I thank God for the privilege we have of gathering in the Spirit of His Presence. I have chosen a text which, in times past, we have considered—the Thirty-Seventh Chapter of Ezekiel:
The hand of
the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD,
and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones,
And caused me to
pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley;
and, lo, they were very dry.
And he said unto
me, Son of man, can these bones live?
And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou
knowest.
Again he said unto
me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them,
O ye dry bones, hear the word
of the LORD.
Thus saith the
Lord GOD unto these bones;
Behold, I will cause breath to enter into
you, and ye shall live:
And I will lay
sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin,
and
put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
So I prophesied as
I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise,
and behold a shaking,
and the bones came together, bone to his bone.
And when I beheld,
lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them,
and the skin covered them
above: but there was no breath in them.
Then said he unto
me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind,
Thus
saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath,
and breathe upon
these slain, that they may live.
So I prophesied as he commanded me,
and the breath came into them, and
they lived,
and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
“The hand of the LORD was upon me.” Isn't that a good state to be in: to have a consciousness and awareness of the fact that the hand of the LORD is upon me? “And carried me out in the spirit of the LORD.” Have you ever been carried out in the Spirit of the LORD into new fields of vision, understanding, and comprehension? Have you ever been carried out of the state where you were into a new state?
Human beings reading these words ordinarily think of some strange phenomenon in which an individual, a man was perhaps standing here and suddenly he shoots off up into the air and goes somewhere else. I don’t think of it that way at all. “The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones”—in the midst of the valley which was full of bones. What is this valley. To me it is the valley of the world, of human beings. And when we look out into that world pattern, in the world situation it is rather dry, and it reminds us of a valley of dry bones, because human beings are rattling around this way and that, accomplishing what? Are there the proper relationships? Do we see the true body of mankind. The answer is, No.
And the LORD “caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.” What does this dryness signify? A lack of livingness, a lack of life. And in the world as it is we see a tremendous lack of life. “And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live?” How many times have you asked that question of yourself? Did you ever sit in your car, parked at the curb of a busy street an watch people go by—all kinds and shapes and colors, people going this way and that, some appearing to have a goal and others acting aimlessly—and did you ever ask yourself, “Can the world be saved? Can all this mass of humanity be healed of their limitations? Can they be drawn into a pattern of the Divine Design? Can they begin to live in any true sense? “And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered”—and here is the perfect answer—“O Lord GOD, thou knowest”—Thou knowest the answer. “Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them…”
Now before we go further let us remember what the word prophesy means. So many people imagine that prophesy means primarily foretelling future events. That may be included in some cases, but that is not the true meaning of prophesy. To prophesy mean to let the Word of the LORD be spoken on earth, about any subject, any thing, whatever it may be—and action comes in the realm of prophesy also. A prophet is one who allows the words of the LORD and the actions of the LORD to be given expression on earth. A true prophet is any individual who allows his lips to form and express the Word of the LORD in relationship to any subject, any thing whatsoever it may be—past present or future. So, when the LORD commanded Ezekiel and said, “Prophesy upon these bones”, we recognize immediately that he was instructed to let the Word of the LORD come through his lips so that that Word would have meaning to the dry bones. And “he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.” Now there we have a perfect illustration of the meaning of prophesy.
“O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live.” When we look at the world situation with human vision, human feelings and attitudes, realizing the chaos that is everywhere present, the suffering and the misery, the limitations of every sort, it seems to the human mind that this is indeed an impossible task. But it is no more impossible than the human concept of gathering dry bones together in a very dry valley and causing them to live. In fact, every human being upon the face of the earth who has not yet come into the body of formation Divinely designed, so that he or she has begun to live in the Divine sense, is one of these dry bones in the dry valley of the world pattern.
“Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live”—and this reminds us of another statement: Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I create all things new. “And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD. So I prophesied as I was commanded”—even as I have done, and you are here. “I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a shaking, and the bones came together, bone to his bone. And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them.”
Here we see the beginning cycles of the healing ministry which we share—the gathering together of the bones to form the skeleton of the body of mankind, the body of Christ, or the Christ Spirit, on earth. But that body begins to take form before there is breath in the body—and so it has been. And when we look back along the way, as far as your own participation in this Program is concerned, do you find that this statement is true? “So I prophesied as I was commanded, and as I prophesied, there was a noise.” Did you ever hear a noise, of ideas, and concepts, and reactions, and rebellions, and questionings, and wonderings, and trying, pushing, pulling—all kinds of things? “A noise, and behold a shaking.” Now did any of you ever feel shaken? Did you? Did you ever find a shaking in the process of your being gathered together? Did you ever find your old patterns of idea and concept shaken? Did you ever find yourself shaken? I do not think there is one here who can answer, “No.” And so, there was a noise and there was a shaking, and the bones came together. Witness—here you are!
