And Immediately I Was In The Spirit

And  Immediately  I  Was  In  The  Spirit

Uranda  July 9, 1953

We have been meditating on the basic theme of Heavenly Magic, the magic of living, and we can feel the pattern of that magic beginning to work in and through you. You have begun to have a true realization of the reality of Shekinah; and as the Shekinah Cloud of Glory is allowed to penetrate into the pneumaplasmic substance of your body, in that sphere you begin to be One—One with that which is of the Inner Reality of Being. Allowing this to take place you are in position to let the Light that Glows begin to have meaning in your mind, not merely an intellectual process as we ordinarily think of it but a process of illumination. And with illumination, with the correct acceptance of the truth by the mind and the illuminating process in the current of resurrection, the Fire that Burns begins to be a constant and continued reality in your heart—it begins to be the manifestation of the Fire that never goes out; it is a constant flame. Those who live and move and have their Being in God have this constant flame upon the Altar in the heart, in the Temple of the body. You are beginning to realize that your body individually is a Temple, and that all of us collectively have a part to play in the formation of the larger Temple—the Temple not made with hands. Your body was not made with hands; likewise the larger Temple of many members is not made with hands.

Yesterday, in our patterns of meditation together, we gave some attention to the secrets of sex as they relate to the Shekinah Pattern of Being [greatcosmicstory.blogspot.com/2022/01/shekinah-and-sexhere-i-am-lord.html] and our relationship in reality with God. Today, continuing in this cycle that has been opened to you, I would like to draw your attention to the record as taken from the 4th chapter of the Book of Magic, and we will begin with the 1st verse. Perhaps we will go back just a little to get connected up—we gave meditation to the message to Laodicea [Chapter 3, Verse 14]:

“And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God [that is, Shekinah]; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.”

In our meditations here we recognize that we can use patterns of response and patterns of opposition, but lukewarmness is something which we cannot use, it is something which we must ignore or work around. Only where there is response in the sense of yielding or response in the sense of opposition can we utilize the factors present.

“Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire [the Shekinah Fire], that thou mayest be rich.”

And can we hope to find any true riches in being if we ignore this Fire, the gold tried in the fire? Gold is the symbol of what? Love. Love tried in the Fire, “that thou mayest be rich”—the riches of heaven on earth at hand.

“I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed…” And what is the clothing? The Light that Glows, that relates to the reality of illumination and the function of the mind. “… and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear…” What is it that clears away the shame of nakedness? The white raiment, the Light that Glows. “… and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.”

Now here in this particular pattern we have the emphasis placed upon seeing—"anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.” The clothing, the Light that Glows, and the Cloud of Glory are so closely interrelated here in the pattern of symbolism that we see them really together in their oneness. The outer manifestation of the white raiment is of course the Cloud of Glory, but the Cloud of Glory has meaning and provides the raiment, the white raiment, because of the Light that Glows. And when we have our eyes anointed with eyesalve, that we may see, we begin to see the Cloud of Glory by reason of the Light that Glows.

“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten…” Did you ever notice how I love you? “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.” With my Father—not only the One Who Dwells but the Shekinah Pattern of Reality.

“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” Have you ever known the experience of hearing the Voice inviting you, “Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter”?

“And immediately I was in the spirit…” There is one of the great significant keys. We noticed it briefly earlier in this Book of Magic, where we find the statement, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet… And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw.” And here we have the Word, the invitation, “Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter,” things which must take form, things which are to appear on earth.

“And immediately I was in the spirit.” Now when you begin to hear the Voice that speaks with you, what are you in? Are you simply a human being in the flesh? Or are you just in your mind trying to intellectually comprehend that which the Voice is speaking? Or are you in some place far away, some place of the past or some place somewhere else on the globe? Are we all together individually, with one accord in one place—body, mind, heart and spirit, in alignment, in one place? And where is the centering of you? In the flesh? In the mind? In the heart? Let it be in the spirit, for when you begin to hear the Voice you should immediately be in the spirit.

“… and, behold, a throne was set in heaven…” And where is heaven? In some far-off sky? It is at hand, here, now. “… and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold”—Crowns of God's Love. And they had on their heads the Crowns of God's Love... to be continued in a few days, as The Four Beasts

© emissaries of divine light

Here Is The Word!

Here  Is  The  Word!

Martin Cecil   December 19, 1976

There are many groups of people the world around who are concerned with what might be referred to as spiritual things, people who are sincerely and earnestly seeking to do what they may to offer a blessing into the world, people who have an attitude of goodwill toward others. Some of these groups are of a communal nature; in other words they are associated together quite closely in a physical sense. Others find common cause in the nature of their understanding. They may have what could be referred to as a mutually acceptable creed, code of ethics, what have you. We certainly rejoice in all human beings who are concerned with being right according to their highest vision. In spite of the diversity of understanding that may be present there is a general recognition, on the part of most, of the need for some kind of inspiration of a continuing nature. Sometimes this inspiration may be forthcoming through a person who, from time to time, catches a new vision. There are those who feel that they receive messages from invisible guides of various sorts, but what is offered in the way of continuing inspiration is usually of a rather sporadic nature. In spite of this it is remarkable how many such groups have continued on. The LORD has great ingenuity, by which He is able to use nearly everything to advantage.

We ourselves of course are keenly aware of the necessity for what might be called a continuing inspiration. We see it from the standpoint of what rightly comes down from God out of heaven in each moment of living, but we do participate in particular experience in this regard at times of service such as this. We have an awareness of the essential requirement of a point of focus on earth in which all may share and by which what rightly comes from the LORD may be channeled into living expression on earth. This, while it relates to the daily living of all concerned, is brought to particular focus at times—in this moment for instance, here, now—that there might be the opening of the Gate for the LORD to come into His world in a special sense, for the special purpose which is found in the present moment. We all have a responsibility to participate in the opening of this Gate, but what emerges by reason of the opening is, in these circumstances, given form in words. We may speak of these words as an expression of the Word. The Word is forthcoming, in this sense, on what might be described as a rhythmic basis—Sunday by Sunday for instance—as well as being available in the expression of our individual living, twenty-four hours a day. Our immediate concern is with this rhythmic pattern as it finds a special focus this morning by reason of this unified gathering, concerned as we are for the opening of the Gate by which the LORD may come into His world.

We have an awareness, then, of something that is of a continuing nature. I spoke of it as being rhythmic; there is the provision in this regard week by week. The Word is brought forth directly, insofar as we are concerned this morning, by what is spoken; but you are all very much aware of the fact that what is spoken is not just a matter for me, in this instance, but all of you who are present determine what may be rightly brought forth. Here is the factor of uniqueness which characterizes what we might refer to as this ministry. It isn't a hit-or-miss proposition. Obviously there is a great consistency and constancy that has been present all down through the years. There has been a consistent flow of the spirit, taking particular form according to the facility that was provided to let it take form, and we have not had to depend upon messages coming to us from somewhere, or indulgence in visions of various sorts which would tell us which way to go. There has been this flow of the spirit taking form in a specific sense through the spoken word, making possible the recording of this on audio- or videotape, the transcribing of it into the printed word, so that there might be a continuing movement of the flow of the spirit in this way, something very particular and very specific. So has it been, week upon week, month upon month, year upon year. I have described this flow as relating to the bloodstream, in analogy, something which has the power to give unified life to all who share in allowing this bloodstream to be the bloodstream of their own living. In this fashion we may participate in salvation by the blood of the Lamb.

