Spirit and Antispirit

Spirit  and  Antispirit

Martin Cecil and Hugh Malafry   May 11, 1986

Hugh Malafry — “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”—the Word in essence spoken to the city of man, with all its convoluted ways, its twisted patterns, its obscure, entangled motivations and its abominable purposelessness. It occurs to me how, when the Word has found a place at one point in the consciousness of mankind, in essence at that point it is done in heaven. Now there may be various cycles working out to let that be the fact in the earth, but the consciousness of mankind is no longer as it was—by reason of the presence of one point. That point, we know, is now being magnified, that the whole earth might become a city of habitation. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Is this not the gospel of the kingdom to the city of man: this gospel of the kingdom, that the kingdom of heaven is at hand?

We look out on the world, and in addition to the reflection of ourselves that is there, we see through that perhaps somewhat still misty and smoky lens of our own perceptions a state of affairs which is apparently far more reactive than responsive to the expression of the Word. We see cycles set in motion and what often appears to be reaction to those cycles occurring in the earth—just the opposite, sometimes, to what one would suppose should emerge—emerging in the city of man, because there is reaction to the expression of the Word. When one deals with the city of man it’s wise to be diplomatic. Going out and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” takes many forms. It is said that diplomacy is “the art of letting others have your own way”! I think, with slight modification, there is a certain truth in that; certainly divine diplomacy is the art of letting man see that he must have God’s way in his expression, or have nothing.

“The kingdom of heaven is at hand” brings to my thoughts another promise, to the effect that “except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” When one hears these words one is perhaps inclined to feel, if one feels that there has been some experience of what it means to be chosen, that this is a pretty good break: God is on our side, or we are supporting His expression and therefore things will work out rather well; the tribulation will not be what it could be, for the elect’s sake. But can we see these words as meaning, fundamentally, that because there are those who are willing to provide the point of focus with the point of focus, the days are indeed shortened, so that there might be some flesh saved, so that there might be some space in the city of man to allow a pattern of response to emerge, rather than persistent reaction to the expression of the Word.

We see, too, that things are heating up, that when the Word is spoken things move much more quickly than they seemed to do in the past, that the lag in the cycle is not what it was. In times past, things could be set in motion and maybe years down the road, looking out in the world, we’d say, for example, “Hey, things are beginning to show up! People are into natural foods and sprouts—we were first!” A superficial aspect, perhaps. But there has been this tremendous lag in the cycle. But now the days are shortened. The city of man is certainly deteriorating, and the city of habitation, the consciousness, the place of consciousness for the expression of the one life, is becoming increasingly distinct.

Thinking about this, I wonder if this is not so much a reflection of the increased response of mankind to the expression of the Word (and there needs to be that), as a reflection of the fact that the gap between the expression of the Word and the sustaining of that in the life processes of this Body has diminished. Is that not in fact the way the days are shortened, because there is no gap, no arbitrary division between the creative Word at its point of origin and its natural amplification through us? No reaction to radiation, perhaps no response even—just unified expression. And if that gap ceases to exist, does that not then bring together the patterns in which human beings move with the cycles of life which move in this Body of the Spirit of the Living God, so that there is one-to-one correlation. We can have our hand on these things, directly. I think it is important that we include the world in our consciousness, see things for what they are, let our touch be upon it. But the deepest service in this regard is in fact within the mechanism of this Body itself, not in self-centered and selfish terms, not in self-indulgent terms, but in realizing that what we do within the Body of the Living God, that is done in the earth. Once it is established in the heaven it must follow through in the earth—it must! That is the law, that is the law of creation: as the heaven, so the earth.

If we look out in the world these days we see many points of focus emerging, people who are in essence representative of their cultures. Shall they move in the old, habitual cycles of their cultures, doing the same thing all over again, or is there a guiding touch which is intimately at point with respect to those patterns? Very often such ones as they emerge become the focus of troubled feeling. We have the mechanism within this Body to be sure that all those who hear the word, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand”—whether it be unconscious to them now or whether it begin to glimmer at the surface of consciousness—we have the mechanism to be sure that these processes which are emerging the world around are brought into oneness with the life processes of this Body in such a way that what needs to fall away can fall away and that which needs to be brought into this Body can be brought into this Body.