“And when I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above:”—or on the outside—“but there was no breath in them.” And we are reminded of the statement in the story of creation, “The LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground.” But he was an inert form—and the LORD breathed the breath of life into man’s nostrils, and man became a living Soul. He was therefore, before that point, a dead soul; he was a soul but not a living Soul. So, in our own experience there has been a gathering together of the bones, and the sinews have appeared, and the skin above, or on the outside. The forming has been working out exactly as the picture is portrayed here. But, there is one thing yet which is needed and that is the breath of life, that you may, in the full, complete sense be living Souls; or, in the unified pattern, a living Soul, in the sense of the body of mankind.
We recall that we have used the illustration before, of many members of one body, and the same portrayal is used here—many members of one body, the body of mankind which becomes, in the final analysis, the One Christ Body. And the Christ is a Spirit. The Christ Spirit when it fills the body causes that body to be the Christ Body. But until the Christ Spirit is in the body, controlling all the members of the body, it is only a potential not an accomplished fact as the Body of Christ. And here, the statement is, “but there was no breath in them”—the Breath of Life.
“Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind”—and the wind; the air is a symbol of the Spirit, as you will recall; and the wind is air in action. Therefore wind symbolizes Spirit in action. “Prophesy unto the wind.” That is, let the Word of the LORD be expressed to the Spirit, in control of the Spirit. And is that not what is needed in our lives here, in the beginning of this new year, that the Spirit may be in action in us, working through us on earth?
“Then he said unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.” Many people—an exceeding great multitude. And they stood up upon their feet—they became upright as noble men and women—and they lived; and living is not dying. Living signifies that the pattern has been changed, the cycle has been changed, no more moving in the wrong direction, but in a controlled pattern of the Spirit, moving toward the fulfilment of the goal established by the Divine Design. As we live and serve here on Sunrise Ranch, or in whatsoever place is required of us—as Kathy and I journey into the field in this year—what is the burden of our realization
We see with our eyes how responding ones everywhere are being drawn into groups, bone to his bone; how sinews are being formed; multitudes of people of every church, every group, every color on the face of the earth; people are being drawn together in a realization that there is and must be something more than that which has been. But in spite of all of this, in spite of the revivals, in spite of the urgings to attend church, in spite of all the efforts at social betterment, human progress, it is not yet a living thing. It has not been caused to feel the controlled action of the Breath of the Spirit of God. We see the coming together of bone to bone, the development of the sinews and the skin appearing above, and this is taking place all over the world at this present time. It is being promoted by every earnest, sincere endeavour which motivates human beings of every race and color and creed—they are all having a part, one way or another. But we know that in that pattern, while it is a part of the Program, thatin and of itself is not enough. The first part of the prophesy is in action on a global scale now—but what of the second part of the prophesy?
“When I beheld, lo, the sinews and the flesh came up upon them, and the skin covered them above: but there was no breath in them. Then said he unto me”—now He says unto us—“Prophesy unto the wind”—unto the Spirit in Action, not the Spirit of God in some static state far away—“Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great” multitude.
It is not required of us that we do that which others have done. If we simply repeat in action that which others are doing, what is our excuse for living, for being here? It is not that we are to simply do what they do, achieve what they have achieved and are achieving. If we cannot add something to that Program, if we cannot increase it in some fashion, then we are of no value.
So, we begin to see here in graphic portrayal that to which we are called in service in the earth in this present time—that in this valley of the world where the dry bones are coming together, the sinews are being established, and the skin is appearing above—that which results may not be merely a dead body to again decompose, not merely the same old round reaching the same old ceiling, ending in the same old futility; but that there may be the actual manifestation of the second step of the prophesy, that there may be such an outpouring of the Spirit of God in action in the valley of the world that the Breath, the Four Winds, the Four Aspects of the Spirit in action may appear in and through the body of mankind, and that that body of mankind may live; that men an women everywhere may stand up upon their feet, revealing more and more that nobility of Being which is of God, of the Divine Design; revealing that full stature in Christ, that grace of life and function by which all may come to know what it means to be a part, not only of the body of mankind but of the Living Body of Christ on earth.
