From the 2nd chapter of Genesis, the 1st verse: “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Outside of this reference, which is most significant, we hear nothing about keeping the Seventh Day, or the Sabbath, or having a particular day of rest, until the time when the children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness and the Ten Commandments were given at Mt. Sinai. In all this interval the subject is ignored, and yet during that interval there were many who were very closely related to God, as was Enoch, for instance: “He walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” Yet here the point is emphasized: God rested from the work which He had made, on the Seventh Day.
The Seventh Day is the Seventh Cycle, or period, or step, in the outworking of the life of man. Now in the Divine State, reaching the Seventh Day would mean something quite different from our present circumstance. In the Divine State, when the seven cycles were completed, that meant that the individual had completed his purpose in life on earth for that particular incarnation. Whether it took seven hundred years or seven thousand years was beside the point; the cycles of outworking leading to ascension were seven in number, depending upon the individual and the pattern of being, the purpose on earth. We have recognized that in relationship to fallen man the seven cycles of the seven days, or seven periods, lead to the restoration of man to the Divine Estate of Oneness, that we may come to that place of consciousness where we may experience what the Master spoke of as Oneness. He pointed out that He and His Father were One, and in His closing expression of ministry He gave that great prayer—in the 17th chapter of John it is recorded—and He prayed “that they all might be one as we are”; that those who should follow Him and let His Body take form and have meaning on earth might truly be One, even as He and the Father were One. The attainment of that state of Oneness is that which we experience on the Seventh Day, when we cease all self-activity and come to rest in the Lord, so that from that time onward we are functioning on a basis of Oneness. God rested from the work which He had made, in the sense of His work without regard to the work of God being made manifest through man. The period of Oneness, of correlation between Creator and creation through Oneness with the Crowning Creation, was supposed to be the Sabbath rest.
Man has allowed his awareness of these basic principles of Being to degenerate into the idea of keeping a day; but the Sabbath in the true sense is not something that can be kept merely by setting aside one day a week to cease physical labors in the ordinary human sense and then go back to physical labors in a self-active pattern on Monday morning. No man or woman keeps the Sabbath—I care not what the religion, I care not what day the human being seeks to keep—no man or woman keeps the Sabbath until he or she has attained to the day of rest; which is to say Oneness with God on earth, so that from that time on self-activity ceases and the Divine Pattern of function is made manifest from there on, twenty-four hours a day, day in and day out without limit, keeping the Sabbath. For the true day of rest is the cessation of self-activity; rest in the Lord, Oneness that is attained when we truly follow our LORD and KING and let His prayer be answered so that His Kingdom comes in us, His control or dominion is established in us and through us, and we attain to that Oneness of which He spoke so many times. This then is the Sabbath rest for man in this present state of things. But once that Sabbath rest has been attained, a new week begins, a new cycle of outworking in the achievement of the purpose for which that human being came into the world—and in that new week he does not function self-actively; he lets the works of God be done so that man is doing God's work.
When God first created mankind, God ended His works in the direct sense of creative action so that man could begin the works of God. But this human beings have failed to recognize and realize. God's work was done in the sense of direct action on earth, but God's work was not done in the sense of the work of God which was supposed to appear through mankind. So we see how it is that since the fall of man there has been a failure to let that Seventh Day have any meaning, that day of rest. Man has failed for twenty thousand years to enter into the Sabbath rest. The Seventh Day has had no meaning—a symbol has no meaning the moment it is disassociated in consciousness from that which is symbolized. We have many symbols which we must use in the interval of transition and resurrection, but a symbol ceases to have meaning the very moment it is disassociated in consciousness from that which is symbolized. And that which is symbolized is the day of rest, when man ceases his self-activity and begins to let Divine Activity be made manifest on earth because man lives on earth. We have recognized something of the pattern of these cycles and their relationship to the Four Forces. When we reach a point of being with one accord in one place, in agreement on earth as touching all of these things, then something wonderful and beautiful is going to happen. How soon shall it be?
If we merely consider the Word as something that we know already, it will not bring additional illumination. To the degree that we consider the Word as if we had never heard it before, that there is a New Spirit in it, the fullness of which we have not known before, we will find that the Word is always new. When we think of the great privilege and opportunity we have of entering into the One Christ Body on earth in the real or true sense, not merely a passing, emotional experience, but something that abides continually, something that is vivid and real, and brings forth fruit in the individual’s life, we naturally recognize that of all of the words that we may consider, those words which the Master Himself spoke are most vividly pregnant with meaning—and they are alive to us tonight.
As our starting point let us consider: “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” How did He love those who heard Him speak? How does He love us? He lived for us; He lived a life that was a revelation of God. He proved by His Life that the things of God can be allowed practical expression in our daily living in the world, and so He loved us enough to live for us. If we love Him truly, then we love Him enough to live for Him; and if we love one another as He loves us, then it is that we live for one another. This is the basis of discipleship, and we must experience discipleship before we can experience the adoption into Oneness in His Body on earth.
There is a point where He spoke to His disciples and said, “Henceforth, I call you friends.” He was setting the vibration for the time when they might be received into His Body on earth, where they might provide, in fact, as many members of the One Body, the expression of His Divine Being on earth. But they had first to be His disciples. Therefore, the standard of discipleship must be passed before we can hope, individually and collectively, to know what it really means to be adopted into the One Christ Body on earth.
