let it be there first, we can never know what it is that is required from the standpoint of the archangel. The archangel must have a body in which all that needs to be rebuked has been rebuked. Then it is clear. Then the rebuke could be carried further in an effective way. But as long as we are just fiddling around with the little nonsense that still goes on in ourselves, there is nothing for the archangel. There has been all that occurring, hasn’t there?
 

In this Assembly that I speak these words now, they are a translation of spirit, the creative power of which is capable of rebuking all that needs to be rebuked that may still be present, brought here by all who are present. This is so if there is a willingness to let it happen. But if one tends smugly to hang on to one’s little human nature cultic state, then the power of spirit will do something else, won’t it? It won’t uplift. Now we see these things, if we stand where we belong, without any emotional involvement with them. That’s the way it works; we know it’s the way it works. We have known for a long time it’s the way it works. Why be surprised if it has to work now, so that we may find ourselves in position to provide what is necessary to the Lord by reason of this Assembly. It is the only reason that anyone is here—for this—insofar as I am concerned. Maybe you didn’t know it, but now you do. 

Assembly is not just a post-graduate course where one can sit back comfortably in the university surroundings and feel safe there, flabby. We are out of that. We are somewhere else, and what holds us in that old cultic situation must depart. It doesn’t depart merely because there is the strong current of the spirit pushing it out, because if that was all that were to happen, everybody would leave. It is dissolved because there is strong movement with the strong current of the spirit, and that is the creative action with which we are concerned. And this is the creative action that offers what is needful to rebuke the world.

Now of course, in reaching the world it is going to touch many people who have been consciously associated with what we are now about, some of them for many years, some more recently. And the Lord is mindful of the opportunities that people have had in a direct sense. He doesn’t expect more from anyone than they are capable of allowing to happen. You wouldn’t be here present in the Assembly if you were not capable of allowing something to happen that you have not allowed to happen thus far. And I think that fact needs to be clearly recognized, because this is the recognition of the Angel who you are. The Angel who you are has not been fooled by all your cultic antics at all. He knows what is there; you know what is there. Increasingly, you know what is there, don’t you? We all do. We cannot hide behind ignorance anymore. At least we see ignorance as being what it is: just an ignoring of what we know. And on this basis then something happens. We have the dispute—it has been in progress for a while, by the way—but we see that we are responsible for it, responsible for the rebuke. And if we offer the rebuke beyond ourselves, we will be pulverized if there is any necessity for rebuke in ourselves.

 

Now the Lord has been very patient and very careful over many, many years. You might remember that when He himself was incarnate on earth, He didn’t have that time, and neither did those who were associated with Him. How many of you have been associated with this ministry more than three and a half years? How much nonsensical fiddling around there has been, really. There is not a chance for that now anymore. And can we praise the Lord that it is so? I trust we can, because then He begins to have something on earth.
 

The devil has been busy gathering together his cohorts and forces, with the expectation of triumph. Mind you, most of the people who are in the position of leadership in the world don’t comprehend what is going on. Moving to another vibratory level we see that there is no need to resist it in the sense of struggling with it or getting into a battle with it. We know from our own experience in the past, when we’ve been struggling with all these things that we’ve been endeavoring to clear in ourselves, it didn’t work. All we did was to strengthen those things which should pass away. So I trust we’ve got way beyond that now. You don’t struggle that way anymore. You just simply are concerned to let what is right find expression. Everything else takes care of itself.

 

Now it sounds very simple, but of course you are aware of the fact that you have this situation coming up and that situation coming up, and this person to deal with, that person to deal with, and all this. And because of this perhaps you may deny the Lord, inadvertently even, and discover yourself in confusion: “Well how on earth can I handle this?” You can’t. Only the spirit of God can handle it. And we must have a constant and keen awareness of the reality of this in our own living expression. The only way we can have that is by letting it be constant and consistent. It’s not something we can just pick up like a weapon when we are threatened.