For the body of mankind as it is in the world is in fact a dead or dying body, a body subject to death. It is slain, but the victory of the Living Christ, the victory of the resurrection and the life remains to be made manifest in this body of mankind which extends over the face of the whole earth. This step beyond, which was signified in its beginning essences in what is called the Day of Pentecost—as the Master put it, “And ye shall receive power, after that the holy spirit is come upon you.” Man has not yet received that power. Man, in the sense of mankind, is subject to all of these ills—the threats of war and destruction, the threats of disease of every sort. But “ye shall receive power, after that the holy spirit is come upon you” said our LORD on earth.
And here we have the Word of the prophesy: “Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Come from the four winds, O breath”—the Spirit of God in action—and “I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them”—not merely upon them, not merely round about as a breeze that blows, but the breath came into them, and being in them permitted the Spirit in action in them, an action which the flesh should share, an action which the mind should share, an action which the whole man or woman should share—the Spirit of God in action shared by all that we are. And as soon as we begin to realize this, and recognize that it is the Pattern of the Divine Design for our living service on earth in this new year, we find that we need not proceed blindly as if uncertain of the goal or the purpose, but we can move wisely, with understanding and comprehension letting this prophecy be fulfilled in us, because we share the prophecy, because we ourselves let the Word of the Lord be spoken on earth, because we ourselves let the action of the Lord appear, and because by reason of that the Spirit on earth is a controlled expression.
The wind, yes—but the wind, Spirit in action under control, coming from the four winds to accomplish something. I am the resurrection and the life, the victory of the Living Christ—the victory over death, the victory in life, the Spirit of the Living Christ rising above the limitations of this world. And so it is in us, through us, for us, and for all who will share it in this day and in this hour, and in the days of this new year that we may move forward in confidence to know and to share the Victory. So let it be, now and always.
So is it established, and so shall it be accomplished, and no man can alter or change it except for himself; for the fulfilment is sure and certain for the body of mankind, for all who let themselves share in the forming of the new body of mankind, even as it is written “Behold, I make all things new.” And this new body of mankind is being formed out of the valley of dry bones, that in season it may appear a living, breathing, vibrant form for the expression of the Spirit of the Living Christ on earth, to the Glory of God. And then shall it be, according to the promise, that heaven and earth are One; and in the recreation it shall be as in the beginning when the Lord GOD created the heaven and the earth, and they were One. And God saw that which He had made and it was good. So shall it be, and now is it taking form. And in this time of our living it is being accomplished.
We thank God, therefore, for the privilege of sharing in the Angels’ Song—Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. In this new year, may the joy and heavenly prosperity of divine riches be upon you, and be made manifest through you, that you may know the joy of this new year. As one who reveals the Shekinah of our King, the evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells, that that evidence may be made manifest on earth here and now, so is it established and so shall it be accomplished—and no one can alter or change it except for himself. And in this, I have prophesied as the LORD my KING hath commanded me. AUM-en.
Tonight I would like to meditate with you for a
little time on certain portions of that blueprint with the specifications which
we speak of as the Book of Revelation. The introduction to this
particular subject of meditation is contained in the Tenth Chapter. I would
like to read the entire chapter to you so that you may feel the vibrational
pattern of the context:
And I saw another mighty angel
come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud:
and a rainbow was upon
his head, and his face was as it were the sun,
and his feet as pillars of
fire:
And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon
the sea,
and his left foot on the earth,
And cried with a
loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried,
seven
thunders uttered their voices.
And when the seven thunders had
uttered their voices, I was about to write:
and I heard a voice from heaven
saying unto me,
Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and
write them not.
And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth
lifted up his hand to heaven,
And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever,
who created heaven,
and the things that therein are, and the earth,
and the
things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein,
that
there should be time no longer:
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.
And the voice which I heard
from heaven spake unto me again, and said,
Go and take the little
book which is open in the hand of the angel
which standeth upon the sea and
upon the earth.
And I went unto the angel, and said unto him, Give me the
little book.
And he said unto me, Take it, and eat it up; and it shall
make thy belly bitter,
but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey.
And I took
the little book out of the angel's hand, and ate it up;
and it was in my mouth
sweet as honey:
and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.
