The Life of the Flesh is Essential

The  Life  of  the  Flesh  is  Essential

Uranda   May 15, 1952   Class

There is no point 
in all religious belief, as it is known in the Christian world, that is more
 seriously distorted than the distortions in the writings of St. Paul — Paul’s letters or epistles. There is much truth contained in Paul’s writings, and in certain passages they are definitely inspired, but I do not consider Paul’s writings a part of the Bible. Merely because they are contained between the covers of the Book as they are ordinarily presented does not mean that they are a part of the Bible. Passages from Paul’s writings could be so classified, but the Bible in the true sense is the inspired expression of Truth. Some of the manifestation of the form of distortion involved in this regard
 has evolved on the basis of possible misunderstanding or misinterpretation 
also, but there are passages in Paul’s writings which certainly give reason, if
 they be accepted, for these distortions.

I might remind you of the fact that after Paul’s more or less miraculous conversion he did not turn to the disciples, who had lived and walked with our 
Master on earth, to be instructed concerning the things of God. He went
 down into Syria for three years, and on the basis of what he considered to be his own inspiration undertook to develop a basic understanding. Our
 study of the function of the subconscious mind, and our recognition of the
 various influences which are produced by reason of the background in life,
 place us in position where we can see that when a man had been functioning
 as Paul had over this long period of time — and he had been a leader in the 
persecution of the Christians up to the point of his conversion — the mere fact that he reached a point through that conversion where a real current of the Spirit of God was released through him and he recognized the futility of
 his course of action, does not mean that there was a complete clearing of his
 consciousness which would allow the inspiration of the Spirit to manifest in
 any true sense. When we examine into the writings of Paul we find that he has very 
carefully made an adaptation of the Christian principles insofar as he 
comprehended them, an application of those principles to the pattern of
 Judaism, as contained in the Books of Moses, for instance. When I say
 Judaism I recognize the fact that at that time it was no longer the religion of 
the Children of Israel. The pattern had changed from its original Hebrew
pattern; and Judaism, in turn, was not a true expression or a true manifest 
pattern of the Hebraic religion and understanding of God. The pattern, as it was originally presented and as it was known by the Hebrews, underwent
 changes and distortions and developed into Judaism. Paul’s writings are 
fundamentally an attempt to apply or adapt the teachings of Jesus, or the 
facts of Jesus’ life, to that pattern of Judaism.

It was through Paul, primarily, that the distortion pattern with respect to blood, for instance, the 
emphasis upon blood in relationship to what developed into the so-called
 Christian religion, came about; and the application, there, is of course to
the sacrificial rites as they had been brought forward from the time of the
 Hebrews. Paul’s emphasis with respect to this particular point ignores 
entirely the pattern of teaching which our Master Himself presented; and I 
have made this introduction, not so much to make a study of what Paul 
teaches on the subject but so that you will not allow any background
 concept which originated in Paul’s own distortion of understanding to 
cloud your vision with respect to what the Master had to say — and it is what 
He said that we would consider this morning. We could use many different starting points. I think we will take the
 22nd verse of the 24th chapter of Matthew. The 24th chapter of Matthew 
contains many marvelous things which have very definite relationship to 
our subject. We cannot examine them all this morning. Here we have 
words the Master spoke: “And except those days should be shortened, 
there should no flesh be saved.” Even as far as we have gone in our study of the principles of life and 
an understanding of reality in relationship to spiritual things and spiritual 
understanding, there is still not a clear vision or recognition in this Class, let 
alone in the world, that the flesh is the important thing to God. The background of the human concepts that have evolved in relationship to Paul’s 
writings, for instance, has developed the idea that the carnal (fleshly) mind is not subject to the Law of God, neither indeed can be. It has developed 
the idea that the flesh body is to have no meaning. Paul makes the 
statement that “flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.”
 Now, if we are very careful with our understanding or application of the 
word “inherit,” we might possibly agree with that statement on the basis of
 Truth. Flesh and blood, of itself, in its own nature, without its relationship 
to the Divine pattern or Divine design, cannot just automatically inherit the 
Kingdom of God. But flesh and blood is the means by which the Kingdom
 of God can manifest on earth.

