The Greatest One
from
Spiritual History — Spiritual Destiny
Grace Van Duzen 1999 Sunrise Ranch
And the veil, in my estimation, has become very thin. We are working with masters on all planes.
They have been on earth all the way through the history, or the Master could not have come.
Considering everything which led up to what we have called the Second Sacred School, the emphasis is
noteworthy—on those who carried through during very difficult times. There were
instances where it looked like the population of the earth had had it! But
there were those who had been true to the Lord, and this is a vital aspect of
this whole story, because here we are.
I am to share with you something of the New Testament.
There was enough substance established in the earth, through the ages, to
enable the Greatest One to come and take human form in the world exactly the
way it is and maintain his divine identity. There were many, as we've noted,
who carried through with substance, but here was a unique example of something
that never wavered, that never compromised. And these were difficult
circumstances into which he came. I think that many people believe, perhaps
subconsciously, that somehow Jesus moved through life with special privileges,
that he was recognized as special, and made way for. No. He was born into a
people who were persecuted. We can see that in the world today. I would mention
that there was a stigma attached to an illegitimate person that is not as
intense today. He went through all that maintaining absolutely his divine
identity.
At His birth there were a few who knew of His coming.
This indicates that something was present on the face of the planet. There has
been mention of wise men; they were wise, and they are often called kings. They
were wealthy people. These were aware of His coming because of a star, which
they followed. There are, I think, many people who perhaps see the star, but it
needs to be followed if one is going to find the Christ. And remember that the
Christ always is everything said of this angel. That was one end of the social
spectrum—wealth, position and nobility. The other end were the shepherds. They
were not wealthy; they lived in the fields and kept animals—the other end of
the spectrum. But they saw and knew the sign. They didn't call it a star; they
called it an angel. In the Bible an angel represents light. I'm not saying it
couldn't be a being, but it is light, as was the star. There are different
ways, but they must be followed; there must be a steadfast attunement with that
to find the source. They came to the same place.
There is an interesting observation with respect to the
angel, when the shepherds saw the angel. The minute there is an identification
and recognition of the angel, "Suddenly there was with the angel a
multitude of the heavenly host." Here is a connection with all the power
in the cosmos, once we have that identity of the angel. It's all connected. I
think there is a subconscious idea that the cosmos is out there somewhere. Well
what are we in? This is the cosmos. I am a part of the cosmos. And the angel
said it was all related. But it happens; it isn't always put off for next week
or next year. At some point suddenly it's done. And why not now? The heavenly
host on earth was present, yes, in human form; but the heavenly host in all the
realms was present. And the veil, in my estimation, has become very thin. We
are working with masters on all planes. They have been on earth all the way
through the history, or the Master could not have come.
His words are the wonder of the Bible.
The first recorded words in the Bible of Jesus were of
the magnificent expression through Him at twelve years old. To me this
indicates the true design for God's creation. The idea is that you have to
live, what? twenty-one years to reach maturity. It takes different periods of
time. It's all right, as long as we get there. But at twelve years Jesus found
himself in the temple with the learned men, doctors. That doesn't mean they
were all medical doctors. They were doctors of science, of psychology, etc. One
can imagine His joy in hearing all of this, the history, everything, and the
wisdom came through Him. One can sense that wisdom through Him put the meaning
in all of this wonderful learning. And these learned men were astonished and
kept Him there for quite a while. So when His parents came for Him, they said,
"How could you do this to us?" and that's understandable. And what
did Jesus say? "Oh you don't understand." He said, "Wist ye
not"—Don't you know?—"that I must be about my Father's
business?" Don't you know that you must be? But He went home with them,
and it is said He was subject to them, which means He was truly wise and fit Himself into the pattern where He found Himself. The close of that particular
chapter is that He grew in grace and stature, and in favor with God and man.
That says a lot. It was not just in favor with God. There are some who think if
you are in favor with God you've got to be against everybody. He grew in favor
with God and man, and it was proven in His ministry, the magnetism of His being
which drew everyone to Him, men, women, children. Love was his message.
There is a hiatus here, and people have tried to find
out what Jesus did in that time between twelve years and something like thirty.
I think that gap is very wise. Some say they know what He did, but they don't,
because this is the way it should be. If all His movements were known, every
day and everything, wouldn't there be some who would say, "Well if I do
all those things I will arrive"? The way doesn't matter as long as it is
in that direction and coming to the Lord. So it's left open, wisely.
The next reference is at the time of His ministry. After His baptism He met the devil, it is said. But in that same text where it speaks
of the devil, he is also called the tempter. That's a very accurate term. Who
has never been tempted by anything? And we have His magnificent answers on each
of the three planes. The first of course is the physical, and then the mental.
The third, the spiritual expression, was the crux, where He told the devil
where he could go. Of course that's where he lives anyway! That temptation was
exactly the same as what Judas presented to Jesus, which resulted in Jesus
being in Gethsemane—the very same temptation. Whether this early meeting of the
tempter was with a person, we don't know, and it doesn't matter, but it was all
met by Jesus. Here was something in the mental level which recognized the power
of Jesus, absolutely, and was saying, "With your power and your
magnificent mind, you can have all the wealth in the world." Well that
temptation hasn't disappeared. It hasn't been denied very much either. But this
is what Judas was presenting to Jesus. He believed in His power, in the
magnificence of His mind, and he said, "All the kingdoms of this world
belong to the King. Let's do it, let's get them! You can do it." Oh he
believed in His power. If his intention was that Jesus would die he never would
have gone out and committed suicide. He'd have rejoiced. That was not the way
he wanted it to happen, and he was the treasurer. That was met early in Jesus'
life; in fact, the first reference we have after his baptism, the magnificence
of this victory which carried through in Gethsemane on the cross. He came to
show that the way which man had chosen was completely opposite from that which
the Lord intended.