And he said unto me,
Thou must prophesy again
before many peoples, and nations, and tongues, and
kings.
This concluding verse makes the statement that the author of the Book of Revelation was to prophesy again
before many peoples, and nations, and tongues and kings. Obviously, since this
outworking was near the end of the life manifestation of the one who penned the
words, the promise was for another time, another incarnation in his service on
earth. But our particular point tonight is contained in the seventh Verse.
“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.”
Here we have a definite assurance that the time would come on earth
when God would no longer be a mystery to the children of men, when the things
of Heaven would no longer be a mystery on earth. The unification of Heaven and
earth within the range of the consciousness of man is necessary to the
fulfilment of this promise. We are here to share in that outworking by which this
promise may be fulfilled. It is only as you let the mystery of God be finished
in you that you can be a means by which the mystery of God may be finished in
the world. In relationship to this pattern of outworking, we have here a remarkable
picture of the process of incarnation, for each and every one here came into
the world to fulfill a certain task, came into the world to share this divine
fulfilment.
“And the voice which I heard from heaven spake unto me again, and
said, Go and take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel which
standeth upon the sea and upon the earth.”
This is the book of the individual life, the individual purpose,
according to the Divine Design.
“And I went unto the angel, and said unto him Give me the little book.
And he said unto me. Take it, and eat it up; and it shall make thy belly
bitter, but it shall be in thy mouth sweet as honey,
“And I took the little
book out of the angel’s hand and ate it up; and it was in my mouth sweet as honey:
and as soon as I had eaten it, my belly was bitter.”
The willingness to come
into the world, the willingness to follow out the pattern of the Divine Design,
is signified here. And the action necessary to that was pictured as being sweet
as honey in the mouth. The actual outworking of the experience in life on earth
could not be anticipated as being altogether pleasant, and so in the belly—that
is in the process of digestion, outworking or fulfilment—the book is bitter in
the belly. God does not give any assurance that when we come into the world to serve
all things will be pleasing, that there will be no difficulties, no obstacles. We
have all experienced in one way or another something of what it means to have this
book of individual life expression prove to be bitter in one's belly. But knowing
that it will be so, or would be so, did not stop us from eating the book,
receiving it into ourselves, accepting the Divine Commission, coming into the
world to accomplish something according to the Divine Design.
Once we begin to
see this portrayal in relationship to ourselves, our purpose on earth, we can
profitably take a moment to consider the passage which outlines the world
condition at the time that is here designated. Remember that the statement is:
“But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound,
the mystery of God should be finished.” Here is a description of the world situation,
the nature of the world condition at the time specified.
“And the seventh angel
sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying. The kingdoms of this
world are became the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; and he shall reign
for ever and ever.”
Now there is the
essence of the message or revelation of the Seventh Angel. You are here sharing
in a Ministry which recognizes the Master’s meaning when He said, “The Kingdom
of Heaven is at hand,” and that we should seek that Kingdom first and let it
manifest. And here is the statement that the time is come, the time of the
sounding of the Voice of the Seventh Angel, when the kingdoms of this world are
to become the Kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign for
ever and ever—the process of outworking in the lives of human beings when the Kingdom
of our Lord in Heaven shall be extended into the earth to include the world and
all the kingdoms of this world, that it may be known that they are the Kingdoms
of our Lord and of His Christ.
We have just passed through the Anniversary period of our Ministry. I feel that you have done some meditating upon the points we covered at that time. You will recognize—as one of the budding servers who was here and is now gone remarked to me on leaving—it was the wish that the Class had gotten a little bit further. It did not carry through to the adequate point of the outpouring of the spirit. Various factors were involved, and since the Convention period and the close of the Class, our group vibration has not allowed us to reach the point we should. This had less of a decline than in previous times, and I thank God for the progress, but we have not reached the point of letting the unifying power of the spirit manifest as we should. I would that during the next few weeks we should bear in mind that here there is a great need that this increased manifestation of the spirit of God should appear in our group, that it may be intensified for all who respond.
There have tended to be some distractions in various ways. There have been some tangent vibrations which have not been conducive to the achievement which we envision, and there are yet some cross-vibrations, some failures to understand one another and adequately appreciate one another, to effectively serve together. There are still evidences that there has not been an adequate clearing in forgiving one another. There are still certain tendencies to resentment patterns. And all of these things delay the fulfilment. Moment by moment and day by day we are rendering service, either for God or for the adversary. It is so vitally important that it be on the constructive side. The world situation is not in any sense cleared. Intensification of patterns continues in various ways. We have many evidences of God's provision and God's blessing, His guiding hand and protecting care, but we need to remember our responsibility in service.