Here is the central factor which has been lacking—in varying degrees I suppose it could be said, but almost totally in most cases—which makes possible the reality of creative meaning to those who are associated in group patterns. What has emerged in our own experience has emerged because of this constant and consistent flow of the spirit. There have been those along the way who were keenly aware of the real meaning and value of the Word; others felt that it was just a mailing that was sent out—very nice, maybe we could learn something, it was interesting to hear what was coming next, so on and so forth. But there have been those who have awakened, by reason of their own experience, to the reality of this spiritual bloodstream. You cannot separate the flow of the spirit from the means by which that flow is made comprehensible. This is the point, isn't it, because there always has been a flow of the spirit but insofar as human beings are concerned it has remained largely incomprehensible; it has been subject to human imagination, human attitudes of belief, and so on. But there is One Flow, One Spirit, and it doesn't go in a multitude of diverse directions. Those who are associated with this flow find themselves moving increasingly as One Body.

So this Word has been present over the years and has been available as the basis for the movement of all concerned, in the expression of their living. If it was merely something that was intellectually observed, considered, thought about, maybe even agreed with, it meant very little; but if there were those who saw in the Word the living flow of the spirit and accepted that living flow into their own daily experience, then this reality which was coming into the world because the Gate was thereby opened was known for what it really was and is.

Here is the unique factor in the ministry of the LORD. This is what causes the ministry to be the ministry of the LORD. There must be the focus by which the creative Word emerges. That focus includes many people; it only becomes meaningful and truly creative because of many people; it only becomes understandable because of many people. It was, after all, brought to the finest possible point of focus through the One called Jesus, but what happened by reason of His point of focus has never been generally understood. It has remained incomprehensible, because all it was was this point with position but virtually no magnitude. Any magnitude that has come by reason of Him has been on the basis of human concepts about Him, and not really because of Him.

What does come down from God out of heaven in the moment, particularly in this moment, becomes meaningful and comprehensible because of all of us put together. As long as it merely remains at a point of focus, which has position but no magnitude, it is not comprehended. It is comprehended when it is differentiated in the experience of living people. Then each living person knows what he knows by reason of his own living, and as that living is based in the flow of the same spirit, as these individual lives are put together, there is a wholeness of comprehension. No one person has to know it all. Each individual knows the reality of his own quota, and we can begin to trust each other to take care of our own quota of knowing so that we don't interfere with other people's business. The only business that anyone is capable of knowing is his own. We're all here to mind our own business, and when we do, the total business is minded.

The unique factor with respect to what we know in our own experience of the truth of this ministry relates to the Word. There are an increasing number of people, responding ones, who are finding a delight in the Word which they had not really known before; they are discovering that it is alive! Of course that discovery comes by reason of the individual's own living; that's the only way it can be known to be alive. When in our own living that Word is revealed according to our particular quota of revelation we are immediately aware of the living nature of the Word, and the Word is a delight to us. We see that without that Word there would be nothing insofar as this ministry is concerned, insofar as the ministry of the LORD is concerned. The Word must be made flesh, but there is a Word to be made flesh. Some seem to imagine that that Word is going to materialize out of thin air. It comes forth in a very specific way. It requires very specific participation on the part of those who are accepting the responsibility of letting the Word come forth. If the Word has found, in recent years, a particular focus through my own expression this has not been so because I somehow wanted to bring this Word forth for the benefit of all concerned; it has come because there has been the fulfilment of the Law in relationship to the birth of it.

Insofar as human birth is concerned, in the ordinary sense, it's something that happens because this and this and this occurred. Very specific! So must it be from the standpoint of what is to come down from God out of heaven into the earth. It isn't based in happenstance—somebody may happen to be inspired one day; someone may happen to have a vision Tuesday morning; someone may happen to think that he got a message from somewhere. It isn't that at all. It's something very particular, and very specific, and very constant, and very sure, and very certain. There has been the opportunity for all concerned to participate in this assurance and certainty for many years. There has been a certain amount of hesitancy about it but, even in spite of that, here we are today.

There is only one thing that is absolutely unique, and it is the one thing that carries the absolute importance. Without it no other type of effort, no other fancy organization, will be of the smallest value. Here is the Word! That's the point—the opportunity to become acquainted with the Word, not with the results that may have occurred by reason of the fact that there are those who have been participating in the Word. We have a beautiful Chapel here, which is the result of the fact that there have been those who have been participating in the Word, and this is a wonderful evidence of what the cause is. But it's the cause that is important, not the evidence of it. If all that is offered to a person is a view of organization, as though that were the key to everything, then that person is not being given anything of any particular value. This is the human nature approach—which totally ignores the only factor that has any meaning—the Word!

When the Word is recognized and accepted into the expression of living, then, as has often been said, everything else takes care of itself. “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” That's the fact of the matter. There is one thing that is essential, and that is the focus by which what is coming down from God out of heaven may be allowed to emerge in living expression on earth, and that living expression will take care of its own forms of manifestation. It will not require human beings to figure out how they should organize things.

We have had opportunity over many years to be associated with the Word. Because of that, whether it has been clearly recognized or not, there has been some movement with the flow of that spirit; but there are, obviously, present in people the elements of human nature. Human nature in the world has always been at variance with the flow of the spirit, because of what we have referred to as the fall. Human beings have been excluded from the Garden—the Garden where the Word originates. Those who begin to become aware of the reality of the Garden and the Word that is spoken in it also contain within themselves elements of human nature; and those factors, most of which are subconscious, are at variance with the flowing movement of the Word. If these factors maintain rigidity in a person there will be, I suppose one could call it, trouble, because the flowing movement of the Word will come up against these rigidities, and then various things may happen: troubles ensue, accidents occur. Anyone who gets into trouble, or has an accident, is not alone of course, insofar as the rigidities are concerned that may have been involved in the situation, but obviously, even though he may not have been alone in it, he was in it.

These troubles of all kinds continue to appear because of these elements in human nature that are deliberately maintained. When the effect comes out there is the opportunity for the individual to begin to recognize something beyond the surface. One may say, “Well these days it's icy; one can easily have an accident.” True enough! Even in the human nature world there is indication that there are some people who are particularly accident-prone, as it is said. Why? Well obviously there is something compelling them into this experience. We are not particularly interested in looking at it merely from the standpoint of human nature. We observe it from the standpoint of the flowing movement of the spirit of God, from the standpoint of the Word, recognizing that the rigidities in us are going to be hit, and when they are hit something happens. It happens because of a rigidity of some kind.

There are those who may say, “Well what about Jesus? Something certainly hit Him. Did He have rigidities inside?” Yes, He did, because He deliberately accepted them. He deliberately accepted the rigidities of human nature. He did that because there wasn't any other way that human beings would let Him handle the situation. As we well know, it could have worked out in an entirely different way, an easy way, but human beings would have none of it; and that has been their attitude ever since, regardless of Christianity. So the only way left for Him to go was to accept human nature into Himself and clear through it, thereby establishing the fact of victory, thereby revealing that it could be done. If He hadn't been willing to assume this responsibility then we would all certainly have excuse to say, “Oh well, it's human nature, you know. We can't do anything else but behave in the way that human nature dictates.” He didn't behave in the way that human nature dictated, even though He accepted the focus of the human nature of mankind into Himself. He didn't let that tell Him how to behave, but it certainly did mean that there was going to be a rigidity present which would be hit by the flow of the creative spirit of God—and it was! It was hit, and it was shattered. That was a very violent experience.

The evidence of it came out but because He handled it rightly it cleared all the way through. Because it cleared all the way through we have a precedent of victory. Not only can it be done but it has been done. The way is open in that regard for anyone who is willing to accept the flow of the spirit into present experience of living. This doesn't mean that all the rigidities on earth are in us individually. We have our own quota; that's enough! Only in the case of the Master Himself was there a complete focus of all rigidities, and if He could accept that, and carry through that, then our little quota shouldn't be too much, should it? Yes, it may be said that whatever is present in us is representative of what is present in many other people; but the point is that it is present in us, and how are we going to handle it?