Individually we are living, not just for the Master, in the sense of someone in Heaven, but for one another. He loved us enough to live for us. We must love Him enough to live for Him. We must love one another enough to live for one another. That means that those personal things, those human things, which would make us say, “This we will cling to; this we will hold; thus far will we go and no farther in our living for others” stand as barriers. The Master did not set any limitation on His living for us, not even when it meant dying for us. He says, “... as I have loved you ...” That is the way we are to love one another. His love for us made Him live for us, all the way that led to the Cross. The Victory in the Tomb, the coming forth and the Ascension, all signify the way in which He loved us, and so we must live for Him and we must live for each other.
If there be only one or two or three, among many, who undertake to so live, then there will be imposition. I think I might properly say that, undertaking to so live while drawing you from out of the world to this time and place, there have been times when there was a great deal of imposition on me because you had not yet so learned to live. I am only pointing out that it may be, as His disciples and as members of His Body, that there will be times when you may, if you listen to the outer mind, think that you are being imposed upon for one cause or another. There is no possibility of our being imposed upon to the degree that the world imposed upon Him. He so loved us that He lived for us. I do not think there is much danger of your being imposed upon as much as I have been. I have no regret and, rather, I have great reward, because I see you coming into that place of living here and now where you live for one another, and living for one another, in the true living for Him, you begin to truly live for the blessing of others in the world.
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” We have there the standard of discipleship which must be fulfilled in us before we can hope to share in the adoption.
“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.”
Here we have another standard of discipleship. We talk about abiding, living in the One Christ Body on earth. He says, “Abide in me, and I in you.” Blessed Ones, when that is fulfilled in us, we will have reached a point where we know what it is to be in the One Christ Body on earth. “Abide in me, and I in you.” It is really very simple, as all great and glorious Truths are.
Here, He has given instruction to the many members of His Body, the many individuals who are to be drawn into that Body, who are to form His Body on earth, and if you are in His Body, you are in Him. If you live in His Body on earth, you are in Him, and if you are a part of that Body, and He is, through His Spirit, incarnate in that Body, then He is in you. That is the state of Being for which we long—to be in Him, that is, in His Body, that He may be in us, that is, in His Body. That is the goal that has been set out here in the Master's Word, through all these centuries. Does the state of the world indicate that His Body has had real form and has been really operative in the world? I think not, because if His Body had had true form through the many members, and had been really operative in the world, things could not be as they are—for now, in our so-called modern civilization, between a quarter and a third of the world's population is facing starvation. We have war and every kind of terrible thing that can be inflicted upon the world. That sort of thing is not the fruit of the Christ Body. He said that we are to bring forth fruit; that we will be purged, that we may bring forth more fruit, and then that we are to reach a point where we will bring forth much fruit.
When we have reached that point of blending in Him, so that we abide in Him and He in us. He says, “These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.” And then comes the change from disciples to friends—“Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” What did He command? He said, “Abide in me, and I in you.” We are not doing what He commanded us to do unless we abide in Him and let Him abide in us.
“Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another.”
First—“Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you,” and then He says, “These things I command you.” “Abide in me, and I in you.” He is our friend, in any case, whether we are merely servants or friends. What do you think? Is there anything greater, or more to be desired, anything for which the heart could more earnestly long, anything for which you could more deeply yearn than to be His friend? You know that I know what I am talking about when I speak of being His friend.
“And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of Truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.”
Notice, He did not say, “Because I die, ye shall live.” According to His Own Word, He says, “Because I live, ye shall live also.” “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.” Here the picture is enlarged—not just two-fold, but three-fold. He says, “At that day…”—that is, the day of the fulfillment of these things in you—“ye shall know.” Not hope, believe or wish but “Ye shall know that I am in my Father”—that is, that the One manifesting as Jesus ascended unto His Father. “And ye in me,” that is, that we have been gathered into the true formation of His Body on earth. He says, “Because I go unto my Father, these things shall be.” It was because He went unto His Father—Jesus ascended unto His Father—that it remains for those who are truly following Him, and love and live for Him, to become members of His Body on earth. “At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father…”—that we know He ascended unto His Father—“…and ye in me.”
That we are learning to know, learning to be, and abide in, His Body on earth. “…and I in you.” That we know we shall experience when we let the Spirit of His Love so bring us together with one accord, in one place, that the expression of His Spirit through us into the world shall let it become an actualized reality. Could He have said it any more plainly, any more simply, that human beings might know the Way, the Truth and the Life? Could He have said it in any other way to make it more real, to make it more pointed, to make it more worthwhile? You know, as you are truly learning to be His friends, that it could not have been expressed in any way that would have been better for humanity or for you.
These are the things we are to know, and then He says, “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” He does not say that it was those who were with Him at that time. He leaves it unlimited as to time or place. “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” At that point, it does not say just how He will manifest Himself to us, but only that He will.
We know that in the immediate sense, without limiting the ultimate outworking, the way in which He manifests Himself to us is in the outpouring of His Spirit through His Body on earth, and that that outpouring is the Breath of Life in His Body, that He may do the greater works on earth. The questioning one said, “Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself to us, and not unto the world?” Does that remain for you a question? Jesus answered, using the same simple words arranged a little differently. “If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” This time it was not that just He would come, but we—He and the Father—“we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.” That is, in the One Christ Body, because if you are abiding in the One Christ Body and He is in His Body, then you are abiding with Him and He with you.
