Easter Sanctification
Uranda March 24, 1954 p.m.
We have come to the hour of evening meditation on this 25th day of March, 1954, and as we are gathered here in the Chapel on Sunrise Ranch we are granted another opportunity to permit another step to be taken in the fulfilment of the Law.
Long ago there was a certain man—Jesus the Christ—who walked upon the earth, in and through whom the Christ Spirit was revealed in the Essence of Being, making manifest the nature, the wisdom and the power of the Father. He invited all who should follow after to share that revelation of the Christ Spirit, the Spirit of the Living God—and He made a statement in the expression of the Word of the Father, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” In concluding the pattern of His ordained Ministry on earth, He made the statement in prayer before the Father, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do.” The work which the Father gave had been done. The work that was imposed upon Him by humanity had yet to be completed. The work which God had ordained had been completed. The work which humanity imposed upon Him was yet to be done.
In that concluding gesture of Ministry, in that great prayer, He said, “Neither pray I for these alone but for all those who shall believe on me through their words”—for all those who should believe on the revelation of the Father through the Christ Spirit, in any day or time, by reason of the testimony of those who shared the Walk of Life with Him. By reason of that testimony we are here gathered in this Chapel, presumably because we believe on His revelation of the Father through the Holy Spirit. Concluding His Divine Ministry, and facing that which was imposed by humanity, He prayed for us, that we might be sanctified by the Truth. To sanctify is to make sacred. We have recognized, in previous meditations, His statement, “And ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.” But, here we recognize, through words recorded in the Seventeenth Chapter of the Gospel according to John, that the work of the Truth, or the working of the Spirit of Truth through man, was the one and only means of obtaining sanctification. Our Master recognized that man in the fallen, self-active state had desecrated the temple of his own being. The body had been desecrated, the mind had been desecrated, and so also the heart, the emotional nature. He indicated that He Himself had been sanctified through the Word of God, and He made the added statement, “Thy word is Truth.” “Thy word is Truth.” Then the Truth is the Word of God. And the Word is not merely a written word, for the Master Himself said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” “Thy word is Truth.” The Truth, then, is the Word of God. So, it is by this Truth that man shall live. It is by this Truth that man is to be made free to live according to the Divine Design, and it is by this Truth that man is to be sanctified, or made sacred. We have recognized that this process of sanctification is needed in body and mind and heart.
The reality of our Master's sanctification on earth, sanctification through the Truth, the word of Truth which He revealed from the Father, is established and made evident by His life, by the words that He spoke and the things that He did. “By their fruits ye shall know them” He gave evidence of His sanctification. The fruit of His Life revealed it. The result of that sanctification, the process of being made sacred by the Truth, which is the Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God, was that the Spirit of God, or the Christ Spirit, was allowed to be made manifest in His life. And in that life there are many evidences of Power. Man, having desecrated the temple of the living God, is characterized by weakness and futility. Man, under this condition, has sought in many ways down through the centuries to attain power unto himself, thinking to achieve that which he imagined he desired. However, these efforts have been in vain. Nevertheless, we are not left in darkness as to the means by which Power may be made manifest on earth. “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
The Master stated, “For ye shall receive power after (not before) the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” The Holy Spirit can come upon man—mankind, any man, any woman—to the degree of sanctification, to the degree that that man or woman submits to the processes of being made sacred. We have noted in time past that the Spirit of God cannot act on earth in any real or adequate sense without man. The Spirit of God acts to some extent through the rest of creation, through the vegetable world, through the animal kingdom, etc, but the adequate expression of the Spirit of God depends upon man, and the Spirit of God cannot act upon earth except through form. We have acknowledged, intellectually, theoretically, that form, whether the body of a man, a woman, of any creature, or of anything on earth, can have meaning and value only in relationship to the Spirit of God. As the body is essential to the Spirit on earth, so is the Spirit essential to the body on earth. But if the Spirit is to be made manifest through the body it must first be made sacred.
