The  Fine  Substance  of  Life

Martin Cecil    July 10, 1977  p.m.

Again we are all present to assume the responsibility of very specific spiritual creative action. We can only handle this responsibility to the extent that there is available spiritual substance of the required fineness. We have taken note before how it is that you can speak to someone of really quite elementary spiritual things and the one to whom you speak may give you a blank glassy stare. They couldn't understand a word of what it was you were saying. That simply indicates that that person had no spiritual substance of the required consistency to give form to what was being offered so that it might become comprehensible in his own consciousness. If this is true—and you know it to be so from your own experience I'm sure—it is also true of you insofar as your understanding is concerned of those things which require a finer spiritual substance than you have yet generated in your living.

Very often you may find yourself with a great desire to understand and to do what needs to be done but you don't understand and you don't know what needs to be done—when we are functioning with respect to spiritual things no one can tell you either; you have to discover it for yourself—there has been a lack of the generation of adequate substance of the required consistency to know what to do. Nobody can hand that substance to another and say, “Well now you can think it all through.” A person has to generate the substance for himself and it is only done in living. It is not done through intellectual exercise or gymnastics; it's not done through physical exercise or gymnastics. It is done through a finer expression of living.

The coarse levels upon which most human beings function are a distorted realm of earthly heredity, and yet this has been the controlling sphere of human experience. This is what most people know, a coarse experience. I am sure that all of you are very much aware of the coarse levels upon which people live, or exist would be a better word, because while we may have functioned at those levels before, it is no longer natural to us, and yet perhaps we sometimes revert. We are concerned with the finer levels of substance, spiritual substance, that we may have the material available to permit us to comprehend what we need to know so that we may serve effectively in spiritual expression. I am thinking of it now particularly with respect to a gathering such as this when we may bring something to focus, but it will always be based upon the general level of substance that is available. I sometimes make use of the finer substance but very shortly I find that I am losing too many. In spite of the longing to be with me there are many who are not. I can't wave a magic wand and say, “Well now get busy and generate some fine substance so that we can have it to use this evening.” The substance is what you bring with you; it is what characterizes your own present expression. And yet in order to fulfil our responsibilities there must be a sufficiency of the essential fine substance required to permit effective spiritual expression, effective unified radiation.

This fine substance which permits enlarged understanding is in a sense very delicate. It can be very quickly dissipated. If any coarse hereditary human nature expression enters in, the fine substance is dissipated, at least dissipated insofar as making use of it is concerned in a situation such as this. As individuals we need to learn to generate the fine substance and to protect it so that no matter what is going on around us of a coarse nature it is never allowed to get into us and so to dissipate the fine substance of our own generation. In view of the fact that most people live from the coarse level of earthly heredity there has been scarcely any finer substance available on the face of the earth, at least within the range of human experience. It just simply couldn't exist in the face of the coarseness of human expression.

So we are properly concerned with letting our momentary expression of living be of an increasingly fine nature, exemplifying the character of the angel. When this is done there is a pressure exerted which pushes out the coarse things of human heredity beyond our immediate experience, the experience as it relates to what is present in our own character. It is pushed out beyond us and we are quite capable of observing the coarseness beyond us. We see it being exemplified by human beings but we have the attitude that none of these things move me. We do not let that coarseness disturb the surface levels of spiritual substance within ourselves. As long as there is a calm there is a clear reflection of the spiritual design made evident and we are able to know that. But if we have the habit of becoming bothered and disturbed emotionally speaking we will be continually messing up this surface level of the substance closest to us and it will become coarse and distorted; and when it is that way our expression in living will be coarse and distorted. We will exemplify, as most human beings do, what may be identified as an angel of the dragon, or the devil, or satan, however it might be put. There are lots of his angels around functioning from the standpoint of this distorted spiritual substance which composes the heaven of the devil, the place from which control is exerted in what is expressed by human beings in their momentary living.

I would remind you of a passage from the Book of Revelation which can be seen to deal with this matter as we have it under our present consideration: “And there was war in heaven,” a disturbed state, and we see where that level of heaven is. It is the spiritual substance in which there are present the distortions of earthly heredity. “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.” This is the pushing-out process of which I have just been speaking. To the extent that there is the acceptance of a quality of character in our living which transcends the earthly hereditary character the war is experienced. I am sure that you all are aware of the nature of that war, which gets quite hot at times. There is the pressure of the truth of yourself pushing out up against the character which you have been exemplifying in earthly heredity.

