Moment Of Truth #1

Moment  Of  Truth  #1

Martin Cecil   September 6, 1981 a.m.

During this month, September 16 to be exact, the forty-ninth birthday of this ministry occurs, completing the cycle of seven seven-year periods [eighty-fourth birthday in 2016—twelve seven-year periods]. I am sure we all have some sensing of a climactic point being reached, the point which declares whether this Emissary ministry is to be characterized by victory or failure. I never like to contemplate failure—my whole concern, and I trust yours also, centers in this matter of victory. Victory, however, is not something that occurs through wishful thinking, just because we might like it to be so. There must be the fact to back it up. These things will prove themselves out. It is well, however, that we should all have an awareness of what it is that needs to prove itself out. The question might be put, “Can we individually, and consequently together, be counted upon?” This does not only relate to those of you who are here gathered this morning but to many others as well.

Obviously there is great joy in victory; by the same token there is deep sadness in failure. There have been many failures over the millennia of human history. One may be keenly aware of this in recalling the occasion when the Master, when He was on earth, wept: “Jesus wept.” These might be called the saddest words in the Bible. When there is one present who has a vision of what it is that is really happening, and what it is that could happen of victory or failure, then when those who are present act in a way that brings failure, what deep sadness there must necessarily be!

I do not wish this morning to dwell upon the matter of failure because presumably, with all of us, no such thing will be allowed to occur. However let us not delude ourselves into imagining that this does not require something very specific of us, each one. We have had varying lengths of time, some of us many, many years, of participation in the unfolding creative cycle by which victory might be assured. This month it could be said that we come to the moment of truth. It is not my intention to lay a heavy burden upon anyone, but it is well that we should face the facts—it could not be a moment of victory if we were to delude ourselves.

So we come to this time prepared, to the extent that we are prepared. We might look back and see a certain amount of time wasted, but also there was time rightly used. The creative cycle has continued to unfold in our own experience and in the experience of human beings on the face of the earth everywhere. There is really no separation between us in this matter, except that we have the greater responsibility because we have some conscious awareness of what it is. Most people don’t know. We do, and so this matter of victory is in our hands.

When the Master wept this simply indicated that what might have occurred at that time couldn’t be what it was intended to be. If it had been, it might have obviated the necessity for His own subsequent experience of mistrial and crucifixion. There was failure before, but victory from His standpoint later, however a very lonely one. It did open the door and initiate the cycle in which we now participate.

We come again to the moment of truth. We have an awareness of what makes the victory possible, and indeed certain, if we associate ourselves with it. This is certainly something that cannot be achieved by human effort or so-called human wisdom. It occurs in the power of the spirit of the living God. It occurs on earth for the children of men when there are those present who embody that spirit in action. We do it factually and not merely in fancy. We have become aware over the years of the essential factors which must be present if the truth is to prevail in our experience and in the experience of the world. We became aware of these things probably quite some time ago—some even twenty, thirty, forty years ago. To become aware is not enough. Continually we have had the opportunity of proving these things out in fact.

One recognition we have had—it has been mentioned in times past quite often but seldom really understood—is that in the first failure of mankind which occurred through two people and then multiplied, the lead in that failure was taken by a female. It has been mentioned therefore that the woman, or women, must lead the way in the restoration. Some might have thought that this promoted women’s lib. It doesn’t. It doesn’t promote anything in the human world of things, because victory is not there. It does indicate that the restoration cannot occur without women playing their primary part.

Most women are inclined to imagine that the world in which we now live is a man’s world. It isn’t. It’s a woman’s world. I do not propose to repeat the reasons as to why this is so—I’ve done it in times past often enough. But we should be in position to acknowledge the fact of it ourselves: not as an excuse for men, but, as it might be put, the finger is being placed upon women—the finger of the Lord. We may recognize that human emotions have, from the point of the original failure, wreaked havoc in God’s world, so that it is no longer recognizable as being God's world, at least not in human consciousness. Emotions are not the sole responsibility of women. Men have certainly been subject to their own emotions as well, and consequently to women, both in an internal personal sense and to the emotions of women.