“He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me. These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
The work of the Comforter then, in part at least, is what? To function in His Name? Yes. To teach you all things? Yes. But also to bring to your remembrance all the things that He said. When we bring His words to remembrance, or when they are brought to remembrance by the Spirit, is it just that we remember the words, as words learned like a parrot, or do we each time have a deeper realization of the Love which He expressed through those words, a deeper realization of the Spirit of His Presence contained in those words, a deeper realization of the wonder-working power released through those words? The words of Jesus Christ Himself, if they are simply repeated as words, become empty and meaningless. Merely because He said some words and we can repeat them as words, does not give us life, and we can repeat those things without having remembrance; for remembrance is that remembrance that springs from the Divine Source to cause you to remember your LORD, to cause you to remember Him, to cause you to remember the things of Eternal Reality, to cause you to remember who you are? “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” He was before the beginning of the creation of this world.
There are a lot of things to be brought to remembrance
“But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me: And ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning.” What beginning—just the beginning of His Ministry three years before? It might go back further than that.
We read His Words, bringing them to remembrance, that the Spirit of His Word may burn in our hearts as He walks in the Way with us. What was it that the disciples said? “Did not our hearts burn within us when He walked in the Way with us?” Do you think that is limited to a half-hour’s journey with two or three disciples nearly two thousand years ago? When He walks in the Way with us, because we let Him here and now, His Words burn within us. Our hearts burn within us. It is the Fire of His Love which we feel and know, and if it were not for the Water of Truth in this world, present in you, the Fire of His Love would consume you.
The Fire of His Love is to cleanse and purify the world. The world is reserved unto judgment by Fire. What Fire? The Fire of the Christ Love, and only those who have the Water of Truth will be able to withstand that Fire. All others will be burned up, according to the Word. Then He says, “These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.” He never wants us to be offended. He says, “But now I go my way to him that sent me; and none of you asketh me, Whither goest thou? Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”
When He, as Jesus, ascended to His Father, He made it possible for you and you and you and you to become a part of His Body on earth, but you could not be a part of His Body on earth as long as His personal body—in the sense that He was here as Jesus—as long as His personal body was on earth, could you? He could not have two bodies on earth, so it was expedient that He as Jesus should ascend, that all of us as One Body might share and know that which He knew. “Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.” He departed—therefore, we have the assurance of fulfillment through His Promise.
“And when he (the Spirit of Truth) is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” Three things—and those are the things about which I talk to you tonight. “And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment. Of sin, because they believe not on me.” That is, they believe not on Jesus Christ. As we have considered the expression of the Spirit of Truth in the earth, we find that the world has been reproved of sin, and we find that the Way is clear whereby believing on Him is not just saying with the lips, “Yes, I believe on Jesus Christ.” Believing on Him is loving Him, keeping His commandments and letting His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.
So many who claim to believe on Him, do not do so. What was the standard of belief that He Himself set? He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also.” Those who claim belief on Him and do not do His works do not truly believe, because He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”
He knew that the greater works would have to await the manifestation of His Body on earth through those who were responding, and those who would respond, and let themselves be directed and taught all things, and have all things brought to their remembrance—and so we see that belief on Him is more than lip service. We find the world reproved of righteousness. Why? “… because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more.” What does it mean to have the world reproved of righteousness? “… because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more.” Would any of you say that your understanding of that tonight is crystal clear? First, the world is reproved of sin and then of righteousness. Why?
Because He goes to His Father. He was ascending unto His Father. Under the influence of the Spirit, His Body was to continue on earth, not as one human being, but as many members in One Body—belief on Him was to draw together from every nation, kindred and tongue on the face of the whole earth the members of His Body, that in true belief on Him they might live for Him, and then His Body would continue on earth in the expression of the Spirit, in the manifestation of the Christ, and through that continued expression, under the direction of the Spirit, the world would continue to be reproved of sin and of righteousness. Now, the reason is clearer. He says, “…because I go unto my Father.” The reason is clearer, because His Body should continue to manifest—the many Branches of the One Vine.
But what does it mean to reprove the world of righteousness? What is reproof? Reproof is essentially a process of redirection. There has been a lack of righteousness; there has been a lot of so-called righteousness; there has been a lot of being content with about one-tenth of one per cent of the righteousness that ought to be. I am pointing out that the righteousness that is made manifest in the world—I do not care how earnest and sincere they think they are—is so far from the righteousness which ought to be. Jesus Christ established the righteousness of the actual doing of the Father's Will on earth, the actual expression of the Kingdom on earth here and now.
“Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.” In our consideration of Truth, under the inspiration of the Spirit, have you found these three specifications fulfilled? Jesus outlined three specifications. He gave certain specifications that we have already considered, that is: that the Spirit would teach you all things, lead you into all Truth, bring to remembrance whatsoever He had said. But here are three other specifications to be fulfilled of the Spirit, if the Spirit is the expression of which He spoke, namely: to reprove the world of sin, of righteousness and of judgment. “Of sin, because they believe not on me; Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more; Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.”
Have these specifications been fulfilled through my Ministry in your own experience? Would you say, “Yes”? Have you found that it is so? Since that is so, and all of these points have been considered and dealt with in various ways throughout our consideration of Truth, under the inspiration of the Spirit, it follows, therefore, by the Master's own Word, that that which is required of you from this point onward is not dependent on blind faith or blind following. It is a matter concerning which—by the standard the Master Himself set in His Proclamation—He Himself gave proof that you are on the right path, that you are moving in the right direction, under the right inspiration. Therefore, the outer mind in its wanderings and questioning has not much ground to stand on. You know that continued Love Response to Him, so that you love the LORD with all that you are in body, in mind and Spirit, and in the emotional realm, that is, in the heart, allows the expression of His Love through you to surely bring you to your place of adoption into the One Christ Body on earth.
“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of Truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you. All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall show it unto you.”
