Seven Spirits Before The Throne Of God

Seven  Spirits  Before  The  Throne  of  God

Uranda   March 17, 1952

from  The Divine Design of Man — Instruction Paper Number 43

Man has tried to function in relationship to the living of life without having a spiritual firmament. We remember that air is the symbol of Spirit, and we recognize the absolute necessity of establishing a firmament in the spiritual sense in relationship to ourselves, so that we are beginning, on the face of the earth, to function in the air of the Spirit. We have been considering those principles of Truth which are of primary importance in dividing the waters, so that we see the Truths that are above and the Truths that are below, with the firmament between, for water is the symbol of Truth.

Gradually there has been the development of this process in you, for if it were only intellectually perceived as a concept or idea it would be of little value to you. But gradually that process is actually taking place, so that you are beginning to be oriented to the Truths of life which relate directly to the physical manifestation—the body, mind and heart—and the Truths of life which relate to the vibrational realms of being which are invisible, or the inner plane factors, and which must be brought into play in relationship to the living of life if we are going to share in God’s creative processes on earth. Instead of a confusion of concepts about Truth we are gradually developing a recognition of the reality of Truth that applies in the invisible realm above and the Truth that applies in the physical realm where we live and move and have our being, in a manner which allows us to correlate the visible and the invisible. Recently we reached a point in our consideration where we recognized something of the various aspects of Spirit as they function through the seven planes of being, whether individually or collectively or from the standpoint of the whole world.

Now, it is needful that we should take a little time to meditate upon what happens when the human being becomes self-centered and consequently self-willed. We have recognized that as long as the body is alive there is something of the Spirit of God working in that body, moving through it, but the nature of the Spirit is not generally distinguishable. The nature of the Spirit working through the human being is generally so colored and distorted by human self-centeredness and self-activity that that which is of the pure Spirit of God cannot be seen and recognized, with the possible exception of the mere fact that the physical body is alive, in a sense at least—existing. But we are thinking of life in that vibrant sense which can be experienced only if there is a process of resurrection.

When the pattern of function is centered in center, so that by reason of Divine control the individual is a part or extension of center, the working of the Spirit of God through the individual is going to result in that which we have outlined: the Spirit of Love, the Spirit of the Womb, the Spirit of Life, the Spirit of Purification, the Spirit of Blessing, the Spirit of the Single Eye, and the Spirit of the New Earth. Each one is supposed to be a means by which center is more adequately made manifest, more actively made manifest. As each one stays centered in center each one becomes an extension of center, so that center has a means of expanding manifestation, a means by which the reality of the essence of center may be revealed in active form on earth. When the human being forgets to be God-centered and begins to be self-centered, there is always immediately a break in the pattern of control, so that self-activity begins to take the place of Divine activity. The very moment the individual begins to break from the pattern of control the pattern of activity begins to cause him to eat of the forbidden fruit. He begins to judge according to his own concept, or feeling, or attitude, eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and then the mind becomes stupefied and he imagines there is brilliance where there is only dullness. He imagines there is wisdom where there is only a lack of the sense of the fitness of things. He imagines there is knowledge where there is only ignorance. And he imagines there is beauty where there is only ugliness. He imagines there is righteousness where there is only sordidness.

All self-activity is destructive but when one begins to move into the pattern of the Divine design, when he begins to move toward that point of his own true focalization in being, the currents of life are increased, the patterns of the Spirit are manifesting in him in a manner which allows the Spirit to more effectively flow, and consequently a break from center is more disastrous, more destructive. Under the control of self-centeredness the Spirit of Love turns to the spirit of hate; the Spirit of the Womb turns to the spirit of barrenness, or emptiness; the Spirit of Life turns to the spirit of death; the Spirit of Purification turns to the spirit of defilement. We remember the word that is written: “There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth ... or maketh a lie.” So the Spirit of Life turns to the spirit of death, and the Spirit of Purification turns to the spirit of defilement. The Spirit of Blessing turns to the spirit of cursing. The Spirit of the Single Eye turns to the spirit of double-minded vision. The Spirit of the New Earth turns to the spirit of decay, or the old earth that is passing away.

