By The Word All Things Are Made

By  The  Word  All  Things  Are  Made

Martin Cecil  October 15, 1978

When spiritual substance is dissipated because of human nature behavior then there is the necessity for generating it again. If this is a repeated experience it becomes discouraging. I suppose it might be described very often as a yo-yo experience. When spiritual substance is dissipated then we have to start again, and the opportunity for generating substance to the same level that it was before may require quite an extended period of time. It is not as though one could dissipate that substance and immediately generate it again.

Some have wondered why it has taken so long, since the time when the Master was on earth, to bring once again to point the opportunity for the manifestation of what we refer to as the Third Sacred School. Obviously there was substance generated when the Master was on earth and there continued to be something of a generation subsequently; but the way things worked out it wasn't long before what had been generated began to be dissipated. There always was the possibility that something might have carried forward at that time, springing from what the Master had initiated then; but it could only have happened on the basis of the generation, the continued generation, of spiritual substance. This did not occur in any adequate sense; in fact very shortly it began to be dissipated, resulting in some widespread suffering, all of which was really quite unnecessary. Yet the martyrs of old tend to be looked upon as real evidence of the working of the power of God—but it was not the working of the power of God but the evidence of the lack of it. When something of such momentous proportions as was brought into the world by the Master was dissipated, then it has taken nineteen centuries for anything to be brought to point in an ongoing sense once more.

You may recall that there was a moment back at the time of Daniel when he became aware of the decision that was being made for the Lord to incarnate on earth. It came to him as an appalling shock, because of what He would undoubtedly have to face when this incarnation occurred. But from that point of recognition it was several hundred years later when the Lord actually incarnated in form on earth. There is one thing that God has plenty of, and that is time; human beings don't have so much. But there are many ramifications to all these things; there is much to be taken into account. If the human mind could see all the things that were to be taken into account it would be staggered and I suppose, these days, would be inclined to imagine that it could never be accomplished without a computer. But God has resources which are not apparent to human beings.

Sometimes God is thought of as being rather arbitrary, but that is really the last thing He is. There is a vast amount of careful thought and consideration given to the whole creative process. We think of this creative process in terms of this earth and human beings particularly, but of course this is a very small consideration relative to the vast whole, the whole which we would probably describe as the universe. That word really tells us nothing. But there is a vast whole and what we call the universe gives evidence of the fact of it. All these things have to mesh. That meshing is consequent upon the reality of what we call God. It is consequent upon what He is. Sometimes the human view is that we should learn what the laws and principles of being are so that we may obey them, but that is the human nature approach which leads nowhere. The so-called laws and principles of being are simply part of what is included in the character and the nature of God. These laws and principles, as human beings see them, are not separate from God; they are an aspect of God. It is natural for Him to function on the basis of His own character, which includes what are seen by human beings as laws and principles. That is not really what they are at all. Only as we begin to share the character of God do we discover what these things really are, and we find that these are as much a part of our nature as they are a part of the nature of God, because there is no separation in any case. It may be said that the composition of God is angelic.

As there is the movement of any creative cycle in the true sense, it emerges out of the nature of God. That emergence transpires in a very particular way, in a way that it must transpire. It can't transpire in any other way. So everything has to come together in order to make possible some particular creative cycle to be initiated. We have a certain awareness of a creative cycle that was initiated, to allow for the manifestation of what it is in which we now share. It certainly wasn't something thought up by some bright human mind but occurred on the basis of the fact that things came together in the creative cycles; and there was the incarnation of such angels as were necessary to allow for the initiation of the cycle, not only the initiation of it but the carrying forward of it, bringing us to this very hour. There have been opportunities extended in this regard to the children of men in the past, to allow for what we now call the restoration. Human beings have never accepted it so far. They have never accepted any of these opportunities. They were all, without exception, rejected; that is why we are in the state we still are. This gives some evidence of the love and the carefulness of the natural expression of God. He doesn't wish to force the issue, because it would be disastrous insofar as human beings are concerned. As it was put, He is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance, that all should be willing to let happen what needs to happen.