In our recent Anniversary period of Meditation I undertook to open the vibration in a manner which would permit you to have a greater sense of sharing in the basic Commission. I have a very high regard for each one of you. I thank God for you. And you have been doing and are doing so very many things which are helpful, which help to build, to carry our program forward. For all of these things I thank God and pray God's blessing upon you. But there is that which I have not been able to achieve in relationship to the development of attitude, inspiring the pattern of vision and function, and I have wondered what I could do.
Your vibrational patterns are more or less involved with each other. Broadly speaking, in recent times the problems that have arisen have not been on a clear-cut individual basis, in any one person. The vibratory factors of the Unit enter in and there are two or more people involved in various ways, and by reason of this involvement I cannot treat you, generally speaking, some of you, just as individuals. Some of you have kept the pattern remarkably clear in this regard, and I thank God for that; but with some of you it is not a clear individual pattern.
We cannot have a clear Unit pattern until we have clear individual patterns in relationship to those who make up the Unit. The larger thing is made out of the smaller thing. If in your process of understanding and appreciation of the principles that I have presented in recent times there could be a real clearing of your vibrational patterns individually, a real letting go of all factors of resentment, a real cycle of forgiving, letting go of all adverse attitudes one toward another, the way would open before us much more readily. I cannot overemphasize the fact that such cross-patterns defeat us to some degree. They delay. They make it harder for everyone. There seem to be blind spots with some, which makes it difficult to deal with these things effectively—blind spots where individuals do not see themselves in relationship to the specific principles to which I have directed your attention.
Experience is a school. Sometimes people have the same lesson repeated to them over and over again. And other than by living exemplification, inspiration, word and deed and attitude, working in the current, seeking to make it easy for you, I can do little but give instruction and direction. The mere fact that such instruction and direction are given is not enough. These things must be received into one's own life and made a living thing, and that was perhaps the outstanding factor in that Cycle of Illumination in respect to myself about which I spoke to you briefly during our Anniversary period of Meditation.
Sometimes I wonder. In that Cycle of Illumination I found for myself, or I was granted or given, a vision of the fact that human beings cannot live unto themselves alone, that there must be an acceptance of responsibility and willingness to serve, a centering and a steadiness in it. If there were some way of taking the Sword of Truth and just physically walking around you one by one and cutting away these unnecessary vibrational involvements with others so that you could be dealt with as individuals, it would appear to make things easier. For a time perhaps it would. But it is our interrelatedness that permits us to have real meaning, and I have no desire to take away either the interrelatedness or the meaning.
These vibrational involvements of various sorts make it necessary for all who are involved in a given factor to clear together. We cannot put our finger on just one person and say, “There is all the trouble.” I frankly do not know how to get you to see this point. I have talked about it and it has not been adequately heeded. You tend to keep yourselves involved in various ways. I cannot say that just one person is at fault. These factors of involvement keep you from being you, and keep our group from being what it should be. They keep our service from being adequate; they delay our fulfilment; they prevent us from having adequate material substance; they make added work for all concerned; they increase the weariness and do absolutely nothing to increase blessings in any way, shape or form.
I do not know how to say it so that my word might be heard. I do not know how to say it so that its importance might be realized. I do not want to say this from the standpoint of attempting to compel by fear, and yet unless the factor is adequately recognized and you begin to do your part on an overall basis in regard to it, you are going to produce a situation, sooner or later, where I will be forced to stop holding services, even if I am here. I will be forced to take the position that when adequate consideration has been given to what I have presented I will present more.
It can work out so that most of my ministry can be carried forward from Sunrise Ranch. That is the way I would like so much to have it, because I have no desire to travel. I have no desire to go anywhere. I have no desire to leave what I conceive to be my home on earth. There is no reason why most of my ministry cannot be carried forward right here, letting the people come to me, which means letting them come to you. But if it is not allowed to work out here fairly soon, on a better basis than it yet has, I am going to be forced to spend more time in the field or work out some kind of a substitute pattern.