Of course, we recognize that there are degrees of intensity with respect to which any Spirit may manifest, both the constructive current and the destructive current. We note here, for instance, when the Spirit of Blessing is manifesting by reason of true centering, there is a manifestation of the Truth. What is it that makes possible Blessing in the earth? It is the current of God’s Love flowing through the patterns of Truth, for nothing else can bless. The moment a break comes, so that there is self-centeredness, the Spirit of Blessing begins to turn into the spirit of cursing, and that means that, instead of having a pattern of the Truth through which to express, this current of the Spirit is forced to manifest through a pattern of distortion, a pattern that is fundamentally a lie. When the Spirit of the Single Eye begins to manifest we find everything becoming centered. We remember the expression that is found in the Word: “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” We can turn that around: “Where there is true vision, the people live.” True vision depends upon the reality of the Single Eye. Our Master said, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness”—for double-minded vision causes the body to be full of darkness. We remember the passage in James: “A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”

I wonder if we should pause for a moment to meditate upon that passage in James. By the way, I might mention that back in 1930 when, from the standpoint of the outer consciousness, I was seeking to find something to take hold of, something as a starting point toward a movement out of the darkness and chaos of the world, I found I remembered this text. I had memorized it as a boy but for years had not read the Bible. But at this time, from an outer standpoint there was a recognition compelled that there had to be something more than the world offered. This text provided the starting point for my own consciousness, in the outer sense, in finding the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

“If any of you”—and I decided that included me—“lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.” “And it shall be given him”—that is an absolute, positive statement. And God giveth liberally—not just as one who is stingy, not just giving a little drop here and a little drop there. God giveth liberally, and upbraideth not. He does not condemn or upbraid because we have not found fulfilment up to this present point. But when we find the point of starting, when we have an opportunity to experience release, the story begins to change. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.” There is a second positive promise. The double-minded man shall not receive anything of the Lord.

We have the positive promise that when we function correctly “it shall be given him.” But there is just as positive a statement: “For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.” It is available from the Lord but he will not receive it, because of his double-mindedness. “For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” We will not take time to study that at this time. It will bear a great deal of meditation and study. It might be well for each of you individually to study it. That was the starting point from the standpoint of my outer consciousness in movement toward that pattern which God had designed for my manifestation on earth. So the Spirit of the Single Eye turns to the spirit of double-minded vision; and where there is double-minded vision there is movement toward perishing. The Spirit of the New Earth turns into the spirit of decay, which leads to death.

As we look at this honestly, earnestly, sincerely, we can begin to see a definite line of demarcation; and we can, remaining honest and remaining centered in center, have a means by which we can instantly detect the nature of the Spirit which seeks to manifest in and through us. It is written: “Try the spirits whether they are of God.” The current of the Spirit itself is of God but the nature of the Spirit is the thing that is under consideration, because self-centeredness and self-activity on the part of man change the manifest nature of the Spirit. If we begin to feel something of any of these adverse spirits, or if the Spirit begins to manifest in and through us under any of these adverse forms, we have immediately a red light: “Stop! You are going in the wrong direction. You are responding to something which is below you, which is unworthy of you. Stop, and let the Divine pattern take control again.”

In the invisible realm we have, moving upward from the Spirit of Blessing, the Spirit of Purification. That requires movement of the Spirit of Love through the vibrational patterns of the Spirit of Truth, to provide that which is spoken of in Revelation as “the sea of glass,” and it is supposed to be clear as crystal. When there are limitations involved, when there are those things which do not yield to the current of purification, then that Spirit coming into manifestation through the individual begins to be patterned on something that defiles. “There shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth or maketh a lie.” We see that these two phases—that which defiles and that which makes a lie—relate to the realm of man’s consciousness, mentally and emotionally, the mind and the heart. And when man, distorting the patterns, spoiling God’s design, allows self-activity to control the pattern of manifestation, he is trying to inject something that defiles into the pattern of God’s Kingdom on earth. Human beings have thought of this primarily as leaving the surface of the earth and going up into some obscure, faraway heaven. Of course if that were the process it would apply, but we recognize that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand and it is here on earth that Divine activity is supposed to appear.

When we are letting ourselves respond to center we are undergoing a process of change, so that these aspects of the Spirit may manifest through us correctly, and if they are altered in their expression at any moment we find that in that moment when there is that which would defile, that which maketh a lie, that which distorts the pattern of Truth, immediately the individual finds himself outside the gate of the Garden. He finds himself expelled from the Kingdom, just as surely as we find was the case in the beginning with Adam and Eve. “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth or maketh a lie.” Therefore as long as the human consciousness is subject to distortions which are not in harmony with the patterns of Truth it is utterly impossible for that individual to pass through the gate into the Garden of God on earth, into the Kingdom. No matter how hard or how long he may try, or how much he may bewail his unjust fate, as it may appear to him, he cannot enter in. If he has passed through that gate, and allows distortion to come in relationship to any of these phases of the Spirit, he is immediately ejected. He cannot remain. When he is outside that gate, he knows it. There is turmoil, darkness, sadness, all kinds of things which are not contained within the Garden of God or the Kingdom of God on earth.

