Rebuke

from

Rebuke

Martin Cecil   August 28, 1977  a.m.

As the sons and daughters of God we come to present ourselves before the Lord in this one place, the beautiful setting of this Dome Chapel. If we are the sons and daughters of God truly, then we are not only present physically but also spiritually with one accord. There are indeed many others who are present with us spiritually, even though they do not have the privilege of being present in this particular place this morning. Some of those who are with us spiritually have the experience of being consciously so. The majority however are unconscious of the fact. So certainly we who are here provide an apex focalization of a conscious state of being with one accord. To the extent that this is so, human pettiness is dissolved. It is rebuked and consequently dissolved.

We are with one accord as sons and daughters of God who keep the commandments of the Lord. This of course does not mean that arbitrary requirements are imposed upon us in the human sense. It merely means that insofar as our momentary living is concerned we are consistently obedient to the spirit of the Lord finding expression by reason of our presence on earth. Obedience related to the experience which should have been known more than it was by the children of Israel during the time of the First Sacred School. Certain commandments were given in the external sense, that there might have been a willingness to experience the real meaning of those commandments as they sprang forth from the individuals themselves. This is something that must necessarily be proven out through the human consciousness of each one here present and of all people everywhere if the reality of the meaning of obedience is to be known. Because of disobedience there is what is called sin in the world. The results of disobedience finally bring the individual to the point of death, so that the human consciousness is dissipated. We are here as sons and daughters of God in agreement to let the human consciousness be transformed so that it may reveal the consciousness of a son or a daughter of God.

This could never happen without the forgiveness of sins. It could never happen without learning the true meaning of obedience. That true meaning has been long forgotten but it is revealed as the commandments of the Lord are kept. The commandments of the Lord are naturally kept by the son or the daughter of God—that is the nature of the angels of the Lord. To the extent that in our momentary living the commandments of the Lord are consistently kept because the quality of our living reveals the fact, then sin is forgiven. To the extent that we ourselves take responsibility in this matter as the angels of the Lord, then the opportunity for the forgiveness of sins is extended into the whole body of mankind. This is the only way it can be extended in any meaningful sense. Sins are only forgiven when it is the fact that the sinner is no longer present. As long as the sinner is there there is vivid evidence that sins have not been forgiven. If the sinner is there it is because there continues to be disobedience—failure to keep the commandments of the Lord in momentary living.

When the quality of the angel finds consistent expression in living, Satan is rebuked in consciousness whenever he puts in an appearance—in this moment. Sin is forgiven, the consciousness is transformed, and the opportunity of that transformation is extended into the whole consciousness of mankind. As there begins to be the living experience of the commandments of the Lord springing forth in momentary living then there is the basis for the experience of spiritual agreement. Agreement is a natural reality in the true state of the sons and daughters of God. It does not have to be made to be so. We discover that we are in agreement when the expression is that of the son or the daughter of God. Consequently if we discover at times that we are not in agreement, then we know full well that there is the absence of the expression of the son or the daughter of God and no amount of argument will make it any different.

This fact of spiritual agreement must be proven out if the world is to be reproved of righteousness. The expression of that true agreement, of the fact of being with one accord, is the rebuke, the reproof, to human self-righteousness, which is the only kind of so-called righteousness that is possible of experience by anyone other than a son or a daughter of God. So no matter how humanly commendable some person’s expression of living may seem to be it still requires reproof until that expression is actually the expression of a son or a daughter of God. As anything that is unfitting in this regard arises it may be rebuked—rebuked instantly by the son or the daughter of God who is present. That rebuke proceeds from the truth of oneself to the evidence of the absence of that truth in the consciousness of the human state—in your own consciousness humanly speaking. As an angel of the Lord that is the only consciousness you have. Most people try to get away from their own consciousness by imputing evil to the consciousness of others, so that they feel they have a big task correcting all the things that are as they should not be in the consciousness of someone else. But the only consciousness we can actually rebuke is our own. If we do so, it will then be a rebuke with respect to somebody else as well, but if we do not do it as it relates to our own state of consciousness there is no right rebuke extended to anyone else.

The expression of right rebuke is the evidence of agreement—agreement with the Lord. We, I am sure, have reached a point where there is sufficient awareness of what constitutes the sounding of the True Tone so that anything off-key immediately becomes apparent to us. We no longer try to deceive ourselves, when an off-key note appears, by saying it isn’t there. We acknowledge the fact that it is there and we rebuke it, and that deals with the situation most effectively. But it is never dealt with as long as we sustain the sour note. The rebuke has to come from the angel of the Lord. It may be helpful to have the agreement of other angels of the Lord in the process if it seems that there is something rather sticky in the individual’s present state of consciousness; but the ill thing will only be dissipated to the extent that the individual honestly and effectively and immediately rebukes whatever it is.

The rebuke is most effective when given by a son or a daughter of God—it is done! That’s it! You don’t have to fuss anymore about it. Mind you, such things may arise again but you now know how to rebuke them. You have experience. You have done it, and you keep doing it and you do not take that whiny human attitude anymore which is inclined to say at times, “Well I thought that had been dealt with long ago and now here it comes up again.” Well if it comes up again deal with it again! It needs to be dealt with again obviously, if not merely from the standpoint of your own state of consciousness from the standpoint of the overall consciousness of mankind. I suspect that many things will need to be rebuked over and over and over again, but do it anyway.

