The Focus of the Spirit of the Living God
Martin Exeter August 2, 1987
Nowadays there is much talk about spirit. I wonder why? We have been aware of the essential requirement and nature of spirit for many, many years. Thus far it tends to be spoken about just using the word spirit. We are well aware that there are many different kinds of spirit. Popularly it has not yet come to a point of focus in the consciousness of people in general. If spirit is mentioned it usually refers to a rather vague, miasmic sort of substance floating around somehow, which perhaps we may glom onto and which may characterize the individual and various groupings of individuals. But it only begins to have meaning when there is the recognition of focus. This can be identified by saying, “the spirit of the living God.” Of course few have any experienced understanding of what that would be. The word God is a term that is used by many. It has been used so much that most people think they know what it means. Like many words that human beings use, they think they know what these words mean. It is well that we should always be keenly aware of the fact that our knowing thus far, with respect to any of these terms which may refer to some ultimate reality, is at best very partial. But at least if we say ”the spirit of the living God,” it brings it to some sort of focus in consciousness.
Because human beings are so accustomed to their involvement with externals it tends to be thought that anything that happens, particularly of a spiritual nature, must be derived from somewhere else. If we think of the spiritual nature as relating to the spirit of the living God, then where is that God? If there is such an entity, then presumably He might be seen as informing the whole universe, so that He certainly is out there; and if we are to find any connection with Him it must be because He is out there. But we have realized, I’m sure, that His name has been summarized in two little words: I am. Insofar as human beings are concerned, they do not know anywhere else that I am is present than right here, because each one may speak those words, “I am.” This clearly defines the fact that God is present. Of course we are well aware that He has been thoroughly obscured because of the claims of human beings, who may identify themselves with those words, “I am.” But the characteristics of this identity in the human sense have for the most part not really been a reflection of the living God.
Man was supposed to have been made in the image and likeness of God. There is some evidence of this, in view of the fact that he is the only creature on earth—if he is a creature—who can say I am, who has the conscious experience of identity. Because we have that conscious experience of identity we are, potentially at least, the means by which the living God can be revealed. But there needs to be a focus. I am that. I bring to focus the spirit of the living God right now in my living, not just for this moment while we may happen to be sitting here, where there is already a generated atmosphere into which we may relax—isn’t that nice? But we didn’t come here particularly to relax into it but to allow that continuing generation, and the continuing generation is only possible as the focus of the spirit of the living God is here present. It is here present individually speaking—and each one can say this—because I am present. We don’t look around and say “because you are present.” It is because I am present. I take the responsibility for being present, bringing to focus the spirit of the living God in my expression of living. That is my responsibility. Nobody else can do it for me. That’s true of each one, is it not? Human beings are always looking around to see if there isn’t somebody else who can do it. They’re looking around for some leader who’s going to take them out of the land of Egypt, out of the place of bondage. If a leader shows up they’re not so anxious to follow him as a rule—which may be all right, because there haven’t been any leaders around, only leaders from the standpoint of what human beings have produced on earth. But what is present on earth is not rightly a production of what is present on earth; it’s a production of the spirit of the living God, rightly.
If mankind has the responsibility of bringing this to focus but does not do so, rather follows out his own ways, his own desires, his own intents, then of course the earth is not a reflection of what would be present if the spirit of the living God was present in focus in mankind. It obviously isn’t, presently. We are well aware of the effects of this fact, which have been a-building for many, many centuries. And we have the world of today: the world of doom, the world of Armageddon, the world of all these terrible things which are coming upon the earth. They’re coming. If we are creatures of the earth we are subject to all that and, struggle how we may, we can’t get out of the condition. There is a lot of struggling going on, isn’t there? A lot of people think they know what sort of behavior should be appearing through themselves, and we have conflict in consequence. I suppose you could say ultimately this is true of each individual.