In the beginning God created the physical
 body, of flesh and blood, to be a means by which the spiritual aspect of God
 could have body on earth. The Divine design for man, which we have been
 studying, the intricate mechanisms of the body, the principles involved in 
the expression of life, all come to point in relationship to flesh and blood, 
the physical body of man. Yet human beings have been trying for nearly 
two thousand years to make an application of the principles which Jesus
 taught and exemplified on a basis that mortifies the flesh, denies it, turns
away from it, does everything but accept the flesh as a means for the manifestation of God, constantly trying to separate the Spirit and the flesh. But 
what was it that went into the tomb when our Master was crucified? It was 
the flesh of the body of Jesus. What was it that came out of the tomb? 
Was anything else contained by the tomb? You know that even with respect 
to the current which we utilize here every day in relationship to marvellous,
 that concrete wall could not stop it. You know you could stand on the other side of that wall and I could give you attunements through that wall.
 The walls of that tomb could not stop the working of the Spirit. It was the 
flesh and the blood that was placed in the tomb; it was the flesh that came 
forth from the tomb; and it was the fact that flesh came forth from the 
tomb that gave the final manifestation of victory.

We talk about sharing the victorious life and serving others, and yet
 subconsciously this worldwide pattern with respect to spiritual things and 
the things of God tends to maintain an influence so that the attitude toward 
the flesh in oneself and in others is not what it should be. What is it that we 
are dealing with out here in the world, when we go forth as Servers into the
world? Yes, the mind, the emotional realm; but the mind and the emotional realm have absolutely no meaning except for the flesh. In this realm 
of things Truth has no meaning, God’s Love has no meaning, except for the 
flesh; and as we go forth to serve, it is to serve the responding ones by 
bringing their flesh into attunement with God and the things of God, so that 
the pattern of Truth can manifest. How? Through the flesh, so that the 
reality of the Christ Life can have meaning on earth. How? Through the 
flesh and the blood, the life of the flesh.

Wherever the term, “the flesh and 
the blood,” is used, it means that the life of the flesh is essential to the 
manifestation of anything worthwhile on earth, all the things of God—Truth, Love, Beauty. It only manifests as the flesh becomes the vehicle for 
that expression; and only as the flesh is alive, living, can it be the means of 
that manifestation. The importance of the flesh in relationship to the 
fulfilment of life has been for too long ignored. Why has it taken two 
thousand years? You can read the writings of Paul, for instance, and
 recognize that on the basis of ideas prevalent at that time, and his own
 beliefs, he expected that the change into the new world pattern, or the
 Divine estate, would come within his own lifetime. It was something that, 
according to his own statements, he confidently expected to be right at the 
door. Then we recognize the statement the Master made in the 24th chapter 
of Matthew: “And this gospel of the kingdom” — the good news of the 
Kingdom that is at hand — “shall be preached in all the world for a witness
 unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (Matt. 24:14)

There are many statements here which show the manner in which this 
outworking is to appear. Just to illustrate, we might take a moment. 
Beginning with the 32nd verse, the Master said, “Now learn a parable of the
 fig tree.” We remember the Master’s teaching with respect to the Vine and 
its branches, that those who should follow Him would be the branches: 
“Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and
 putteth forth leaves” — there is the real manifestation of life — “ye know 
that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know 
that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation
 shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.” So when the Vine, the fig tree, begins to put forth the evidences of
 Life, the green leaves, when His branch is tender, when it actually begins to 
manifest, “in that generation.”

