Behold

from   The Tabernacle of God

Uranda   August 30, 1953

“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.”

A voice out of Heaven. Many people have thought of this as a thunderous voice out of the sky. But that is not what it says. “A great voice out of heaven.” And where is Heaven? It is at hand. It is right here where we are — and it really is. We have come to begin to see that, and to know it to the depths of our being. A voice out of Heaven. Where does my voice come from? What voice do your hear when you listen? Merely the voice of a man, or is the voice you hear a voice out of Heaven? And what has my voice, this voice that you hear, what has it been saying to you out of Heaven? “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,” the tabernacle, the dwelling place, the temple of God, is with men — not somewhere up in the sky, not somewhere far away. This voice out of Heaven declares, “The tabernacle of God is with men” — which is to say, right here on earth. “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” Is not this what you have been hearing from the voice through these weeks and months and years? What else but this?

Have you begun to see? Have you seen anything of the Holy City? The new Spiritual consciousness or awareness or vision, have you seen anything of it? Have you seen it coming down from God out of Heaven? I wonder. Have you? Have you heard a voice out of Heaven declaring that the tabernacle of God is with men? If you have seen and if you have heard, there must surely stir in the depths of your being the desire that others shall see and hear. The thrilling vision of the Holy City coming down from God out of Heaven, to see it and to know it — can your mind conceive of any greater goal than this? Can your heart desire a greater thrill than this? What would it be to see the Holy City coming down from God out of Heaven into the earth, and to hear the voice from Heaven telling of the tabernacle of God that is with men? Human beings expect to have these things happen some time in the future, some day. Can we begin to see that that day is here, that the Holy City is coming down all the time, for all men everywhere? How few there are who see it.

Can you accept the reality of a voice out of Heaven in this day and age? Why have you gathered from the north and the south and the east and the west? And what voice have you heard? From whence comes that voice? And what is the message conveyed by the voice? Behold! Look! See! Become aware! Recognize and realize! Look and see! “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.” And for those who let this be true, for those who begin to see and hear and know that the tabernacle of God is with men, these words are written: “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”

I have talked to you much about the Gospel which our LORD brought into the world, that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. But here is my Gospel, and my Gospel is based upon His Gospel. But this is my Gospel, the good news which I bring to you: “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” And under the pattern of this Gospel there is a further word from His Majesty The KING: “Behold, I make all things new.” Those who hear the New Gospel of the KING are not going to attempt to keep the old things in their old order. They are going to thrill to His New Gospel, the Gospel of His Majesty The KING — “Behold, I make all things new.”

Now, if this be true — if you see it, if you know it, if you hear it — can you refrain from so living, so serving, that others may begin to see and know and hear? Can you behold this glorious thing, can you begin to know this wonder, can you begin to thrill to this power and yet say and do nothing to convey the realization to another? Perhaps it will not be by shouting from the house-tops, and perhaps you must wait until you can get someone to listen, but will not the very fact that you have seen and heard and known be as a light shining in you? Will there not be a zeal to your living, a vibrancy to your words, an assurance in your manner? Will you not be a carrier of good news to all who will hearken?

And what is service? Service is that pattern of living, of saying and doing, by which others begin to know the good news. Is not that service? What else is service, wherever you may be, under whatever circumstance? What other service is there but to bring to the minds and hearts and bodies of men and women everywhere the awareness of the Holy City that is coming down from God out of Heaven? The Garden of God planted eastward in Eden, it was called in Genesis, coming out of the east into the world of men. Can you see that Holy City and keep still, and say no word of your vision of the thing that is to be seen? Can you hear the Word of the voice from Heaven and keep still, saying no word of the thing which you have heard? Can you, now? “Only by uttermost devotion am I seen and known and heard. Only so is my being shared.” So stated Krishna in the long ago, and it is just as true today as it was then, just as true when our Master spoke it on earth nearly two thousand years ago — just as true.

And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away

and there was no more sea.

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven,

prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men,

and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people,

and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.

And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,

neither sorrow nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain:

for the former things are passed away.

And he that sat upon the throne — His Majesty the KING — said, Behold, I make all things new.

© Emissaries of Divine Light