With respect to the beginning of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit at the time that is ordinarily called the Day of Pentecost, it is stated that they were all together with one accord in one place. We, tonight, in the outer or physical sense, are together in one place. Mentally, emotionally, Spiritually, we are not necessarily together in one place. It is evident that before we can, in this absolute sense, be together in one place, we must be in accord. “For they were with one accord in one place.” With One Accord. This state of accord obviously depends upon sanctification, the necessity of being sanctified by the Truth, which is to say, the Word of God, the living Word of God, the Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. We realize here the need for Power. We realize that in the world as it is there is a need for Power.
Earlier in His Ministry the Master said, “Except a man be born again, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” Many have thought of this process of entering the Kingdom of Heaven with respect to some invisible realm, or hereafter, but the Master did not qualify His statement after this manner, "Except a man be born again, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven after he is dead." He said, "Except a man be born again, he cannot enter the Kingdom of Heaven." And He had already stated that His Good News to the children of men was that the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand, within reach and available to us. If we are to enter the Kingdom of Heaven at hand we must, then, be born again. And this process of Rebirth is the process of sanctification. Rebirth may be called Illumination, and the source of illumination is the Light of Truth, the Light of Truth which dispels the darkness in comprehension and permits man to begin to move in harmony, in unison with God, as an extension of the activity of God's Spirit on earth.
We can see, as we consider these things, which are brought to mind in this Easter Season, in relationship to the Resurrection, that this process of Rebirth or Resurrection, Illumination, is essential to us. In the world there is a need of Power. In our Ministry there is a need for Power. We know that if we attempt to accomplish that to which we are called without that Power we shall surely fail. Without that Power any efforts put forth by us, or by anyone anywhere, must come to nought. And the Master clearly stated, “And ye shall receive power after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you.” If, then, there is an absence of Power, there is evidence that the Holy Spirit has not truly come upon us. If the Holy Spirit had fully come upon us, there would be the evidence of increased Power. It seems to me that, under the circumstance, any direct concern about the Power is out of order and ill advised. The concern should be that we might so function that the Holy Spirit may come upon us. We need not imagine that we must somehow persuade the Holy Spirit to come upon us, as if the Holy Spirit would hold back, or that God would prevent it.
As we consider the matter, realizing that God has been waiting nineteen centuries for someone, somewhere, at some time, to let the Holy Spirit come and to let the Power manifest, we need not assume that we will have to persuade God or the Holy Spirit in this matter. It is, rather, evident that our great need is to allow this process of sanctification to take place, not to get the Holy Spirit to come upon us but to make it possible for the Holy Spirit to come upon us. If we realize that God is not waiting because of a desire on His part, or because He would withhold, but because there has not been a provision of the means of manifestation, we can surely accept the responsibility which devolves upon us in the face of this vision, this realization.
The question is, then: How may we experience the required sanctification? The Master stated that sanctification comes through the Word of Truth, which is the Word of God. Have we, in this time and place, been denied access to that Word? If that Word is available to us, if we have access to the Word of God, which is the Truth, then surely we are without excuse. If we have not had access to that Word, or if we have not had awareness of that Word, let us by all means seek it and find it. But, once we find it, we come face to face with the question: “What is of primary importance to us?—the reality of sanctification, or those things which prevent or delay sanctification? How long should it properly take for a human being to experience sanctification?” It is not a question of: “How long will it take God to sanctify us?” The question is: “How long will it take us to reach a point where we will let God sanctify us? How long will it take?”
Theoretically, I think each one here, and in our Service as a whole, has accepted the idea that petty things, personal things, etc., should not be allowed to stand in the way of sanctification. In actual practice it is a different matter. How long should it take for this cycle of sanctification, or Rebirth and Resurrection, to work out? Apparently, most human beings are convinced that it takes quite a while. God is well able to bring it about in an hour, “in an hour when ye think not,” when the mind ceases trying to govern and maintain control. Whatever the period of time that has gone before us, I am inclined to think that it has been enough time so that it could have been done. I have been told in time past that I am inclined to expect too much of people. Perhaps so. According to certain viewpoints that may be so. And yet, I fail to comprehend how it is that I am expecting too much of you, or anyone anywhere, when I expect you to allow this process of sanctification to work out, not just somewhere in the far distant future, but here and now, so that the outpouring of the Holy Spirit may become a reality in our lives. How is it that this is too much to expect? What is the gain in delay? Of what value is the process of maintaining weakness and futility?