We continue our theme of Heavenly Magic. There is nothing more wonderful than the magic of living. One cannot live in darkness. One can exist in darkness and give the appearance of living for a time, but in such a state, generally speaking, one is asleep, to some degree at least. Spiritually speaking, we do not need the darkness of ignorance or ill conditions or distortions. “The life”—the life of Shekinah—“is the light of men.”
“In Shekinah was life.” Life, as we know it physically, must come from Shekinah or we cease to have it, regardless of the pattern of existence the human being may follow. All life comes from God through Shekinah, without any exception. But, the life as it is in Shekinah is the light of men. We must, of course, be physically alive in order to perceive light, to distinguish light from darkness. And as that is so physically, it is also true mentally, emotionally, spiritually. We must be alive to spiritual things in order to distinguish between the light and the dark of the spiritual factors of life.
“In the beginning was Shekinah, and the Shekinah was with God, and the Shekinah was God.” So we have learned that we cannot separate between the evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells and the One Who Dwells. There is no dividing line. And as far as we are concerned we are contacting God the moment we contact the evidence of the presence of the One Who Dwells. “All things were made by Shekinah.” There is a key statement that is of utmost importance to us. Anything that we attempt to make without regard to Shekinah is not then truly made. If we would have a creative expression in life, if we would share God's creative activity, we must function in relationship to Shekinah; otherwise nothing worthwhile is brought forth or established in the realm of form.
“All things were made by Shekinah”—all things were made by God's use of Shekinah. Your mind is supposed to be a capacity by which Divine Mind can function in this level of things in relationship to the use of Shekinah. Now if you, as a human being, undertake to use Shekinah, you will fail; but if you function on a basis which allows the Divine control to be conveyed through you into the earth, then on this level, in this physical realm of things, Shekinah is used by God through you, and we need to have that distinction clearly in consciousness so that you do not, as a human being, attempt to use Shekinah—but you must not refuse to use Shekinah. That could sound like a paradox. If you refuse to use Shekinah in the pattern of Divine control and say, “But Shekinah is higher than I”—and many Shekinah patterns are—you will never be able to be truly creative. And here we have one of the delicate factors with respect to growth, progress, development spiritually, and that is to find the balance point between arrogance and egotism and the true expression of your Heavenly individuality of Being.
Humility, true humility, keeps you from becoming arrogant or egotistical, but false humility keeps you from functioning on a basis which will let God convey something through you into the world. Where is this balance point? Between that which is actually egotistical and that which is simply a recognition of your Divine heritage as you share the expression of Deity on earth. I have known many people who, because they did not have clear vision, assumed that I was egotistical. I have had many people attempt to fight against me, fundamentally on that one point, the assumption that I was being egotistical. On the other hand, if I had functioned on a basis which I have classified as false humility, could I have been an instrument for the expression of God's blessings to you? Obviously not. We must not deny our correct relationship with God. It is not being egotistical or arrogant when we function on the basis of God's Love and Truth and Life in an acceptance, a recognition, of that which is the reality of God's Pattern for us.
You recognize that I have said very little about my particular place in the Cosmic scheme of things, but I cannot deny it and I am forced to mention it on occasion, briefly though it may be, in order to help bring the whole pattern together for you so that you can see and understand. But in that, if you have eyes to see, I believe you will find that it has always been with a spirit of humility before God that I even touched upon that particular point. On the other hand, if I were to carry a false pattern of humility so that I was responsive to conditions, to people, I could not convey a positive pattern to you. I would be useless to God and useless as far as you are concerned. So, it is very easy for the human mind to confuse the true expression of Being and call it egotism. On the other hand, there is a fine balance point, and sometimes people assume that they are simply being positive in the nature of their own true reality when in actual fact they are being egotistical; when in actual fact they are being arrogant. And so, one of the things that you have to learn to see in the light is this line of distinction, so that you are not caught in the pattern of arrogance and egotism on the one hand and on the other hand you do not become so subject to those conditions around you that you cannot be a proper point of positive expression for the release of God's Power on earth. You cannot deny the reality of the positive pattern of God's Power by your actions and attitudes and still let it manifest.
Human beings, given a little authority, given a little power, tend to abuse that power and use it selfishly, and very often they appear to find certain satisfactions in imposing ill conditions upon others. One of the characteristics of those who rise on the basis of world patterns to a position of dictatorship is that they establish in themselves the life and death control of other people, and they feel that they are justified in almost offhandedly requiring the death of some human being, or diminishing the life opportunity in some human being—imprisonment or something of that sort. One of the ways we can distinguish in ourselves or in others with respect to this proper functioning in the positive point of Being is in relationship to the constructive pattern that is involved. Is the authority, is the power, used in such fashion that it arbitrarily denies other human beings their full pattern of rights and privilege? If such is the case there is probably the manifestation of arrogance and egotism. If, on the other hand, there is that which human beings might conceive to be egotism and yet there is a pattern of consistent dedication to the constructive, helpful, creative pattern of life in others, then we can recognize that there is at least some indication that it is in harmony with the Divine Plan. The dictator always produces an imitation of this. We can see it very easily in relationship to Hitler, for instance. He was presumably making his nation a people of supermen and women. There was an imitation, the appearance of the manifestation of Heavenly magic.
As we have noted in times past, the outer mind in self-activity can appear to duplicate the Magic of Life up to a certain point—the Magic of Reality, or Heavenly Magic—but it reaches a point where it cannot. If that which appears to be a duplication of the Divine Pattern of Heavenly Magic is being used unselfishly, perhaps it has some value, perhaps it is moving in the right direction—even though in the world at the present time we find so many situations where there is good, where it is moving in the right direction, but nevertheless it is a far cry from what it ought to be. So we want to be careful about judging, yet we must recognize that this appearance of duplicating the constructive expression, the appearance of the altruistic attitude, the savior of his people, [in Hitler it] was merely a cloak. It turned out to be the manifestation of a wolf in sheep's clothing.
