Spirit And Body Of The Archangel
Martin Cecil
September 18 and October 23, 1977 combined and condensed
In the initial stages, when earthly consciousness begins to open in response to the working of the spirit of God, the viewpoint is from earthly consciousness. Sooner or later the viewpoint of the earthly consciousness must be left behind in order that one might be in position to see from the standpoint of heavenly consciousness. When there begins to be a view from the heavenly standpoint then there is an alignment with the angel of one’s true identity. We move to a point where we can examine things from the standpoint of the true angelic identity. We let the light shine upon that which we would examine. The only way that this can be done consistently is to have one’s own light shining brightly all the time, and that is possible only to the extent of one’s heavenly living. The life which is heavenly is the light of men.
I trust that there is a newness emerging in your consciousness which gives evidence that the angel who you are is at hand on earth. The angels of God have been present in the world generation after generation all down through the ages but hidden, concealed, behind the darkened veil that has been maintained in human consciousness. Perhaps that veil is thinning in these days so that you may begin to see as an angel more clearly through your human consciousness. As an angel this is the only facility you have for observation in the world. This human consciousness in people everywhere has kept the angel on earth imprisoned for the season of the human life span. Now surely there is a breakthrough at hand so that the angels of the Lord might be consciously present in human form on earth.
As the angel and the expression of the angel emerge in your consciousness you see those things which need to be rebuked. When you are identified with the angel you do not see the angel—you are the angel. Being one with the angel you see those things which are not angelic in your human consciousness. You do not have to go searching for them. They will present themselves to you as you move through the circumstances of a day. It is not necessary that one should see and rebuke all of them at once. One at a time. As the rebuke is effective whatever is rebuked moves back, leaving space in which you discern what has been uncovered by the moving back of the thing that was rebuked. It is like peeling an onion—you find another skin underneath. When you have rebuked the top skin, which was beginning to look ready for rebuke, then what is underneath looks pretty good. While you may rejoice in something new in your consciousness it will prove in season that there is the necessity of further rebuke. Here is a refining, purifying process, by which your consciousness may be clarified so that it becomes a fitting container for the consciousness of the angel who you are.
Looking at these things from the standpoint of the angel, we may see that your physical body is composed of many parts. All these parts are unified into one whole by reason of the presence of the angel. Everything present in what we think of as the universe gives evidence of the presence of a specific aspect of the spirit of God. This applies in the individual sense from the standpoint of what is present in our physical forms. There are a multitude of parts and each part gives evidence of the presence of an aspect of the spirit of God. The nature of the part gives some hint as to the nature of the aspect of the spirit of God, which is the reason for its being. All these parts, right down to and including the cells and beyond, are present by reason of differentiated aspects of the spirit of yourself as the angel. The physical body itself makes possible the consciousness of the body. The consciousness of the body and what is present in that consciousness will naturally interfere if it isn’t in harmony with the spirit of the angel; it will interfere with the angelic expression relative to all the parts of the body. This is one reason why health seems to be such an elusive thing. Your body is rightly, when your consciousness is clear, permeated by all the differentiated aspects of your spirit as the angel. If this is so, then there is one whole here. It would no longer be a human being on the one hand and an angel on the other. It would be the angel in manifest expression on earth by reason of human form and there would be no distinction really between the form and the angel.
There are larger forms present than the individual body. The form of this ministry is composed of many human bodies. In order to make plain the point it might be said that there is an Archangel incarnate in the collective body and all the angels who are present in human form in that body are the differentiations of the spirit of the Archangel, which permeates the whole collective body. Human beings tend to think of the angel as being somehow isolated. There tends to be the idea that the whole exercise is to do what is necessary so that the individual may experience the expression of the angel, and when the expression of the angel is there then the individual can do all the things that are necessary. But when the expression of the angel is there it is found to be an expression included in the body of the Archangel.
As to the identity of the Archangel, we can see something from the standpoint of what has been portrayed in various ways in the Bible, considering Michael and his angels fighting the dragon and his angels. This is something taking place in what was referred to as heaven. Perhaps the picture there is of an Archangel with his banner fluttering in the breeze and armies of angels marching along. We begin to know what the actual experience is that is being portrayed. It is one body, the body of the Archangel. Every part of that body is differentiated by reason of the presence of an angel who in turn is a differentiation of the Archangel. We’ve been considering oneness—here it is, no separation whatsoever. Looking at your physical body you may say there are separate parts—but it is one body. It is capable of doing things because it is one body. The same thing is true of this larger body, the body of the Archangel. We may recognize that there is something beyond that again but we are concerned immediately with the manifestation of the body of this ministry, which is the body of the Archangel.