This emotional control, as has been prevalent in the world, is pictured as a woman, a whore, sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast. This picture is painted in greater details—not a very pretty one. Yet it is the factual state, and here is the basis for failure. The impure hearts have been filled with emotions of various sorts, some of them looked upon as being good, others obviously bad; but whether good or bad the world has been governed by human emotions, supported by the human intellect which devises reasons for supporting these emotions, ever since the first failure on the part of a woman—and a man who followed her emotions because of his emotions. It might be thought of as being very gallant. Here was a poor lady, weak and helpless, subject to her own emotions and needing the gallant help of a strong man! This of course was not what was proven out. The man was weak and the woman took the strong position and has tried to maintain it ever since. Oh there might be a great deal of argument to the contrary, looking at the history of mankind. But I'm sure that we have finally come to the point where we recognize the devil when we—I was going to say see him; maybe I should say see her, but of course I don’t think the devil is particular as to sex. Man was made in the image and likeness of God, created male and female, so male and female are present in God, obviously; they’re present in the devil too. I am emphasizing the matter of the female leading the way.

There is a matter here, prominent in human consciousness these days, summarized by the words equal rights. Men and women are not equal. Men don’t equal women, women don’t equal men, do they? What is this matter of equality then? There is a truth to the word equality no doubt but it certainly doesn’t lie in the endeavors of human beings to better each other. Men and women are not equal. There is quite a distinction here and it is right that there should be. There is the matter of complementation involved, because the true state is oneness. There cannot be a state of oneness without the parts being present. If anything is left out, then there is no state of oneness.

In this initial matter, relating to man and to God, there are two aspects, designated as male and female. The male isn’t the female, the female isn’t the male. But let them be put together on the right basis and there is the truth of oneness. The right basis is the basis that is already established in God. Human beings can’t make it; they can't make it by equal rights amendments, for instance. It already is so but thus far everybody has rejected it. Why? Well because they want to have it their own way. Who is willing to let it be the way it actually is? Any endeavor that ignores that is futile, obviously, because it already is. The truth is; we don’t make it not be by ignoring it. It’s still there, and if we ignore it of course we find ourselves in troubles of various sorts, and then try frantically to do something about the troubles. But there is nothing that human beings can do about the troubles in that way. The answer is really very simple: accept the truth—not only accept it theoretically but factually.

These matters concern us, who would be inclined to claim that we understand, that we know. If that is merely an expression of self-satisfaction it doesn’t mean much. If it’s the truth it means everything. But here is the nub of the situation, relating to emotions, both female emotions and male emotions, the emotions of impure hearts, the emotions present in human beings everywhere on the face of the earth in this present world. Let us not judge between this one or that one. The state is, in this sense, universal. No one has been excused. No one was born into the world without inheriting the emotional package. Some inherit this part of the total package and some that part of the total package. Some people put greater store by their inheritance than others do but it’s always there in everyone. In the Christian world they call that original sin. This is usually thought of in terms of a heavy burden, out from under which we cannot possibly come. That’s nonsense. That’s just an excuse for human beings to remain in the state which they themselves espoused and which they vainly hope eventually they are going to make over sufficiently so that it is acceptable. The true state would then no longer be required! That is a day that could never come and only the very stupid would try to make it come.

The truth already is. We either accept it or reject it. If we reject it we suffer and die; that’s all there is to it. Human beings have suffered and died because they rejected it. That includes all of us. Presumably we have begun to see the stupidity of such a state and therefore exhibited some willingness to let it be changed, because the opportunity of change has always been here. “The kingdom of heaven is at hand”—always.

Human beings have a habit of going along with the crowd of course, but the crowd is composed of individual human beings who have firmly held the door shut and suffered the consequences, and then bewailed their fate, complaining about it endlessly and trying to think up good ideas to get rid of it. The simple way has always been present and available for those who finally were honest enough to admit it. Presumably a certain measure of honesty has come into our experience. We are going to find out how much! It all hangs upon this matter of human emotions, the dominance of the impure heart. Human emotions have led human beings around by the nose, sometimes for apparently good reasons, and sometimes because the bad reason was so strong the individual thought he couldn’t help it. Let the heart be purified, because there is an awareness of the truth, a willingness to let the creative action of the spirit of the living God assume the dominant control.

There is a passage which we have looked at in times past, contained in the Book of Job, that speaks of these things. This is the oldest book in the Bible, so the availability of the truth has been present with human beings as far back as anyone can go. It has consistently been ignored down through the ages. It cannot be ignored anymore. The moment of truth comes, and God will not be mocked forever, just for a little time, very brief actually in the cycles of eternity—that has been permitted for man’s sake. And so again we share an awareness of the way things actually are.