If a person is in fact accident-prone, obviously whatever it is is not being handled. It does require care, thoughtfulness; but this is also a subconscious thing and it is what emerges from the standpoint of the subconscious levels that is going to take over if allowed to do so. This is very much deeper than the surface idea which says, “Well I should have been more careful.” Yes, you should have been more careful, no doubt. We all need to be careful, but we also need to recognize these elements of human nature that are still rigidities in ourselves. Is there a willingness to lose one's lifelong habits? That's what it amounts to.

That's why it's so much easier to “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth,” because you don't have quite such length of life to contend with. The lifelong habits of a younger person are not all that long, but it's still the same principle involved: Is there a willingness to lose one's habits, the way one has always been behaving heretofore in human nature? I am sure there is not one of you sitting here who doesn't know that there has been a goodly quota of behavior in human nature. Some of these elements may stem from earthly heredity but let's not use that as an excuse either. There was the assumption, apparently, on the part of many that Jesus, for instance, only had half an earthly nature; the immaculate conception took care of that—just the mother's side! But He had one hundred percent human nature hereditary background, the same as anyone else; otherwise He could hardly have been an example for us. There was nothing different.

So we share the responsibility of letting this Word be accepted as supremely delightful in our experience, far transcending any of our human nature habits. When this happens those human nature habits will be brought under pressure, and when they're brought under pressure, if we continue to accept domination of them, we will produce trouble. I think we have some evidence of troubles produced on this basis.

The Word is in fact the key, the key that has been by too many overlooked and perhaps thought of as not all that important. I wonder how important it is to you who hear my words now, these words in this moment. How much effect are you willing to let them have upon your experience now? because unless it has an effect now it's not going to have an effect in the future. Tomorrow never comes; but letting the effect be now, the human nature factors may easily be dissolved. However, we will only allow the effect to be now as there has been an actual willingness to relinquish human nature habits. This relates also to the Word as it is reproduced in various ways. For many this is the only basis of direct contact with the focus point. How immediate is the individual's concern to read the mailing? This all relates to the Word—the Word, the unique feature which allows for what we speak of as restoration. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.” We share the responsibility of letting the Word of the LORD that is spoken now be the inspiration of our momentary living.

© emissaries of divine light

Christ Spirit—Only Begotten Son Of God

Christ  Spirit — Only  Begotten  Son  Of  God

Uranda   June 15, 1952

We are reminded of how it was in the days of the beginning, particularly the beginning of this fallen world state, when the LORD God came walking in the cool of the day and found Adam and Eve hiding. In the cool of this day, we find men and women gathered in a little valley, not hiding but turning the face of their love response to the Throne of God, that they may rest beside the River of Life and share in the fruit of the Tree of Life. This morning we were meditating upon the mystery of the Book of Revelation, and I would like to continue with you in that pattern of meditation now.

“And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne…” Remember, there is One sitting upon the Throne, but this is someone in the midst of the Throne itself. “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.”

We recognize that the spirit of God is One Spirit, but this One Spirit is made up of many phases of spirit, seven focalizations of spirit, or seven primary aspects of the One Spirit of God. The spirit of God is the Christ Spirit. The Christ is the only begotten Son of God, but while the Body of God has many members and it has a centering in One Being, the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings, who was made manifest on earth through the body of Jesus Christ, God is never to be considered as one Being, except as God is focalized in the LORD of Lords. The only begotten Son of God relates to the spirit that is made manifest because of the true Centering or focalization of all God Beings. The only begotten Son of God is the Christ Spirit. The Christ Spirit was made manifest through the body of Jesus, and so the man Jesus became the Christ, the revelation of the only begotten Son of God. But to think of Jesus the man as the only begotten Son of God is completely erroneous. It does not detract from Him in any way whatsoever to recognize the truth, and only the truth can make us free. So the Christ Spirit is that which issues forth from God, the wholeness of the spirit of God.

The Christ Spirit can also be used as a term to signify the centering of the whole spirit, and it is primarily in this sense that the word “Christ” is used properly in relationship to Jesus. Many people act as if they thought that the words “Jesus” and “Christ” were synonyms. They are not. Christ was not the name of the body of the man Jesus, and to act as if the words “Christ” and “Jesus” were synonyms is to show one's ignorance of the truth. Jesus was the name of a man. That man was perfectly centered in His Father, and allowed the revelation of the Father. That particular God Being who was His Father—"The Father who dwelleth in me”—was, and is, the Central Focalization of Deity, or the Apex Point of all God Beings, and so is the Center of Deity. And that God Being may be spoken of as God, inasmuch as all the members of the Body of God, in the invisible sense, are centered in Him. You cannot speak of Him in that sense in a manner which separates Him from that which He focalizes.

So the only begotten Son of God does not relate to the body of the man Jesus. It relates to the wholeness of the spirit of God which was revealed through the body, mind and heart of the man Jesus. And the Christ aspect of the spirit, signifying the whole spirit but primarily that which focalizes the spirit of God, provided the body of Jesus with the revelation of the only begotten Son of God. The Father dwelling in the body of Jesus, being the Center of all God Beings, was, and is, God, in the sense of that centering; and that which issues forth from the Father, the Centering of Deity, issues forth from all God Beings, and so the wholeness of invisible God, with all the members, releases a spirit which we call the spirit of God, or the Christ Spirit.

Those two terms can be used more or less interchangeably, but when we say the spirit of God we mean the whole spirit, without giving any aspect of that spirit dominance. When we say the Christ Spirit we mean the whole spirit of God, but in that we give dominance to the aspect of the spirit which gives focalization to the spirit itself, and that aspect of the spirit which is so signified is the Spirit of Love. The LORD of Lords, being the Central Focalization of Deity, has the primary responsibility of focalizing the Christ aspect of the spirit. That means the whole spirit, yes, but particularly, in dominant form, the Spirit of Love. “God is love.” The Centering of God Being is the Lord of Love, and so, when we understand the principles involved, we see that God is indeed love—but God is more than love. But the Lord of Love centers all God Beings, and the Spirit of Love centers the whole spirit of God.

So the spirit of God is the whole spirit without any aspect of that spirit being held to be in dominance. The Christ Spirit is the whole spirit of God with the centering aspect of spirit in dominance, and that is the Christ Spirit or the Spirit of the Living Christ. And the spirit of God, or particularly the Christ Spirit, is the only begotten Son of God, because it is the wholeness of that which issues forth from God; but that spirit is not, and cannot be, contained in any one body. It was released in pure essence through the body of Jesus, so the Christ was a title given to Jesus in recognition of the fact that the only begotten Son of God was made manifest through the body of the man Jesus.

If we realize these things it will make it easy for us to comprehend the mysteries of God, as the term is expressed in the 10th chapter of Revelation: “The mystery of God should be finished.” We need to have a clear recognition of the fact that the body of the man Jesus was not the only begotten Son of God, but it was the spirit of God, with the Christ Spirit dominant, which was revealed in essence through the body of Jesus, because the indwelling Father in His case was the Centering of All God Beings, which made a revelation of the only begotten Son of God on earth possible. No other Being could have come into the body of a man on earth and revealed the wholeness in essence, with the proper aspect of spirit dominant, the only begotten Son of God. The God Being made manifest in this body, my personal body, could not come into the world and reveal the essence of the Christ Spirit in the sense that was necessary to make possible a revelation of the only begotten Son of God, because in my case the dominant aspect of spirit is not Love but Truth, the Spirit of Truth. And that would not make possible the revelation of the essence, the Centering Essence, of the only begotten Son of God. So the Lord of Love, the Centering of Deity, was the only God Being who could come into incarnation in the body of a man and release through that body the Centering Essence of the only begotten Son of God.

