The Secret Of The Resurrection
YouTube Audio
Uranda April 18, 1954 Class
Kathy Meeker sang a beautiful rendition of Easter Hymn, accompanied by Lillian on the piano
On this Easter Day, the 18th of April, 1954, we pause to meditate upon the fact that another year has passed since last we gathered for an Easter Service, and, extending back through the years, we have in many places, individually, paused to consider the significance of Easter Day. And in the cycles of time, the outworking of events, the steps of progress along the Way, have brought us to this hour. We pause for only a moment to consider in retrospect that which has been, that we may realize that with the passage of time the cycle of our opportunity draws certainly to some type of climax in the outworking of life. And the nature of that climax in the cycle is something which will bring us satisfaction or sorrow. We have at hand for our meditations in this regard a unique and marvelous pattern from the records of the past—the story of our Master’s Life as He lived among men. For in the cycles of His Ministry, with the passage of time there came a point of climax—first with the appearance of sorrow, with the appearance of what seemed to be failure; but secondly, with unspeakable joy and positive Victory.
This Victory, emerging out of that which had brought such sorrow, is that which has stirred hope in human hearts down through many centuries, a hope which could not be given form in any adequate sense by the tens of millions who have felt it, but a surge of hope which extends to us in this day. This that has been vaguely felt and partially perceived must, if the passage of time is to have meaning, begin to take form so that we may develop an awareness of its specific and essential factors, so that we may comprehend the pattern of personal relatedness, that it may for us be more than the stirrings of a sense of hope in the human breast—that it may become for us a conscious recognition of the basis for that hope, not merely in some vague, far-distant time but in this present hour of life.
Looking back along the cycles of history, upon the pages which bear the record of so many lives, we see innumerable examples wherein human beings reached the climax of that cycle that was granted in the passage of time, wherein there was a sharing in the sorrow, in the sense of failure, in the feeling that if meaning was yet to derive from life it must be in some distant time, by some mystic or magic means. There are not so many examples from these same pages of history which show an acceptance of the privilege of Victory. This unique example, established high above all others in the historical record, shows how it is that man has a tendency to disregard the greater needs of his own being and to pass through the years with attention given to the surface of things, until an hour when it is too late for man to know the Victory. And yet, even so, there is the evidence that that which is not humanly distorted, that which is not subject to human limitations, in any case emerges, known or unknown, to continue in the pattern of eternal things.
The question then arises in our minds, in relationship to ourselves, as to that which shall emerge: “When the time of crisis comes for me,” the climax of the cycle, “how much of it shall be that which I have known, and revealed, and shared on earth? And how much of it shall be that which was unknown, obscure and hidden, unrevealed as far as my life is concerned?” It is not that there is that in any life which comes wholly to an end; for with each one there is something which shall surely endure and emerge into the eternal. But if that which emerges has been unknown, unseen, unrevealed during life, then that which is of such a life, as it has been known among men, does not emerge, nor does it continue. There is that with respect to every life which does emerge but if it has not been known during life on earth, the fact that it has emerged will likewise be unknown, and for the children of men there will be no evidence of Victory, no evidence that the life had true eternal meaning.
Here, in relationship to the Great Example, we have an opportunity which should not be passed lightly, an opportunity which is worthy of much meditation. If that which has been revealed in life by the living of any man or woman has been of the Divine Pattern revealed on earth, then that which emerges at the point of climax in the cycle of time will be of the life that was known among men and it will be possible to recognize that it does emerge—and there is the evidence of Victory.
Our Master, living among men, had of necessity to share with men the pattern of things as they then were. And while He expressed and revealed in the cycle of His life that which was of the eternal nature of His own Being so that it was given form on earth, those with whom He was associated, provided the Body of His Being in relationship to the children of men, and they failed to adequately share that revelation. So, for the time being it appeared that what He had revealed was to become submerged in their failure to reveal and to share. In the moment of the crisis, then, in the climax of that life cycle, it appeared that failure had been written upon the page of history. And yet there had been that which was of the Divine Design, revealed in form on earth, that which by its very nature could not pass away but was destined to endure in the eternal cycles of time. It had been revealed. It had been expressed in life. It had been shown forth by word and deed. This then, which was eternal by its very nature, and which had been revealed among men, could not come to an end. It could not cease to be.
And this is the secret of our Master's Glorious Victory. It was not something that came suddenly into action in the dark confines of a tomb, to produce some magic or mystic means by which He should come forth in the Resurrection. If He had waited until that hour to meet the issue it would have been too late, and no magic or mystic means would have appeared by which the Victory might have been revealed. This Victory had its form, its patterns of being, extending back through the years of His life. It was something that was inherent in the years of His public Ministry.