Why are we here in this little valley? Because the tender branches of that tree are being nurtured. We are just 
beginning to see the evidence of the putting forth of the green leaves, the
 evidence of the Divine Life, the reality of Life. This statement by the 
Master gives us a clear indication. He did not say what generation it would be — whether it was to be five hundred years, two thousand or three thousand years — but in the generation when this is fulfilled, then things are
 going to start to happen and the end of the old world pattern is at hand. It
 is clearly outlined, but in connection with this we have the statement of His
 lips: “And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be 
saved.” His concern was that the flesh should be saved. There are many 
passages recording the Master’s words which emphasize that point. We will
 not have time to examine them all this morning, but His concern was that 
the flesh should be saved.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that 
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
(John 3:16) What perishes? The flesh. It is emphasized over and over 
again. What was the primary outer manifestation of effectiveness in relationship to the Master’s ministry? The healing of the flesh, physical healing, the manifestation of the power of God in relationship to changes in the 
flesh, so that the flesh might be the means whereby Deity could be revealed 
on earth. Human beings have imagined that somehow they had to reject 
flesh in order to have a spiritual life. We know that we cannot function self-actively; we know that we cannot be controlled by external things; we 
know that we cannot be subject to that which the flesh, as such, perceives
 externally, and live the victorious spiritual life; but this human tendency to 
try to separate the things of the Spirit from the flesh is the thing that has 
kept humanity bound for nearly two thousand years, since our Master 
revealed the Way, the Truth and the Life.

They have been concerned about
 saving some obscure soul inside, or there was the idea that the flesh would
 somehow be brought to its fulfilment a long time after the human being was
 dead, taken out of the earth, etc. There has been no recognition of the 
importance of the reality of the flesh during life, no recognition of the
 application of the laws and principles of the resurrection as they apply to 
the flesh, during life. The living flesh is the means by which the things of 
God manifest on earth, for God created man in the first place, male and 
female, so that God Himself might have a flesh body on earth. God had
 need of a flesh body on earth, and He created man, male and female, so 
that the body of mankind, as many cells in one body, could provide the 
flesh body for the manifestation of the action of God on earth in this realm
 of being in relationship to creation.

Gradually you have been gaining some recognition of the fact that 
your body is supposed to be the temple of God on earth, the means by
 which God manifests, or your focalization of Deity manifests. But still, as 
you meditate upon this point, you recognize that there was a great deal of
 influence remaining from out of the mass consciousness and your own past
 concepts, just as there was with Paul, for instance. We are not condemning
 him, but recognizing the facts. Some people would think it sacrilegious to 
question anything Paul wrote, but it is not. We do not question the Truth, 
but we are not afraid to question what Paul wrote. You recognize that
 there was still that tendency to somehow feel that the flesh is sinful, the 
flesh is something that is apart, that it just must be apart, from God and
 spiritual things, that if we are to have any recognition of spiritual things the 
flesh must be denied, and we have to—what? The concept begins to get
 very obscure, because, in practical application, just how are you going to let it work out?

There is this age-old false concept that the flesh cannot be the
 means by which the things of God appear on earth. As we have meditated
 upon the things the Master taught, we see that He recognized the importance of the flesh of the body, the physical body as such, and in His commission to His disciples His first instruction was to cast out the evil spirits. 
He gave them power to cast out evil spirits and to heal all manner of sickness, all manner of disease, and then to teach or preach the gospel of the 
Kingdom, the Kingdom of God that is at hand. But the very nature of that 
Divine commission revealed our Master’s recognition of the importance of
 the flesh, for without the flesh the things of God cannot manifest in this
 part of creation.

God made this creation; we all acknowledge that. He created the
 earth and all that is therein, and without the flesh of man and woman the
 things of God, the Truth of God, the reality of the Being of God, can have 
no meaning to all this creation. Self-centeredness in the flesh, wherein the 
human being devotes himself to attempting to satisfy the whims and the 
fancies of the flesh, destroys the flesh, because it separates the flesh from life. But God created man and woman on a basis whereby the flesh body
 could continue, not just threescore years and ten but any length of time — hundreds or thousands of years, whatever length of time might be right and
 proper — the birth into the world of flesh, function in the world of flesh, and
 ascension of the flesh into the invisible realms, a perfectly natural Divine
 pattern.