You may recall also the passage in the Book of Jude where there was the dispute over the body of Moses, between the devil and the Archangel Michael. Here is portrayed the reason for the incarnation of Michael in this collective and unified body. He engages in this dispute, and the means that he uses to achieve what is needful is said to be rebuke. He didn’t enter into railing accusation against the devil but simply said, “The Lord rebuke thee.” The Archangel is concerned about rebuking all that rises up to be rebuked in the consciousness of His body, but the consciousness of His body is composed of the human consciousness of each member of His body. So the rebuke is being offered to whatever rises up in His body, by the Archangel, through the angel—the angel is His agent in the matter. To the extent that you have a true consciousness of being the angel, then you are aware that you are incarnate in this part of the larger body for the immediate purpose of obeying the command of the Archangel—and that command is: Rebuke what does not belong in consciousness.
We may remember the Master’s word, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Here is the evidence of love as, individually speaking, we undertake this matter of rebuke, the rebuke which causes those things which should not be present in the human consciousness of the body of the incarnate Archangel to be pushed back. As these things are pushed back what was underneath is uncovered. Every secret thing shall be revealed. Most people are inclined to think that this might reveal some particular nastinesses—but not necessarily. Gradually, as there is rebuke offered, the things that don’t belong are pushed back and the things that do belong begin to emerge. We begin to discern them. This relates to the movement from chaos to order. When we rebuke something that doesn’t belong, and we do it definitely—we don’t hedge—that moves the experience into one of order at a higher level in the creative spiral which is purifying the human consciousness.
We tend to have taken the attitude in the past that what is happening is cleansing us. Not at all! If you are the angel you don’t need any cleansing, but your human consciousness certainly does. So there is concern that this should transpire and you are in an effective position to do something about it, intelligently, when you see the things rising up that need to be rebuked. If you see them there they are separate from yourself; you are no longer identified with them. You see them as a part of your human consciousness and out they go! In this process of moving in the creative spiral human beings are inclined to dawdle along the way. For the most part they may, with great effort, take a step, but then they collapse on the step and just stay there. How about us? How many have sat down on that step! Or hung out a sign, “Do Not Disturb.” There is the necessity of getting off one’s backside—steps, after a while of sitting, do become rather uncomfortable.
But there are steps that need to be taken in order to allow the participation in the creative process. One has to relinquish one step in order to step onto the next. There are those things which are to be rebuked and left behind. There always something to rebuke in the creative spiral as we move up. In fact it is the rebuke that releases us into the upward movement. To offer that rebuke we have to be honest, and it is necessary that we increasingly accept the quality and character of the angel in our momentary living. To the extent that this is done then the things that are not angelic stick out like sore thumbs. Let’s not try to cover them up so that we can keep our sore thumbs forever. Rebukes are necessary.
This collective body, the body of the Archangel, is the One who comes in the name of the Lord. The Archangel who provides the identity for the collective body is the One who comes in the name of the Lord, offering the opportunity to people everywhere to assume the attitude, “Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” Everybody is not likely to assume that attitude, but the offer is there, the opportunity is present, when there is One who comes in the name of the Lord.
The One who comes in the name of the LORD is the Archangel incarnate in this collective body.
But the evidence of the presence of the Archangel is made known as the evidence of the presence of the angel is revealed by reason of the individuals who compose the body of the Archangel. This is the angel’s sole concern. He has no other reason for being present in form on earth. If we say that with respect to the angel, is it being said with respect to you? Or do you have some other human reasons for being around? The consciousness of the truth of being is emerging into the consciousness of those who offer themselves into the body of the Archangel. To the extent that this is being done by you and others your consciousness on earth clarifies. As an angel you have an increasingly useful consciousness on earth which you may use for what needs to be done from the angelic standpoint, which is what needs to be done from the standpoint of the Archangel.
