This  is  My  Beloved  Son

from  First Two of Three Tests in the Contest

Uranda   June 27, 1953  Class

Only as we reach a point where we can begin to see for ourselves the wonders of the Kingdom at hand can we begin to truly appreciate, see, and know it. I would like to consider briefly with you in meditation tonight something of the Shekinah Pattern as it was made manifest at the beginning of our Master's Ministry. From the Third Chapter of Matthew we read:

“In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea, And saying, Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.” (That is, the fruit of the locust tree, and wild honey.)

“Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judaea, and all the region round about Jordan, And were baptized of him in Jordan, confessing their sins. But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves. We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the ax is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

“Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. Then he suffered him. And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: And lo a voice from heaven, saying. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

There are many points of interest and vital importance here, but with respect to this concluding verse we are reminded of the Master's invitation: “Follow me.” If we follow Him we reach a point where we hear a voice from Heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” “This is my beloved Daughter, in whom I am well pleased.” We begin to realize that until this blessing, this sanction, this acknowledgement, from the Divine Source is granted unto us, we cannot, in the deeper sense, minister; we cannot, in the larger sense, serve.

We recognize that John the Baptist, preparing the way as a forerunner of our Lord on earth, said, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias.” That is, he was making reference there to himself. “For I am the one spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness. Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” We note that John used strong words to those who came without true repentance: “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers” O generation of serpents—a generation of those who are functioning in the pattern of the self-active mind of man. “Who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.”

This statement has particular interest and importance to us tonight because we see that the pattern of fulfilment which was ordained at the time the Master was here did not appear. What stones was John speaking of? The stony hearts of the children of men—“these stones.” So often human beings have thought merely that he had reference to some rocks beside the road, or along the bank of the river. “I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.” And we see that that is what is taking place today—the stony hearts, the children of men, beginning to yield, that they may be children unto Abraham, the seed of the chosen of God. And then we note the statement: “I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit”—or with the Shekinah—“and with fire.”

We recognize the specific recognition of the Master's focalization in the Shekinah Fire. “Whose fan is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire”—He will burn up the chaff with the unquenchable Fire of His Love. And then, the Master Himself received baptism in the Water. Water is the symbol of Truth. He was the Focalization of Deity, carrying the pattern of the Shekinah Fire. In order to establish the vibratory balance necessary to the accomplishment of His ministry, He accepted baptism in the Water, symbolizing his relationship to function on earth in the pattern of Truth—not that His mission was to be the Fire of Love only, His own true pattern of Focalization, but of the Truth also, that out of the blending of Love and Truth in His Being there might issue Life, the resurrection and the Life to the children of men.

“And lo a voice from heaven, saying,

This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

© Emissaries of Divine Light