He Came Straightway Up Out Of The Water
Martin Cecil August 9, 1964
The Holy Ghost is the name given to the Holy Spirit in its application and action with respect to the individual. We all gather to allow the bringing forth through us individually of that which is a true expression of the spirit of God. This is not properly for any one person, but should be all-inclusive. It has been obvious over the recent days, as various ones have spoken, that there has been an increased experience of the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It is this baptism which enables us to come into agreement one with another and stay in agreement. It also permits us to work more effectively together in the practical affairs of living day by day. There is no other basis for oneness. To be sprinkled with the water of truth is necessary, but unless we come to the point of the true release of the spirit of God from within us individually, we do not know what it means to be with one accord in one place. This state of being with one accord in one place should not be limited to the time that we are together in the physical sense, but unless it is known when we are here it is unlikely that it will be known when we are not here.
I am sure all of you recognize that while there have been many wonderful experiences, and we anticipate some more, we are a long way from a really practical state of true coordination. That true coordination comes by reason of the individual expression of the spirit of God. That which is so released impels action. We do not expect to be coordinated just by sitting still. Such a state of supposed coordination wouldn't achieve very much. We are concerned with Divine identity, and consequently with giving expression to that which is Divine. The glory of the Lord will never shine round about through anyone who is not in his right place. We can only be in our right place when we accept our proper responsibilities, and when we are not only content to so function but are delighted to so function—we consider it the greatest possible honor to so function. Unless this attitude is present in a person he is certainly not providing the opportunity, to himself or herself, for the experience of baptism by the Holy Ghost. That person is still saying, “I'm not interested in this. All I want is some more water sprinkled on me, and it doesn't matter too much how I get it, as long as I get it.” We need to be in position where we can function with delight in any particular circumstance in which we properly find ourselves; and when we begin to have this attitude, so that we are not involved in judgments, there is the beginning point for the experience of baptism by the Holy Ghost, because something of the Divine expression can begin to come out through the person.
We have had an abundance of baptismal services from the standpoint of water, but unless it leads into the experience of the baptism by the Holy Ghost it is of little avail. We can be baptized with the truth forever and a day and achieve nothing—but like our Master, we need to come straightway up out of the water. He experienced baptism of water at the hand of John, and He came straightway up out of the water. As soon as it was done He came out of it. He didn't linger in there, splashing around. We need to come straightway up out of the water that there may be the experience of the next step, the baptism by the Holy Ghost, which is the release of the spirit of God from within each individual, that we may begin to share in a coordinated pattern. We are to share in the baptism of the Holy Ghost, that there may be the development of the actual experience of coordination. If you limit the idea of experiencing this baptism to being in the Chapel here, you are wrong.
If we serve the Lord we are all dedicated to the whole. It is not this group or that group, this individual or that individual, that carries supreme importance to us; it is the whole, and our concern is to find our places of coordination in the whole, together. Whatever it is that is working out through the whole is always of supreme importance. There is a tendency for individuals to imagine that their own little affairs are the most important things. If any of you have that viewpoint then you are a long way from the experience of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, because the spirit of God is concerned with the whole, not just with this person or that person on a segregated basis. If you are participating in the baptism of the Holy Ghost you are concerned with the whole.
One aspect of that concern with the whole will relate to your particular field of responsibility as an individual—but still, the meaning of the individual, the meaning of the group, is contained in the whole, and it is only because of the whole that any of these things have meaning. There needs to be a very clear-cut recognition of this fact, because no part is more important than the whole. It is the needs of the whole, the welfare of the whole, what is working out through the whole. What is required in the moment with respect to the whole, that is the supreme thing, and we must, as individuals, be ready and willing to drop everything if something is required which relates to the whole. It is the coordinated function of the whole that is important, and there can be no coordinated function of the whole without the right attitude toward the whole, so that the whole of which we as individuals are a part may be seen as carrying the supreme importance. None have any meaning if it weren't for the whole. We need to have this vividly in consciousness as we yield to the baptism of the Holy Ghost.
The spirit of God in action through the individual will always maintain a right attitude toward the whole. Under the dominion of the spirit of God we find something moving in us which relates to the whole, and which enables us to take the initiative on a balanced basis, according to our particular fields of responsibility. When we let it work we find that these patterns are coordinated. We already know that nothing just happens. We have already seen many times that we are not waiting for the Lord. He is waiting to find expression through us in the baptism of the Holy Ghost, that something may be brought forth which is true to the design—something which must appear through each individual. We use external circumstances, but the external circumstances cannot prevent the baptism of the Holy Ghost. It is our own attitudes and choices that prevent it.
We are concerned with the baptism of the Holy Ghost, on the basis of being with one accord in one place. The outpouring of the spirit is the responsibility of each one. It is not as though we were waiting for some collective experience without individually doing anything about it. It doesn't come on that basis. It comes because each individual is doing something about it according to his or her position of responsibility. That position of responsibility changes from moment to moment. We have a particular one now, here. As we move forward in the way, the pattern changes and there are different fields of responsibility for each one. No matter what the field of responsibility is, there is the requirement of being with one accord in one place. Let us not judge between one external place and another. The opportunity is being extended to participate in the baptism of the Holy Ghost. Each one who is present has that responsibility of permitting the spirit of God to be in action, not simply of sitting with mouth hanging open waiting for the spirit of God to be in action through somebody else. Whatever is to occur will occur by reason of the extent of the baptism of the Holy Ghost which each one experiences. So we have a group accepting responsibility.
Everyone here has responsibility. We have a particular cycle working out where something much more effective and much more specific may be achieved, and it requires everyone to be with one accord in one place. It doesn't matter where a person is, or what he or she is doing, the same responsibility is present to participate in the baptism of the Holy Ghost, which means that the spirit of God is in action through the individual. There will be a sense of delight in doing whatever is to be done. And it is in this that there is oneness, coordination, between us, and to that extent we come with one accord into one place and everyone experiences the intensification of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And it isn't limited. Anyone, anywhere, who is in position, doing what should be done in the expression of the spirit of God, shares it. There's something to be done, so we do it, and we are delighted to do it. It's wonderful to do it. We can be with one accord in one place with ourselves if we are delighted to do it, and we have a base from which to move into the experience of being with one accord in one place with others, and this is that which must be. Let us actually take responsibility in this matter, so that whatever the Lord would give may be given. I don't think that if anything takes form in the way of blessing through the gathering here that it could be contained by those who are present in person. If it is the blessing of the Lord it can't be contained.
Sometimes, in order to permit the generation of what is needful to allow the increase of blessing to be known, it requires that we establish a certain pattern, a certain form, through which this may transpire. I would that everybody would be delighted that it is just the way it is—that everybody might share that delight in whatever field they are functioning, so that we can be with one accord in one place. And because of this, as we let it be so, there is an open door then to the Lord. He can do what He will then. He doesn't have to keep stumbling over inert bodies everywhere. He can come right on into His world and find a welcome there, because there is nobody standing around sucking their teeth. If the Lord comes through His body on earth, is there any part of His body that won't know it? Of course not. We may all know it when we all do what we should be doing. We have a peculiar opportunity—and this is not just for us here gathered, but for the ministry of the Lord as a whole. We are concerned with the whole. We are concerned to represent the whole to the Lord, and very particularly to represent the Lord to the whole. Let's do a good job of it because we will not accept any other control in our lives than that which comes from God, that which is true to His spirit. As we all do this, surely this is bringing all the tithes into the storehouse, so that as the windows of heaven we may be opened for the blessing of the Lord to pour forth into all the earth. This is a challenge to us, a wonderful challenge. Surely we have what it takes to accept it.
© emissaries of divine light