We must accept the reality of the things of God in the flesh and
 stop trying to make the things of God manifest, some way or other, on a
 basis where they will not be contaminated with the flesh. There is no sin in 
the flesh. The flesh in itself is not contaminated unless the patterns of distortion have been projected into the flesh through the mind and the heart 
because of wrong polarity, because the patterns of Truth have not controlled. But the flesh, as such, cannot contaminate God or the things of
 God. It is because the things of God are coming into the flesh that attunement has meaning. You are here, learning to serve through attunement; and the things of God, manifesting through your flesh, accomplish something in the flesh of the servee because that which is of God is penetrating
 the flesh of the servee, and because the flesh, even though it is in a state of
 distortion, cannot contaminate God or the things of God. The flesh cannot
 contaminate God or the things of God even though there be distortion in the 
flesh, but if that which is of God penetrates the flesh the distortions cannot
 remain.

In one sense we cannot blame the so-called Christian world for failing
 to comprehend this vital point, since the writings of Paul were accepted as if 
they were Truth. If those who have given thought to the things of God had 
looked to the Truth, had considered what the Master said, they would have 
seen that that which Paul said was not true. The very fact that Christianity, 
in nearly two thousand years, has not brought about that freedom from the
 old state of limitation, misery, suffering and sorrow proves that these 
things as contained in the so-called Christian religion are not the Truth, for 
if they had been the Truth, with all these millions of people earnestly believing, following them, trying to live them, earnestly doing their level best to 
live a Christian life according to these concepts, the world would have been
 a changed place. It is not a question of the sincerity and earnestness of all these people in past generations. They were just as earnest and sincere as 
you, and perhaps, sometimes I think, even more so, but all of that earnestness and sincerity, devotion to a cause, did not bring about the essential
 change. Why? Because they were not being governed by the Truth, but by 
concepts which were distorted. Consequently the pattern in the world
 continues to be distorted.

When you go to serve a servee you are not 
immediately concerned about all the distortions of his concepts, but you 
know they are there. You do not try, in a moment, to change all his viewpoints, ideas and attitudes. You begin to let that which is of God penetrate
 his flesh and reach into his heart and mind gradually, so that he can begin to
 know the Truth. But you begin to establish the pattern of Truth in his flesh 
so that he can feel it and know it, and then his mind begins to yield. But if 
you try to go too fast in changing the concepts of his mind and the convictions of his heart, you will lose your contact. You must maintain the 
response, and function correctly, if you are to really serve. But all of this
 clearing in heart and mind is to the end that the things of God may manifest
 in the flesh, and if there are distortion patterns in the physical body of the
 one whom you serve, you know without examining into anything that there
 are distortions in his mind and heart. That is evident, right to start with.

Our servees, in the larger sense, are the body of humanity. We look
 at the body of humanity as a whole, accepting every man, woman and child 
as a cell in that body, without regard to the divisions man has set up. And 
in this body of humanity we find serious distortions, inflamed areas, many 
serious inflammation points; we find some cancerous places. However, if we look at this world body and say, “But there are
 millions of good Christians in the world; they are earnest, sincere and honest, doing their level best to live a Christian life, etc.; it is not their beliefs 
that are at fault; they are just not able to live up to their beliefs,” we are
 wrong. The Truth has not been allowed to come into the realm of the flesh.
 We talk about dominion; we talk about the Kingdom of God on earth. 
How shall that Kingdom manifest except in and through the flesh? Where 
is it that the control of that Kingdom is needed except in the flesh? The
 meaningfulness of the development of the patterns of control in the mind
 and heart have their value only as those patterns come on into the flesh and 
establish control in the physical realm of things, in material substance 
around us.