Mention was made this morning of what was portrayed by the story of Cain and Abel. When that particular disaster occurred some might question as to why God did not immediately initiate something else. Well He did pretty quickly. We have the information that Eve conceived again and bore Seth, in the place of Abel. This points to an opportunity that was available back there. Obviously it was rejected. But there always are periods of time involved in order to get things into position once again where something can be done. Now we find this in our own individual experience: If you mess something up, you can't immediately reestablish what you have messed up. Sometimes when you mess something up it may be years before you can allow something of the same nature to be experienced once more in a victorious way. This certainly should emphasize to us the care we need to take in our behavior. "Behavior" is a word which I use to describe what we think, what we feel, what we speak, and what we do. Sometimes a thoughtless word can wreak havoc, and it may never be possible to re-establish what was destroyed. It is said that we would have to give account for every idle word in the day of judgment. Well we do, because what we say initiates something, always, and what was initiated at that point comes back to us; the judgment, in other words, comes back. It comes back later, maybe years later, and when it comes back we may say, "Why am I being subjected to this?" Well you were responsible for it in the first place. You may not remember what it was that produced this result, but the result speaks to you of the fact that somehow or other you set something in motion that was of a destructive nature. I am thinking of this in terms of the destructive. Of course it works the other way too. You cast your bread upon the waters. It comes back again after many days. As you sow, so shall you also reap.

But from the standpoint of God relative to this particular part of the universe and the need that is present relative to human beings, there are much greater stakes. There is much more involved. But care is taken that everything that needs to be handled to allow for the initiation of whatever needs to be initiated is taken care of. So when anything begins to emerge, as it has done in the area of which we are aware particularly, relative to the Third Sacred School, nothing happened by chance. All that was necessary to the victorious fulfilment of the cycle which was initiated has been provided. I am sure that we have all been guilty, and others with us, of failing to recognize the provision on occasion, and at other times perhaps of recognizing it and using it wrongly, so that we have in our various ways thrown up unnecessary roadblocks. This has been done on a fairly consistent basis over the years, which also gives much evidence of the patience of the Lord and of the power that is moving insofar as this creative cycle is concerned. Thus far no one has been able to stop it. I suppose, even though most have had the best of intentions, it may be said that nearly everyone has done their best to stop it; but it keeps on moving. There is a creative power here, which we were considering this morning, based in spiritual expression, angelic spiritual expression, and in the collective sense Archangelic spiritual expression.

I received an interesting letter this evening, actually in response to the recent mailing. This letter was written by Karen Barger, whom I'm sure you all know. It brings to point something which I find very useful. It gives evidence of substance and consequent thinking, not the usual kind of thinking but the thinking which emerges when there is spiritual substance in which spirit may move. Here is the letter:

Karen Barger — I was reading the mailing last evening and suddenly realized that in those potent words is the cause of everything, all that is occurring in the world as a whole and in our individual lives. The Word which we share with you on Sundays and which comes to us in the form of mailings is the absolute cause of everything.

There are these words in the Book of John. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." I realize that I have tended to see this as relating only to the original creation, but it has full meaning now. The Word is with God and the Word is God. The Word Is God! All things are made by Him and without Him, without the Word, is not anything made that is made. The Word, this creative Word which we have the utter privilege of sharing with you in, is the absolute cause of everything.

The world doesn't know this. Human nature is totally oblivious of this fact. The darkness comprehends not the light. The Word is in the world, and the world is made by the Word, but the world knows it not. The human mind knows not the Lord. The human mind thinks that it is in charge, but it is not. It never has been and it isn't now. Though the mind interferes with the effects of creation, it does not interfere with the cause at all. In the whole universe the cause is the Word, and in this little world the same is true. The cause is the Word whether the world knows it or not.

It is evident in the first chapter of Genesis that the creative process is most specific. I notice this in the Word we share with you. Each service is most specific. Let "this" occur. In this process of re-creation there is always something which needs to go before "this" which should occur can come. If we are thoroughly in agreement with the Word, what is being brought to point in the service does occur and we are with it. Something dissolves and, because we are present, something new appears. Sometimes there is discomfort when things are dissolving and perhaps a sense of shame enters in, but that's silly. In the power and potency of the Word we cause these things to happen, right in our own consciousness and then on out. We take part in the creative process with the Word, with God. We are taking part in the re-creation of this world. This is what we came here to do and we would let nothing keep us from this.