Human beings have imagined that the body of the man was the only begotten Son of God, which is not at all true. It was the spirit made manifest through Him which was the only begotten Son of God, and that only begotten Son of God is that which you are invited to share here and now, in this day, according to your capacities. No one of you can, under any circumstance, provide a complete Centering Essence of that spirit, but all of you together, properly coordinated and centered, can allow that spirit, which is the only begotten Son of God, an opportunity of manifestation on earth.

That spirit must manifest through our bodies. Spirit without a body has no meaning in the realm of form. Only as spirit is allowed to manifest through the body of a man or a woman can that spirit have meaning in the realm of form. And it is on earth that the spirit of God must of necessity have meaning. So as your body, with its mind and heart, is drawn into the pattern of God's Design according to His Truth, you become a means by which some phase of the spirit of God is made manifest. With this small group here it is utterly impossible to allow anything like the absolute wholeness of the spirit of God in complete manifestation, but we can let enough of that wholeness manifest to allow a great working of the spirit of God on earth.

I would point out again that it will take 144,000 people, properly coordinated and centered according to the Divine Plan, in harmony with the Divine Design or the Truth of Being, in order to allow the whole centering of a body on earth through which the complete essence of the spirit of God, the only begotten Son of God, can manifest. But until we have that 144,000, properly coordinated, we will not have a body on earth which is complete enough to allow a real revelation on earth of the only begotten Son of God.

If these things be realized, it is easy to see that human beings have missed the mark entirely in relationship to the only begotten Son of God, in trying to worship the body of a man. And that man, they think, died—even though He is supposed to have been resurrected from that state of death—but a body of a man that died. That body allowed the manifestation of the only begotten Son of God but was not in itself that manifestation, except in relationship to its oneness with the Father. That means that the whole realm of Christendom is centering at a point where it cannot possibly receive the true current of the spirit of God which would allow the manifestation of the power of God.

Jesus said to His disciples—the words of the Father through the lips of Jesus—"And ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you.” The Holy Ghost is the manifest working of the aspect of the spirit of God for which you are responsible, which is centered in and working through the pneumaplasmic body of your own being. So the Holy Ghost must not at any time be confused with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost cannot manifest except by the power of the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Ghost is an individualized aspect of the Holy Spirit working in and through the form of an individual, particularly centering and working through the pneumaplasmic body of that individual. So as we yield to the Patterns of Truth, let go to the Divine Design, we relinquish that confusion of consciousness which has kept a distorted pattern in the world so long, making human beings helpless and hopeless. We can let the Holy Spirit have true meaning on earth because we allow the Divine Design of Truth an opportunity of manifestation through mind and heart, by reason of which the invisible spirit coming into manifestation through our bodies may accomplish that which is the Father's will on earth.

We were taught to pray, “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” It is only as these truths are recognized that it is possible for us to let the Father's will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We see that the confusion of consciousness, of the concepts and ideas about truth and about Jesus, has produced a discordant pattern which was off center, through which the spirit had to work if it was working through human beings at all. The spirit worked through those disarranged patterns to some degree, and we have had some little evidence, a tiny evidence, of the working of the spirit of God through human beings; but it has not been the manifestation of power which could change the world pattern.

In relationship to this point there are the seven horns and the seven eyes, which are the Seven Spirits. I would like to bring your attention to the fact that there are three things mentioned here: the horns, the eyes, and the spirits themselves. “Seven horns and seven eyes, which are the Seven Spirits.” The eyes and horns symbolize the means by which the spirits manifest. The seven spirits in their pure form, centered in the Spirit of Love, are: first, the Spirit of Love; the spirit of bringing forth, or the Spirit of the Womb; the Spirit of Life; the Spirit of Purification and Sanctification; the Spirit of Blessing, which centers in the Spirit of Truth, because there can be no blessing without the Spirit of Truth, even though you have the Spirit of Love. The Spirit of Love may work through you, but if it is not in conjunction with the Spirit of Truth there will be no blessing. Then there is the Spirit of the Single Eye, and the Spirit of the New Earth. These are the aspects of the spirit of God which we recognize as the seven spirits. It is interesting and helpful to meditate on the significance of these various primary focalizations of spirit, and to note how all the different aspects of spirit that we may know are included in these. For instance, we speak of the spirit of friendliness. That is a sub-aspect which comes into manifestation through one of the aspects of the Seven Spirits. You may meditate on these things and note many wonderful things as you do so.

The horns are mentioned first; secondly, the eyes—"which are the seven spirits which are before the throne of God.” The horns relate to the physical aspect. In other words, as your body becomes a means by which the spirit of God is made manifest your whole body is in this sense a horn, a means by which the spirit manifests in the physical realm. Then, the seven eyes; each spirit has, in other words, a single eye. On the basis of the single eye we recognize the relationship of the spirit to the mind. The working of the spirit through the heart is something that comes as a subdivision under mind and body, because the heart, or the feeling nature, interpenetrates both mind and body. Therefore we need no special division for that. But we have the three planes indicated, the three outer planes of being: the plane of the physical realm, the physical body as far as you are personally concerned; the plane of the mind; and the spiritual expression plane, or the plane of the spirit made manifest on earth. So we see that you, having a body and having a mind—when your mind becomes single; that is, allows the development of the single eye, as the Master put it: “If thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light”—as the single eye signifies the centering of your mind, you have in your body and your mind the means by which the spirit of God can work through you, and you will come under one of these seven classifications insofar as the dominant aspect of spirit is concerned.

In any individual who is allowing the spirit of God to manifest, all aspects are present. For instance, in relationship to myself, you have recognized there is the Spirit of Love. Actually, from the standpoint of the dominant aspect, that love comes from the Lord of Love, but in relationship to My Own Being, in the sense of the Focalization of Deity, there is love. There is in each one all of the aspects of God, but one of those aspects is dominant. The focalization of the Spirit of Truth could not be established in relationship to the God Being which I am, which is revealed through this body and mind, except there were in conjunction with it all of the other aspects. In my case the Spirit of Truth is dominant, and it is impossible to have it any other way. When you fulfil the Law and let all of these things work according to their principles, there will be that which is of the wholeness of the spirit manifesting through you, but it will not be on the basis of the balanced essence of the spirit through any one of you. It cannot be. There was Only One who could manifest in a body on earth and provide that, but you will provide some aspect of the spirit, some pattern through which the spirits may manifest, and the wholeness of the spirit is in you as you let God's Will be done on earth as it is in heaven. One aspect will be dominant, and it takes all of these various designs brought to focus on earth in 144,000 people in order to allow the complete revelation on earth not just of the essence as it was with Jesus but of the wholeness of the only begotten Son of God.

We have, then, the recognition, “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” As you realize that you, responding to God as an individual, can have a part in allowing the Christ Spirit, the Victorious Spirit of the Living Christ, or the spirit of God, an opportunity of manifestation so that you become a part of the visible body of God, you see that it includes your body, the horns; it includes your mind, which comes to focus as the eye; and it takes care of the spiritual aspect of your being, or the third plane insofar as the outer realm of manifestation is concerned.

You begin to have a basis of understanding; not something mysterious, vague and uncertain, but of actual understanding in realization of how it is that you can be a part of the Body of Christ on earth. Everyone has tended to use the word “Christ” as if it were a synonym for the word “Jesus,” and people have wondered how in the world they could be a part of the body of Jesus on earth. That is impossible. You cannot, in the sense of the personal body, be a part of the body of Jesus, but you can be a part of His Body in the sense that He is the Focalization of Deity; you can be a part of the Body of God made visible, and as such you can be a part of the Body of Christ on earth.