And that is the pattern that the Master utilized in distinguishing—revealing the difference between correct attitude and pattern of function and that which is of the world. Those who have a cloak of sheep's clothing—what are they? Are they sheep? If they are sheep they need a Shepherd. But they fool the sheep. They may not delude the Shepherd, but what are they concerned with? Not so much the Shepherd as the sheep. If one is a true leader one will not have the appearance of a sheep. Now that may sound a little strange to you.
The pattern indicates that we all are, in one sense, at some point along the way at least, sheep in the fold of the Great Shepherd. That pattern is used in the beginning of the cycle. But that is the range of the servant pattern. At first we must be servants, or slaves even, before we can reach the point of being friends. But once you go through the transition, from the state of the servant to the state of the friend, you are no longer a sheep. So, if there is an emergence out of the pattern of the world helplessness into the pattern of true Divine function, you are no longer symbolized by the sheep—but you must function under the pattern of the Shepherd until you learn how to emerge. Well our classes and the purpose of our function is to help you to emerge into a range where true leadership can manifest through you—not the leadership of arrogance, self-righteousness, not the supposed leadership of egotism, but the true leadership. You are either a member of the flock of the sheep, assuming that you are responding, or you are a member of the Body of the Shepherd. That will clarify the point for you.
If you are a member of the Body of the Shepherd, and you have been received as a friend, then you function as a shepherd, and to the sheep you may appear, to some of them, to be assuming something—if you are, it will soon be shown—but, the fact that human beings may judge you to be assuming something, judge you to be arrogant, judge you to be egotistical, does not make you so unless you let it be so. You can have the proper pattern of response to our King and be a member of the Body of the Shepherd. And if you are a member of the Body of the Shepherd, you will not need to wear a cloak of sheep's skin.
Now how did you get the sheep’s skin to begin with? You killed one of the sheep. You see? How did anyone get the sheep’s skin? By killing one of the sheep. So the wolf in sheep’s clothing fails to appreciate the True Pattern. There is the seeming pattern that will delude other sheep, perhaps, for a little while, the pattern of black magic—but you are either numbered among the sheep, if you are responding, or you are numbered as a member of the Body of the Shepherd, and you do not have to wear a sheep skin. So those who claim to be leaders, who point to the sheep’s skin on their back to emphasize the importance of accepting them as leaders, do not know what they are talking about. You see what I mean? They are pointing to a sheep’s skin, and say, “Look, I'm one of the sheep, I'm just one of the sheep, look at my sheep’s skin.” But he who emerges as a true leader is not wearing a sheep’s skin. He is wearing the badge of membership in the Body of the Shepherd. And there is the difference—so you do not need to be confused. “Beware of wolves in sheeps’ clothing,” the Master said, and we begin to see how true it is.
And what is the true nature of the Shepherd? There are millions of people in the world who assume the patterns of leadership, who want to appear as sheep. Some of them really are sheep and some of them are wolves in sheeps’ clothing. But he who emerges as a true leader is not wearing a sheep’s skin. He is not one of the sheep. He is a member of the Body of the Shepherd. And you are invited to be members of the Body of the Shepherd. So let us watch, individually and collectively, with respect to this delicate point of balance, so that you do not become egotistical or arrogant and yet you do not sell your birthright for a mess of pottage, you do not refuse to be what you ought to be, even if someone classifies you as being arrogant and egotistical. Time will tell always—time will tell.
“All things were made by Shekinah; and without Shekinah was not any thing made that was made.” Having recognized this important distinction which we have been considering, we can see that the sheep are those who need to have something made for them, they need to be led into green pastures, they need to be taken to the still waters to drink, etc. But the one who is the leader, the one who is a member of the Body of the Shepherd, will carry the true characteristics of the Shepherd and he will be functioning in relationship to Shekinah so that he can make something. We begin to see two classes of people in the sphere of the responding ones. There is another class, of course, those who are dead and in whom there is no response. But, there are the sheep and there are the members of the Body of the Shepherd. The sheep have not yet learned how to function in relationship to Shekinah. They must be protected from themselves, they must be led, they must be drawn into a position where they can begin to know the reality of Godhood—they must begin to know how to function as a Shepherd that they may not be sheep forever.
The only reason there is the pattern of the sheep in the world is because man fell. God did not create human beings to be as sheep and He did not establish Himself to be as a Shepherd to the sheep. Remember, it is not the Divine Design that makes you or anyone else as a sheep. That is the nature of the responding one as he moves out of the pattern of sleep into the pattern of response, moving in the direction of the Divine Design—and gradually he awakens to the reality of his own true Being and steps into the sphere of the Body of the Shepherd, becomes a member of that Body and is so restored to his Divine Estate. We have this point clearly set forth in the Psalm which we have recognized to be the formula: “The Lord is your shepherd.”
“He restoreth your soul”—and remember what your soul is. The soul is the outer manifestation of your Being. And God breathed the breath of life into man's nostrils, and man, the physical man, became a living soul—a living soul. “He restoreth your soul,” to its Divine Estate, which is to membership in the body of that which which is now functioning as a Shepherd. That body will function as a Shepherd only as long as there are sheep, but the day will come when there are no more sheep, when they have all entered the Body of the Shepherd, and then the function will be restored to the pattern which was originally designed for it.