In essence it is our absolute focus in the One. As that One is absolutely protected—absolutely—here is the mechanism by which all those who serve in whatever way, wherever, find drawn about them the right patterns of association, the right pattern of protection. This is heavenly magic! We don’t need to go “lo here and lo there”—unless the spirit of the Lord carries you off into the wilderness for whatever reason and puts you there, making right use of the substance and situation—but here and now it is all represented. This gospel of the kingdom—“the kingdom of heaven is at hand”—shall be preached in all the earth, and then shall the end come. And the gospel of the kingdom is this: that heaven and earth are one, and that what we do together in the heaven must surely be done in earth to the glory of God.

Lord Exeter — Does anything else need to be said? It becomes increasingly apparent as to what we are here to do, no longer to be fussing about our personal confusions and disturbances of mind and heart, or aches and pains of body. Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Most people seem disinclined to repent but think it more useful, in a self-centered way, to seek out someone who can, hopefully, dispel the ache and the pain. Repent! Stop pouring life force into your aches and pains, stop pouring life force into confusions and disturbances; repent from doing this, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. We have had long opportunity to participate in this process of repentance, so that the kingdom of heaven might become the city of habitation and the King be present in His kingdom, to do what He wishes to do.

Those who have some view with respect to the King I'm sure would be inclined to say, "Well I'm sure that what He would wish to do is what should be done." So that's settled! But I wonder how many of us here present this evening, or beyond the few of us, really consider what the vision, the attitude, the outlook, of the King really is, so that we might associate ourselves with that? I don't think His intent would be to fuss with aches and pains, confusions and disturbances. He is not interested, as we well know, in condemning anyone. There is this lingering attitude present in human beings in general that God is dealing out punishment. We have divine terms here, a recognition of love, understanding, and a door opened in heaven. There is no intent on the part of the Lord to mete out punishment to anyone. I think if we consider His attitude we would find that He is quite aware that human beings mete out sufficient punishment upon themselves, without Him interfering in the matter!

But, really, what would His outlook be? What is His vision of what is occurring in the world? Do we really know what that is or, knowing, share it? Or do we have our own little view, which, as I say, tends to be short-circuited when we start to fuss about all these aches and pains, confusions and disturbances? Certainly He is not interested in all that. The suggestion He would make with respect to it is, "Leave it alone; let it pass away; don't insist that it should be given more and more and more life force." The kingdom of heaven is at hand. There is no need for all of that.

The whole kit and caboodle of divine design is available to be given form and expression in the natural pulsations of spirit, when there are hearts and minds that are open to let this happen. When they are open in that way and there begins to be the movement of the creative cycle within one's own experience, it will have an effect. That is why it is important not to judge that effect. It may even engender a few aches and pains. There may be some increase in confusion and disturbance, because, after all, there are those things of human nature present which need to pass away; something is being stirred up: "Oh Lord, save me from this hell!" But it is really heaven in the process of coming. Judge not. Let the accuser be cast down out of the heaven which he has occupied in human experience for so long. As I recall in the illustration in the Book of Revelation with respect to this, he raised particular hell in the earth after he was cast down. Well isn't that nice? Aches, pains, confusion, disturbance—part of the natural process by which the heaven may finally be reflected accurately in the earth. Obviously it can't be reflected accurately the way things are now.

The King has been rejected; that is what caused the fall in the first place. How could there possibly be restoration without the acceptance of the King? The kingdom of heaven is at hand—but, we are discovering, a lot closer at hand than perhaps in times past we thought it was. Of course for most it looks more like doomsday which is at hand: things are closing up and disintegrating all over. "Poor us; we're not going to be able to enjoy ourselves the way we used to." It obviously is a dilemma, which is so easily dissipated once there is acceptance into one's own experience of the focus point of spirit, the spirit of the King, which then immediately proclaims in one's own consciousness that the kingdom of heaven is not only at hand but is right here. Then of course the accuser comes along and begins to whisper and say, "Well if it's right here, why isn't it more evident in your circumstances?" Give it a chance!