It comes into the field of your attitudes toward each other. If I could somehow cause you to see that your attitudes toward each other are your attitudes toward me, regardless of what you think about it, we could clear the matter very quickly. There isn't anything here that needs to be a big problem. It can work out very nicely. But your attitudes toward each other actually characterize your true attitude toward me, whether you have thought of it that way or not. If you could come to the point of daring to really trust me to take care of the problems that yet remain in your brothers and your sisters here—I would not have very much problem, if you would do that. The problems in you individually, that are truly your own problems, are of very little consequence actually, nothing but what I could work out with you very readily. It is these unnatural involvements in relationship to each other that superimpose problems which do not belong, complicate the pattern and make it difficult to clear the individual.
Someday perhaps you will find it in your hearts to believe in me enough, trust me enough, to actually give over the responsibility of the things that are wrong in each other to me. If you would just trust me on that point. It is the point where you show your greatest distrust of me, and it is the thing that weakens your trust in other regards, where you think you trust me. You make that trust to be of less effect than it should be because you have not reached a point where you trust me to take care of what is wrong in the people around you.
I might point out that this has been, in times past, the devil's trump card in bringing to naught any group effort that has been put forth. It is something that has never yet been surmounted by any group, under any leadership, since the fall of man. Now it is quite possible that in some groups the leader could not be trusted in regard to these things. In any case, human beings seem to feel that they are entirely justified in the attitude they have toward each other. If I could only get you to see how you tend to nullify yourselves, make your good works to be of no value, or of little value comparatively speaking, and how this one change would allow an increase in power and effectiveness through us far beyond my ability to describe it. If I could somehow convince you of that, inspire you to accept it, this one truth, so many other things would begin to work with larger, deeper meaning. But so far I have not been able to inspire that degree of trust in relationship to these particular things.
You can see such and such a thing in your neighbour—therefore it is there. You are justified in your attitudes—in your own eyes, at least. You do not trust me to take care of it. Instead of having an adequately real attitude of simple love and understanding, giving each other opportunity to grow, doing your part and being truly fair with each other and me, the pattern gets distorted and delayed. This is our biggest problem. Not money, not finances, not anything else. This is the thing that keeps us from being with one accord in one place, in the sense that will permit the greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit. If I could ever get you to the point of trusting me in this one thing.
I have asked myself over and over again, and particularly recently: Has there been anything in my own conduct or attitude, my function in leadership, to cause my people to feel that they simply cannot trust me in this regard? Why should they distrust me in this with such persistence and feel that they are so justified in refusing to grant me that pattern of trust which would let me get the job done? In examining my pattern of ministry to you, my service, my leadership, my function in all regards, I have not been able to find any valid reason. If there is a blind spot in this regard I wish some of you who are able to comprehend such things would tell me about it. Perhaps I need to grow. If there is something I have failed to see I would like to know and clear it.
There isn't anything I could talk to you about tonight that is of more importance than this. There is no greater need in relationship to our program, so that our endeavor will not smother itself. Oh I know your good works and your service and your devotion and your sincerity, your love for me, and the ways in which you have trusted me. Oh yes, I know. And I would not say it has reached the point of desperation yet. But I never could understand why ill conditions had to reach the point of desperation before doing something about them, and this is the thing that is tending to smother our own endeavor. Oh, you trust me with your life, you trust me to guide you and help you, but you just simply cannot trust me to take care of the job with your neighbor. Apparently you do not consider me to be worthy of that trust. But why? I have asked myself the question. Why? Why is it?
Until I can find some way to inspire you to the acceptance of the truth in regard to these things, we are in a situation where we will be slowing down—not speeding up and increasing in power, but slowing down and becoming weaker, less meaningful, less potent, until finally this group as such will smother itself, and the body of many members as such will die, and the individuals will be scattered. I have no desire that any such things should be, and I feel very confident we will find some way to clear this self-smothering, self-defeating pattern. It is going to take a willingness to trust me in these things, a willingness to clear the pattern of your attitudes one for another, your willingness to really forgive and cease having resentments, so that you cease having prejudiced attitudes toward each other. If I could inspire you somehow to stop being concerned about how well other people understand you, so that you would become very much concerned with how well you understand others right here, we would be on the way. Understanding others, understanding their motivations, understanding the reasons—that kind of understanding is the basis of real service.
We would not have any service here if it were not for the fact that I do understand you, to some degree at least. This service is built, in the central sense, upon my understanding of you and other human beings. If I have not demonstrated the reality of understanding you, I do not know what it would take to convince you. When I can convince individuals that I can understand them as individuals and show them that I can help them individually, why is it that they will not believe that I can understand other people, and they will not trust me to help other people meet their problems in season? If I have understood you, why can you not believe that I do understand your neighbor?