There seems to be a lot of requirement in this regard if we observe what is happening in the consciousness of mankind in general, but we are not going to deal with that out there somewhere unless we deal with it right here where we are in our own consciousness. That is the way to do it. This is how we carry our responsibility. It is a factual, actual responsibility, not merely an imaginary one with respect to something happening way over there somewhere. So our consciousness as human beings is absolutely obedient to the expression of the spirit of the Lord. The commandments of the Lord are kept. Our own state of consciousness has no choice in the matter. As long as we think we have a choice we delude ourselves.

There are those who have been inclined to imagine that they have somehow to experience many things in this human state of consciousness by going here and there, indulging in this and that, in order that they may make an intelligent choice. Nonsense! If this is the attitude that is taken it is obvious that the restoration of the consciousness of mankind could never come, because every generation would say, “We have to go out into what isn’t the true consciousness of the Lord in order to fool around there for a while and convince ourselves that that’s not the thing to do.” Well if each generation does that, that maintains the ill state, doesn’t it? Human beings—every last one of us—find themselves in hell to start with in the human state. Until a person experiences the reality of heaven—the reality of heaven is present to be experienced—one is in hell and one will not find heaven by maneuvering around in hell. The only way to find the reality of heaven in the experience of living is to love heaven—one is never propelled into heaven by a dislike of hell.

What needs to happen is for the heavenly state of consciousness to occupy the space previously occupied by the absence of the heavenly state of consciousness—which is hell. As there begins to be obedience known because the commandments of the Lord are kept, as there is the natural agreement of the sons and the daughters of God experienced momentarily because sin is constantly rebuked, then fulfilment comes, fulfilment which relates to the experience of heaven. One’s attitude in handling this matter of obedience and this matter of agreement is the attitude of the son or the daughter of God, the attitude of the one who abides in heaven—that is a heavenly experience, isn’t it? There is no great difficulty about it.

Perhaps the parable of the prodigal son has carried undue weight in the consciousness of many people, giving them the idea that really if one was going to enjoy heaven, come home and be happy at home, one has to go out and do a bit of riotous living. Something is conveyed by this parable. It really gives an indication of the fall of man and the subsequent experience—and we have played our part in sustaining it in this generation. We find ourselves living riotously no matter where we are and there is the necessity of coming home. So it has application in that sense. But if one begins to have the experience of heavenly heredity in momentary living, then why leave that to experience the increased pattern of earthly heredity in order to assure ourselves that it is hell? because if this is done a person is never likely to come back. There is a passage in one of the Epistles of Peter—these things have some application here:

“For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

“For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

“But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”

Very graphic! Very true! And those who do it always have wonderful rationalizations as to why it was necessary, but it never is and nothing whatsoever is gained by it. Nothing. It should be clearly realized by anyone—and we have the responsibility of conveying this fact—that if, having an awareness of the truth, one denies it in order to experience something else, no matter how it is rationalized, one will find that one’s state then experienced will be worse than if one had never known the truth, never touched it. Nothing is gained, ever. We need to have a clear consciousness of these things ourselves, which we do if we permit the living momentary expression of the son or the daughter of God. We know these things and we see the stupidity of the human mind under the narcotic of the forbidden fruit. You heard that before once!

There isn’t anything that anyone can do in the earthly sense to produce it. One can have all possible earthly experiences, if one lives long enough, without ever experiencing the true state of consciousness, because it cannot be experienced on that basis. So why fiddle around in that realm then? Anyone who finds him- or herself born into that realm, as we all were, should have enough of it almost instantly. Now this is particularly true if there is some evidence, some real point of orientation, available to us so that we can rise up without any more hesitation. We ourselves, as sons and daughters of God, are deeply concerned to provide increased evidence constantly. That increased evidence emerges on the basis of the fact that there is a constant rebuke with respect to the old state of consciousness by reason of the fact that a new state is coming down from God out of heaven to fill the old area where it was absent before. It is always a matter of spiritual expression; and we are not going to gain anything by trying to extract some valuable essence out of earthly experience. Toward the end of the 21st chapter of Revelation are these words: “And the city has no need of the sun,” no need of all the things that the human intellect thinks are so important; “...no need of the sun, neither of the moon,”—the reflected light which we find all over the place—“to shine in it: for the glory of God lightens it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” I am using the present tense in this. If you read the record in the Book of Revelation it was futuristic. Well somewhere along the line it has to come into the present, doesn’t it? Otherwise it means nothing.

“And the nations of them which are saved,” restored, “walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth bring their glory and honour into it.

“And the gates of it are not shut at all by day: for there is no night there.

“And they bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.

“And there in no wise enters into it anything that defiles, neither whatsoever works abomination, or makes a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.”

You will recall that that book of life was written within and on the back-side and it was sealed with seven seals and there was no man found who could open the seals or even look at it. The book is sealed. We have touched in an understanding way, at least a little, with respect to what happened in the past but that isn’t really the opening of the book. It merely introduces us to the possibility of some good reading when the book is opened.