So the moment you, or any human being, recognize that there is a distortion in the pattern with respect to any aspects of the Spirit, so that it is beginning to appear on the basis of any one of these contrary spirits, you know that is wrong. The human tendency will be to blame someone else, or some circumstance, or something in the past, or something you fear in the future. But if you are honest you will recognize in that moment that you are wrong. It does not make any difference who else is wrong, how many injustices there are, what anyone else does or thinks; while you are expressing distorted patterns of the Spirit that are in you, you cannot be of any help in correcting the ill condition. The pattern of the Spirit should be right, regardless of what the case is anywhere else.

We have at this point one of the most difficult things, because the human being feels he is justified in having a distortion in the pattern because of what someone else did. If the Lord points to the fact that what someone else did is beside the point the individual is inclined to judge the Lord, and say, “You are being unjust.” But the simple fact is that while these distortions in the pattern of the Spirit are manifest in an individual he is absolutely valueless from the standpoint of any real service. He cannot be used to change others. He cannot render any real service. So he must finally relinquish his human pride, and all the rest of it that stands in his way, and the quicker he does it the better, for the longer he holds the wrong pattern the more rapidly will the elements of the adverse pattern produce ill conditions in himself and in the sphere of his influence. Something which might have taken years to produce, when you were out in the world and not functioning from the standpoint of center, may be produced in a comparatively short time if you lose center and become subject to these things. It will be produced rapidly. I do not say that to instill any fear but to point to the fact, because if there is an increase in the power working through you and you use that wrongly the results are going to appear more rapidly. It is logical that they should. There is no other way by which we can accomplish that to which we are called but to let the power increase and hold center.

The important thing is that we take a good look at the distinctions involved, so that we remember them and so that we do not offer the Lord the excuse, “I forgot,” the first time some pressure pattern appears out in the world, the first time someone does something you think you do not like and you revert to an old pattern and let some aspect of the Spirit be turned into something that is contrary to God and His will and cannot be contained in His Kingdom. While you insist on holding the distortion patterns, you yourself cannot be contained in the Kingdom. If you have entered into the Kingdom you will be cast out, because you will be positive to center and be pushed out. It is an absolute Law that always works. But as you repent, as you turn again to center, as you let go, you remember: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” Remember that double-mindedness is sure to bring decay, darkness, death. “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”

So we turn deliberately. It is not because, in the human sense, you particularly want to, perhaps. There may be a rebellious streak at work which makes you want to defy God, which makes you want to hold to that wrong course. So your action should not be allowed to appear on the basis of what you want. That is beside the point. It must be on the basis of what you know to be the Truth, regardless of what you feel you want. If you are controlled by what you want and feel, you will end up in the wrong place, in the place of perishing and decay, instead of life. We cannot be controlled by how we happen to feel at the moment. When we see these things, regardless of what we may think we want, there must be that deliberate action based upon our recognition of the Truth, so that we turn to God, respond to center, and let these impurities be cleansed away, so that we begin to allow the manifestation of the pure Spirit of the Living Christ in all of those aspects: the Spirit of Love; the Spirit of the Womb, that is, the Spirit of the Secret Place (“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty”); the Spirit of Life; the Spirit of Purification; the Spirit of Blessing; the Spirit of the Single Eye; the Spirit of the New Earth. All of these aspects of the Spirit are supposed to be focalized in you, individually.

In the outworking of things it may be that some one aspect may become dominant and signify the particular place of service for you, but the important thing is that they all must function through you and manifest according to that which is here portrayed. Until they do manifest through you, you cannot truly serve in the Divine sense. This is that which is required if we are to be men and women in Christ, mature, letting the things of God come down out of Heaven, down out of the invisible realms of being into the earth, in Blessing to all who will receive. That is Service. That is what our Lord did, and He said, “Follow me.” Unless we follow Him we cannot know what it is to be a part of the Body of the Son of God on earth.

© Emissaries of Divine Light