If we ever clear this point we will be well on the way to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and to the increase in power. As the Master said, “For ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you.” We will be on the way. My job will be made easier; the light will shine more vibrantly; the door will be open for many others to come here to receive our ministry and to share in making manifest the Lord's provision. There is so much to be done by so few.
So tonight, in concluding this hour of Meditation, I am going to ask a very special favor of each one of you. I am going to ask you to pray for me, that I may find a way to sell this idea, this truth, this fact, to this group of people right here. If you will pray for me that I may be given the wisdom, the understanding, the persuasive power necessary to sell this one idea, this truth, then perhaps, in the inspiration of the spirit, I will be able to present the matter, say the word, or do the deed, that will open the door. I have presented it tonight so that you could see the problem that I am facing, and I sincerely ask your prayers, that I may receive the wisdom, the understanding, the power of the spirit, to accomplish this one thing.
Martin Exeter August 24, 1987 Central Council — Sunrise Ranch
Who is aware of a vibrational intensification which occurred a little while ago, particularly when Richard was speaking? There is something available to be sensed, perhaps, here. It is vital that one should be aware of what is happening vibrationally. We tend to have our awareness, as we well know, filled with forms. Vibrational impacts that come are usually based in uncontrolled emotion; then we feel something intense. But in a controlled atmosphere such as we have here, and in the building that has been taking place in this vibrational sense, we need to have very keen awareness of this so that we don’t discount it.
We can use words to convey something as it relates to the vibrational state, but it is the vibrational state itself that is of vital concern. Again we come back to the awareness that we’ve had, presumably, for a long time, that, as it has been put, this is a vibrational ministry. Well, if it is, we need to know what’s going on then. And most of the things that people think are going on relate to form rather than to vibration. But our concern is to abide in the ark, and the ark is a vibrational ark. We need to be aware of what it is that is happening in that way.
I don’t think Richard was talking particularly about things out of the past. Perhaps there’s a tendency to relate Richard to his undertaking of this particular book he’s writing, which relates to matters out of the past. But he’s writing it for a purpose which is not particularly related to the past; it relates to the present. And he brought to focus an intensity of spirit that shouldn’t be denied.
How capable are we of receiving intensification of spirit? Some have described that as fire falling from heaven. It is this that is of supreme importance, isn’t it? The prophets of Baal of old were very active and very busy trying to produce something. Nothing happened; there was no answer, no one took any notice. This is the human state. We say there is no answer. Not everybody has recognized yet that there is no answer, that the god isn’t answering, Baal is not providing anything. But we are responsible for letting the answer be experienced, and I suppose the vital word here is experienced. And if it happens to begin to be experienced so that we sense an intensification, let’s pay attention to it so that we don’t get side-tracked by something else. I was delighted in what happened when Richard allowed this focus to appear, and I certainly was moved by this. Were we not all moved by this? Or didn’t we take note of it? Were we not sufficiently alert to sense what was happening and what was available to come to focus, to be received into expression and radiation?
We talk about apocalypse. Apocalypse merely means the passing of the first heaven and the first earth. That’s all it means—that all that has composed what I suppose would be referred to as civilization dissolves. That’s apocalypse. How it dissolves is unimportant. That it dissolves is important; it is important to us, presumably. However, it is very important, insofar as we are concerned, that this should have dissolved in us, so that we are open and free and capable of receiving the fire falling from heaven.
There is speculation about what the cataclysm is, what that might be. Perhaps it might be well to note that in the statement that is made in the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, something was said about wars and rumors of wars, but the end isn’t yet. This conceivably might indicate that it isn’t war that is evidence of the end. People have been looking with trepidation toward nuclear war. That has receded a little in consciousness, although there are many so-called peace groups who are much concerned about the matter. But as we well know, that’s only one small part of the massive threat that there is to continued existence on earth.We are not looking for descriptions in form of what is referred to as cataclysm. Maybe it’s not a cataclysm, in the usual human definition of the word. Maybe it’s just apocalypse. That’s very simple: the passing of the first heaven and the first earth, that’s all. Let’s let it pass. To let it pass we must surely be identified with what it is that makes it possible for it to pass. There have been many opportunities in times past for it to pass. It nearly passed, presumably, in the time of the Deluge—not quite. And that not quite was important too, because it was indication of the fact that when the passing actually occurs, there would be a focus of the reality that remains. Evidently there wasn’t adequate reality insofar as what was represented by Noah and his family were concerned. It was Noah who provided the point of focus—his family evidently did not share that with him, and so the whole thing started over again.