It was written within; in other words it is present. The truth is present insofar as each person is concerned. The heavenly heredity is there. Heaven is available but the only way it may be known is as the seals are opened so that the book may be read, that what is present within the book may come forth into expression. And no human methods, no human techniques, no matter how hallowed they may be by length of existence on earth, can get the job done. John, who wrote the book, was very much concerned about this. He wept much because nobody could open the book, and there has certainly been a lot of blood, sweat and tears in an endeavor to open the book: all kinds of methods by which human beings are going to find themselves, discover their identity, and all the rest of it. The only significance these sorts of things have is that they indicate there is something of a little memory somewhere in human beings who realize that there must be another state. But these nonsensical techniques that people use—ugh! Horrible! They do not in fact bring anyone to the true experience. They may be experienced by someone who is capable of having the true experience and has been perhaps endeavoring to find it, and so he touches this, he touches that, but none of these things brought him to the experience; they had nothing to do with it. It was the fact that within that person there was something seeking to come forth—that’s all; and all these things merely delay the process, for each person must discover that that is not the way. Well let’s have the way revealed here clearly so that it may be easily seen, easily known; and nobody has to go through all those ramifications of nonsense, which is all it is.

We do find those who have some reality in themselves ready to come forth; but you know that unless they let go of that nonsense it is not going to come forth. We can delude people into imagining that by following out all that rigmarole they are going to find something. Now of course maybe we don’t knock these things to the people concerned, not because they are not worth knocking but because the individual would likely not be amenable to an understanding of what we were doing. So, being thoughtful of the person concerned we are gentle, but we ourselves know; and in these days there are those who are ready to come out who come out very quickly.

The book is opened by reason of spiritual expression, the glory of God, the Shekinah, the Christ, the Lamb. The Tone sounding loud and clear opens the seals. Various things are experienced as the book is opened, not all of them delightful, from the standpoint of human consciousness at least, but all of them delightful from the standpoint of the consciousness of the son or the daughter of God, because here at last is the restoration! It matters not particularly what the experiences are going to be, as long as the restoration comes. That is all that matters to the sons and the daughters of God, while human beings are fussing about the things that are happening to them in a self-centered way. It is all meaningless. There is only one thing and that is the restoration of man. That is the only thing insofar as the sons and the daughters of God are concerned, and if we begin to share that consciousness then all this nonsensical fooling around in the human pattern of consciousness simply is dissolved and we get to work. Our work is primarily that of rebuke because we individually have a state of consciousness with which to deal, and nobody else can deal with it for us. Somebody can lend a hand but unless we do it ourselves it is not done.

How can it be determined who is written in the Lamb’s book of life without that book being opened? The only way it can be opened is by reason of what we have called spiritual expression. One of the primary requirements of spiritual expression is rebuke as it relates to one’s own state of consciousness. In speaking over the years to many people it has been assumed by some that I was rebuking them at times, but how do you think I had anything to rebuke if there was not something in my own consciousness to rebuke? Some people feel terrible because of the things in their own consciousness which are there to be rebuked. Well we came into the world for this reason! This is the cause—to do this rebuking with respect to the state of consciousness that may be present in our physical hereditary form, the only one we have. If we refuse to work with that we refuse to work with anything. If we imagine that it must be somebody else’s state of consciousness that we are going to twist around and repair we just fool ourselves. It is our very own and it is closely related to everybody else. This is the reason why in rebuking what is present in our own consciousness we are doing it for everybody else; and if it clears at the point of focus, which we represent in the differentiating expression of the spirit of God, then it is going to extend on out through that point of focus and have an impact everywhere in the consciousness of mankind.

Isn’t it a tremendous thing that we have the ability in our hands to restore the consciousness of mankind? I don’t think many really believed that was possible. But it is a factual thing that can be done now and now and now and now—every day in every way to the glory of God. As sons and daughters of God we know this. We know why we are here—to do this—and we do not hesitate to rebuke whenever necessary. The main requirement of spiritual expression is rebuke because virtually everything that human beings do from the standpoint of human consciousness needs rebuking. So let us rejoice in this joyous, wonderful privilege of service which we have been sharing this morning, and which we properly share in each moment, by which a rebuke is extended in spiritual expression through our own individual states of consciousness into the world. Could there really be anything more tremendous than this?

Grace Van Duzen  — Martin, you asked a question which I feel must be answered. Truly in our hearts I’m sure we do this morning, but when will the redeemed of the Lord say so? And the answer is No, nothing could be more tremendous than this. Not going out there to find something—not anything on the face of this earth could be more tremendous.

Martin Cecil — Your words bring to focus the current of the spirit which is moving in many hearts. I am deeply thankful that there are so many gathered here in this Chapel this morning who really know these things and therefore can easily abide in agreement, not only at those times such as during this service when it is all brought out into the open, so to speak, but constantly in the moments of our living, because the truth is no less true then than it is now. Let us be true to the truth, to the glory of our Lord and King.

© Emissaries of Divine Light