We do have a specific responsibility in this, each one of us. We are each responsible for a particular aspect of the Word and of creation. For this responsibility to be fulfilled we must keep pace with you from service to service so that we come out where you are, so that we are with you in fact. All the circumstances that we find ourselves in provide us with the opportunity to do this, perfect vehicles, if we will take advantage of them in this way. They are made by the Word for this purpose.

There has been a lot of imagination between us and the Word. I am aware of this in my own consciousness. We have been idol worshipers, idle worshipers, but we needn't be. The Word is present, God is present on earth, and we may worship Him, with you."

Martin Cecil — It is said in this same 1st chapter of John that, "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." This is usually seen as referring to Jesus, the incarnation of the Word in individual form at that time. But we also recognize that He came in order to reveal something so that human beings everywhere might assume their own responsibilities. In other words the Word is rightly made flesh not merely through one person, as it was through Him or by reason of Him, but through a collective body of people. This flesh body is created by reason of the Word. We are aware of the flesh body which collectively we and others are in the process of composing. How is it that this composition has been brought to pass? Obviously by reason of the Word. We have spoken of this Word, as it has been differentiated in words, as the bloodstream, or the lifestream, of the body. It makes possible the blending of the body as one body. This Word permeates all parts of the body. We might say it is the one common denominator insofar as all individuals are concerned, and by reason of this Word there has been something made.

We may look back and recall the description of the conception of the flesh body of the Master. The Word was involved here. The way it has been put in the Bible has been interpreted to mean certain things in human minds, particularly the minds of those who think of themselves as Christians, but the point is that the Word is the cause of any creation and it was the cause of that particular creation. It was a starting point, a very small starting point, as there is for each individual. It is because the Word is spoken that there is conception insofar as human beings are concerned. As is usual with the human view, just the external factors are taken into account; conception is supposed to occur by reason of the blending of the male and female seeds. But that isn't why conception occurs. That is part of the picture. These two elements need to be present and drawn into oneness to provide a whole seed, which makes possible conception. The conception comes by the Word, and because the Word is present and continues to be present a flesh body develops. This has been true of all of us, just as it was true of the One called Jesus. Because the Word is spoken with respect to each of us individually we are all sitting here this evening, and because the Word has continued to be spoken up to this point, here we are. This was true of Him as it is true of us.

The Word needs to be spoken in order to make possible the development of a flesh body. Because the Word is present there is more to the development of the flesh body than the flesh. We have noted other levels of substance. There is no real line of demarcation between one level of substance and another. It only seems to be so because of the facility we have for observation. We can observe some things and we can't observe other things, even though we know they are present. There is much present which human beings in their earthly state of consciousness certainly have not been able to observe. There are some things unobservable in this way of which human beings are aware, but there is far more of which they are not aware. Insofar as Jesus was concerned there continued to be growth in grace and stature, as it is put. This indicates the generation of the essential substance necessary to a mature expression. This includes not only physical substance, the flesh body, but spiritual substance as well. There is the substance of the body, the substance of the mind, the substance of spiritual expression, and the substance of the heart. There are various levels of substance. This generation of substance insofar as the Master was concerned provided Him with an instrument, an earthly instrument, which would permit true spiritual expression.

Obviously there was power associated with that spiritual expression. Here we see the way it works. He was revealing how it should work for the whole body of mankind. That is why He suggested, to those who would pay any attention, that they follow Him. Most of those who wanted to follow Him thought they were doing it just by trotting along after Him, but that wasn't following Him. They were given the opportunity of following Him in the regeneration, that is in the regeneration of the essential spiritual substance, so that they would be doing it just as He was doing it. Then there would have been a basis for the development of a body. The twelve disciples might have provided the focus points for the development of this body as it could have occurred at that time, but they were only following Him on the basis of the human concept of what that would mean; and rather similar concepts have been carried over into what is called Christianity: trot along behind and hope that Jesus will get everything straightened out.

That cycle, as we recognize, was dissipated. What He brought into the world was dissipated insofar as human beings were concerned. It wasn't dissipated insofar as He Himself was concerned. The resurrection occurred, after all. So it was necessary that something should be worked out over what has proven to be many centuries, to reach a point where there could be a reinitiation; something could be brought to focus again. There could be, consequently, conception again: conception, gestation, birth, of a flesh body; but not of an individual flesh body, rather of a collective flesh body. We speak of this as the body of the Archangel. This body is present, within the range of our own experience and the experience of others, because of the Word: "All things were made by him."