Let us examine this point a little, for human beings have tended to imagine, out of the vain imaginations of men's hearts, that the secret of the Resurrection was something that was contained in the grave, that it was the sound of a trumpet, that it was something mystical and magic which took over, as it were, in the hour of crisis, something above and beyond that which human beings may comprehend. But as long as such a concept is retained in consciousness man cannot share that Victory, man cannot know that which the Master revealed in the Victory. We need, as others likewise need, a consciousness of personal relatedness to that which was at work with Him in relationship to the Resurrection and the Life, not something which came suddenly from some unseen realm to produce this result, not something which we cannot know now, and not something for which we must wait unknown centuries yet to come.
The Master revealed the secret of the Resurrection and the Life, about which He spoke, before the moment of His Victory. And how did it appear? From whence did it come? If by some magic means, then we have nothing more than to hope that somehow, sometime, this mystic, magic means will be brought into play for us and we have no sense of sharing a responsibility in the manifestation of the Victory. It is as if God were going to hand such a gift to those of His choosing, at some time of His choice, and that man, aside from having made a claim of belief, has little to do with it. This erroneous concept, springing from the evil imaginations of men’s hearts, continues to maintain a prison to defeat man and make his hope to be in vain.
What was it that came forth, that emerged at the time of this great climax, that it might be seen and known that the Resurrection and the Life are a Reality? What was it that emerged? It was the personalized manifestation of that which the Master revealed during life. It was that of the eternal which was a part of His Being prior to the coming of the climax. It was that which was revealed in His nature and character, not something different afterward than that which had been known before, but identically the same thing—for the wholeness of the revelation, being eternal in its nature, emerged in the Resurrection. And man, no matter how villainous, no matter how degraded—no matter how spineless a Pilate might be—could not, by sword or spear, by cross or method of execution, destroy that which had been already revealed.
Now if, while we live on earth, we reveal by our lives that which can be destroyed, then most certainly, with the coming of the climax in the cycles of time, that will cease to be and, in such a case, for us there will be no outer evidence, no appearance of Victory—for that which has been revealed is not, by its nature, eternal. And having been destroyed, that which does emerge will be invisible, even as it was invisible during the life span of the human being involved. Here is the secret of the Resurrection. It is not that that which is subject to death shall emerge, but only that which is not subject to death. And what is it that is revealed by our living? For every man and woman must come to this time of climax sooner or later. No one can escape it.
This climax in the cycles of time was present in the days before the fall of man. The difference was that the man or the woman had learned to reveal in life only those things which were eternal by their very nature—and at that point of climax there was nothing to pass away. This opportunity is before us in this day as surely as it was before the fall, as surely as it was for our LORD on earth. It is not to be suggested that any man or woman may emerge into the cycle of eternal things without having to meet this climax. Each one will have to meet it. Always it has been so, and always it will be so, regardless of the state of the world. This must be faced by each and every one. The point is—what has been revealed on earth during life with the passage of time that leads to the great climax? Is there that adequately revealed, when segregated from all that has been revealed, that it may be in some revealed and known? Or, coming to the point of climax, when it is too late to do anything about it, will we find that most of that which has been revealed in the living of life must of necessity, by its very nature, pass away?
If, during life on earth, we learn to reveal in form on earth that which, by its very nature, must endure and cannot be destroyed, and if we give any degree of wholeness to such revelation, then at the point of climax there is little or nothing to pass away, and there is evidence of sharing in the Victory. But he who thinks to share the Victory after his body is dead deludes himself, for then there is no means by which whatever Victory there might be may be seen and known among men. And if it be not seen and known among men here on earth, of what value is it? For that which emerges in such a case into the invisible realms is no more than that which came from the invisible realms, and during the life of human beings was not seen or known on earth—therefore, there could be no consciousness of anything emerging. It was not revealed during life so how could it be revealed at the time of the climax in the cycle of life.
This secret is clearly revealed in the life of our Master, and in all the pages of history it is the only point where all of its aspects are clearly revealed. There are hints concerning it at other points but nowhere else were all the factors given form where they might be seen and known of men here on earth. This then, is of utmost importance to us, and we can see in a new light the value of Rebirth, the necessity of becoming a member of the Body through which the Christ is revealed on earth—for if in daily living we reveal that which must pass away, then that which is known of men when the crisis comes will be that which must pass away, and there is nothing visible to men to emerge in the Victory.
Think not that any can escape the crisis. It never has been so with any man or woman who lived on earth. It never will be so in any time to come. Each must face that crisis in his appointed time, soon or late as the case may seem to be. But face it he must! Our Master did. But that which was of the outer appearance, that which stood out in the body of form to be seen as the crisis approached was not that which He had revealed, for with the gathering of events to a point of focus, that which others were revealing became the cloak, the outer appearance, the form of things to be seen, and that which He was revealing was well nigh submerged, well nigh lost, under the cloak imposed by self-active human beings. And in that hour of climax the air had to clear; something had to pass away.