The female is required to be adequately in place if the restoration is to occur. She led the way down; she leads the way up, not in the absence of the male however. He certainly had a part in the fall too. Let no males delude themselves on this point. They have permitted the fallen state to be maintained ever since. But this does not deny the fact that women must accept their own responsibility in the design, and that responsibility is not necessarily the one that, in the human sense, they would like. They don’t know what it is of course; they haven’t the faintest, foggiest notion. There has been this sense of guilt and shame present, unconsciously for the most part—of failure, but it seems safer to try to maintain their position of failure than to relinquish it. Now emotions are not alone present in women. They are in men also, and it is because they are present in men that men participated in the fallen state, introduced by women. They thought they were going to get something out of it too. And they have! Everybody has, but not exactly what was expected or desired, certainly.

These verses are contained in the Book of Job: “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades?” Can human emotions be brought into the proper design of control? Unless they can there is no hope—failure is absolutely certain. By the same token it is in this field that victory is absolutely certain too. “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades?” Can human emotions be brought into line in both female and male? The second part of this same verse is also included in what happens. “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?” We can see this in terms of female and male. Because the sweet influences of Pleiades have not been bound in women the bands of Orion have not been loosed in men. Men have been bound hand and foot in the world as we now know it. Oh no doubt many males— we can hardly call them men—have sought to achieve great things.

There have been human giants who have been striding across the pages of history. They thought they were really going to accomplish something, build great empires, which all disintegrated and came to naught. Oh what futility! Because it seems, from the human standpoint, to take some time for these things to happen there is the illusion that really there is a rising up to achieve something great. But then somewhere along the way we find ourselves on the skids, right now for instance, because it’s all a futile waste of time.

But the truth is true and all is well, unconquerable life prevails. Here is the victory that is offered to those who will accept it, who will allow emotions to be brought under the dominion of the spirit of God. Human beings are equipped with emotions; there’s nothing wrong with that; they have the capacity to emote. There have been very few human beings on the face of the earth, down through history, who have dared to approach the possibility of being man instead of this wretched, miserable, dying creature who bears little if any resemblance to man.

So I bring it to point, with respect to this matter of emotions. Doubtless we find that there is more to the picture than perhaps is seen solely on the basis of a consideration of emotions, but here is a central element. And unless we undertake to face this fact nothing else that we might consider would make any difference. “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?” Here is the key to victory or failure.

Grace Van Duzen — Thank you for putting the finger of God on women, on woman—it must be said one, only one. And I thank God in this hour, in this day, that the world has come to this point of proving. It is all being proven only as individual responsibility is taken. A woman led the way in the fall because of emotions, and only as now individual responsibility is taken, specific, as you said this morning, specific responsibility and specific action with regard to emotions, is it done. And I know that in the hearts of all this morning, in my heart, there is rejoicing that it is being done, that the weight of remorse on the world is not stronger than the absoluteness of victory. I thank God that in this day, as in the day of Job, the words were spoken first to a woman who had lost her integrity. He kept his and you keep yours. Only so can those other words be spoken, “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades,” woman, that the bands of Orion may be loosed in man.

Martin Cecil — In the words “a sea of glass clear as crystal” is the summary of all that women are. A sea of glass clear as crystal! In the female experience, both individually and collectively, this has never been known as far as present human memory goes back. The atmosphere between women has been fraught with crosscurrents of all kinds because these same things were present in the individual women concerned, so there has been no sea of glass clear as crystal upon which a man might stand to fulfil his responsibilities.

I thank God that there are women who have reached the point of acknowledging the truth—the last thing that most women are willing to do. The idea is to blame somebody else. Men were at fault. Well there is a good scapegoat! But that is not where the fault has been. Men are responsible for themselves; but women are responsible for themselves, and each woman is responsible for herself, nobody else! I bring it to point with respect to the female because this is the first order of business. Nothing else can happen without the truth honestly being faced by women. And when I say women, that means a woman: whichever one hears my word. When that is done the sweet influences of Pleiades can be bound in the design of the truth; then there is indeed a sea of glass clear as crystal.

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