The Parting Of The Veil
Martin Cecil March 26, 1972
“And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven,
And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever ... that there should be time no longer:
But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound,
the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.”
Revelation 10
Once again it is good to be together in the Chapel, knowing why we are here. I would like to read to you a passage from the Book of Revelation: “And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever ... that there should be time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.”
You know that these days are being fulfilled in your own experience; consequently, there is indication that we are in the days of the voice of the seventh angel. This would relate to the release of the truth of love through the forming body of the Son of God on earth. This brings to a conclusion, in the experience of those who allow this body to take form, what has heretofore been a mystery. God has never been an intentional mystery to anyone, but the self-centered cloud under which man has been existing has obscured God; He has become such a deep, dark mystery to some that He has apparently ceased to exist to them.
We might perhaps recognize something with respect to the divine attitude, because man has certainly been a mystery to God. From the divine viewpoint it seemed utterly incredible that the Lord of Love could come on earth, manifesting in human form, and be rejected. Man, having already experienced a fairly lengthy period of suffering on earth, of disasters of all kinds, would surely be ready to welcome a release from that hopeless state. But no, when the Lord of Love came proclaiming and revealing the truth the cry became, “Away with Him, crucify Him!” What a mystery! In these days the veil begins to thin and to part so that the mystery may be finished, both for God and for man.
At the time that our Master was hanging on the cross it is said that the veil of the Temple was rent in twain, from top to bottom. It has been hanging there, so to speak, apparently still in place, as a curtain will hang, not particularly indicative of the fact that there is a rent. Down through the years, down through the centuries, this has been the situation. But finally those with integrity on earth have begun to stir in their sleep, hearing the voice which calls, so that self-centeredness has begun to dissolve. In that beginning dissolution there is an awareness that the veil of the Temple is indeed rent in twain. And there is actually nothing to prevent it from being fully parted, parted that the glory that is present in the Holy of Holies might flood forth into the holy place. The Holy of Holies is beyond the realm of space and time; the holy place is in the realm of space and time. The glory of the Lord shines out from the Holy of Holies into the holy place as there begins to be a means for that shining, and the means is the consciousness of man, the consciousness of man in which self-centeredness has gone. The departure of self-centeredness is the parting of the veil. The light shines forth into the holy place. But there is a recognition that there has been something else standing in the holy place, because the glory of the Lord has not come forth. The absence of the truth of love is indeed an abomination, and the abomination makes desolate.
The holy place is a place in the world of space and time, within man, where design and control appear. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2018/12/from-stand-in-holy-place-martin-cecil.html] When the veil obscures the truth, then something else establishes control in the lives of men and determines the nature of the design. We can call this self-centeredness. There are those who try to find some particular person or persons who exercise this power over all the rest of the human race—obviously there are those who are in particular position to exert influence in various ways—but fundamentally it is what we call self-centeredness that prevails in the realm where design and control on earth have operated insofar as man is concerned. This self-centeredness takes various forms in the experience of people. The greater mass of human beings, of course, find themselves seemingly swayed by the influences of a lesser number of human beings, but the greater mass of people are simply being swayed by reason of their own self-centeredness, just as the lesser number, who seem to be exerting the control, are likewise swayed by the same self-centeredness.
As the veil has begun to part in our holy place we begin to be in position to accept a different design and control. At the same time we begin to see more clearly the nature of the design and the control that has been present in the holy place insofar as self-centered man is concerned. We see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place. When our Master came into Jerusalem in the triumphant fashion recalled upon this day, He went into the Temple, which was in Jerusalem, and found there the moneychangers and those who bought and sold. This is indicative of the nature of what is present in the holy place in the experience of self-centered man. The temple had become a den of thieves. The fact of this state of affairs in the holy place in human beings the world around is an ugly fact which has to a large extent been covered up and in some respects made to look respectable and pleasing. Clear vision sees it all as an abomination. Fear and greed control and determine the nature of the design that man brings forth on earth. Here is the sepulcher that is full within of dead men's bones and all uncleanness, but outside, on the surface, it's painted white! When the truth of love floods into the holy place the darkness of self-centeredness is cast out, just as when our Master came into the Temple He drove the moneychangers forth.