If it is expecting too much I ask, “Why?” What do you have to give up, to relinquish? What gain have you yet to attain before we have this blessing? Why is the day always postponed?—some time in the future. “And when the Day of Pentecost was fully come." Why do you suppose it came? Because God set a certain time, as He might say, “On the tenth day of August, 1954, I will grant you the outpouring of the Holy Spirit?” No. The day is now, tonight—as far as He is concerned, any day, this day. We do not even have to wait until Easter Day. The time is now.
How shall this process of sanctification be worked out? How shall it be experienced? I have wondered, on occasion, seeing how it is that you have in part followed my leadership, that you have trusted me, as one of your number put it not too long ago, “with your lives”, if we might reach a time when you might all, with one accord, feel justified in accepting and trusting my leadership without any reservation for as much as an hour or two. Perhaps it would be asking and expecting too much to make it a week, a whole seven days, but I wonder how it is that it is conceived to be a gamble, something too much to accept one hundred percent, for at least an hour or two. If sometime I could inspire you, or persuade you in some fashion, to accept my leadership without any reservation whatsoever, (of course I would like to have it for a week, or at least a day but if even for an hour or two) with the understanding that you could go back to the old pattern if it was not satisfactory after that hour or two if you wished to do so, if for some reason you felt that I was imposing on you in that period, I wonder what would happen? You see, in spite of all that I have presented, all that I have done, you follow only in part. You trust, but not wholly. You love, but not completely. You accept the Truth tentatively, theoretically, but not absolutely.
I have waited patiently, so that you might thoroughly convince yourselves that it would be safe, that it would be justified, that it would be all right to trust absolutely for at least an hour or two. Now, I can wait longer. My LORD and KING has been waiting nineteen centuries, and I can wait. But, the question arises, “Why?” If I should still wait and ask Him also to wait, I would like to know, “Why?” I cannot answer that question to my KING, I cannot give Him any reason why. If it is because I have failed in my function in Ministry, I do not know of it. If it is so, I would like to know of it, that I may rectify my lack and my failure. But there is this question, “Why?” that presses upon my consciousness, and I would like to be able to answer that question to my KING, for it is, as of the moment, something I cannot do. I do not know the answer. WHY?
The reason for my patience, for my continued Ministry, is to convince someone, somewhere, that it would be safe to actually trust completely, for at least an hour or two, or maybe a few hours, perhaps even a few days if we wait long enough. But this is the one thing for which I wait. The things that I do in this interval until that day shall arrive are done, not because I am required of my KING to do them but because the necessity is imposed by mankind. If my view is adequate, and if I am right, enough has been done so that some should begin to reach a point of being willing to fully trust, at least for a little while. And when that day comes we will have a day of sanctification, and following the sanctification there shall be the coming of the Holy Spirit upon us, and, following the coming of the Holy Spirit into such full expression in our lives, there shall be Power, and the Power shall be used according to the Wisdom of God in the accomplishment of the Will and the Plan of God on earth. So, tonight, out of the meditations of my heart I have sought to make clear to you the basis upon which I ask the question, “Why? Why must we delay still longer? For what do we wait? What gain is there in delay?” I seek the answer to the question, “Why?”
Our Gracious LORD and Holy KING, I thank Thee for Thy many blessings made manifest upon earth in and through all Thy children who respond and yield, to whatsoever degree, to the working of Thy Spirit. And I thank Thee for Thy provision whereby Thy Power may be made manifest on earth in accordance with the needs of this time in world history, “For Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, forever.” Aum-en.
© emissaries of divine light