“And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be 
saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” In other
 words, there was an assurance that some flesh should be saved, that through 
the flesh the things of God might find fulfilment on earth. We need, in our 
function as Servers, in attunement with God, to recognize that it is the
power of God working through us — establishing dominion in the flesh of 
those who respond, which brings about that healing, that correction of patterns, that clearing of consciousness — that makes our ministry worthwhile.
 Unless the flesh is changed we do not consider our job well done. It may 
not have been our fault, but the job was not done unless the flesh was 
changed; not just the mind, not just some of the surface patterns of the
 heart, but the flesh itself. So we begin to see that we are sharing the 
responsibility of being angels of God, carrying on the work of resurrection 
in the flesh of human beings; and our own attitude toward the flesh, as such, must be the Divine attitude by which the Spirit of God may flow freely 
into the flesh.

We remember, here in this same chapter, that the Master spoke of the
 Son of man coming in the clouds of Heaven with power and great glory. 
Very often the Master used the term, “the Son of man,” in a manner which
 obviously related to the manifest focalization of Deity, the power of God — 
the Son of man coming in the clouds of Heaven in power and great glory.
“Man” — again, the manifestation in the flesh — “coming in the clouds of 
heaven,” manifesting through that heaven which you have begun to know.
 You have begun to know what the clouds of heaven are, and you are beginning to know what the power and the glory are; that they come from God 
and manifest in the flesh.

“And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and 
they shall gather together his elect from the four winds.” Most human 
beings imagine that those angels are going to be some peculiar mystic things
 floating down from the sky and are going to go here and there doing various
 mysterious things. All of God’s action on earth is made manifest in some
way through the flesh, through physical things. “And he shall send his
 angels.” To the degree that you have begun to recognize the reality of the 
flesh of the body of God on earth, you will realize that those angels will be 
in the flesh — human beings who have so responded that their flesh, their 
minds, and their hearts are under the control of the Divine pattern of Truth,
 letting God’s Love flow forth in the reality of Life — and that those angels in the flesh will be moving in the world of man; and most human beings will
 not recognize them for what they are. They will entertain angels unawares. 
It is written: “Take heed lest ye entertain angels unawares.”

But your 
calling here is for one purpose, that you should become members of that 
company of angels going into the four corners of the earth. “And he shall
 send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet.” What is the sound of that 
trumpet? Something that blasts out here and is heard by the human ear and 
people get frightened? No. What was it that sounded when the Master
 came forth from the tomb? The angels blew a trumpet. It symbolizes the 
healing power of God that reaches into the flesh of human beings and they
 hear it with their inner ear. It is the vital flowing of the current of Life. 
It is the sound of a mighty rushing wind that filled the whole house, the
 power of God at work in the bodies, minds and hearts of men; not a
trumpet heard at an outside point by the physical ear, but the great sound of 
the trumpet that is known by every human being who truly lets the Spirit of
 God work.

“And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with
 one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as
 of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire.” (Acts 2:1-3)
 That sound from heaven is the sound of the trumpet, and you are called to 
be members of that company of angels on earth in the flesh, going forth to 
let the power of God have meaning in the flesh of those who respond, that 
they may yield to the patterns of Truth and show forth that beauty of being
 which makes a fit abiding place for God’s Love, that all that is sordid and 
unholy, unreal, in this world may be cleansed away, and that the beauty of
 being in the holiness of God’s Love may control in the realm of the living flesh. It is to this end that we serve; it is to this end that we give attunements. When you let that have real meaning 
in your life you will be an angel in the flesh, carrying salvation, or resurrection — the resurrecting, transforming power of God — to the flesh of the
 responding ones. I thank God that you are here in the flesh, and let us learn 
to see the flesh for what it is, for what it should be, no longer rejecting the 
importance of the flesh in relationship to the things of God.

© Emissaries of Divine Light