But now we come to apocalypse, which is the passing of the first heaven and the first earth—no more, no repeat. I am reminded of some words that you may recall, words of Uranda, spoken quite a long time ago, where he said it was necessary to live as though everything ended tomorrow, and also to live as though it was going to last for the next thousand years. In other words one has to deal with the situation as it is now, but without giving it any particular weight. Apocalypse certainly is not the rise and fall of the stock market or any of these things; it’s the passing of the stock market. It is the passing of everything of human invention. This boggles the mind, but it doesn’t boggle the spirit. We have reached a point where, in theory at least, we are willing that these things should pass. We are going to find out as to whether that attitude can be sustained in the actual passing. Well, there is an actual passing going on now, but it is a long way from being complete.
The passing comes because there is this focus of the fire present in human form on earth. It comes because of that. If we can equate ourselves with that fire in the human form which accommodates it, then we see we are responsible. And whenever there is an intensification which appears in a vibrational sense, that is what is to be welcomed. We don’t need to speculate as to what that intensification is going to do. What it is going to do is dissolve the first heaven and the first earth. We can say that in general terms. What it is going to do specifically in any given moment remains to be seen.
Richard mentioned something about men’s hearts failing them for fear. Sometimes an intensification, particularly when it is discerned here, is interpreted as fear. That sometimes happens for a person who gets up to speak before a crowd of people. We’re all seasoned Emissaries here, of course, and we’re able to do that with the greatest of ease. But I suspect there are situations where it might be not as easily handled as it is in front of other Emissaries or those who are at least somewhat open to what we have to offer. Then comes the question as to whether we interpret that as fear or not.Almost anything that human beings feel, touch in feeling, can be interpreted one way or another. It can be revealing of the emergence of the creative process, the intensity of the fire. In such case it is cause for the greatest thanksgiving. Otherwise, interpreted as fear, then there is the inclination to run for cover.
The instruction is to stand. One cannot stand except as one is present in that fire. If the sensation that comes is interpreted as fear, one is immediately in the yellow part of the flame. If one accepts the vibrational intensity as the radiation for which one is responsible, then it is easy to be still. “Be still, and know that I am present.” And it is that presence that permits the fulfillment of the purpose for which individually and together we are present on earth.
“In this moment, be still and know that I am present.” Whenever any measure of intensity is experienced, let these words be recalled: “Be still, and know that I am present.” I am the intensity. And if my human form is aware of that, the human form to that extent is sharing in my presence. The intensity may be allowed to build. “Be still, and know that I am present. I come in the name of the King.” This word, “the King,” becomes increasingly comprehensible in our own experience. “I am come in the name of the King”—and the King’s name is I AM. I cannot come in the name of the King without saying and revealing “I am present.” And in that presence, the power of the spirit of the King, the power of love, pours forth. It pours forth under control and within the design of truth. It is under control because what is experienced is known for what it is and not misinterpreted. “Be still, and know that I am the King and I am present.” Such a statement made by any one of us does not cause any of us to assume, as an individual, the position of the King, but it does allow the King to be present because I am present.
Perhaps we share in these moments something of an exercise in letting vibrational intensity be rightly used. It is not used to benefit us in any way whatsoever. It is used to fulfill the purposes of the King. We no longer have any inclination whatsoever to judge how those purposes should be fulfilled. All we are concerned with is that they be fulfilled.
Comment — Martin, I feel something has to come back, and I haven’t anything clever to say or anything formulated, but just rejoice in the intensity of this moment with you, and realize the incredible intensity and respect and love in the allowing of my capacities to reveal all they can of my King and who I am. I think we could have gone on forever listening to you verbalize what is in the atmosphere right now. But something also had to come back. So here it is.
Martin — It comes back, brought to focus specifically by you. Let what comes back, brought to focus in this way, be what is present in each one. There begins to be a sense of reverence and respect and love and humility, because we are in this moment in the presence of the King. It might be said that all people are in the presence of the King, but the fact has been hidden; there is the mystery of God. But here it’s finished. And I rejoice to receive what you bring as a person, but I receive it because it is representative of what is brought by all who are subjects of the King.
