A Great Promise
from Abram
Uranda March 30, 1953 Class
Back in that period of the dawn of history, our attention comes to focus on a man called Abraham and his particular pattern of response, the things that began to work out in his life. The very mention of the name Abraham should remind you instantly of Melchizedek—Melchizedek, King of Salem—Prince of Peace.
The beginning pattern, initiated by Melchizedek,
who according to the record was not as a man born—he was without beginning of
years as we think of it, without end of days; the picture we
have is of a Being who was not subject to birth and death or ascension, as we
think of it, in relationship to this particularized pattern. And we recall that
this King—the King of Salem, or Melchizedek—comes into the picture at a time
when Abraham had some trouble. His brother Lot was not as responsive to the
spirit of God as Abraham was, and he got into trouble. There was a raiding
party, as was common in those days with respect to the various tribes that were
beginning to take form, and each little group had its king, so there were all
kinds of kings in those days. And one of these kings had come against Lot and carried
off some of the people and the animals and goods. And the King of Salem went
out to help. He cooperated with Abraham in bringing this king under control.
They had a little battle, and the upshot was that the loot, or the plunder that
had been taken, was restored. Now it's in that setting that we see the
beginnings of this pattern.
It's interesting to note that the same cycle initiated
with respect to the Orient has the same type of setting—two wholly different
outworkings on the basis of the historical pattern, and with respect to the
Biblical record we can see this one with respect to Abraham and Melchizedek—but,
in the opening phases of the historical pattern as it relates to the Orient, we
have a very similar story. And it opens in relationship to a very similar
pattern of battle. If you know anything about the Bhagavad-Gita, you will appreciate
what I have reference to. I
am hoping to introduce you to The Song Celestial before too long. The version
that we use was translated from the Sanskrit by Sir Edwin Arnold. He did a
beautiful job, but just as we find is the case with respect to the Bible, so is
it there—the centuries through which these records come to us, the
manipulations of priesthood, etc, have obscured some of the specific meanings,
some of the symbolism, some of the values, and some of them become, under this pattern,
definitely misleading. So a number of years ago—just about ten, roughly speaking—I
undertook to revise the significant portion of The Song Celestial, and it is
that revised pattern of Sir Edwin Arnold's translation of the Bhavagad-Gita,
which he called The Song Celestial, which we will use as opportunity affords.
But I wish to draw particularly
to your attention now the fact that that story too begins on a battlefield. This
story begins with Abraham, Melchizedek and Lot on a battlefield. And when we
come to the story of the Bhagavad-Gita we find that there is the Blind King;
there is Arjuna, who would correspond in principle to Abraham; there is Krishna,
who corresponds in principle to Melchizedek. And exactly the same principles,
exactly the same laws, exactly the same processes, are portrayed in these two
patterns—one with the setting, as you know it with respect to Abraham, and the
other far away in the Orient, where it took form in the revelation of the laws
and principles of God in a completely different place and setting and yet the
same kind of setting. So we begin to note such similarities and see that these
two revelations of Divine Principle and Law started in each case—though so widely
separated—started on a battlefield.
Now what is the case with respect to you? When you
begin to move into the pattern of the Divine Design, is there one of you that
could say that the story with respect to your life did not begin on a battlefield?
Didn't it begin on a battlefield with you? Certainly it did. Wasn't there a
blind king—your own self-active mind? Wasn't there a Lot in the lot? Certainly.
There is always some kind of a battle. It has various patterns in the
background of your individual lives, but there was at least an internal
conflict. There was a refusal to accept the realm of limitation roundabout.
There was probably in you the contest between the Abraham side of your nature
and the Lot side of your nature. If you look back, the Lot side wanted to be
content with things as they are, more or less, and talked about how good it was
to get settled down in the right kind of a pattern. And Abraham's side was the
pioneer. Just settling down here like that, just
the same as everyone else is doing, just having these creature comforts—that
isn't going to bring the fulfilment of life. We need to lead on out into
something more wonderful; we don't know what it
is yet, but we have the assurance that there will be a revelation. We will
begin to find the Way, the Truth and the Life. We will begin to know where we
are going, why we are here, where we came from, what our purpose is, and how to to serve—to have our lives have meaning, so that we can accomplish that for which we came into
the world.
So there was the Lot side of you, to
whatever degree it tended to have an influence, and there was the Abraham side
of you. We could examine the same picture as it is revealed in the
Bhagavad-Gita. But there is the Arjuna side of you. And just as there was the
Melchizedek to reveal the way at the time of Abraham, there was a Krishna to
reveal the way at the time of Arjuna. Always, whenever human beings have been ready
to respond to God and let the will of God be done on earth, and they were ready
to yield to the will of God, to leave behind the old patterns, always there has
been provision by which the things of God might become known to those who would
receive them, and we have two outstanding illustrations of this.