As has been indicated, the days are shortened and there is less of a lag between the heavenly impulse and the effect of it in the circumstances and in human experience round about. Of course this intensifies things, hots things up, which makes it even more uncomfortable for human nature; but at last it is recognized that what feels uncomfortable should feel uncomfortable, and it is splendid that it does. One need no longer be identified with the discomforts of human nature, and by the same token we are not interested in trying to make human nature comfortable—our own or anyone else's. It must come to this point. There has been a tendency to tolerate human nature in others for the simple reason that one is tolerating it in oneself. Until you bring it to point in yourself you're not going to bring it to point in anyone else.

But the days are shortened for the continued existence of human nature. And where should those days be shortened first? The greater intensity should be welcomed, because it is that that shortens the days: the burning up of the human nature in one's own experience. The days are shortened, and as we have this viewpoint of the necessity of receiving the kingdom—which cannot be done without the disposition of human nature—then we are anxious for human nature to dissolve. And we begin to become aware of the King's viewpoint: let human nature pass away. But this requires that there be an acceptance of the King and His spirit into one's own experience and expression.

This is done individually speaking—but then it comes to the body and we become aware of what needs to happen in the body and we become aware of our own responsibility, as individuals, for the dissipation of human nature in the body. We do not align ourselves with the accuser. The only way that one can be a part of the process by which this dissipation occurs is to recognize that, largely, what is seen in others is this reflection of what is still present in oneself but which one has not yet admitted to oneself. You don't judge what you think is occurring in anybody else, because you don't really know what it is. One comes to the point where there is a recognition that all that is required is that there should be a clarification in oneself relative to the whole body. The clarification in oneself clarifies it for the whole body.

So we let it clear in the body, and the body becomes a fit place for the King. And the King comes into the body, and He is not interested in fussing with the aches and the pains in the body, or with the confusion and disturbance in the body. All He is interested in doing is what He is incarnate in this body to do. So there begins to be an alignment of thought, of feeling, of awareness with respect to what it is that is happening in the creative field of the King. And that is what is of sole concern—not "How's this going to affect me? What's going to happen to me? Well who are you? Are you the human nature person who is not being turned over to the King at all? Or are you the one whose identity is in the King? This is my body, and I am here on earth in this body not to condemn the world, not to accuse the world of anything, but to offer salvation. The offering of salvation requires the dissolution of human nature, and it requires the dissolution of the invisible focus of human nature, which has been manipulating human beings ever since the fall.

What you consider to be right and good will have been built into your subconscious mind coming out of your hereditary past since the fall. So all that has no further meaning insofar as we are concerned, does it? All we are concerned to do is to represent, be, the King in expression because He has a body through which to express Himself. And we compose that body; we can't get away from the King, then. There is no sense of separation; it is all one thing. And, individually speaking, we find that we think the King's thoughts, we move in the King's ways. We don't have any personal, human nature thoughts or ways of our own anymore. That would be considered, from the human nature standpoint, some sort of absolute dictatorship.

But, you know, from the human nature standpoint, from the standpoint of the invisible focus of that human nature, there is the intent to establish a state of affairs which is an absolute dictatorship. We hear about people's desire for peace and the disposition of all nuclear weapons, all good causes. Who could be against it? Yet these causes are fundamentally the devil's causes, because the intent is that it should all lead to what has been called world government. Here is an attempt to duplicate what is the fact with respect to the kingdom of heaven, but to do it without the King, to establish something that would be world government. Of course when people think of world government they think of it in terms of their own structures of consciousness. The kingdom isn't a democracy; human beings don't know what it is. There might be the inclination to say, "Well the King rules; therefore it's a dictatorship." Therefore there is an attempt here to bring in world government.