You know, the processes of working out salvation for human beings is a substitute pattern for Divine activity. God had to produce a substitute pattern. He had to begin functioning in a sphere that was not a part of the original design, the original purpose, simply repairing the machinery that broke down. After the machinery is repaired—that is important—but after it is repaired the work will be in harmony with the true purpose of the machinery. We will not go on fixing the machine forever. Once that is repaired and mankind is restored to his Divine position, he will begin to share God's creative activity according to the Original Purpose. You do not need to be concerned about trying to understand that Original Purpose, but you can remember this illustration. For the time being, God is working to repair the machinery that was broken down. Once the machinery is repaired, and all is in order, the machine will be used in the work for which it was originally designed. Now it is repair work; then it will be the use of the machine. And that is all you need to know about it at the moment, except that it will be creative work.
The immediate point, then, we need to realize is that “He restoreth your soul.” The Shepherd restores you into a position in the Body of the Shepherd, and He has assumed the role of a Shepherd only because there were sheep, and as soon as there are no more sheep He will put aside His robe of the Shepherd and function according to His true nature, His true purpose, and no longer as the Shepherd. “He restoreth your soul.” And God, Shekinah, breathed the breath of life into man's nostrils and man became a living soul. So the man is the soul, if he has the breath of life in his nostrils. Let us remind ourselves: All things were made by Shekinah; and without Shekinah was not any thing made that was made. In Shekinah was life and the life of Shekinah was the light of men—and in the beginning Shekinah breathed the breath of life. In Shekinah was life—and in the beginning Shekinah breathed the breath of life into man's nostrils, and having the Shekinah breath of life in his nostrils man became a living soul.
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What is the distinction to be seen here then, in order that we avoid any confusion in thought and attitude? Any human being who is alive is a soul. He is either a dying soul or a living soul. Many human beings—body, mind and heart—are souls, but they are dying souls. If they will respond and if there is a Shepherd, if there is a pattern of creative activity available to them, they can become living souls; but they do not become living souls until the Shekinah breath of life is in their nostrils. Something of the Shekinah breath of life has already entered into you, or you would not be responding as you are. But what is this process by which the Shekinah breath of life may enter into your nostrils so that you may be in actual fact a living soul?
The Master, while He walked among men, set the stage for that particular pattern of outworking, that the Shekinah breath of life might again be breathed into man's nostrils, that human beings might cease their function as dying souls and that they might become living souls. You will recall that at the time that the disciples allowed the beginning of the manifestation of the Holy Spirit, or the appearance of Shekinah, what is called the day of Pentecost, they were in the habit of breathing upon someone. They breathed upon so and so and he or she received the Holy Ghost, as it is put. What is the Holy Ghost? The Holy Ghost is the outer Cloud factor of Shekinah, insofar as the general sense is concerned—the Body of many members.
You have recognized that the Holy Ghost has a particularized application in you as an individual, but the same pattern holds true in the Body of many members. So, every human being has a ghost or, in one sense, is a ghost. He is a dying ghost, or he is a living ghost. If he is a living ghost in the pattern of the Heavenly Magic, it is the Holy Ghost—but if we must distinguish that which is of reality by calling it the Holy Ghost, by inference we immediately acknowledge that there is an unholy ghost. There would be no necessity of saying Holy Ghost if there was no such thing as an unholy ghost, would there? No. So the very fact that we say Holy Ghost clearly indicates that there is an unholy ghost, and the unholy ghost is the pattern in the dying soul. The unholy ghost is the pattern in the dying soul. The Holy Ghost is the pattern in the living soul, and the Holy Ghost also manifests in relationship to the Body of many members.
We begin to see, then, that what is called the day of Pentecost was actually the beginning of the process by which the Shekinah breath of life was being breathed into man's nostrils, that they, then, might become living souls. But they got the first whiff of the breath, they started to get a little of it into their lungs, spiritually speaking, and they got so exhilarated, so thrilled, and their minds got so busy, that they went rushing out and started functioning on the basis of the whiff, on the basis of the little beginning. Now if you will recall the Master's instruction to His disciples, He said, “Tarry in Jerusalem until the day of Pentecost is fully come”—until it is fully come. The disciples disobeyed that direction. They did not do it. They did tarry until the day the cycle of Pentecost—that is, the cycle of Shekinah—started to appear; and the minute it started to appear they assumed that that was all. They jumped to some conclusions and rushed out and tried to use the Power that they felt in themselves according to what they thought would be good deeds, not realizing that they were actually disobeying our KING, spoiling the pattern, throwing away the opportunity to let the day of Pentecost fully come.
You see, it never has fully come. There was just the first faint Dawn of it, the first faint breaking of the New Day, beginning to dispel the darkness for those who were awake at sunrise. They did not even let sunrise come—sunrise, the manifestation of the Body of the Son. The day, the cycle—not a twenty-four hour day—the day of Pentecost was supposed to fully come, and it did not because Peter and the others spoiled it. They did not let it fully come. God has been waiting nearly two thousand years for some human beings somewhere to so function that the Son would no longer have to stand still. The Son has been standing still for a long time. What is the story about Joshua making the sun stand still? Well the Son has been standing still, the Dawn did not fully come, there was just a little of the light of the Dawn. Instead of letting the Body of the Son take form and rise above the horizon so that the day might fully come, those who were supposed to be the members of the Body of the Son went rushing off to use the Power they felt according to their own idea of what would be good—so the Son stood still and darkness has remained for nineteen centuries while God waited for human beings to appear on earth who would let the Dawn of the New Day come, who would allow the Son to rise, the Body of the Son to appear, to let the day of Pentecost fully come.