And if these two patterns had been
allowed to work out—the one in the near East, as it extended out into the
Occident, and the other in the Orient—it would not have been necessary for our
Lord to come on earth. If either one of these patterns had held, if either one
of them had been allowed to work out the way it should have, it would not have
been necessary for the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings to come into the world
and face the things He did. It was perfectly possible, it was a Divine
opportunity extended to man, it was a wonderful invitation. But man didn't let
it work out in either case.
And so finally there was the manifestation
of the pattern, the same principles all over again, the same type of thing all
over again, in what we call the New Testament story. For the land was under
subjection to the Roman rule; there was the pattern of conflict and unrest;
there was Herod the King; and there was Jesus Christ. Exactly the same thing in
principle, in revelation, the laws of being, all over again—a different focalization
of them but exactly the same laws and principles.
And outside of the particular facts with
respect to the Master as a Being, did He bring into the world any truth, did He
reveal to man any knowledge that had not already been offered to man? Many
would be inclined to say, “Yes, He surely did,” but is it so? No. It had
already been revealed to man; it was already available to man, but man wasn't taking
advantage of it. He re-focalized it, revitalized it, but outside of the newness
of the reality of His Own Being in manifestation on earth, and the application
as it was established with respect to Himself, there was nothing new in it,
because it had all been given before. And once we begin to see that and realize
it—and you will see it as we go along—you begin to see that it was not God's
design, it was not arbitrarily required by God that our Lord and King Himself should
come into the world and face the things He did. It was unnecessary. And so,
perhaps the best way to make this beginning is to actually read some of the
story, let you see how it worked out.
“And Tera’n took Abram his son, and Lot the son of
Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and
they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of
Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
“Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of
thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land
that I will shew thee:
“And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will
bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
“And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse
them that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be
blessed.”
One of the first things we note here is the
necessity for the human capacity to accept, in relationship to oneself, a great
promise. The tendency in human beings is to say, “Well, that can be for someone
else, somewhere else”—but to receive for oneself a great promise? Why,
what arrogance for me to even think that such a thing could be me! Now if God
produced a great person over there or something, and gave us a leader, I would
be happy to follow. But for me? Just to think, me? No, no, no.” But he accepted a great promise in relationship to
himself. There was no outer evidence of the fulfilment of the promise but there
was the willingness to do his part; not arrogance or foolhardiness—but not
holding back, not refusing to have a share in God's givingness, not refusing to
let himself be the means by which something could come on earth. He
didn't always function in absolute perfection perhaps, but he accepted a great promise
in relationship to himself, when everything made it look as if he was simply
having a pipe dream. It was ridiculous; it was fanciful.
It takes a greatness
inside, for a human being to accept a great promise in relationship to himself without
becoming egotistical, arrogant and self-active on the one hand, or without
rejecting it in a false pattern of humility on the other hand. There's the Central
Way. Most people reject the blessings of God because they are so humble.
Humility is necessary, true humility—but the false pattern of humility has been
used by the adversary to defeat many, many people. Oh, it's necessary to be
humble before God, yes. But a false pattern of humility has made so many people
refuse to accept the great promises in relationship to themselves. And what did Abram start with but a promise? What
was there in the pattern round about him, in the uncertainties of the world at
that time, the tribal feuds and all the rest of it? What kind of character,
what kind of capacity, what kind of a quality would that be? Something quite
remarkable, don't you think? that under those circumstances a man had the
capacity to accept a great promise in relationship to himself when there was no
outer evidence to indicate that he was doing anything but having a foolish
dream. It looked like everything was against him. But that is the spirit of the
true pioneer, and the quality of a man or a woman who will dare to accept a
great promise as having meaning to himself or herself. It's easy enough to set
it aside. It's easy enough to spoil it with arrogance, egotism, on the one hand,
or to reject it in the false pattern of humility. So few there have been in the
world who had what it took to walk in the Central Way, to be balanced. Because
if you do walk in that Central Way, there will be those who will take the attitude
that you are arrogant, that you are an egotist..
How often I have been classified
as an egotist because I refused to relinquish the position
that I have a Mission on earth, I have a message to give, I have a purpose, something
that is important to the whole of humanity. How often I have been called
egotistical because, in the false pattern of humility, I wouldn't deny the Commission.
When I received that Commission was there any outer evidence that we'd ever reach
a point where I would have the privilege of standing here talking to you? The
extent to which that has reached out into the world already means something.