Here is the irresistible force, which requires an immovable object on earth if it is to operate on earth. The irresistible force and the immovable object are looked upon sometimes as being in conflict—What would happen if they met? They won’t. They are complementary. And it is by reason of these that creation occurs. When we align ourselves with these, we provide an immovable object at this level, and the irresistible force has something from which to proceed. Proceeding from the immovable object, it’s not going to push the immovable object out of the picture. If the object is movable, if we are movable, then we get pushed out of the picture when the irresistible force begins to work. But there always is something that doesn’t get pushed out of the picture; otherwise there couldn’t be an irresistible force, and there is. There must be something from which that irresistible force proceeds which cannot be moved. Everything else can be moved.
 

So here is an available force to do what needs to be done when we are aligned with it. We are aligned with it when the dispute is over insofar as we are concerned. How much dispute is still going on in your own experience? Well, we can let it dissolve in this setting. Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are all here, and we let the spirit of love, truth and life be translated correctly in our own experience. Then we are on hand with the archangel to dispute over the body of mankind. As I say, this dispute has been going on for a while in a very obvious sense insofar as we are concerned. It has actually been going on ever since the Master was on earth, but it has come out to this extent into the open because we are in position to experience it; there has been sufficient rebuke in us, sufficient disposition of the dispute.
 

The great red dragon is very ponderous. The archangel is very agile, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills.There is no place where he could be trapped by the great red dragon. As we begin to become aware of this in our own experience of living, fear is cast out. Now fear is still a factor in our experience. It shouldn’t be a controlling factor. It will be a factor in our experience as long as fear remains in the consciousness of mankind. We are aware of it; we have an association with that consciousness, so we know about it. But fear is cast out in our own personal experience to the extent that the spirit of God is in action, being translated correctly. The spirit of God includes the spirit of love, and love casts out all fear.

 

We see, we understand what’s going on. We have a facility here, physical form, with certain mental capacity, certain ability to feel, to sense, to comprehend beyond the physical and the mental. And this is an instrument in our hands, which is to be used rightly—righteousness—in this dispute. Right use is described by the word “rebuke”: to rebuke the world. Now of course we rebuke it in our own awareness, in our own attitude toward what it is that is happening. We have no use for the dragon. To the eyes of the Lord he is nothing.
 

But still there is the body of mankind here, over which the dispute is going as to who shall possess that body, whether it will be restored as man to the Lord or whether the devil will possess and it will die, it will be eliminated, it will be dissolved. That’s the question actually; that’s the dispute. Of course the devil doesn’t realize this. He thinks that if he gets hold of the body of mankind, he’ll have it made. But he himself has written his own death warrant. It comes to the point then, if he possesses the body of mankind, no more expansion. Kaput! So there is an end to the devil either way. The devil ceases to be anything when he has no body.
 

Well, if the body of mankind becomes again the body of Man, the devil ceases to exist. The union of God and man is all that is necessary to dissolve the devil, because the devil only existed in the consciousness of human beings who were not one with God. We may understand this now. He may cease to exist to us now, even though we may observe the fact that he hasn’t yet ceased to exist to most people. But to the extent that there is union between the spirit of God and what we are in the external sense, the devil is gone. Personally there is nothing more to dispute with.
 

On this basis, then, we are in position to share the Archangel’s action in disputing over the body of mankind beyond us, so that there may come a point when the consciousness of all remaining people no longer includes a sense of separateness from God. Union with God is the restoration, of course. Then there is Man once again.
 

We have the opportunity now of allowing the experience of man restored to be our own experience in this setting at this time. This experience, which we may know, obviously is not the ultimate experience which mankind may know. But it is our experience that makes possible the experience for mankind. If we sort of sit around sloppily, hoping that something will happen to cause mankind to be restored, we will have done absolutely nothing to cause it to happen. What causes it to happen is that there are those who share in the experience first, and who share in it in the sense of the reality of it—which has always been so, always been available to be experienced, but which does not yet include the whole of mankind. And we are content to be associated with mankind at this level in order to bring the salvation.
 

What was it the Master said? He didn’t come into the world to condemn the world but to save it. If we follow him, that is what we are here for exactly. And it cannot be done except there is the assumption of the spiritual responsibility which makes it possible. And this must be an individual matter, as he so beautifully demonstrated. He didn’t say, “Well it has to be all of these disciples as well.” He said, in fact, it can be done simply by reason of me. And what we are experiencing springs from that fact.

What power there is in the individual acceptance of spiritual responsibility.

© Emissaries of Divine Light