There are those who take the attitude that because He did this, this ensured His downfall. It certainly contributed to what subsequently happened. But there need have been no downfall, no apparent downfall, if this had all been a part of the outworking which was moving before the time when He wept over Jerusalem. But the pattern had changed. He had no adequate control pattern, but that certainly didn't prevent Him, or stop Him, from doing what needed to be done. We might recall the occasion many thousands of years before, when Moses went back down into Egypt to face Pharaoh and to bring out the children of Israel. It is evident that he, in that circumstance, had a more dependable control pattern than our Master did in His circumstance. Because there was a dependable control pattern, what occurred in the land of Egypt brought sufficient pressure to bear on Pharaoh to cause him finally to let the people go. It was not thus in our Master's time. There was a lack of understanding, of experience, stability, on the part of the disciples, and this of course was at least partly due to the lack of response that was offered by people in general.
Usually those who consider what occurred during the course of our Master's ministry imagine that the multitudes who listened to Him and followed along indicated great response. Obviously there was some response, but I think it proclaimed considerable self-centeredness. Most of those who heard and saw Him were somewhat confused, uncertain; they didn't really know what was happening, even as the disciples themselves didn't. And also they were there, as our Master put it, “for the loaves and the fishes.” They were there because they thought they were going to get something out of it, and that is self-centeredness. The abomination of desolation stands in the holy place insofar as self-centered people are concerned. What governs, what motivates and compels people, partakes of the character of self-centeredness.
But what is the parting of the veil? Is this not the unveiling of true character on earth? To let the veil be parted the self-centered attitude must be relinquished, so that there is available the facility to reveal the unveiled character of God. It is the consciousness of man through which this occurs; there is no other facility on earth that can do the required job. Jerusalem represents the consciousness of man. There was an old Jerusalem and there is a new Jerusalem. The old Jerusalem is the self-centered state of consciousness; the new Jerusalem is the true, or spiritual, state of consciousness. In the old Jerusalem the Temple, the holy place, contained the abomination of desolation: the evidences of man's greed, the evidences of man's self-centeredness in the very core of things, in the very core of his experience. In the new spiritual consciousness, because the veil has been parted, the glory of the Lord shines forth into the holy place and round about; the character of God is unveiled. How can the character of God be unveiled on earth except through man, specifically through the consciousness of man? When it is so unveiled there is the new heaven; and because there is the new heaven the new earth appears, the restoration occurs, life as it really is becomes known. The unveiling of the true character of God on earth through man can well be referred to as the initial evidence of the so-called second coming of Christ.
Every event that has been recorded for us with respect to our Master's experience on earth must be met victoriously today if these things are to have any meaning now. The events come, as they did before, but in different form; the same in principle but in different form. Certainly the truth of love must pour out into and through the holy place if the Temple is to be cleansed, if the Temple is to become again a House of Prayer. It has been difficult for human beings to acknowledge the total worthlessness of the self-centered state because, looking at it, they could see some things that they judged to be good about it. There was perhaps a willingness to consider the necessity of allowing the evil aspects of the self-centered state to pass away, but there were the good aspects too! and there was an unwillingness, and still is an unwillingness, to let those go. In fact, when consideration is given to this necessity, the individual imagines that to agree that they should go would be being disloyal to what is right; disloyal to God, in other words. But as we become willing to let the total good and evil state of self-centeredness be dissolved in our own experience, we find out that nothing that is of value is lost. One thing that is lost is the right to judge good and evil, and that right is valueless.