If we are to let this work out in relationship to ourselves, that we may be a true blessing to others, we must let the Shekinah breath of life come into our nostrils so that we may become living souls, and as living souls, we, who were once dying souls, can be members of the One Body, the Christ Body, the Body of the Rising Son, that the day of Pentecost may fully come, that darkness may be dispelled from the whole earth and the Kingdom of Heaven be made manifest.
Once you begin to actually see this Divine Pattern, the Divine Purpose, you no longer have the urge to go out and try to do good, as Peter did. So many people have followed Peter's example, Peter's leadership. But when they do they are not following our KING, because Peter did not follow our KING. He let a little truth appear in his two Epistles. He let a little truth appear there. He was a good man. Oh, he was a good man, was Peter! But let us follow our KING! It is not enough merely to follow a good man, a man who was so good that the moment he began to feel the flash of God's Power coming into his being he could not wait, he could not let the day of Pentecost fully come until he realized what was happening. He had to rush out and start using it. What does this tell us? This tells us that he began—and the others, focalized in Peter however—he began to let the Cloud have some meaning; but he did not wait until he was fully attuned with the Cloud so that he could see the Light within the Cloud. And then, becoming attuned to the Light that glows, they should have let themselves see what was within the Light, that they could comprehend the meaning of the Fire. There were those who sensed the reality of some Fire in it, yes. “And there came a sound … as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.” “A sound … as of a rushing might wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting,” and there appeared upon each of them as if it were cloven tongues of fire.
There was some recognition of the fact that there was some Fire inside of the Light that glows within the Cloud, but they had not become attuned to it, there was no real unification in it, there was no real pattern, there was no real Divine control established. They had not waited until they could see and know and obey the One within the Flame, the One within the Fire. If they had waited until they could hear His voice, so that they could obey the Word of the One within the Fire, they would not have gone off on impulsive tangents as they did—the world story would have been different, where the restoration would have been completed to the Divine Estate centuries ago, as God intended that it should. But impulsive Peter and the others who followed his lead spoiled it, ruined it, and did not let the day of Pentecost fully come.
It is for us to let it fully come, that the breath of Life, the Shekinah Breath of Life, may be breathed into your nostrils, and that Life shall be your Light. But the Light is not all. Behind the Light there is the Fire, and within the Fire there is the One Who is like unto the Son of God. Let us let the day of Pentecost fully come. Let us obey our LORD and KING.
When we begin to view these things from the Mountain Top and see them in relationship one to another in true perspective vision, in the Light of Truth, we begin to see that Pattern through which the Power of the Creative Current of Divine Love may be released and made manifest on earth in bringing life more abundant to those who respond according to the One Law. Anything that tends to close or clog the channel, which would prevent the free flow of that Creative Current of Divine Love is foreign to the function of the Unit. Because of our interest in Spiritual things, and our grasp of what may be classified as metaphysical Truth, we have all, for a long time, recognized that such things as fear and hate and resentment prevent the manifestation of the Will of God on earth in and through the individuals who indulge in these destructive trends of thought and feeling. Now, in the beginning of this New Cycle, we come to the time and the place where it is essential that every member of the Unit should have a still deeper vision, a still deeper realization, a still more effective function in relationship to these things. To some degree a victory in relationship to these things was in evidence in the individual members of the Unit long before they became members of the Unit, and the victory in relationship to these things has been increasingly evident as we have come up to the present time; but now, in the beginning of this New Cycle, we come to the time and the place where it is essential that every member of the Unit should have a still deeper vision, a still deeper realization, a still more effective function in relationship to these things.
Our Master, when He was on the cross and His Ministry on earth was finished, with the exception of His Resurrection and that which followed after, spoke the immortal words, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." All too often human beings have imagined that His expression related primarily to the soldiers who had thrust the spear into His side, to those who had crowned Him with thorns, to those who had spat upon Him and scourged Him, as if His Word in this matter was primarily an expression of pity for those specific individuals who had had a personal part in committing that heinous crime against God.
Any such idea fails to grasp the great significance of the Master's Life and Ministry and Teaching, and the great significance of what He said on the cross, and the great significance contained in the fact of His Resurrection. Do you suppose that, because Jesus spoke those words on the cross, all those individuals who had participated in that crime were automatically and forthwith relieved of any ill consequence following upon their acts? Merely because He said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do," did they have no further responsibility in the matter? I think not. In the eyes of God that did not lessen their responsibility or their guilt one single iota nor did it remove from them the consequences of their ill acts.
Let us consider. The Master came into the world to bring salvation to the human family. The human family is one body. That body of humanity has lived for thousands of years. The body of humanity has never died, since the day that the body of humanity that fell was told, "Thou shalt surely die." The body of humanity has lived through these thousands of years. It was this body of humanity, through the members that we may call its hands, that crucified our LORD and KING, not just the members of what we speak of as that generation but the body of humanity since the day of the fall until this present moment, for that body of humanity has lived through this entire period of time and it has always been the body of humanity. The body or humanity is guilty of that act, not just the hands of the body that perpetrated the act, but the whole body of which the hands were but a part.
The Master's expression of Ministry never lost sight of the body of humanity. He was not thinking merely of the individual members of the body that perpetrated the action when He said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." He was thinking of every member of that human body that was then or has been, up to this present moment. Individual human beings are only cells in the body of humanity. The cells in the human body of the individual change, but it remains the same body. The identity of the body remains the same year after year, regardless of the cellular changes within the body itself. So is it also with the body of humanity. This body of humanity that we know in the world today is the body of humanity that crucified our LORD and KING. The body of humanity has been under sentence of death for many thousands of years, but the body of humanity has never paid that sentence.