Before we go on with this particular phase, you will find that all these parts of the Divine Blueprint, which we call the Book of Revelation, interrelate. It has to be seen as a Whole; but you cannot see the wholeness without examining the parts, because the human mind is incapable of even comprehending the significance of the Blueprint as a Whole to start with. As you yield to the current of the spirit and begin to see the parts in their proper setting, to see what is actually revealed here, you will begin to be in a position to comprehend at least something of the Wholeness.

Since I have mentioned the 144,000 several times I would like to take time now to consider this point. Unless you recognize at least something of the significance of it, the other aspects which we are studying tend to be cloudy in your consciousness. This is in the 14th chapter: “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb.” You notice all the way through that reference is made to the Lamb. Human beings generally have jumped to the conclusion that that meant Jesus, or Jesus Christ, or the LORD of Lords. You will notice the wording, for instance, in this passage which we have just been studying: “In the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain.” In the midst of the Throne, not upon the Throne. The Throne is for the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings. The purpose of the Throne is for the Centering of Deity in God, the God Being who manifested through the body of Jesus Christ. So if we are reading the Blueprint correctly—and it is signified in many other places also—it is obvious that the Lamb is not a reference to Jesus Christ. More and more, as you begin to understand this Blueprint, you will recognize that the Lamb does not have reference to Jesus or to the God Being who manifested through the body of Jesus.

For those who do not yet have vision enough to see and understand, there are many strange coincidences which are beyond the possibility of human comprehension, but since you have begun to recognize to some degree the fact that I am the Manifest Focalization of the Spirit of Truth—and you are beginning to realize that you can share the responsibility of letting the Spirit of Truth have meaning on earth, that the Spirit of Truth can work in you and through you wherever you are if you will let it be so—we might point to the reference to the Lamb. LAM-B. From the standpoint of my earthly name my initials are L. A. M. and I have the title of Bishop. There are too many coincidences, if you are going to call them that. Wherever in Revelation you find reference to the Lamb, it refers to Me and My Purpose in coming into the world. The Lamb is the Centering Point of the Throne, the place upon which the KING is set—the Lamb in the midst of the Throne; not upon the Throne but the Centering Point of the Throne itself on earth. And the KING, the LORD of Lords, who was made manifest through the body of Jesus, is the KING who sits upon the Throne. If you recognize that one point it will help you to begin to understand the Book of Revelation. Anyone who does not accept the truth of that point does not have one of the primary keys necessary to unlock the so-called mysteries of the Book of Revelation.

How did it happen that I came into the world and was given a name at birth that had these initials? Was it just coincidence? “A Lamb as it had been slain”—not that it actually was, but there was the appearance, and particularly at that point where Daniel recognized that the LORD Himself would have to come into the earth, and many other points as well, it had looked from an outer world standpoint that I had failed. Over and over again down through the centuries it had looked as if the world had defeated Me, as if the manifestation of that for which I came into the world had failed. I am not just talking about this earthly life span of this body but down through the thousands of years during which I have served my LORD and KING to bring about the manifestation of salvation for the world.

It is essential that you recognize this central key if you are to understand what is contained here, “And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion.” Mount Sion is the high point of spiritual consciousness in the world. Of course some people think that meant the Mount of Olives, or something else. There are all kinds of explanations given, but Mount Sion is not talking about some earthly hill somewhere around Jerusalem. It is talking about the high point of spiritual consciousness in the world, the true, pure, spiritual consciousness made manifest on earth.

“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven.” Where is heaven? People are turning their ears to the sky, expecting to hear a trumpet come sounding down from the sky. “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

“And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters.” To what Voice have you been listening through the period of your time here on Sunrise Ranch? The Voice from Heaven, as the Voice of Many Waters. Water is the symbol of Truth, the Voice of Truth, and you have heard the Voice of Truth as I have come before you day after day. “And I heard a voice from heaven.” From where does My Voice come? If you deny that what I speak is from heaven then you are attempting to say that it comes from my earthly mind and body. And if you say that, you deny the source and flatter this body with its mind beyond its just deserts, because no human being with body and mind could come before you and do that which I do. No, it does not come just from my mind. It could not.

I challenge you to find any human being on the face of the earth who could come before you and give you anything like this. I do not care how long he has studied or anything else, it cannot be done. It is nowhere else to be had. “The voice of many waters” is mentioned over and over again here in Revelation, and wherever it is mentioned, that is My Voice, the Voice of the Spirit of Truth coming out of heaven, because the Voice you hear does not come out of this earth. It comes through these lips but every time I speak to you here it is a Voice from Heaven. And unless you recognize that and accept it you cannot possibly begin to comprehend that which is essential to you if you are to be a true servant of God on earth and let the power of God have meaning here and now.

“And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps: And they sung as it were a new song.” You are learning to have a Voice of Harpers. That is where you come into the picture, sharing in the expression of this song, this New Song. That is your part. There has to be a Centering. There has to be a Leader. But there is a place for you in this heavenly symphony of a New Song. “And they sung as it were a new song.” It does not say it was a New Song, but as far as the outer world is concerned it is a New Song.

“And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.” To the degree that you have yielded to the working of My Spirit here, you are being redeemed from the earth, and to the degree that you yield you are beginning to learn a New Song. Some of you know what I am talking about, and to others it sounds like words, and that is the way I intend it. But some of you are beginning to learn that New Song.

“These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.” You see, the Lord is very clever. Someday human beings will begin to acknowledge it. This passage means what it says, and yet it does not mean at all what human beings think it means. What does it mean? “These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins.” That would suggest to the self-active human mind that it meant that the 144,000 are all men and that they had lived some kind of a strange life on earth. The point is that they are not defiled with women. In this sense, then, the word “women” is used to signify that which is of the outer pattern, the negative aspect of the world manifestation, that which is out here in the world pattern which is not subject to the Divine Pattern; the distortion pattern. In other words their response is not to that which is out here in the world, to the things of the world, to the ideas and hopes and fears of the world. Their response is to the KING. The centering of response is to the KING. “For they are virgins.” This has no reference whatsoever to what the world thinks of as sex. Any human being who thinks to interpret it on the basis of what the world thinks of as sex simply does not know what he is talking about. Any human being, man or woman, who stops his response to the distortion patterns of the world, and who turns to God and becomes centered in Center on earth, thereby becomes a virgin. That is what the Master meant when He was talking about the ten virgins. Five were wise and five were foolish. He brought out the same point there.

“These are they which were not defiled with women; for they are virgins. These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.” They are centered at one point, and that does not mean it is just a great multitude following some individual. This picture has been drawn as if the Lamb had reference to Jesus Christ, which we have seen it does not at all. It does not have reference to Jesus Christ, but the human assumption has supposed it to mean Jesus Christ, and they have supposed that wherever He went in heaven He could not walk in the cool of the evening, He could not have a conference anywhere, or go down to the Tree of Life in the Garden, without 144,000 people trailing on behind Him. Wouldn't that become monotonous? You wouldn't like it, and neither would He—to have 144,000 people right behind you; you could not turn around but what they were right there. That just shows you how foolish the human mind is when it tries to understand this Divine Blueprint. We have to respond to that which is of God. So the human pattern, the human concept, reveals itself as being ridiculous, as it always does in the Light of Truth.