We may see this on an individual basis or we may see it collectively relating to the body of mankind. As there are those individuals who allow the coarse levels of earthly heredity to be pushed out there begins to be heavenly space on earth in the experience of those concerned, because the earthly distorted condition has been pushed out beyond them. When you let it happen it's beyond you. You see it in other people around you perhaps but only with your eyes, not with your heart. You do not become emotionally involved in it. To this extent, then, you provide a safe place for the generation of the more refined levels of pneumaplasmic substance; they are protected because of you. You will not allow anything to enter in that defiles or works abomination or makes a lie in the expression of your own character. To the extent that this is true of you this substance is safe in you and therefore you will have the material which is capable of giving form in your own consciousness to the spiritual understanding that is necessary. If you don't have the substance there, you can't understand and no amount of effort will cause you to understand. It is a very practical matter: the substance must be there. No one can fool the Lord or get away with anything. Either you generate it in your living or it isn't there, and you generate it in your living to the extent that you acknowledge in expression the quality of your heavenly heredity. It is something quite different to what was the prior experience of earthly heredity. You begin to find that as those who are involved in earthly heredity give expression to what comes forth on that basis it jars on your ears, so to speak; you are not comfortable in it; not that you are moved by it, not that it controls you, but you have no sense of relatedness to it. You may recall, with perhaps a little disgust, that you may have indulged in such things yourself in times past but you repent in dust and ashes, that you may let your own expression be kept clear and true to the real quality of character which springs from heavenly heredity.

As there are an increasing number of human beings who let this happen, then there is increasing spiritual space in which the finer substance can continue to exist and be increasingly generated on earth, a protected place, protected by those who will not let into their own experience and expression anything that would destroy it. And so the earthly heredity state is pushed out. As this creative process continues then there is an increasingly large space for the finer substance on earth and a decreasing space for the coarser substance. The dragon and his angels prevailed not, “…neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world…” and “…he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb…” Here is reference to the expression of living, the lifestream of God in expression by reason of heavenly heredity. “And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. ”The popular condition in earthly heredity is to love one's life in earthly heredity until one is dead; but we stop loving our lives unto the death. How very foolish to continue to love our lives unto the death, because the experience of death is absolutely sure to the extent that we sustain earthly heredity in our own experience and expression. “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”

As the space available for the expression which is natural to those who sustain earthly heredity becomes smaller, the expression of earthly heredity in its destructiveness becomes obviously more intense; it is compressed into a smaller space. “Having great wrath”—that is what is indicated here. That destructiveness is self-destructiveness. The dragon and his angels destroy themselves. Those who sustain earthly heredity in their own expression destroy themselves. This has been the fact of the matter as long as human memory goes back but now it is becoming the fact of the matter collectively speaking. It is so because there begins to be this space on earth where heavenly heredity is in operation and the creative substance is safe. Because this is something that is factually occurring in the world these things are being brought to issue, as indicated by the words that I have just read to you for instance. We see and we understand what is taking place, not because it's written in the Book of Revelation. A lot of people have read these words and not had the faintest idea what they meant. We begin to understand what they mean to the extent that we have some substance to give form in our own consciousness to that understanding, and we didn't get the meaning out of the Book of Revelation. The meaning was there already, ready to take form in our consciousness the moment that there was the material which would give it form.

Now, we have an understanding at a certain level. The understanding of all here varies from person to person; naturally so, because there is different quality and extent of spiritual substance available to provide the material to give it form. There are levels, obviously, where there is no adequate substance yet, therefore where there is no adequate understanding yet. But we can see these things and be aware of the fact that there are levels of understanding which are open to us the very moment that there is sufficient substance of the required consistency to give them form in our consciousness. None of these things happen by chance, and our understanding is there to the extent of our faithfulness, to the extent of our consistency in living, because only on that basis is the substance available, and it can be dissipated in short order. There have been all too many down the years who began to allow something to be understood because their living was generating the substance but then they stopped, for some reason, generating that substance. They reverted back into the pattern of earthly heredity and very quickly the fine substance that had been there before was dissipated, and what they remembered was just as though it was the memory of a dream; something stuck in memory but it had no substance. It had been impressive to them when it had substance but as soon as the substance was gone there was an empty husk and that had no more particular meaning but was just something that could be recalled.

Everything works the way it works, and there is nothing that human beings can do to make things work the way they don't work. So the wise course always is to cooperate with the way things do work and as there is such cooperation we find ourselves increasingly aware of our spiritual responsibilities. But remember how quickly that understanding and effectiveness can be dissipated. So when we come together, hopefully there is brought a sufficiency of substance to enable us to serve at an effective level, as it is required at the particular time when we may be gathered. Mind you, this is not always the case but, with greater understanding and an awareness of what it is that is happening and of how we ourselves participate and have the responsibility of providing the essential substance because of our prior living, then we begin to have something and we can begin to go to work in a much more specific sense; because certainly we do not gather here so that I may benefit you or you may benefit me. This is not a mutual benefit society, but we come together that we may provide the facility for the creative achievement of what is needful now in the fulfilment of divine purpose. So we have an awareness of that according to the quality of our living, the quality of the character displayed by reason of our living. When that quality is of heavenly heredity, then, as it is put here, “Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down.” Do you still recall the days when you might be classified as the accuser of your brethren? Or is that too far back for you to remember? How much have you accused others of failure, of faults, of wrongdoing? This is judgment, isn't it? This is eating of the forbidden fruit. This is sustaining earthly heredity. This is dying.

