Praise ye the LORD! Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD. Let everything which gives evidence of the Spirit of Life reveal the true nature of God. We enter into the Holy Place through the Gates of Praise. Praise and the spirit of thanksgiving are the character of the Outer Court of the Tabernacle—entrance to the Tabernacle is through the Outer Court, which represents the consciousness of man.
In the original Encampment of the children of Israel the Levites, or the Priesthood, occupied a position around the Tabernacle. Beyond them was the Encampment of the Twelve Tribes of the children of Israel. The Priesthood represented God to the people and represented the people to God. The Tabernacle itself provided a symbol of the means by which God and man are unified. Here was a reminder which apparently was not recognized for what it was—and did not in any adequate sense call to remembrance in the children of Israel what had been forgotten. That forgetfulness has persisted. When our Master came on earth He provided another reminder, which has also had little effect. If we examine the nature of the pattern as it was at the time of the children of Israel let us not see it merely as history, for the principles portrayed there are as true today as they were then. It is essential that we understand now what the application of those principles is at the present time. The application is different now to what it was then, even as it was different at the time when our Master was on earth to what it was with the children of Israel.
The tribes of the children of Israel in their Encampment represent for us the responding ones of the world: those who, consciously or unconsciously, have integrity toward the LORD. These are the children of Israel today. We may use other words to convey the same idea—the body of the Son of God and the children of Israel are, properly, the same thing; and insofar as the world today is concerned this body is composed of responding ones with integrity out of every kindred, nation, tongue and people. This is the Encampment of the Twelve Tribes. The word Jehovah indicates God in action on earth. The children of Israel are the means by which this action is made manifest on earth. Jehovah and the children of Israel represent the two aspects, positive and negative, of the reality of being—the inner and the outer, the invisible and the visible. Using other terms, we would say the Son of God and the body of the Son of God.
Those who begin to have a conscious recognition of the truth in this regard and who reveal the reality of integrity constitute the Priesthood, who provide representation of God to the people and the people to God. We may well be reminded of what occurred on the third day of creation, when God said, "Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear." The waters symbolize the truth of the external aspect of the duality: Jehovah and the children of Israel—the Son of God and the body of the Son of God. The Twelve Tribes of the children of Israel represent the body of the Son of God. The Priesthood represent that body to God and God to that body. The Priesthood were the Thirteenth Tribe—relating to the true design which has never been allowed to operate as it should since man fell.
The water, the truth of the external manifestation, must be gathered unto one place. The water, the external truth, provides the setting for the manifestation of the spirit on earth. The gathering together of the waters brings again the setting by which Jehovah, the Son of God, may be revealed in action on earth. The waters, the truth in the external sense, indicate response and integrity. This is the real nature of man: responsive to God and revealing integrity. The gathering together of the response of those who have integrity throughout the whole world must be brought to one place—the point of focus represented by the Priesthood, those who are consciously in position to let this occur—the point which has position but no magnitude, that is beyond the comprehension of what is contained in the dimensional world.
When the waters are gathered together unto one place, then the dry land appears: the manifest form of the body of the Son of God begins to become apparent. We begin to become aware of what it is. It is understandable that when the waters are gathered unto one place the dry land is not immediately particularly dry; it's muddy, it's a mixture, so that the actual form itself cannot be clearly discerned. All that presently can be discerned in form relates to the mountain top, from which the water has drained for some little time. But there is also a consciousness from the standpoint of those who are on the mountain top of what it is that constitutes the body of the Encampment—the body of the Great Nation—those who are responsive to the spirit of God and who exemplify integrity. There are many such the world around. Through the Priesthood they are gathered unto the one place of the Encampment; and through the Priesthood the response may be lifted and brought into the Outer Court of the Tabernacle, the place of the consciousness of the body of the Son of God. The awakening of that consciousness is made possible through praise and thanksgiving—this is truly the gate to the Holy Place. This new spirit is represented by the Priesthood, revealed by the Priesthood, exemplified by the Priesthood, so that all who compose the body of the Son of God may be restored to the consciousness of praise and thanksgiving. This is far from the usual state in the consciousness of human beings, generally filled with turmoil and complaint; it is filled with fear and shame and guilt; it is filled with resentment and hate; and it seems, from this standpoint, to be the height of hypocrisy to allow the consciousness to be filled with praise and thanksgiving. Human beings say, "What is there to praise? What is there to be thankful for?" Nothing, if you look away from the Lord; nothing, if the Tabernacle remains invisible. The Tabernacle does remain invisible until it is approached through the Outer Court. There is no approach through the Outer Court without praise and thanksgiving.