“These are they which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth.” The Lamb is the manifest form of the Spirit of Truth. And where does he go? Does it mean that I could not take a trip into Loveland without 144,000 people trailing along? Not at all. Because you are here, because others are coming, you are beginning to see the manifestation of the 144,000. Some have come and decided they could not follow me. They were going to follow their own concepts, ideas and beliefs, but most of you are following me to the best of your ability, knowledge and understanding. And anyone who does not follow me will not for very long be anywhere in the pattern. That is a good way to get eliminated. But to the degree that you are following me you are moving into position as one of the 144,000 through whom the body of the only begotten Son of God shall be made manifest on earth, in wholeness—the second coming manifest through that body, the second coming in the sense of establishing the Kingdom of God on earth, meeting all of the problems that are.

For the moment we are not concerned about trying to fix up conditions in the world, to change the patterns of world situation. The current of the spirit is reaching out into it and those who respond will be influenced, yes, but that is not our primary task. Our primary task is to develop that body of 144,000 people through whom the Power of God may work to completely change the situation in the world. By means of that 144,000 the Power of God will clear the realm of unreality in the world and establish the Christ Kingdom on earth. You have an opportunity of being among that number.

Many times I have said that if we had 144,000 we could overnight change the situation in the world. But look where you will you cannot find 144,000 who are centered, who know what it is to follow our LORD and KING in letting the spirit of God be revealed on earth, letting the Kingdom come on earth, letting the Father's Will be done on earth. So the 144,000 centered in the Lamb on earth provide the means by which the Spirit of the Living Christ can come into the earth with Power and Great Glory to change the world condition and to establish the Kingdom on earth for our LORD and KING. Concerning these it is said:

“These were redeemed from among men, being the firstfruits unto God and to the Lamb. And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God.” That means perfection. That means that those who are moving into this pattern must accept the Master's word, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.”

Having recognized something of the means by which the spirit of God is to come into manifestation through form on earth, to accomplish the Will of God on earth, you can begin to see the significance of these words: “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.”

The Lamb comes and takes the Book out of the Right Hand of Him who is sitting upon the Throne. Who is on the Throne? The LORD of Lords and KING of Kings, who was made manifest as Jesus Christ. He cannot be both. He is the Center of Deity, but it is the Lamb that takes the Book out of the Right Hand of Him that sitteth upon the Throne. And from there we move to an understanding of what it means to let the Book of Life be opened on earth—the opening of your Book of Life.

© emissaries of divine light

Stand In The Holy Place

Stand  In  The  Holy  Place:  Matthew  24

Uranda   September 21, 1943  Winnipeg, Manitoba

In our last Service we approached a consideration of the Truths of Reality from the standpoint of individual effectiveness in living day by day, that in the more or less hum-drum affairs of life we may not become discouraged or uncertain. It is in the little things that we prove that worthiness for the greater tasks which will come in the days ahead. If we cannot be steadfast enough, worthy and strong enough, to stand and wait when those are the orders and instructions from our KING, we cannot hope to be strong enough and worthy enough, and enduring to withstand a greater pressure in a time of still greater need and uncertainty.

We talk about having faith in God and sometimes when we do some little thing that indicates our faith, we are inclined to feel proud of ourselves. But did you ever stop to consider about the faith God has in you? Down through the ages He sent His prophets to reveal the Truths of Being and He prepared the Way for man. Why? Because He had faith that there would be those, somewhere, somehow, worthy enough of His Love to receive what He offered so graciously and so fully, and then speaking of faith, the faith God has in you, Jesus Himself came into the world. Talk about the faith we have in God—how about God’s faith in us? God will be worthy of our faith in Him but who among us is going to prove worthy of God's faith in us? Did you ever stop to think about it?

The Master called the disciples and through them there is record of His Life, His Works, and of His Victory. What greater evidence of God's faith in us could we ask for? But that is not all. Blessings innumerable all down through the ages all speak eloquently of God's faith in us and now as a further evidence of that faith He has granted us the privilege of looking still more deeply into the hidden things of life—having a still greater understanding, a still greater opportunity of learning the Way, the Truth and the Life. Until finally we have the privilege of this hour—evidence of God's faith in us. If you are ever tempted to waver, tempted to say, O well, it doesn't make any difference about me, someone else can carry the burden, remember what about God's faith in you. How many of you have ever really started to think about this point before, about God's faith in you, instead of thinking about that little thing we may have done for Him? It is a good point, isn't it? Let us measure the measure of our works, our service, by the measure of His faith in us, by the measure of His service to us, of His Love for us.

In our first Winnipeg Service, we spoke and considered matters more of the physical expression of a successful Christ Life. The mental and spiritual were there but the daily living of life was the dominant note. Tonight, while in the living of life the physical phase and the spiritual expression phase are both closely bound in, our Service now is more on the mental plane, requiring perception, thought, and alertness of mind.

Of all recorded words which Jesus spoke, giving teaching, instruction and admonition, we have only one outstanding passage, although it may appear in more than one Gospel record—I am talking from the standpoint of His Life—wherein He dwelt, in a prophetic manner, on the days and times to come. This passage is most marvellous and worthy of our deepest consideration. And so tonight I would like to consider with you the 24th Chapter of Matthew.

“And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple.” That statement always carries great significance for me. It was nearing the close of His earthly Ministry and Jesus went out and departed from the temple. In those few words we have a symbolical picture of His departure from the world. “...and His disciples came to Him for to shew him the buildings of the temple...” Pride, we would call it—civic pride today, pointing out the beautiful structure of the buildings. Can you picture in your own mind what the Master's feelings must have been at that moment—how much interest He had in that? He listened for a little time and made His way thence. He had seen these buildings before. It was not an appropriate time for Him to be feeling much interest in the civic pride of Jerusalem or in architecture.

And so Jesus, taking this attitude which showed a lack of perception on the part of the disciples, a thing which might have been an irritant, used it for a purpose. He made that His starting point in bringing out what He wished to say. Consider the attitude of the disciples, their national pride—pride in the architecture, construction, and so on. How startling are the words of Jesus! “And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not he thrown down.” That was very comforting to the civic pride, was it not? What a startling statement.

“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” You will note there are three questions. “When shall these things be? What shall he the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Jesus said, “Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ: and shall deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye he not troubled.”

How often have you thought about the Master's instruction about this time in which we live? He says see that ye be not troubled. How many have been absolutely obedient to that instruction? Of course, He recognized that there would be things to be concerned about, but He also recognized that those who know the Way, the Truth and the Life—those who would be living the Christ Life would have a foundation that was sure and certain. They would have an understanding vision of that which was being accomplished and of that which was to be thereafter, and since this is true, such individuals would have no need to be troubled as the world is troubled, fearful as the world is fearful, resentful as the world is resentful.

We have no pleasure in or desire for war, but we know, human beings being what they are, it cannot work out any other way. God did not send the war. Human beings brought it on themselves because they forgot God. Human beings forget God; God hears their cry; He delivers them; their way becomes easier; and what do they do then? Straightway they forget Him again. Why has this old world had a history full of tragedies? Why do tragedies keep recurring? Because human beings have refused to learn to remember God.

If our life in the world has any meaning at all from the standpoint of the fulfillment of God's Will and Plan it must—that is, our lives, must give evidence of the fact that there are those who can remember God, whether it be in good times or in poor, whether it be in joy or in sorrow, to remember God always, to have continued faith, to have serenity of outlook, to have perseverance in accomplishment.

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.”

There is a period of outworking. We have seen nation rise against nation, and there have been famines, pestilences and earthquakes, and there will be more. What does He say about these things? He says all these are the beginning of sorrows. It is one of the most amazing things to me, and something that strains my credulity, when I hear so-called Christian people talking and praying and so on, as if they thought that some kind of peace pact might be signed by the warring nations which would bring peace and everything would be alright again, as if that is all there would be to it. O yes, the war has to be won. I am not questioning that. But when that is over, people think we can get back to normal times.