What was it that passed away? That which human beings were revealing which brought on the crisis at that point, yes. That which the Master had revealed Himself to be, in actual fact, the revelation on earth in life of eternal things—could that pass away? Was it some mystic, magic thing that suddenly appeared within the tomb to take over? Ah, no. It was the fact that that which He was before the crisis was a revelation of that which, by its very nature, endures—which by its very nature could not pass away. It was with this that He was identified in Himself and in the consciousness of others. Therefore, emerging from this point of climax, there came forth the revelation of that which human beings had known before. They had had an opportunity to know its character. They had seen it in its form, the things that endure. They had recognized that form as having identity, and, having seen it before, they recognized it after, when it was shown that the things that are eternal cannot pass away—that by their very nature they must endure.
With respect to any man or woman anywhere, at any time, in any generation, if he or she shall truly reveal, on the basis of identity, on the basis of form, in consistent expression here on earth, that which by its very nature must endure, then out of that crisis, the climax which must in season come, there will be emerging from that crisis the evidence of Victory in a form which human beings can see and recognize and know. He who hopes for some magic working by which he may emerge is asking God to give eternal life to that which must, by its very nature, pass away—and such a thing cannot be. If you, the human being, became identified, within yourself and in the eyes of others round about who have the capacity to recognize and know—if you become identified with that which endures and cannot pass away, then emerging from the climax there will be the evidence of Victory. How long and in what fashion that evidence will remain in form on earth visible to the children of men is not for any human mind to say. Our Master Himself so remained for only forty days in the form that was right and proper for Him. And yet we say, “For only forty days?” What is this thing then, which we share today after the passage of nineteen centuries? Is it not the same? Is it not this that He revealed that we are asked to reveal? If we have no personal relatedness in and with it, if we are not identified by that with which He was identified, how think we to endure? And of what value will be the passage of the years that lead to the climax? For then it will be nothing more than the vanishing away of that which must pass away. And what remains?
People talk about the corpse as if that were the remains. All too often it is. But there should be something else remaining, something remaining in the expression of that life which, by its very nature, cannot pass away—something with which you are identified. Now, you are not the whole. You are but a part. And there are questions which might, in vague and fanciful fashion, take form in your minds with respect to these things. But if you give yourselves to such fancies you will defeat yourselves and make our meditation of no effect in your life. Think, rather, upon that which you can see of this great Truth in its personal relatedness to you. For what think you? What is it that shall endure? What is it that is worthy of any Heaven up there, or here, or Heaven in any place, in any form? What in you, formed in you, identified with you, expressed and revealed through you, is it that is worthy of an enduring place and part in any Heaven anywhere?
Anything else must pass away, and pass away it will. Whether you are identified with it or not, whether you like it or not, in the cycles of time it shall be so. And in that moment when you face your climax it is too late to change it then, for the time allotted for the revelation of that which endures shall then be past, and that which takes place takes in you and with respect to you will be on the basis of that which has been revealed in your life, that which has been identified with you—that with which you yourself have become identified. And that which must pass away will, with certainty and surety. And that which endures, by its very nature, will be a part of eternal things with absolute assurance and certainty.
This does not change. The only thing is—with what are you identified, not by reason of the claim of your lips or the fancy of your mind, but with what are you identified according to the evidence of your life as it stands in the history of the years of your life? It is not what you claim with your lips, not according to the fancy of your mind and what you think to believe. The record of the years is that which shall be told, and if you have revealed in life, in form on earth, that which must pass away, then that with which you are identified, that which identifies you, must pass away. But if, in this passage of the years, that with which you are identified, that with which you have identified yourself, has been of the eternal nature and it has been given form in you, in your living day by day, then this revealed on earth as you, having come from God, cannot in any crisis pass away. It is, and it ever shall be.
This is what took place in the life of our Master—the unique example in all recorded history by which we may clearly see the difference, so that we may distinguish, in advance of the crisis, the nature of that which shall pass away and the nature of that which shall endure, as it relates to ourselves. And we can see that we, each one, have the responsibility and the right of free choice. God will not compel you into any Heaven if you should choose, rather, to live in hell—and in the end pass away with that which must pass away and which is then gone and is no more. There is that in each one which shall emerge and endure but if that has not been revealed on earth in form in the living of life, how shall we know it? How shall we recognize it, as having relationship to you? And from whence shall come the evidence that you have shared the Victory?
Our gracious LORD and Holy KING, I thank Thee that it is so, and that all these Blessed Ones here gathered, and all who are with us in Spirit, have the privilege of proving it in life here on earth, that they may have a part in giving form to the coming of Thy Kingdom, that they may have a part in letting Thy Will be done in the earth as it is in Heaven, that they may reveal in daily life that Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, forever, in the Christ. Aum-en
And now for quiet meditation and in radiation ... a recording was played of Handel's Messiah
Peace be unto you and all who are with us in Spirit on this Easter Day, and as you behold these beautiful lillies here, so remember the Spirit of those who respond that you may so let the Light shine that all who will may be blessed in the Spirit of the Living Christ. Aum-en
