Resurrection is the Dissolution of the Veil
from The Parting of the Veil
Martin Cecil March 26, 1972
“But in the days of the voice of the
seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be
finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.” You know that
these days are being fulfilled in your own experience; consequently, we are in
the days of the voice of the seventh angel. This would relate to the release of
the truth of love through the forming body of the Son of God on earth. This
brings to a conclusion, in the experience of those who allow this body to take
form, what has heretofore been a mystery. The self-centered cloud under which
man has been existing has obscured God. He has become such a deep, dark mystery
to some that He has apparently ceased to exist to them.
Man has certainly been a mystery to God.
From the divine viewpoint it seemed utterly incredible that the Lord of Love
could come on earth, manifesting in human form, and be rejected. Man, having
already experienced a fairly lengthy period of suffering on earth, of disasters
of all kinds, would surely be ready to welcome a release from that hopeless
state. But no, when the Lord of Love came proclaiming and revealing the truth
the cry became, “Away with Him, crucify Him!” What a mystery! In these days the
veil begins to thin and to part so that the mystery may be finished, both for
God and for man.
At the time that our Master was hanging
on the cross it is said that the veil of the temple was rent in twain, from top
to bottom. It has been hanging there, as a curtain will hang, not particularly
indicative of the fact that there is a rent. Down through the centuries this
has been the situation. But finally those with integrity on earth have begun to
stir in their sleep, hearing the voice which calls, so that self-centeredness
has begun to dissolve. In that beginning dissolution there is an awareness that
the veil of the temple is indeed rent in twain—and there is actually nothing to
prevent it from being fully parted, that the glory that is present in the Holy
of Holies might flood forth into the holy place.
The Holy of Holies is beyond the realm
of space and time; the holy place is in the realm of space and time. The glory
of the Lord shines out from the Holy of Holies into the holy place as there
begins to be a means for that shining—and the means is the consciousness of man
in which self-centeredness has gone. The departure of self-centeredness is the
parting of the veil. The light shines forth into the holy place. But there is a
recognition that there has been something else standing in the holy place,
because the glory of the Lord has not come forth. The absence of the truth of
love is indeed an abomination, and the abomination makes desolate.
The holy place is a place in the world
of space and time, within man, where design and control appear. When the veil
obscures the truth, then something else establishes control in the lives of men
and determines the nature of the design. Fundamentally it is what we call
self-centeredness that prevails in the realm where design and control on earth
have operated insofar as man is concerned. This self-centeredness takes various
forms in the experience of people. The greater mass of human beings find themselves
seemingly swayed by the influences of a lesser number of human beings, but the
greater mass of people are simply being swayed by reason of their own
self-centeredness, just as the lesser number, who seem to be exerting the
control, are likewise swayed by the same self-centeredness. As the veil has begun to part in our
holy place we begin to be in position to accept a different design and control.
At the same time we begin to see more clearly the nature of the design and the
control that has been present in the holy place insofar as self-centered man is
concerned.
We see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place. When our Master came into Jerusalem in
the triumphant fashion recalled upon this day, He went into the temple, which
was in Jerusalem, and found there the moneychangers and those who bought and
sold. This is indicative of the nature of what is present in the holy place in
the experience of self-centered man. The temple had become a den of thieves.
The fact of this state of affairs in the holy place in human beings the world
around is an ugly fact which has to a large extent been covered up, and in some
respects made to look respectable and pleasing. Clear vision sees it all as an
abomination. Fear and greed control and determine the nature of the design that
man brings forth on earth. Here is the sepulcher that is full within of dead
men's bones and all uncleanness, but outside, on the surface, it's painted
white!
When the truth of love floods into the
holy place the darkness of self-centeredness is cast out, just as when our
Master came into the temple He drove the moneychangers forth. There are those
who take the attitude that because He did this, this ensured His downfall. It
certainly contributed to what subsequently happened. But there need have been
no downfall, no apparent downfall, if this had all been a part of the
outworking which was moving before the time when He wept over Jerusalem. But
the pattern had changed. He had no adequate control pattern—but that certainly
didn't prevent Him, or stop Him, from doing what needed to be done. There was a
lack of understanding, of experience, stability, on the part of the disciples,
and this of course was at least partly due to the lack of response that was
offered by people in general.