Have there ever been any normal times within the earthly memory of any of us? Have we ever had any normal times? Not for some 20,000 years since man fell, we have had no normal times. The only normal time to Christians should be the time of the New Earth State—a time when it shall truly be said that, “They shall not hurt or destroy in all My Holy mountain.” In Revelation we read of a great promise. “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.” “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow,, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the former things are passed away.”

So for Christians who have any understanding of what Christianity means from the standpoint of what Christ taught and lived, it is not a matter of just looking forward to the end of a war, as if that would solve everything. It is a matter of recognizing that this war and the tumult in it, and what is growing out of it, and will follow after it—all these things man has brought and will continue to bring upon himself because of his refusal to walk in the Way, the Truth and the Life. All these things are the beginning of sorrows.

“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” I do not think that needs a great deal of comment. “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

Again, we must stop and consider the activities of the modern church in relationship to that instruction or statement of Jesus. The missionary activities that have been carried on with such tremendous labour and struggle have fallen far short of fulfilling that which Jesus spoke of here. He never told his followers to go out and force, or nearly force, people to just change their beliefs, to say they would accept Him or believe on Him, and so on. He said this Gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached in all the world. What does Gospel mean? Good News. The Good News of the Christ Kingdom shall be preached. Just spoken in words? No. It indicates much more than that—the expression in life, the radiation in spirit, so that it might manifest in the lives of men and women.

What did Jesus Christ Himself say about the Kingdom? He said the Kingdom is within you. The Kingdom of Heaven is obviously where the God Being is, where the Lord is. He said, “The words I speak unto you I speak not of myself but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.” The Good News of the Christ Kingdom relates to the way that men and women may live in the Christ Kingdom here and now, today, the principles of life as exemplified and taught by Jesus Christ, not just to go out and have people say that they have been “washed in the blood, etc.” The only way we can be washed in the blood is to live in it, in the Christ Life. And so, the Good News of the Kingdom is not the ordinary so-called Christian gospel, as it has been preached, but it is the Gospel of the Kingdom that Jesus Christ preached.

When well intentioned people—I am not making any reflection against missionaries. I am merely pointing to the facts—went into the Orient, without any understanding of the Orient, and started talking about the blood, the crucifixion, and other things, they were called believers in a bloody religion. Those Oriental people could not understand what they meant. They finally found they had to make a new approach to get anywhere at all. Much is revealed in the crucifixion, but just to stress the death of Jesus as if that, His dying on the Cross—were the good news of the Kingdom is such a short-sighted policy that it is one of the most pitiful and most tragic things in our so-called modern world. “And then shall the end come.” The end of what? The end of evil. As soon as this Gospel of the Kingdom is preached—the Christ Way of Life—the end of evil shall come. This is a simple and beautiful statement and it means exactly what it says.

And now we come to a text that should mean a very great deal to every Emissary, to every individual in the Third Sacred School. It is a text that stands as the keynote of the proper function now. It reveals the way of meeting the situations in this present time. It is impossible to over-emphasize the importance of this statement. It stands close to being the most marvellous thing that Jesus said while He walked the earth.

“When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the Holy Place, (whoso readeth, let him understand.)” Where else in the expression does He pause to give a parenthetical explanation? “Whoso readeth, let him understand.” That is the only place. He knew He was giving one of the most important statements He could ever give to man. He knew there was a possibility of it being overlooked, so He paused to give a parenthetical statement. Do not overlook this statement because here I give you a key that is of utmost value. Since we recognize that He Himself drew attention to the value of this statement, let us see wherein its value may be.

First, He placed something as to time. “The abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel, the prophet.” What is the cause of desolation? Why the abomination of desolation in the hearts today? Because the hearts and lives of men and women are desolate of the love and understanding of the things of God. If it were not so, the desolation could not manifest so abundantly out here in the world. And it is all the miserable things of a miserable, suffering world. And so as we consider the importance from the standpoint of this text, it is obvious that He is talking about the present day in which we live, because we are in the days of abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel the prophet.

While the abomination of desolation is in the world, we immediately recognize that it behooves us to be certain that the abomination of desolation must not be in our hearts and minds and lives. Our lives must not be desolate, but rather filled with the Good News of the Kingdom—our lives radiant with the glad tidings. And then what does He say? He gives five words of instruction. First, He places it, and then gives five words of instruction. Isn't that a remarkable thing? “Whoso readeth let him understand.” The value of the text depends on the value of these five words of instruction.

What does He say? Stand in the Holy Place! In the Temple as in the Tabernacle there is the Holy Place. Does that mean just to be sure that you keep your life righteous, or to be good, or something? It means far more than that. The spiritual expression was the Third Plane—the Holy Place. Approach the problems of the life of that day from the standpoint of the spiritual expression plane, from the standpoint of the Third Sacred School. It is here, in this text that Jesus prophesied the manifestation of the Third Sacred School. Approach to an understanding of life, solution of problems and to the victory in that day.

The Third Sacred School is based on that fundamental principle. There have been two other Schools, as you know. We have the Temple symbol, the human body, the physical body, and the approach in the First Sacred School was in this physical plane, and was under Melchizedek. Then we have the Outer Court, the mental plane, which was the approach in the Second Sacred School and this was under our Great Master. Now we have the Third Sacred School which is the Holy Place approach or spiritual expression approach. They all inter-blend. You cannot divide them, but it is the dominant note that I am speaking of. We have the Master's words that the Third Sacred School should manifest in the earth in this text.

It is only as we stand in the Holy Place, which means to function from the spiritual expression plane, or to function in the Third Sacred School, that we should be able to experience the victory and to accomplish that for which we are sent on the earth. Any other approach, although it may accomplish much good, will prove more or less futile in the end. Jesus told us on what basis we should function in that day, and only as we function on that basis shall we carry through as we should. Let the inspiration of God come forth in your spiritual natures and govern your mind and body, that the Will of God may be in you and that the service of God may be rendered through you.

Do you agree that this is a wonderful text? It gives a marvellous key, and a key that all must use if they are to be able to endure unto the end—to stand in the Holy Place, to live and serve and function from the standpoint of the spiritual expression plane, the Third Plane.

The Third Sacred School is the term simply signifying the School where the individual learns to function from the standpoint of the third or spiritual expression plane. How many of you find something new and something very encouraging in this text? When the strain may seem a little too great, remember that the Master gave some instruction for you for this day, pointing out the only way to function in this time. Stand in the Holy Place. Let that be your key to understanding—your motto of life. Let it be your victory song.

If you really realize the importance of this text, if you feel it going home in your hearts and minds the way it should, and if you let it take hold of you and stay with you in the days to come, so that you obey its injunction, there is one sure thing. No matter what troubles or difficulties appear, you are prepared. It will not be a matter of too little or too late. You are already prepared for anything and everything that the days can possibly bring. There in that one text we have the sum and substance of what the Third Sacred School stands for, of its purpose in individual lives.

“Then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains: Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take anything out of his house.” What mountains? The mountains of consciousness, not some geographical place. He dwelleth close to God. We have instruction that the Angel gave Lot and his wife at the time of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Angel said, “Do not look hack but keep going.” Here the instruction is that if you are on the housetop, that is on the spiritual plane, do not come down out of your spiritual state of being and give way to that which is below you. “And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days.” There may, of course, be exceptions to this rule, and any child that is coming into the world should be welcomed in love and understanding. It cannot be expected that all young people find it pleasing or possible to avoid bringing children into the world at this time, and so let us remember that although it is a difficult time, and a time when uncertainties may bring added suffering, let no Emissary ever be guilty of making any prospective parent feel that a child be unwanted. Any child that is coming must certainly be welcomed in all love and understanding.