The United States is supposed to be the land of the free, but what does that mean? Apparently what it has meant to most people is that everyone is free to do as they please. And if things aren’t going the way we think they should, then we’re free to elect someone else who will more closely conform to doing the things that we please. Everybody tries to do what is right in his own eyes, but what is right in his own eyes is what is pleasing to himself, for the most part. He may have some altruistic view of producing something that is going to be pleasing to a few others, maybe pleasing to the whole human race; but it’s the same thing, isn’t it? Human beings doing what they please; and this is deemed to be freedom. It isn’t; it’s bondage.
Slavery creeps up on people, for the most part on silent feet; they don’t notice it. I suppose you could say that people are free to choose what sort of automobile they’re going to buy. But everyone is told what to buy—told through the ad, told through the salesman, told through the look of the car, the feel of it. Slaves!—slaves to their own desires, slaves to what they want. And, by heavens, they’re going to get what they want. But it’s not by heavens; it’s by reason of the fact that human beings are imbedded in the earth. They are influenced and controlled by all the things of the earth; all these things are constantly telling them what to do. And of course we all try to cash in on that in order to make a living. The whole human race is caught in the land of bondage. Fulfilment in life, apparently, is to have a lovely house, swimming pool of course, hot tub, whatever. That makes life worth living. Well it makes the processes of dying a little more comfortable, perhaps; but that’s what human beings experience, increment by increment. There’s a very high cost of dying these days, and it’s not just the funeral expenses, although they’re large enough.
There is a passage in the Bible which I would like to read—simply because it’s true. People imagine that they can extract the truth out of the Bible or out of some other book. You can’t get the truth. We know that. The only way to know the truth is to live it, to express it; then you know. When you know the truth you can notice it, here and there, around; but if you don’t know it, you don’t notice it. You can’t get the truth. You can’t extract it from anywhere, because it’s already present here: I am the truth. That is the fact of the matter. Of course it’s been well covered up because most of us don’t agree with that statement. I am the truth. To know it I must express what I am. Then I know the truth. But I am not this miserable, sick, unhappy creature that I have claimed to be. That’s a lie. No. I am. If you want to summarize it you could say, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” That’s the fact insofar as the individual is concerned, if he is willing to accept it; but he cannot accept it as long as he imagines that he already has a freedom to cling to.
Here is this passage: “And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” Why? Because he loves them so much. Those are the things that I love to have close around. I’m attached to these things and, being attached to them, I’m bound by them. “And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me.” That is the truth of the matter! “And he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me”—in either direction, above or below, older or younger, whatever. “And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me is not worthy of me.” He who does not let his physical form be used for the purposes for which it was created is in trouble. “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.”
What is the most precious thing that you think you have? Your freedom? The freedom which is essential to human experience may be said to be an internal thing or a heavenly thing—the experience of the kingdom of heaven. There is freedom—something which, from the usual human viewpoint, is nowhere. But we realize that nowhere is also now here and, because of that, it’s available. But it isn’t available in the external sense. Therefore if one loses one’s freedom totally in the external sense one may be forced into the position of being open to experience the freedom in the internal sense; and experiencing the freedom in the internal sense, the freedom of life itself, the human form goes along with it. The idea has been that in order to experience that freedom you must die, let the human form be left behind and you go to some other place somewhere. But the whole point is that we are here. This is the place to experience freedom, to experience the reality of life; and the reality of life can never be experienced as long as one is subject to the earth.
One must lose one’s life to find it. But it’s not just losing one’s life; it is “for my sake,” for the sake of the one I am, for that truth which I am. It is the human creature, as he has become, who wants. But that is slavery. That is being a slave to what, humanly speaking, I want. We all know that state of affairs because we all, if we are honest with ourselves, have contributed to that state of affairs, perhaps because we couldn’t see anything else to do—and that is true of most people. But now we know there is something else to do, there is a way. Yes, I am the way; not somebody else. I am the way, the truth and the life. That’s the real fact. How much willingness is there to lose our lives in the world as we know it, in order to find them in the heaven? To lose our attachments to the earth which, as I say, are the ropes that bind us, strangle us all in the end. We may, if we will. I’m sure the very fact of our presence here this morning is indication of some sort of longing to know the truth. One can’t know the truth in the human state as it now is experienced on earth. It can’t be known; it can’t be found.
