The Authority And Glory Of The Father Made Manifest In The Son

The  Authority  And  Glory  Of  The  Father

Made  Manifest  In  The  Son

Martin Exeter   March 18, 1984  p.m.

“And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.”

“… that the world may know that thou hast sent me …” The world does not yet know this insofar as the One who was purported to have spoken these words is concerned. That certainly was not known by those who were in His vicinity when He was on earth. There have been those who subsequently assumed that they knew that He had been sent by the Father, but insofar as they were concerned it has been a theory. It is not something that is known; it is thought of in terms of this one man who, when He was on earth, was rejected. There was no way by which He could be accepted subsequent to His rejection. The acceptance of the truth had to come in a new way. This new way was pointed to: “… Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” It has been anticipated that somehow He would put in an appearance in the future; this has been defined as the second coming of Christ, believed in earnestly by many sincere people. But whatever that might mean, factually, would not be known until there were those who would say, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.''

When Uranda was on earth he pointed to these truths and presented himself as one who came in the name of the Lord. This presentation was based in the quality of his character and his living, and there were those who at that time said, in effect: “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” I personally was included amongst those. On this basis the One who spoke the words originally, “Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,” began once again to be seen, once again to be known. After Uranda left, I presented myself as one who came in the name of the Lord. These things may not have been specifically said but the proclamation was made on the basis of character and living, presumably to be proven out over a period of time. And there have been those who have said, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” To the extent that this was honestly said, it became apparent to those that the Lord could be seen once again.

This, as we have all realized, provided an essential beginning point for the drawing together and the manifestation of a body for the Lord, the Body of the Son—a new body. To the extent that this is actually taking place and you, amongst others, know in your hearts what that extent is personally speaking, there has been present One who comes in the name of the Lord. This One is not one person, but there is One Body in whom the One Spirit is incarnate, revealing the fact that the Son, once again, is appearing on earth to reveal the Father. This could be called the second coming of Christ, but it is a very natural process. It doesn't seem to fulfil the expectations of what is looked for in the sky, but it does fulfil the expectations of what is rightly looked for in the heaven. And so there is One who comes in the name of the Lord.

The verses I read to you out of the 17th chapter of the Gospel according to John are indication of what should be: “That they all may be one … and that the world may know that thou hast sent me.” Heretofore the world has not known that the One called Jesus was sent of the Father; in spite of what has been called Christianity, that has not been known. It has been an idea in the minds of many people that it was so, but the only time that it could be known, insofar as He personally was concerned, was when He was present on earth. After He was no longer present on earth in the form that was then known of one individual, that truth could no longer be known. The Christian world and those who are a part of it have tried to recall the past but it cannot be done. Factually, when Jesus was on earth, it was not known that the Father had sent Him. That was rejected, and as it worked out He was crucified in consequence.

But this is something that must be known. The only way it can now be known, which was to be anticipated after His rejection, was by reason of a new body, a body in which He might be incarnate on earth, carrying authority. This would certainly not be as it was before, when it was possible for human beings to reject Him as an individual without at that point sealing their own doom. One might say that another chance was given. We have seen this next chance as relating to the Third Sacred School. When the opportunity of His Presence on earth was rejected, that finished that insofar as that personal body was concerned. If there was to be another chance there would have to be a new body for His incarnation; and this new body would carry the authority of the Son—the authority which would require that it be accepted or, on the other hand, rejected. But the situation would be quite different to what it was before.

“… that the world may know that thou hast sent me …” How will the world know? Because there is the evidence of the One who has been sent, in the body with which we ourselves are becoming increasingly familiar. The world may know. They may accept or they may reject, but the world must know, and that knowing comes because the authority of the Son is present on earth. We can see this as the dominion of God restored. We may remember that man was created in the beginning to have dominion. The Son has the dominion of the Father. The Son is restored on earth by reason of the body of mankind. All come to know that the Father has sent the Son. We are not anxious to go out and try to proclaim these things; there is no need. The fact becomes obvious, increasingly so, as there are those who share in coming in the name of the Lord. Then the opportunity for anyone to say, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord,” is available. Some, however, will likely say, “Cursed is he”—that is up to them.

The distinction, from what happened before, now is that the authority is emerging in such a way that it cannot be set aside. It could be set aside before when this one man came. If there had been those available to Him who would let His new body be established then, it could not have been set aside then. But because He was left alone and He only had His individual body, then the authority could be set aside, and He allowed it to be set aside. It was at that point that He established the basis for the re-emergence of a body in the days to come. The days to come are now—they have come. We have some increasing awareness of this in our own personal recognition of having been sent. We no longer play human games anymore. Human games, of course, have been the regular experience of people all down through the ages, but these are no more for us. There is something to be done; it is done by the Son, who is the Father living on earth and therefore has the authority. Only to the extent that the Son is living on earth is there the authority, and that authority reestablishes the dominion of the Almighty on earth. 