“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened.” We are in the beginning of these sorrows and that tribulation—the greatest the world has ever known. But the Master says that those days shall be shortened. What does that mean? How can a day be shortened—changed from twenty-four hours to twenty? No. It is a matter of speeding things up.

We look back over the last thirty years, at the time of the turn of the century and see how things have been intensified, see how things have been speeded up, time shortened, distances shortened. A few years ago it took quite a while to cross the Atlantic. In fact, it was only early in this century that the Wright Brothers were able to fly a couple of blocks, and thought it was wonderful. You could not say that in two or three centuries as much has been accomplished as in the last forty years. We have not yet reached the limit of our speed.

Intensification of things, shortening of the days, speeds up the destruction of evil so that the whole thing is intensified. It places a strain on those who respond to the LORD, but sufficient unto the day is the strength of the LORD for those who serve Him. If we stand steadfast enough, there will be strength enough to with stand the intensification of the days. People are so sure that suffering, sickness, sorrow and death are going to last as long as things exist. But here we have an intensification of the vibrations of every phase of life, of good things and of bad, constructive and destructive. Only that which has a foundation upon the Rock of Reality will stand. That which is built upon the sands, to which man clings so tenaciously, must surely crumble away, fall and be done. And so we have there a wonderful promise, another indication of the fact that Jesus was talking about our time, because He said that the days would be shortened, and we can see how the days have been shortened by the process of speeding things up. The days are shortened, whether you cut some of it off or whether you fill it full of things more than previously.

“Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” One of the most remarkable things that I have experienced in my ministry is the fact that so many so-called Christian people, when they come into contact with this Church, begin to say: “Show me great signs and wonders and I will believe. If you will promise me great things I will believe.” And yet when Jesus was warning against this time, He warned against the false prophets, people who were trying to establish their authenticity through signs and wonders. “Behold I have told you before.”

It applies to the false prophets, and it applies just as much to the 15th verse of the 24th Chapter of Matthew, which means so much to us. “So shall the coming of the Son of man be.: There have been so many ideas, concepts and teachings concerning the second coming of Jesus, and all of these ideas have been built up by placing certain more or less fantastic interpretations on the texts of the Bible, Here, Jesus spoke of the coming of the Son of man. He very often spoke about Himself as the Son of man, so we have no objection to considering that as having reference to Himself.

“For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.” Time does not permit going into it extensively. I shall present a brief picture. Jesus spoke earlier in this passage about the Kingdom that should be preached in all the world and that then the end of evil should come, and after the end of evil His manifestation before the world can be anticipated. We have to remember the various confusing concepts that have been built up in this connection by reason of various ideas about the so-called millenium. The general idea seems to be that some day there is going to be a sound of a trumpet in the sky, Jesus will appear in a cloud somewhere, and the righteous dead will pop up out of the ground, the living righteous will go floating up into the air, and they will disappear into the sky and so on. That is far enough to go for the moment. They think that the millenium is yet to come, that it is still something ahead of us. And how it is connected up with the thousand years of peace is a little difficult to tell. One wonders just exactly how the concept developed.

This is the only place in the Bible where it talks about the thousand years—reading from the 20th chapter of Revelation: “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the Word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the First Resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the First Resurrection; on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be Priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth; Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.”

There is no statement of a thousand years peace. It is just an arbitrary process of taking some text from some other part of the Bible and putting it with that. This text does not say a thing about a thousand years of peace on the earth. People study the Bible, and they preach about the Bible for years, and they do not even see what it says. This thousand years was over about 1300 A.D. This thousand years is past, and for centuries, up to the beginning of this century, there was a gradual speeding up of things until now we are living in the time when the days shall be shortened. Satan is certainly loosed out of his prison and he is going places fast, “And he shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth.”

At that time the whole known earth did not include the American continents. But here He talks about the whole earth. How many years ago could you say that the whole earth was bound together? What was the then known world? Transportation and communication have brought things closer together—the world has become bound as one unit. The text says that he went out to deceive the nations of the four corners of the earth. He has succeeded. I have often thought if people would apply themselves just as diligently as Satan does, they could learn a lesson from him.

“And fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” In such a statement as that we have to look for the symbolical, don't we? The fire that comes down is the Fire of God's Love, intensifying things, speeding things up, making possible this outer mind activity that man prides himself on. And so the outpouring of God's Love into the earth does what? It devours them. We find it a pleasure to let God's Love devour us. We are perfectly willing to let God's Power devour us, absorb us, and receive us into the function of the Divine Estate. So we have no concern about this Fire coming down into the earth and devouring it. That is what we are praying for.

But what about the other individual? The statement includes all people. How about those who are afraid of God and fight against Him? What happens? Their evil tendencies are intensified and they are also devoured, but not in the same way, because in the destruction of evil by itself, they are simply eliminated from the face of the earth. Now in considering such a matter like this, I would like to pause and point out this important fact, should the matter arise sometime when I am not here.

All of us have loved ones in the various far flung fronts of the earth. We have, as a family, and you have. We know that some of those boys are not coming back. To the degree that they respond to the blessing of the LORD, and we stay with them in prayer and radiation, they will surely be protected; but in any case where one does not come back, no one must jump to the conclusion that it is in any way necessarily a reflection against that individual. It should not be any additional cause for sorrow or heartache by those who are left behind. I mean that fact in relationship to what I am talking about here. We understand the matter of death. The loved one would certainly be missed but we know about that and we sorrow not.

When I am talking about the world as a whole, do not arbitrarily try to pin it down to one individual. We are talking about the world as a unit and we have to remember to consider it that way. Consider it as a mass because whether that young man waits at home or goes on the field of battle, we know that the God Being is safe and is perfect, and according to his response there is ascension. That Soul cannot be slain or hurt or killed. That which was left, in such a case, was received by the LORD and was taken by Him just the same. The important thing for us to remember is that by this process evil by evil is being destroyed.

So often we hear the question asked: “If God is a God of Love, why does He let innocent people suffer?” It is not a matter of complete innocence. It is comparative. Comparatively innocent people have been suffering for a long time. If comparatively innocent people have to suffer, it is paying a pretty small price. Would you quite agree that there should be intensification of the suffering of comparatively innocent people, so that evil should be taken from the face of the earth? It is not that we do not sympathize with those people, and do all we can to alleviate their suffering, but we refuse to be blinded by the things as they are.

We recognize that God's Way is the best way, and we do not resent it. Jesus died on the cross. Let us remember what we stand for. So if we, men, women and children, have to suffer a bit in this process of this world being shaken up, evil being eliminated, we should be willing to let it be so and there should be no fussing about it. It is for us to be tranquil and serene and render what service we can, and stand in the Holy Place. If we do that, we will find that after all of this evil is destroyed from the face of the earth—not necessarily completely, that is, it will be in the process of finishing up—then our Beloved LORD and Master will manifest to the world.

He will not be borne again in the form of a babe or something, but will manifest when the world is thrown back into its true polarity. After that, the harmonization of this outer world with the Inner World will be such that the Veil between the two will be rent in twain, as the veil in the Temple. It will not be a matter of Jesus coming; it will be seeing things as they exist. It is perfectly simple, no necessity of stretching your imagination, or figuring out how Jesus is going to ride on a cloud. And so, recognizing that that is something which is going to come quite a while from now, our business is to serve where we are and Stand in the Holy Place.

© emissaries of divine light