The accuser is cast down. Accusation is one of the primary qualities of human nature. That's cast down, pushed out, from your experience; it doesn't characterize you anymore; you are not that sort of person anymore. Another person is coming on the scene, a totally different person, not a modified same-old-human-nature person with better human nature qualities, but a new person, the son or the daughter of God beginning to put in an appearance because there is the available substance to give the son or the daughter of God form and expression on earth. Spiritual substance, the heaven, comes first. The angel appears in the heaven, and the earth is shaken by that appearance. What initially happens in the earth is that the human nature pattern of expression is forced into a smaller space and consequently becomes more intense, more violent, more destructive. Do we see this occurring in the world? It is something that is actually happening and we can observe it happening, and it will continue to happen. It will continue to happen until the space becomes so small that it eventually vanishes. Then it stops happening because there's no one on hand to sustain the human nature state of earthly heredity anymore. We can comprehend the mechanics of these things but exactly how it works is another thing altogether. We don't need to speculate but we can see something happening anyway. But let us be true to our trust so that we readily allow the human nature character to be pushed beyond us. Here is the veil. It is impossible for a human nature person to penetrate the veil and get into heaven but it is quite possible to let a heavenly person push the veil out through the earthly person so that the veil is then beyond you and you are back of the veil in heaven.

“Rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.” That's the only way to dwell in the true heaven. You can't scramble in. The human nature person can't get in. People have hopes in this regard of course. They expect to somehow get through simply by dying, for instance, but dying is an indication that the veil has been forced out and the person has gone with it. The angel remains, that's true, because the angel was always in heaven. It might be risky to wait for that experience to occur to find out what happens. It's much better to let it happen while we are still here to understand, to understand what it is that is occurring in our experience on earth. Here is the flaming sword held by the cherubim to keep the way of the tree of life. In human nature you can't get past that sword. In heavenly nature you are never the wrong side of the sword; you are the one who is holding the sword in the first place. What you are in the external sense has the opportunity of being drawn back to share with you in your true state, to share with the angel of the Lord, the truth of being; but it cannot be drawn back as long as there is an insistence upon sustaining the human nature which had been the prior experience.

So we may come together as a group here with such substance as has been generated by our living, to share in letting that substance be made available for use, to give form to the design in spirit, so that we may have understanding and participate therefore in the creative expression of what is needful in the particular moment of our service. While I am speaking of these things, outlining something, drawing to your attention the reason for the attendance of anyone at service, we are at the same time participating in the service by doing so. We are sharing in letting the creative expression of heavenly heredity push out the character of earthly heredity. I am sure that when you are present at a service such as this and moving in the current of the spirit, the things of earthly heredity and earthly experience recede into the background. They are no longer prominent in your consciousness. Your earthly heredity has been pushed out to that extent. Unfortunately all too often there has been the tendency to revert right back into it after a service—maybe not immediately; sometimes even immediately. Maybe you are willing to associate with the angelic experience for a little longer but something comes up and you find yourself expressing the same old earthly hogwash. Well there is the quality of character that is being displayed and there is the dissipation of what had been generated of spiritual substance, so that the experience, the spiritual experience, fades, becomes merely a memory.

We have all kinds of memories, don't we? Some people try to live on their memories, but what are memories? Is there any reality to them or is it just a replay of the computer tape of our mental equipment? It isn't anything really, is it? What is a computer? It isn't anything really, is it? There must be living substance to have something. So we can invent machinery of different kinds; electronics is in vogue these days, so the inventions are largely in this field; but what substance is there to it? Human beings find these things useful to their nefarious purposes and perhaps even we ourselves in the Lord's business can make use of such things, but only valuable use to the extent that we have the substance which is essential to make what is done meaningful, to have more than an empty husk. Meaning comes only because of people, because of the character of heavenly heredity in people in the expression of their living, so that they have substance. We sometimes meet people who have what seems to be substance to them but that substance is not all that beautiful at times; but when there is the spiritual substance there is “the power of his Christ,” as it was put here. We are concerned that there should be that spiritual substance generated in our living, sustained in our living and brought with us to gatherings such as this so that we may get the job done to which our hand is given.

I am most thankful this evening for having the opportunity again of touching into this field of very specific spiritual expression so that we do not imagine that spiritual expression is merely a general effulgence of some kind that radiates forth and catches people unawares. There are some very specific needs in spiritual expression, needs which can be handled by various groups of people. This is one group this evening. There properly are many groups of people to handle specific areas of spiritual expression, to achieve specific things in the heaven. That's all that's necessary, you know. When you have it set in the heaven it's set in the earth. “Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven?” How do we know? When we have substance to give form to those ordinances so that we understand; then we know the ordinances of heaven. “Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?” Certainly. It might be said that it is an automatic process but it does require very specific action from the standpoint of the heaven, that the ordinances may be set in the heaven and reflected in the earth. That's the way we get the job done. It's a lot more effective than trying to push and pull the world into some sort of shape by the sweat of our faces. This is the easy way. However to allow the earthly heredity patterns to be pushed out may involve a little discomfort on occasion. Who is afraid of discomfort? When we recognize what we are here to do, that shouldn't faze us at all. We are no longer controlled by earthly heredity, whose main concern is to become self-sufficient, self-satisfied, self-righteous and comfortable. It never really succeeds. So we have this opportunity then of moving with understanding as we go forth to the experiences that will come in our momentary living.

© Emissaries of Divine Light