Well, of course the world should be governed, governed as a part of a universal government, whatever that is. It can't really be taken out of that, which is what this particular invisible focus of human nature is attempting to do, so that there is a background influence constantly, to maneuver things through well-meaning people so as to lead everybody to the logical conclusion that the only way we can have peace is to have a world government. But then who is going to govern? Who is going to govern? Of course, if there is a recognition that there is an invisible focus insofar as human nature is concerned, then there is the point from which this government would spring. And that could be interpreted as dictatorial, because it would appear through somebody, or some group of people. That invisible focus might be called the antispirit. We are concerned with spirit proceeding out of heaven, participating in the expression of that spirit so that the earth may reflect it. And in a sense I suppose you could say that's world government; that's the way things actually work. But it's a very different thing to the emergence of what comes to focus in antispirit, in the absence of the spirit of God—that is what the antispirit means. And what comes into expression on that basis is human nature, and human nature is always tying itself up in knots.

Well we're not interested in what is happening in that regard, although we need to be alert with respect to these various movements and causes that are present on earth, and which seem on the surface to be so good, so necessary in case the whole human race should perish: "We must have world government!" If that threat is present and sustained and big enough, then it seems only logical, "Let's rush in and have world government"—world government by antispirit, the invisible focus of human nature. The control is exerted through human nature. It already is, of course, but there is a gathering of things together so that finally there may possibly be a dragon with only one head. The dragon is there already. At the moment it has quite a number of heads, which appear to be in conflict with each other; but back of the heads there is the rest of the dragon. But it's just one dragon. Finally it might work out that all the heads destroy each other but one.

I'm thinking of that in terms of form, but it is all happening because of something which is quite invisible. This is why people who have been looking so desperately to find the evil genius who is making things go wrong on earth have never really come up with an answer. They find someone occasionally—ah, off with his head! But everything is the same as it was before. There is no shortage of human nature on earth! There are plenty of candidates to be moved by this invisible focus, and as long as the attention is paid to form—this form, that form, the other form; this person, the other person; this nation, the other nation—this is distraction from what is actually happening. People with the best of intentions go along with these movements and causes, imagining that somehow or other they are going to achieve some great thing, when those forms are not what they seem to be, because of human nature. It doesn't matter what anyone does, how they organize, how good their intentions are, it's all human nature, and human nature is governed invisibly; there is an invisible focus to do it.

I have never emphasized this point particularly, because one needs to reach a point when one has an awareness of the invisible focus of spirit coming down from God out of heaven in one's own experience, in order to understand what it is in the reverse direction. But there is a reverse direction, obviously so; the fall took place, and human beings are governed by human nature. Until one has an awareness of what the situation is from within oneself, one is in no position to deal with what needs to be dealt with in the larger picture, which is the King's purpose through His body on earth: To do just that, deal with it.

Well, obviously you're not going to deal with this rather immense pattern of human nature, and the antispirit which focalizes it, by soft and peaceable words. There is going to be the necessity for meeting the situation, but not on a crusade basis: "Ah, now we see the antichrist! Let's get on our white horses, with swords drawn, and off with his head!" Well, one can do that; a lot of people have tried that, but he always grew another one. No, it's not the form, because that is merely a reflection of what is in the heaven of that form, and that is an invisible focus. But we need to begin to become conscious that our mandate—shall we put it that way?—is immense, compared to the stupid little things with which as individuals we become involved, and as a grouping we become involved.

Finally we begin to look out with the eyes of the King, with the understanding of the King, with the strength of the King, with the authority of the King. Then all these other things simply are nonexistent anymore as influences, insofar as our vision and outlook and action are concerned. They may be present for a while. I know I personally am not free from aches and pains. I'm not so confused as I used to be! or so disturbed, because there is more space for the focus of invisible spirit coming down from God out of heaven. It is merely something that happens when there is space for it to happen. It is available to anyone, and we find that it comes in a certain way: We move in the way of the Lord; we think the thoughts of the Lord; we share in the expression that is natural on that basis. And consequently we are able to begin to bring into conscious awareness something of the immensity of the job that has to be done—immensity, I suppose, really from the view of the human mind, because it is not immense at all from the view of the spirit of God. It's a very little thing in the total universe, obviously, so there is no problem. But it transcends any view that we have had in the human nature sense. All those things are so utterly petty and meaningless once we begin to associate ourselves with what it is that is really to be done in the fulfilment of the purposes of the King on earth.

© emissaries of divine light