It was stated that the spirit of truth should come. “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” With respect to that spirit of truth it is also stated that “he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.” This statement doesn’t only relate to the time when it was first expressed—it has been true right along. The spirit of truth is with human beings. Because of earthly identity, human beings see the spirit of truth as being separate from themselves. They don’t know what the spirit of truth really is but it is over there, so that the view would be taken that he has to come; and when he is come he has to do something. As long as identity remains earthly that is the way it looks. The spirit of truth is with us. The spirit of truth is with human beings but the experience of the fact that the spirit of truth is in human beings only comes when the identity shifts from the earthly level of identity to the heavenly level of identity. Then it is known that the spirit of truth is present. We don’t have to look for it anymore. It needs to be known as the spirit of this collective body.
The spirit of truth relates to the spirit of the Archangel, specifically the Archangel Michael who incarnates in this collective body. Incarnating in this collective body, He comes into position somewhere along the way to reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. He does this by reason of His body—that is His only connection with the world—by reason of your bodies and by reason of the consciousness of your bodies. The authority for the rebuke is in the hands of the angel who you are—you accept that responsibility. You are not particularly interested in rebuking anybody else. You may have the opportunity on occasion to rebuke those things that are present in others because you have a means of doing so in yourself. You will find that when you push something back in yourself it will be pushed back in a lot of other people too. We are not separate. The angels are certainly not isolated from each other. They are all aspects of the Archangel, responsible for differentiating specific parts of the Archangelic spirit. And the whole body is healthy on this basis—it is all in agreement. It is the body of the Archangel. It belongs to Him. Our flesh belongs to the Archangel. Our consciousness belongs to Him too—and He reaches our consciousness through the angel which we are, to rebuke what needs to be rebuked.
As we assume the responsibility individually, the rebuke is carried through the whole body so that the Archangel can come forth. There is a facility available which will accommodate the coming forth of the expression of His spirit. This is the means by which salvation is offered to the world, because the consciousness of the world body will be rebuked, and those who hang on to the things that are being rebuked will be pushed out. We don’t have to judge. We just let the creative process work and see what happens, rejoicing in what happens, because what happens will be what should happen. However separate the individual bodies may look, the spirit is One. There is a joy and a delight to experience the natural release and expression of the spirit of the Archangel in our own living. How could we be closer to the One who gives identity to this body than that? And how indeed could we be closer to each other? The oneness is known in spirit, in the expression of the spirit of the living God, according to our angelic responsibilities, which are initially a rebuke. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.” Let the human consciousness be cleared so that the Archangel has a free hand. It is not a mysterious thing.
As consciousness clears there begins to be a new awareness of the design of things. The angel has a keen awareness of the reason for incarnation on earth: to provide through the facility of body and mind what is necessary to permit the manifestation of a collective body through which the greater works may be done. We have lesser works to do as individuals, but the greater works are done by the body as a whole. Each angel in the body is a differentiation of the spirit of the Archangel. The various parts of the body need to be functioning adequately in coordination. We need to see this in relationship to ourselves as parts of the body which we compose. Every part has its place, but each person certainly does not see the whole of what it is that is happening. There is no necessity. We have to be adequately conscious of the creative field for which we are individually responsible. The things that are done in these creative fields are required for the well-being of the body as a whole. Regardless of the creative action that is necessary, we each need to be in place and moving easily and naturally with the current of the spirit of the whole body. We are willing to leave the spirit contained in the overall spirit of the Archangel. This is the way the body is coordinated. We are blended into the body by reason of the spirit of the body. We should not judge the cells in the body as though they should all be the same.
Our responsibility in living expression is as a differentiation of the Archangel, who gives identity to the larger body; and that differentiation which appears in the angelic expression will be suitable, fitting, to whatever part the particular angel should play in the overall state of this larger body which does the greater works. What needs to be done is done by the Archangelic body. The individuals who compose that body simply sustain the body, allow it to be healthy, provide it with the essential cells that compose it, the essential fluids that move in it, and from time to time, according to the particular part, participate in direct action of some kind. We all participate in direct action, as we function as angels, by the rebuke that we offer to those things that arise in our own consciousness that should not be there. That direct action into the consciousness of mankind, with respect to which this larger body of the Archangel is here to make possible, is the ministry of the Archangel. As parts of this body, in the dawning consciousness of the angel, we become aware, not only of the greatness of the task, but the greatness of the One who is present by which this task may be achieved, the incarnate Archangel.