“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.” I am sure we all are aware of what that statement “In my name” means—it's, In my Body. If my authority is being expressed in My Body, then whatever is necessary is done. There is no question—the restoration of dominion. This is something which puts in an appearance as the body is proven—which means, as those individuals who aspire to compose the body are proven. Obviously the authority is not for human purposes. Someone mentioned the occasion when the Master was asleep in a boat and a storm came up. The disciples were afraid, so they woke Him, and He rebuked the wind and the waves. Peace, be still, and there was a great calm. What sort of a man is this who could rebuke the wind and the waves and be obeyed? That looks like a rather farfetched story, doesn't it? Would it be such a strange thing if the authority of the Father was reestablished on earth for even the weather to be controllable? The weather is the way it is, apparently unpredictable, swinging to extremes in remarkable ways, because of the state of mankind. What human beings do on earth affects everything, and so we have troubles and tribulations of all sorts. What is probably more important than the weather is what is going on with the winds and the waves in human experience, in human minds and hearts. This has apparently become uncontrollable. There are some who try to manipulate it this way and that. They succeed perhaps after a fashion, but in their success they generate forces which are beyond their control. So there are many things happening in the body of mankind that are apparently quite destructive, and seemingly nobody knows what to do about it. It is good that they should find out that they don't know what to do about it. But we know—we are aware of what should be done. We came to do it, after all: to give form to the Body of the Son on earth. That requires something very specific of each one individually. The quality and character of living must prove it out. I think it is quite clear in the consciousness of all concerned that there are no justifications for anything other than proving it out. That is what we are here to do, after all: to provide a body in which the authority of the Father may be present.

This is a drastic change in the world that has been known. There has not been anything like it heretofore. There was a very small indication of something when Jesus was here. But what would it be if the essential Body of the Son is present, so that the Son is present and in action on earth, carrying the authority of the Father? Well let's find out. And we are in the process of finding out, but let us be assured in the matter, so that we don't feel it is necessary at any point to revert into the old ways of separateness: “Oh I have my affairs to attend to.” Well we all have our responsibilities but they are not outside of the Body of the Son. Everything is within the Body of the Son, so I suppose in that sense one could say that they are not one's own personal affairs. One may have a personal responsibility for handling what needs to be handled, but it is handled by reason of the presence of the Son, by reason of participation in that Body. I see people still trying to live their own lives without regard to the Son, without regard to what it is that is needful by reason of the presence of the Son on earth in His Body. We are beginning to awaken to what is needful, so that we are able to act intelligently. And we do not see anything that comes within the range of what has heretofore been thought of as personal as being outside of the Body of the Son. It's all contained, or we are not contained! Because there is nothing outside of the Body of the Son, we begin to experience nothing.

I made mention of this remarkable book, the Bible, this morning, particularly with respect to the words of Jesus, but there is much that warrants attention and understanding throughout this book. I am sure you recall the words of the 91st Psalm, for instance. We have been considering them recently: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” These words usually are thought of simply as applying to the individual. Could it be that the word “he” is used as indicating mankind, or as indicating, according to our present consideration, the Body of the Son? People have read this 91st Psalm and seen all the wonderful promises in it and then wondered why they didn't happen. Well it isn't an individual matter alone; it's something that relates to the Body of the Son, and that body must be there for it to happen. It's interesting to read this Psalm with that in mind: “He [this collective Body] that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.”

And then the body speaks: “I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.” Of course this requires that each individual says that. But the effectiveness comes because of the Body. “Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.” Reference is here being made to the body. Something may need to happen within the cells of the body to restore the health of the body. Certainly this is true of our individual bodies; all the toxic wastes need to be cast out, and sometimes that is rather a painful business, a noisome business even. So there is the need for the purging if there is to be the body—the purging individually if there is to be the body collectively. So it's not such a bad deal that we sometimes suffer so terribly! Purging. Let it be that. Don't become self-centered in the matter: “Poor me, I feel so miserable. Somebody help me; somebody understand what is happening in me and give me the right treatment.” Let's be willing to be purged.

“He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.” Well this could be so individually, but it relates to the Body of the Son. “Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.”

“Oh goody, I'm going to be protected!” It doesn't really say that. It says that the Body of the Son of God is secure. Abide in that Body and maybe we will experience what that security is. “Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.'' The heart doesn't become involved. Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.” This is true of the Body of the Son of God. “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” Who are the angels? You and you and you and you and I. We are responsible, as angels, for the Body of the Son of God. “They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” There is our responsibility for the Body. And finally here is the Word of the Son, the Word of the Father spoken by the Son: “Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him. With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.” All this pertains to the Son incarnate on earth in His Body, carrying the authority of the Father, that whatsoever is asked may be done; not asked by some human mind or some impure heart but asked by the angel of the Lord incarnate. And it is done; the authority of the Father is present and increasingly known. I am not suggesting that one should be overly concerned to discover how this increased authority is appearing; we just let it appear. I think we know something about it already. Things come together; things work. There is a natural operation in consequence of the presence of the Son in His Body on earth; and we discover what the greater works are as we continue to let it be.