Usually those who consider what occurred
during the course of our Master's ministry imagine that the multitudes who
listened to Him and followed along indicated great response. Obviously there
was some response, but most of those who heard and saw Him were somewhat
confused, uncertain; they didn't really know what was happening, even as the
disciples themselves didn't. And also they were there, as our Master put it, “for
the loaves and the fishes.” They were there because they thought they were going
to get something out of it, and that is self-centeredness. The abomination of
desolation stands in the holy place insofar as self-centered people are
concerned. What governs, what motivates and compels people, partakes of the
character of self-centeredness.
But what is the parting of the veil? Is
this not the unveiling of true character on earth? To let the veil be parted
the self-centered attitude must be relinquished, so that there is available the
facility to reveal the unveiled character of God. It is the consciousness of
man through which this occurs; there is no other facility on earth that can do
the required job. In the new spiritual consciousness, because the veil has been
parted, the glory of the Lord shines forth into the holy place and round about;
the character of God is unveiled. When it is so unveiled there is the new
heaven; and because there is the new heaven the new earth appears, the
restoration occurs, life as it really is becomes known. The unveiling of the
true character of God on earth through man can well be referred to as the
initial evidence of the so-called second coming of Christ.
Every event that has been recorded for
us with respect to our Master's experience on earth must be met victoriously
today if these things are to have any meaning now. The events come—the same in
principle but in different form. Certainly the truth of love must pour out into
and through the holy place if the temple is to be cleansed, if the temple is to
become again a house of prayer. It has been difficult for human beings to
acknowledge the total worthlessness of the self-centered state because, looking
at it, they could see some things that they judged to be good about it. There
was perhaps a willingness to consider the necessity of allowing the evil aspects
of the self-centered state to pass away, but there were the good aspects too!
and there was an unwillingness, and still is an unwillingness, to let those go.
As we become willing to let the total good and evil state of self-centeredness
be dissolved in our own experience, we find out that nothing that is of value
is lost.
Many have been deluded into imagining
that the choice was between good and evil in the self-centered state, and that
God would be grateful if we accepted only the good and behaved according to the
good aspect of the self-centered state. God might
recognize that here were very earnest and sincere people trying to do something
that they thought was right; He would consequently have compassion in the
matter. But He can see quite clearly the futility of what they're trying to do.
Likewise, those who begin to let the character of God be unveiled on earth see
the futility also. They have the compassion and they know the way, the truth
and the life because they are letting it be unveiled; but they also know that
unless self-centered people do likewise they've had it. That's it! There shall
be time no longer.
Things are brought to issue very quickly
once the seventh angel begins to sound. Let us not think of this as being
something separate from ourselves. Let us not look skyward, expecting to see an
angel standing on a cloud with a trumpet, waiting breathlessly for him to start
to blow. The blowing of the trumpet is the radiation of the truth of love. The
truth of love is radiating all right, everywhere but in man's consciousness. So
this is where the blowing happens. This is the right blowing of the mind, isn't
it!—the truth of love emerging because the character of God is being unveiled
on earth. And the unveiling is the relinquishment of self-centeredness. Simple.
The victory comes when the holy place is cleared of self-centeredness. It must
be so cleared in the individual, in each one, and it must consequently be
cleared in the consciousness of man as a whole—and it will be, but it may be
fatal to a lot of people.
There is rightly a triumphant entry into
Jerusalem, into the consciousness of man—the old Jerusalem at present—into the
self-centered consciousness of man. I think something has been released today
into the self-centered consciousness of man through all of us together. But we
don't stop. When we get into Jerusalem we find the temple awaiting, and that's
where the real trouble is liable to start. No one did anything about the
triumphant march, apparently, into Jerusalem. But when it really began to get
into the pocketbook, then something had to be done. There must be triumph even
here, and the triumph comes first in us and in those who have integrity
wherever they may be.
To the extent that it actually happens
in us and in others, then there is a scourge of small cords—pretty small
seemingly, but nevertheless sufficient to set the cycle in motion by which the
moneychangers are ejected from the place of control. This is not to say that
money may not still be useful; the point is that the control in this field has
been in the hands of self-centeredness. Money and what it represents is at the
center of the control pattern of self-centeredness. If the true control pattern
is to be established, the moneychangers must be cast out. It's tough on the
moneychangers, unless they are willing to do something else, unless they are
willing to play their part in unveiling the true character of God. No one is
excluded. And let us not be involved at any time in judgments in this regard
with respect to people.