The life that we have known must be lost. That’s the only way. There is the eye of a needle here, and you can’t drag anything through the eye of that needle out of the old state. Most people think of their possessions. It is more than that. It’s all one’s assumptions, conscious and unconscious, that compose our character. We can’t drag that through the eye of the needle. We are speaking of leaving everything behind, because the human state is deplorable! Very shortly it will not be able to exist anymore. Well if we see that—“Oh dear! Isn’t this scary!”—and everybody becomes fearful and rushes around, trying to fix things up so that they can exist a little longer. Well it’s just a little longer, that’s all. It’s all kaput in the end.
“Come out of her, my people,” was a very apt instruction. Come out of that state. But you can’t come out of it as long as you insist upon maintaining the freedom to do as you think you want to do—so that you may become, in the sense of this physical form with its capacities of consciousness, the means by which I am present. Then I do what needs to be done. And you begin to find that there are ways of doing that are totally unknown in the present human condition. All the structures that have been built up scientifically, for instance, just simply collapse, because there are ways of working things that have never even been glimpsed. The way human beings have acted is very ponderous—sweat of the brow. (Martin wiped the perspiration from his forehead) I’m enjoying this though! I trust you are too. A little sweat is very good at times. But here we are in this space, present in the atmosphere that has been generated here, coming to the point where we may willingly relinquish our freedom to be human. That’s what it amounts to, isn’t it? Freedom to be human the way we have assumed that things were.
I have no freedom whatsoever to say anything now but what I am saying, and it is a delightful experience. But it is the experience that needs to be known in the whole expression of living. One is free once the controls of the earth are relinquished. Hanging onto the controls of the earth is thought of as freedom in the human state. People are bound hand and foot by this. “What I want, well I’m certainly going to try to get,” is an indication of the fact that one is being dragged around by all these ropes in the earth. Human beings are so gullible. They have been persuaded that all this is a wonderful thing—fulfilment indeed. But they’re just beginning to find out that it’s fatal. We’ve known that, or should have known that, for a long time in the individual sense, but it can now well be in the collective sense. So there is something which is bringing people to point—accept this or else! Internal freedom, when experienced, brings along the physical form with it. It is a matter of losing one’s life in the world as it has been known. This seems like a terrible thing to most people. But it is salvation. It is the way life works. Life is there, ready to work if we are willing to let it.
I rejoice that we do have these opportunities together to acknowledge the truth and to stop fooling ourselves. Gradually we may indeed come through the eye of the needle, naked, completely naked, possessed by nothing in the earth. If you have possessions and you are hanging onto those, they possess you, don’t they? That is slavery. That is being bound. But let life have its way, and everything is freed up, because everything works the way it was designed to work. Human beings, looking at the state of the world and the earth now, can see, if they are honest, no way out, simply because there is no way out. But the working of life finds no problem, no problem at all. That working comes out of heaven into the earth, and it only comes because there are those present on earth who are not bound to the earth, who are not controlled by what is going on in the earth, not trying to be free while bound to what’s going on in the earth. It can’t be done anyway.
So we share the reality of freedom, which from the human standpoint is nowhere, as I said, but from our standpoint is now here, if we will accept it. I am thankful that there are those on the face of the earth who are accepting it, because here is the living focus of the spirit of the living God—not merely a symbol—the reality itself, the living focus of the spirit of the living God, made manifest in human flesh. Because of that there is the focus of the creative process present and in operation; and all that needs to happen will. Most of what needs to happen is not at all pleasing to human nature, to the human state. “Oh, we’re going to lose everything! Poor us!” Poor us, if we have not found life. The yoke is indeed easy and the burden light. But no one finds that out unless they accept the yoke and take up the burden.
© emissaries of divine light