The dominion of God is reestablished on earth by reason of the Son, the dominion of the Father revealed through the Son because He has a Body, an obedient body, on earth. How obedient is your individual body to you, to the angel who you are; not to the demands of the impure heart or the insistence of the mind, but how obedient is your body to the spirit of the Father? The only way your body can be obedient to that spirit is through a sanctified mind and a pure heart. The body cannot be acted upon directly. The intervening substance must be clear, the intervening substance of consciousness, so that the authority of the Father may be made manifest in the Son. And that authority is very real.

There was one, at the time when Jesus was on earth, who had some recognition of this. He was a Roman, incidentally, a soldier at that. “Speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed.” Here was one who, according to his understanding at that point, was aware that the authority of the Father was present. He was one point in the world who knew that the Son had been sent by the Father. Presumably he had been aware of some other of the actions of Jesus, but I suspect it was something that he himself sensed from within himself, an awareness of authority. In fact he pointed to that fact. He had some awareness of authority himself, being a soldier. He had authority over others and there were those who had authority over him, so he knew how it worked. But he sensed the authority, the spiritual authority, that was present in this man, Jesus, and acknowledged it. 

The world must know that authority. Some will acknowledge it, as I say, some will reject it. But it doesn't matter anymore which way it goes because the authority is present and cannot be set aside. Those who acknowledge it and receive it into their own experience find themselves a part of the creative process which is occurring, the resurrection which is taking place. Those who become aware of it and reject it are moving in the other direction. The point is now that the Son cannot be denied with impunity. Of course He never could be. Human beings have been proving that out in their experience all down through the millennia. But ultimately there is a point reached for mankind where the issue is brought to resolution, and that is in these days. That is our responsibility. I am so very thankful that there are those who know these things and have reached a point where they cannot do anything else in their living, through body and mind and heart, than to allow this authority to find expression. It isn't a matter of choice anymore; it's just a matter of obedience. We may have thought we had a choice somewhere back along the way but we discover, somewhere, sometime, if we keep moving along, that we really do not have any choice. We just simply do what is required of us. The fantasy of choice vanishes from human experience. The reality of the compulsion of spirit brings forth what is required in the moment, and we would under no circumstances try to stop it.

So we share this absoluteness increasingly. We have no experience of life, rightly, but the Life of the Son. We all individually have a unique part to play in that experience, but it is all the Life of the Son. Whether we are male or female, this is what it is. The Father is glorified on the earth because of the Son; and that glory, when allowed to appear through the Body which He built, is undeniable. It may not seem like glory to some, it may seem like a consuming flame, but it is the Glory which is natural in the expression of the Son on earth, revealing the Father. We rejoice in that revelation, sharing it as one. The increase comes in a variety of ways. The evidence of authority is made manifest in an increasing variety of ways. This requires some care in the way we handle our affairs, for we recognize that there is the requirement of excellency. We do it right, as we use all things to advantage under the authority of the Son.

Lloyd Meeker — Martin, I cannot let you leave that position without saying something also in a vertical stance—I will even button my coat! There is no life but the Life of the Son. There is no fire, no power, but the Fire of the Son which burns away the dark and polluted clouds of human delusion, revealing the truth for any to see and either accept or reject. I am deeply thankful for this sacred hour and for all that has worked together to bring my consciousness, and the consciousness of many others, to the point of being profoundly aware that there is a body, the Body of the Son, that the Son is incarnate and that I must abide in the name of the Son, for there is no other life; there is no other choice. There is one way, a way of indescribable Glory and certainly, no doubt, far more variety than we have yet known. But that differentiation is possible only as I abide in the sacred name of the Son.

Martin Exeter — We are capable of allowing the Glory of the Father to be revealed by the Son, according to our present ability to so do. Let us allow our present ability to be occupied one hundred percent. When it is occupied one hundred percent, then that ability can expand. If it is not occupied a hundred percent there is no point in expanding it. There is still space. Let us let it be filled full, pressed down, shaken together and running over, and behold the capacity expands, so that the greater Glory of the Son in the revelation of the Father may be known on earth in practical ways, in the living of our own individual lives where we do what we have to do. We do it in the name of the Son, because we abide in the Son, and behold the authority of the Father fills our field of operations. Our field of operations is part of a greater field of operations. We are not in position to see what the extent of those greater operations really is, of which our smaller operation is a part, so there is no point in judging anything. We let it be whatever it is and allow our expression of living to be a revelation of the Father and the authority of the Father made manifest in the Son.

© Emissaries of Divine Light