Jesus Christ came into the world to make possible the formation of a New Body, a Body renewed and reborn, which should be free of that sentence of death. The world body crucified Him and increased unto itself its sentence of death, but, nevertheless, He made possible the birth of a New Body, the Christ Body, that individuals who would let themselves be transformed and reborn, that they might be members of this New Body, might have a part in the Victory over the sentence of death. The world body is guilty of the murder of our KING. The world body has imagined that it could get away with it. The world body has imagined that it would not have to pay for its crime. The world body will find that the sentence of death, that has been imposed, will be executed. All those who are members of the world body will have to share, or have a part in, the death of the world body, but He Who was murdered by the world body made possible the manifestation of a New Body on earth which should be free of the death sentence, and He made it possible for any man, woman or child on the face of the earth who should fulfil certain requirements, to come into that New Body, the Christ Body, so that, being a member of the Christ Body, he or she should cease to be a member of the world body under the sentence of death.
The only hope of the continuity of man on earth rests in the Christ Body, because the world body must pay the price for its crime. If every man, woman and child upon the face of the earth were to share in that transition, if every man, woman and child upon the face of the earth were to share in Rebirth and become members of the Christ Body, we would all rejoice exceedingly and all would be well, for if all were members of the Christ Body by reason of Rebirth, the world body would have come to an end.
This should be emphasized so that it may be clearly realize that the death of the world body does not necessarily require the death of any man, woman or child upon the face of the earth, for every man, woman and child on the face of the earth is offered the privilege of Rebirth whereby each may become a part of the Christ Body, and if that took place the world body would be no more. "God is not willing that any should perish but that all should have everlasting life"—but what is the beginning of that text? "For God so loved the world"—for God so loved the whole human family, for God so loved the body of humanity—"that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on Him might not perish but have everlasting life."
"For God so loved the world"—and almost with His last breath, our LORD and Master Whom the world-body murdered, said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do." He did not say those words to keep guilty ones from reaping the reward of their crime, but, rather, to make certain that the guilty ones did receive punishment for their crimes. He said those words to make certain that the sentence of death should be executed for the world body. That statement may sound strange on first hearing or at first glance, even to Emissaries, but let us consider.
Suppose the Master had harbored any hate. Suppose He had carried any fear. Suppose He had focalized any resentment while He was on the cross. He would have clogged the channel and would have prevented the free flow of the Current of Divine Love into the world, and the Current of Divine Love purges and cleanses away and brings to nothingness all that is evil. He came into the world to open a clear channel for the flow and release of the Current of Divine Love into the world. He did that. He proved, for those who should understand, that He did that, when He said, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”He provided anabsolute focalization on earth which (regardless of what all the members of the human body had done, and therefore regardless of what the human family as a whole had done) was absolutely clear, absolutely free from fear, from hate and from resentment. There was nothing to clog the channel; there was nothing to prevent the free flow of the Current of Divine Love into the world as far as He and the focalization which He established was concerned. That meant that He made certain that all those who were guilty should die.
When the Power of God flows through any individual it must of necessity flow through the channels provided by the consciousness of the individual, and if that Current flows through channels of fear or hate or resentment then the very Power of God is utilized to maintain the conditions of evil in the world. Only when the members which comprise the Unit are free of fear, hate and resentment can the Power of Love flow freely and fully, thereby fulfilling its purpose, accomplishing that whereunto it is sent, uplifting those who respond, and casting down those who respond not.
The Power of God cleanses and purifies. If the individual is responding to God, the impurities are cleansed from the individual, but if the individual is responding to the impurities, so that he identifies himself with the impurities, then the individual himself is purged and removed out of his place. When there is a clear recognition of these things, the focalization of consciousness in the Unit will begin to be ready to let the Power of God truly work in the lives and affairs of men, that all who will may leave the world body and become members of the One Christ Body, and that it may be certain, even as it is certain regardless of what any shall do, that the world body shall surely die.
If our Master on the cross had felt any hate or fear or resentment He would never have come forth from the tomb, and it would have been impossible for anyone to have become a member of the Christ Body. The formation of the Christ Body on earth would have been an utter impossibility, and the death penalty for the world body could not have been executed. The world body would have died in season, but it would simply have been a gradual disintegration into nothingness and nothing would have been left. No human being would have survived. The whole earth would have been nothing but an empty tomb—empty of life, that is, but containing the dust of the human body. But because He went through what He did, without hate, without resentment, without fear, we are privileged to become members of the One Christ Body, and all who will are likewise privileged. God's crowning creation on earth has the privilege of continuity on earth, and He made certain that the world body should receive execution of the sentence of death.
There is only one choice, actually, before the children of men today—do they choose to remain members of the world body, or do they choose to become members of the Christ Body? All other choices are merely incidental to this one choice, and every man, woman and child on the face of the earth is faced with the necessity of making this choice, whether he knows it or not and whether he likes it or not! There is but one Way of salvation and that Way requires acknowledgment and acceptance of the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings in a recognition that His Word is true: the Word when He said, "I AM the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father but by Me."
When the individual members of the Unit have permitted the work of cleansing to be completed in themselves to a point where there no fear, no resentment and no hate, they will be clear channels for the work of the Creative Current of the Power of Divine Love on earth. Then God's Will shall be done on earth through them, and that is the only way by which God's Will can be done on earth. So, we are privileged to see still more clearly, still more vividly, in a still deeper realization, the secrets of Divine Love.