And we share it. But it takes that something that causes an individual to
accept a great promise as having meaning in relationship to himself in actual
fact, so that he is ready to act upon it. Not just to say, “Well now. I'll wait
and see if such-and-such a thing works out or someday perhaps, somehow,” but to
act upon it when from every outer standpoint it appears that you are just plain
fanciful, ridiculous—to dare to do in the face of that type of situation.
The Lord told him—Get thee out of
thy country. “Get thee out of thy country and from thy kindred and from thy
father's house.” Now for anyone who is going to amount to anything on earth,
that's the finest advice that can be given, whether to Abram or somebody else.
It was the advice the Lord gave. And anyone who wants to really serve God on earth
had better do it, because as long as one stays in the pattern of kinfolk, as
ordinarily established, he will become subject to the old patterns, the old
situations. Of course sometimes you can take mother and dad along. I managed that for
Kathy's sake, but it was quite a struggle! Kathy: “And you
finally won!” [Great laughter from Uranda.]
“Get thee
out of thy country.” That doesn't necessarily mean that you have to move from
the United States to Canada, or somewhere. But you have to make a change.
You're not going to do it in the old pattern because, well, it would just be asking
too much. You've got to dare to make a move. “Get thee out of thy country and
from thy kindred and from thy father's house.” Now there is instruction that
applies to any man or woman who finds himself stirred of the spirit of God out there in the world. And it is our business to help establish a place to which those aspiring souls may come and turn, that they may not just go wandering through the patterns of life seeking and never finding. But there are many of all ages out there in the world pattern today who are hearing that call. Some of them are beginning to act upon it. Some of them are just getting conditioned to the idea. But they are ready to come and be with us, not necessarily geographically, but from the standpoint of sharing in the working of God's Plan on earth. And so the word today, just as surely as it was
then, the Word the Lord if you please, is “Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house,
unto a land that I will shew thee.” That is a promise to you. You have accepted
it or you wouldn’t be here. For some of you it was a little difficult perhaps,
and for some of you not so difficult—but if you hadn't been ready and willing!
“And I will make of thee a great nation.” Now that
doesn't necessarily have to mean that you will have to be the original parent that produces a
great nation after so many generations—No! That is more or less the way it
worked out with Abram, but we are not Abram. We are ourselves,
right here. “And I will make of thee a great nation.” All of those who so respond, who are willing to
dare to move out of old patterns and into the new, whoever they are, wherever
they are, “I will make of thee a nation,”
and that promise applies for us today and the people who awakening, just as
surely as it did to Abram. And what does He say “And I will bless thee.” Not
perhaps—I will. Once we begin to move in that pattern, as you have done or
you wouldn't be here, once you begin to share, in a true sense, that Divine
outworking—“I will bless thee.”
Of course, you have to learn how to receive the
blessing. And it is the thing you have to learn how to help
others learn, because human beings simply do not know how to receive the
blessings of the Lord, and that is the difficulty. So when you learn to receive
them, and you can inspire others to receive those blessings, you are serving.
And those who are responding to that call, which is sounding in the world today
as surely as it did at the time of Abram, begin to see the pattern of service
to the Glory of God and the blessing of the children of men to which you are
called. So few? Yes. But as we hold it steady and do our part it will open, and
there are many who are ready to become a part of this Great Nation. Not a great
nation in the sense of entering into competition with the United States or
Canada or Great Britain or someone else, no. A Great Nation in the sense of a
body of human beings who are willing to serve God on earth, to let the will of
God be done on earth as it is in heaven. “And I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and
thou shalt be a blessing.” Now, when you are blessed, you are supposed to
become a blessing. What did the Master say? “He that would be great among you, let
him be the servant of all”—the same principle exactly that God had expounded to
Abram way back there, the same principle. “And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will
bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse
him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”
My question is, today: Are you man enough, are you woman enough, to receive that promise in relationship
to yourself, in this day, in this time, in this hour? Because it is offered to
you just as surely as it was offered to Abram. It may not look like you can do anything about it,
but how about accepting a Great Promise in relationship to youself, in this
hour? This promise: that you shall be blessed and that you may be a blessing to
others; that you may let this have meaning in your life, now. Because if it was
of any value at the time of Abram, as he was then known, it is of value to you
in this moment. And it applies to you just as surely as to Abram, if you will
let yourself do your part in this moment, in this hour, in relationship to this Cycle of the Divine Plan. Because it's the same promise today as it was then,
for the same purpose. It is not a changed pattern. Oh, it may manifest
differently, yes, but just the same laws, the same promise, the same
principles, the same God, all for the same purpose. And we are the ones who are
on earth and have a chance to take a look at it. Are you man enough, woman
enough, to receive a Great Promise from God Himself to you, now? That is the question.
© emissaries of divine light