The Angel's Song was "Glory to God in the highest,
and peace on earth, good will toward men." God's will is good will toward
men. Elsewhere it is said that the Lord is not willing that any should perish.
He isn't decreeing the death of anybody, although this is what man has
attributed to Him. And you can hear people saying, "Why is God doing this
to us now?" God didn't pollute the atmosphere! He didn't do any of that.
So there is a dominant opinion that death is the will of God. There is nothing
wrong with death in the fallen state. What would happen without it? It is a
blessing! This is the fallen state. It is a complete change of man's ordained
state. That decree is life, and Jesus proved that on the cross and in the tomb;
it was a womb rather than a tomb. And on the cross He delivered His capacities,
which included the subconscious, into the hands of the Lord. He said,
"Into Thy hands I command my spirit," but it was His action doing it.
He was in control. And then we know the story of the light in the tomb and His
coming forth, and the wonder of His whole life from beginning to that last. And
there were other characters in the New Testament. I'm not going to include
those characters. And there has been additions of verses throughout the Bible,
not just in the New Testament, when it was compiled, some attributed to Jesus
which are not his. But they are very easy to see; they jump out at you. The
words of Jesus are wonderful and tell of his magnificent life.
So where does that bring us? How does that connect with
where we are now?—the life of Jesus. To make a connection I go to the
fifteenth chapter of John. In the days when I was new in the ministry—those on
the mailing list when Uranda was here were told to memorize the fifteenth
chapter of John. I couldn't repeat it now, but I could at one time. I mention
that because it emphasizes the importance of this piece, and I'm going to read
a bit of it now:
"I am the true vine…" Not "I am the vine." There is a big vine on
the face of the earth, a huge body. But "I am the true vine."
"... and my Father is the husbandman." That says it, doesn't it? This is where we are; this is His body on earth now. "I am the true vine," and He led the way for
this vine. It's a perfect symbol, essentially the tree of life. The tree of
life has branches, as does a vine. "I am the true vine..."
"Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he
taketh away; and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may
bring forth more fruit." So we rejoice in the purging, don't we?
"I am the vine, ye are the branches; He that
abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit; for without me
ye can do nothing." This is the life of the whole body of mankind. We're
speaking of the focus of that body. Everything has a focus, and the love that
comes through Him is what He always emphasized.
"If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a
branch, and is withered, and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and
they are burned." This has always happened but this is a very special
time. It doesn't say that He does anything to judge which branch will be burned
and which will survive; simply, "Those that abide in me belong to the
body." And there is much that has been burned; it is obvious. He says that
what does not belong it will separate itself and be withered, and then burned
in the fire. But it is self-destruction; it is not God's will. God's will is to
let this mess be cleaned up. It has to be or the earth will not survive.
"If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye
shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is the Father glorified, that ye bear much
fruit...
"This is my commandment, That ye love one another,
as I have loved you." As He has loved us. That is without discrimination. It
is the shining of the sun, and that which receives the light of the sun decides
in itself whether it will be burned in the fire or whether the fire of love
will draw it unto itself, it's all the fire of love.
At this point I will go back to one of the great ones in
the Old Testament, closer to the New Testament. I'm going to mention Isaiah. He
was a mighty prophet. He didn't have a lot to do with the history, as it was
being told, but he was a prophet. He was one who recognized that upcoming was a
new heaven and a new earth, and he delineated it exactly in those words. But I
want to read something he said which applies to this time. He is, what shall we
say, quoting God. As we know, there has been that all through the Book, where
"God said this." Well, Jehovah was saying this, and that means the
body of God expressing through human beings:
"Now will I sing to my well-beloved [the Lord] a
song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard in a
very fruitful hill;" How better could this earth be described than "a
very fruitful hill"? It is fruitful. It will bring forth what anyone
plants. And here are some of the most poignant words ever
uttered:
"And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones
thereof..." He did everything. He made a winepress therein so that
the fruit of the vine could be made into the wine of life—a purpose.
"... And he looked that it should bring forth
grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes." Here is the poignancy:
"What could have been done more to my vineyard,
that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth
grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?" An insight into the wonderful heart of God—"What
could I have done more?" How could man have been created any other way
except with free choice? Not an automaton! An automaton is not the image and
likeness of God. So it is for us to exercise that free will and live the words
of the Lord: "Thy will, O Lord, be done, not mine."
This is a beautiful passage: "wild grapes came
forth." "Wild" describes that which is out from under control,
the control of the spirit of God. You can take a beautiful rose bush, and if it
goes wild it will bear a lot of little flowers, but not the beautiful creation
of a gorgeous rose. The design is not there.
I close on that note. We say the Law works. It does. And
we can see the futility of man-made laws. I'm thinking particularly now of one
they are trying to pass to do away with hate crimes. Man cannot make a law to
do away with hate. But there is a law that works absolutely. It is the law of
love, and that governs this vine. We have no business saying that branch
doesn't belong and this one does. How wonderful! There is a diversity in the
branches, which makes it what it is. Each human being is a branch and
completely different. These are meant to abide together under the One Law. That
body works, and the law is love, as Jesus taught. The two great commandments
are to love the Lord, and then you love everybody. You'd think that was the
simplest thing in the world, to love. Sometimes it seems to be the most
difficult. This is the commandment. Let the Lord decide, let love decide, but
let's not hold back. Love and truth we are.
© Emissaries of Divine Light