The first concern in this matter, within the range of where the re-creation needs to occur, is that the Word should be made flesh, made flesh in a larger sense than was possible when the Master Himself was on earth. And we have that experience—certainly not yet of the mature body of the Archangel, capable of permitting the spiritual expression of the Archangel with power—and we remember that, "Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you." This is the way it was put, way back. The same thing holds true now. But there must be a flesh body. The initial requirement then is the development of that flesh body. But how? By reason of the Word. This is, insofar as that body is concerned, an internal experience. Mind you, nothing can occur in that internal sense without having some influence externally. Obviously, even if we just consider the birth of a babe and the development of a child, and so on, the very fact that there is a new person present certainly has influence round about. So, because this body has taken form and is growing in grace and stature—at least I hope so—it has influence beyond itself, just as Jesus had influence beyond Himself before ever He reached the point of what might be referred to as His public ministry. That period is not described particularly in the record that has come down to us, but obviously He didn't just suddenly spring out at a certain point. This isn't the way that life works, is it? There is an unfoldment, a creative development; and so it was with Him, as it has been with us.

There was a very specific point when His public ministry began, when His whole expression was concerned with what was external to Himself. Prior to that point—whether you could put a fine line of demarcation there I doubt, but prior to that point there was a continuing internal development, because the Word was being spoken primarily internally. Then the point is reached when it is spoken primarily externally. The experience of this body in its development has thus far been the experience of the Word being spoken internally. The body exists because of the Word. There would be no body without the Word. This should be obvious. So the Word is present, and insofar as this body is concerned all things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made. If some human nature patterns have been brought forward and are still present, these did not derive from the Word as it has found focused expression internal to the body. They came because they were already present with those who came to compose the body. But the body is not the true body of the Archangel until it is wholly made by the Word. Obviously no one could ignore the Word and participate in the body. So again we have emphasis placed upon the importance of the Word as we understand it now relative to what is occurring in this moment—of course not only in this moment; it has been a continuing thing and it continues to be a continuing thing.

If the Word is to be spoken internally there needs to be someone present to do it. That job has fallen to my hand—I suppose it would be better put, to my lips. But there is a flesh body now solely because of the Word, a flesh body growing in grace and stature. Somewhere along the way there is a transition, where the Word is not anymore merely spoken internally but it is spoken externally. The Archangel speaks through his body. The initiation of that point was indicated in the record of the Master's life as having occurred at the time of the so-called temptations in the wilderness; thereafter His public ministry was recorded. As I say, there was no cutoff point, so to speak. The angel, the Archangel, had been emerging prior to that, throughout His whole life as far as that is concerned, but there was a point where there could be a shift in the nature of His ministry, and so it is with respect to this body. I rather suspect that this shift is at hand: the moment when the Archangel comes forth through His body. We trust it is through His body; in other words His body needs to be capable of accommodating the coming forth of the Archangel. If the body is not capable of accommodating that, then it is pushed aside. I do not anticipate that that is going to happen, but as individuals everyone needs to bear the possibility in mind, so emphasizing the necessity of angelic behavior. Where the behavior is angelic there is nothing to push aside; there is a facility available capable of accommodating the coming forth of the Archangel, which is at the same time, individually speaking, the coming forth of the angel.

I have spoken before of a particular cycle which was initiated back in 1932 by Uranda, a cycle composed of seven periods of seven years; that is, forty-nine years. I think, if my calculations are correct, that brings us to 1981. I don't know that that is an arbitrary date. What needs to happen perhaps could happen before that but I don't think it could happen very much after that: the coming forth of the Archangel into creative expression on earth because there is a body present capable of accommodating him. You and others have the responsibility for that flesh body, the Word made flesh.

My responsibility up to this point is to provide that Word in the internal sense, in the creation of the body made by the Word. I have watched this happening over the years, and those who have participated with me in this have also shared in observation of the happening. A flesh body—a flesh body with incarnate Archangel—allows for the mental apparatus to be present also and for the capacity of spiritual expression. Back of all this there is the heart. And so we have shared in a consideration this evening of what shall be surely developed further in our considerations in the days to come as we allow this coming forth of the angel, and consequently of the Archangel, in increasingly specific ways, all to the glory of God.

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