Yes, we may agree with those who say there are some good things in the self-centered state, but the point is that we are not interested anymore in the self-centered state, good or bad; we are interested in the true state, in the Divine State, in the new heaven and the new earth. That true state cannot be experienced as long as the untrue state remains. So here is the choice actually. Many have been deluded into imagining that the choice was between good and evil in the self-centered state, and that God would be grateful if we accepted only the good and behaved according to the good aspect of the self-centered state. God, looking at the scene, might recognize that here were very earnest and sincere people trying to do something that they thought was right; He would consequently have compassion in the matter. But He can see quite clearly the futility of what they're trying to do. Likewise, those who begin to let the character of God be unveiled on earth see the futility also. They have the compassion and they know the way, the truth and the life because they are letting it be unveiled; but they also know that unless self-centered people do likewise they've had it. That's it! There shall be time no longer.
Things are brought to issue very quickly once the seventh angel begins to sound. Let us not think of this as being something separate from ourselves. Let us not look skyward, expecting to see an angel standing on a cloud with a trumpet, waiting breathlessly for him to start to blow. The blowing of the trumpet is the radiation of the truth of love. The truth of love is radiating all right, everywhere but in man's consciousness. So this is where the blowing happens. This is the right blowing of the mind, isn't it!—the truth of love emerging because the character of God is being unveiled on earth. And the unveiling is the relinquishment of self-centeredness. Simple. Man has made such a mystery of things, such a mystery of God, when there is really no need for a mystery at all. But if people want to have a mystery, they can keep their self-centeredness, for a little while anyway. But the victory comes when the holy place is cleared of self-centeredness. It must be so cleared in the individual, in each one, and it must consequently, because of the clearing in individuals, be cleared in the consciousness of man as a whole; and it will be, but it may be fatal to a lot of people.
There is rightly a triumphant entry into Jerusalem, into the consciousness of man—the old Jerusalem at present—into the self-centered consciousness of man. I think something has been released today into the self-centered consciousness of man through you, through all of us together. But we don't stop. When we get into Jerusalem we find the Temple awaiting, and that's where the real trouble is liable to start. No one did anything about the triumphant march, apparently, into Jerusalem. The cops were not on hand to break it up; they were likely taken by surprise! But when it really began to get into the pocketbook, then something had to be done. There must be triumph even here, and the triumph comes first in us and in those who have integrity wherever they may be. To the extent that it actually happens in us and in others, then there is a scourge of small cords—pretty small seemingly, but nevertheless sufficient to set the cycle in motion by which the moneychangers are ejected from the place of control. This is not to say that money may not still be useful; the point is that the control in this field has been in the hands of self-centeredness. Some people are inclined to say that money is the root of all evil. That is a misquote. “The love of money is the root of all evil,” because money and what it represents is at the center of the control pattern of self-centeredness. If the true control pattern is to be established, the moneychangers must be cast out. It's tough on the moneychangers, unless they are willing to do something else, unless they are willing to play their part in unveiling the true character of God. No one is excluded. And let us not be involved at any time in judgments in this regard with respect to people.
And so the truth of love released through the place of control in our own lives permits the unveiling of true character, and in that unveiling self-centeredness dissolves. The truth of love, the spirit of the living God, using other terms—it is this spirit which is supreme. We all have a responsibility in the unveiling, so that it may be adequately differentiated on earth. But the behavior which appears when the character of God is unveiled is consequent upon this spirit. What is done by anyone is then governed by the quality of that spirit and appears according to the design of it; then what is done is what should be done. What is done is creative in all respects. What is done in its extended influence in the world will be constructive all the way through. Nothing that is done in self-centeredness ever is. It may look good for the moment but it produces disastrous repercussions, as human beings are finding out in the world. Only what is done in the unveiling of true character produces something truly creative, and this is consequent upon the experience of the spirit of the living God.
As I say, we all have a responsibility in this regard, of unveiling various differentiated aspects of that spirit. [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2019/11/angelic-core-archangelic-achievement.html] But there is a central core of sprit of which there may be initial awareness, so that the individual may become cognizant of the nature of the true spirit in his own experience. Everyone has been so conditioned to the experience of the self-centered character that the true character, to start with at least, seems rather strange, and there is a tendency to keep ducking back into the old familiar character. I have a particular responsibility presumably, in this field, of exemplifying the nature of the character, the nature of the spirit, which rightly is differentiated throughout the whole body on earth. This provides a starting point, until a person becomes sufficiently familiar with his own true character. When there is that familiarity, the individual could never do anything that was out of character, just as was true of our Master.