So the truth of love released through
the place of control in our own lives permits the unveiling of true character,
and in that unveiling self-centeredness dissolves. We all have a responsibility
in the unveiling, so that it may be adequately differentiated on earth. The
behavior which appears when the character of God is unveiled is governed by the
quality of Spirit and appears according to the design of it; then what is done
is what should be done. What is done is creative in all respects. What is done
in its extended influence in the world will be constructive all the way
through. Nothing that is done in self-centeredness ever is—it produces
disastrous repercussions, as human beings are finding out in the world. Only
what is done in the unveiling of true character produces something truly
creative, and this is consequent upon the experience of the spirit of the
living God.
We all have a responsibility in this
regard, of unveiling various differentiated aspects of that spirit. But there
is a central core of sprit of which there may be initial awareness, so that the
individual may become cognizant of the nature of the true spirit in his own
experience. I have a particular responsibility, of exemplifying the nature of
the character, the nature of the spirit, which rightly is differentiated
throughout the whole body on earth. This provides a starting point, until a
person becomes sufficiently familiar with his own true character. When there is
that familiarity, the individual could never do anything that was out of
character, just as was true of our Master. Each one of us has the
responsibility of unveiling the character of God for him- or herself. But there
is provision made by which the nature and the quality of that character which
is to be differentiated by all may be known. Of course, as one begins to find
the differentiation of that character, it becomes the natural thing and one
knows what it is for oneself.
It is in this unveiling of true
character that the moneychangers in the temple are cast out. They are cast out
by this movement of spirit. Do you imagine that our Master was such a big and
powerful man that single-handed He was able to throw everybody out of the
temple, just because of His physical strength? No. But the power of the spirit
is something else, and when that is allowed to be unveiled there is in fact
nothing that can stand before it; nothing of a self-centered nature can stand
before it. This is why the time comes when there shall be time no longer. Everything
is brought to issue very quickly once the true character is unveiled; then the
glory of the Lord fills the temple and shines round about. And woe unto those
who try to contend with it! But it is the power of God at work, not human
beings trying to call down fire out of heaven to consume all the evil people.
The fire of God, the truth of love, the
glory of the Lord, consumes self-centeredness. The objective is not to consume
people, just self-centeredness. Unfortunately, all too many are so wedded to their
self-centeredness that one can't be consumed without the other. But to those
with sufficient integrity to relinquish self-centeredness the experience is
salvation. What better time is there than these days in the Easter season, when
man thinks to celebrate the resurrection, to experience the resurrection? And
the resurrection simply is the dissolution of the veil of self-centeredness.
Then what we were down in the self-centered state is no longer what we are in
the restored state, and in the process all that needs to be left behind are the
graveclothes, the wrappings that held us in the tomb. Those bonds are burned
away by the fire. Let us allow these days to provide the experience of this
resurrection—not for our benefit, but that the abomination
of desolation might be cast out of the holy place in the world as a whole. Then
is the world once again a new heaven and a new earth restored to God, perhaps
with us in it. Let us let it be so.
The control pattern has been a mystery,
but it begins to emerge through the consciousness of some that they have a part
to play in allowing that control to be a reality. The tendency has so often
been to stand back and let the Lord do what is required. In the case of our
Master's experience on earth this was exactly what was done, and He was left,
consequently, completely alone. He had no control pattern except what was in
Himself, and of course that never broke. Because that never broke the
resurrection was a reality, but because it was simply in Himself it was only
His own resurrection. What happened to Him, in His experience as a person,
could well have happened in the experience of mankind as a whole, if there had
been a willingness to accept Him. As there is a control pattern in this day,
then the power of God, in the cycles of resurrection, may be extended into all
the world—on the one hand dissolving self-centeredness, and on the other hand
integrating the remaining points of integrity.
There is the facility to do this; it is
present in human beings. But it only becomes a working facility when there are
human beings who participate in letting it happen. This requires an exactness,
an absoluteness in the functions of living that is beyond the comprehension of
a self-centered person. But those who begin to allow self-centeredness to pass
sense the reality of that control and design, that exactness, which is not far
away somewhere but which is present and coming into operation in one's own
experience. And this brings assurance and increased understanding, so that
there may be a more effective participation in the developing control pattern.
That control pattern we call the body of the Son of God. Obviously Jesus could
not have let anything occur without His body, and the importance of His body
was emphasized by reason of the resurrection. Now the body of the Son of God
takes form again on earth so as to allow the unveiling of the character of the
Son of God, sent into the world not to condemn the world but to save it. And
that's exactly what we're here for.
© Emissaries of Divine Light