There are those who have looked at me and said to themselves, “Martin does thus and so; therefore I can do thus and so.” But that isn't the point at all, is it? The point is, what is the spirit? What is the quality of the character? Because it is this which when accepted and expressed determines what is done by the individual. And what is done on this basis by one individual is not necessarily what would be done by another individual. You can't pick up the external act and transfer it from one person to another simply because it was right in the first instance; because it was an expression of the spirit appearing through that first person doesn't mean that it's going to be right for the second person. The second person can't tell what would be right until he has discovered and experienced the quality of true character, which would let his action be right. The action, what appears in external form, is entirely secondary; it is the result of something; and you can't rightly transfer the result from one person to another. Each person must experience that result for himself. And it can only be the right result, the true expression of the character of God, when that individual is expressing the character of God. If he doesn't permit the expression of the character of God, according to his own individual aspect of it, then no matter what he does it will be wrong, and no matter whom he copies it will be wrong. We're not supposed to copy each other anyway. We're supposed to let the original differentiated character appear, and when it does the action will be right.
But self-centered human beings tend to be wrapped up in externals. Did not our Master say, “Judge not by the appearance”? Don't look at the external. Until you can discern the spirit, you know nothing and your judgment will be false. With what judgment you judge you shall be judged. And then the individual, finding himself in trouble, says, “But I did what somebody else did and it was right for him.” No. Each one of us has the responsibility of unveiling the character of God for him- or herself. But there is provision made by which the nature and the quality of that character which is to be differentiated by all may be known. Of course, as one begins to find the differentiation of that character, it becomes the natural thing and one knows what it is for oneself.
Now it is in this unveiling of true character that the moneychangers in the Temple are cast out. They are cast out by this movement of spirit. Do you imagine that our Master was such a big and powerful man that single-handed He was able to throw everybody out of the Temple, just because of His physical strength? No. But the power of the spirit is something else, and when that is allowed to be unveiled there is in fact nothing that can stand before it; nothing of a self-centered nature can stand before it. This is why the time comes when there shall be time no longer. Everything is brought to issue very quickly once the true character is unveiled; then the glory of the Lord fills the Temple and shines round about. And woe unto those who try to contend with it! But it is the power of God at work, not human beings trying to call down fire out of heaven to consume all the evil people.
The fire of God, the truth of love, the glory of the Lord, consumes self-centeredness. The objective is not to consume people, just self-centeredness. Unfortunately, all too many are so wedded to their self-centeredness that one can't be consumed without the other. But to those with sufficient integrity to relinquish self-centeredness the experience is salvation. What better time is there than these days in the Easter season, when man thinks to celebrate the resurrection, to experience the resurrection? And the resurrection simply is the dissolution of the veil of self-centeredness. Then what we were down in the self-centered state is no longer what we are in the restored state, and in the process all that needs to be left behind are the graveclothes, the wrappings that held us in the tomb. Those bonds are burned away by the fire. Let us allow these days to provide the experience of this resurrection—not for ourselves, not for our benefit, but that the abomination of desolation might be cast out of the holy place in the world as a whole. Then is the world once again a new heaven and a new earth restored to God, perhaps with us in it. Let us let it be so.
O Lord, how perfect is Thy way. For millennia human beings on earth have been in hell. This hellish state has dragged on over the ages, but now at last it may be brought swiftly to a conclusion. We remember that we are here that it might be so. So it is that we are unconcerned with anything else but to let the fulfilment come; for there shall indeed be time no longer, but in the days of the voice of the seventh angel the mystery of God shall be finished. O Lord, we thank Thee in this hour, as Thy servants on earth, for the privilege of playing our part with all Thy servants everywhere in making possible the means by which the veil is dissolved and Thy glory shines forth into the earth once more, in the Christ. Aum-en.