There is a sense of thankfulness which wells up in men and women of integrity. That thankfulness relates to the very experience of integrity. If there is no experience in that regard a person may well say there is nothing to be thankful for, there is no reason for praise. But for those whose response is open to the spirit of God and who in their living exemplify integrity there wells up from within a sense of praise and thanksgiving which is not, initially at least, related particularly to external events but to the very experience of Life and Being. Because most people are so thoroughly mired in externals, response to the spirit of God is minimal and integrity falls by the wayside. There is then desolation indeed, and the core within such people, which should be the Holy Place, is a place of desolation. Insofar as they are concerned the abomination of desolation stands in the Holy Place. But where there is true response and integrity, praise and thanksgiving are natural. Such find again the Outer Court, with the Tabernacle in the midst. Praise ye the Lord in the spirit of thankfulness for the integrity which is sensed at the core of one's being. If there is no integrity sensed, there will be no experience of praise and thanksgiving. Those who deny and betray the reality of integrity within themselves classify themselves; those who are true to that integrity also classify themselves—not by what they say or believe in but by what they are in their own living. Nobody can fool the LORD.
Does a person need a lofty intellect to praise the LORD? to experience the spirit of thanksgiving? Usually the more intellect a person has the more reasons he has for not praising the LORD and for not experiencing a sense of thankfulness. He thinks he sees everything so clearly and it's awful! That is deep darkness; nothing is seen; it's all hallucination. But the world of God is not so; it springs into manifest expression through the facility which was designed to let it be so. As long as human beings have their backs to this facility it means nothing to them. But turning to see the voice which speaks on earth because the Priesthood begins to be present on earth, the Encampment of the true Israelites begins to be unveiled—with the Priesthood at the core, camped round about the Tabernacle. It becomes possible once more to enter into the Outer Court with praise and thanksgiving. When the consciousness begins to be permeated by this quality, the reality of the Tabernacle becomes evident. The consciousness of the body of the Son of God is brought into the Outer Court, gathered into one place by those who provide the facility for so doing—the Priesthood, into whose hands this responsibility has been placed because they have become consciously aware of it.
This morning, having breath, the Spirit of Life, praise ye the LORD! Provide the focus of thanksgiving for responding men and women of integrity the world around. Here is our service in this one place, one place for us and for many others in this new state of consciousness, which is not limited, certainly, to our experience here but is shared in by those who have accepted the responsibility of the Priesthood wherever they may be. It is still one place, the same state of consciousness, characterized primarily by praise and thanksgiving. Glory to God in the highest. What an excellent opportunity is offered to let it all be brought to focus in the Outer Court of the Tabernacle, preparatory to bringing it before the Lord in the Holy Place. There is no entrance into the Holy Place except through the Outer Court, and the Outer Court only provides the Open Gate when there is a consciousness of praise and thanksgiving.Praise ye the LORD!
The Holy Place
Martin Cecil December 24, 1972 p.m.
There is a Holy Place for the world and there is a Holy Place available to the experience of each individual. Individually speaking, to be a part of this Great Nation, that Holy Place must be known by those who compose it in the individual sense. There is a Holy Place for the world into which all do not enter. The Priesthood rightly enter and minister in and from the Holy Place, but the great mass of the True Nation do not come in. All that is needful insofar as they are concerned is to know the Holy Place within themselves, individually speaking, and share in the ministry of the Priesthood who represent God to them and them to God. Mention has been made of the mountain peak. From this mountain peak the true ministry extends—the Glory of the LORD fills the Tabernacle and shines round about. It extends into the Whole Nation, into the whole earth. But the means by which the atmosphere of holiness is known on earth is through the very specific design which was established in the beginning and still remains to this day. To be meaningful this design must be activated within the experience of mankind, and it is only activated by people. There is no other means on the face of the earth by which the spirit of God may be active in this very specific creative sense—it is activated through man. If there are no men and women on earth to let it be activated on earth, it is not activated within the experience of human beings and within the experience of the realm for which they carry responsibility.
An essential element in the design is the Holy Place. We mentioned the Outer Court and the Encampment; all these are necessarily present. There is a physical form to mankind and that physical form includes a consciousness, a capacity for something. To allow the fulfilling of that capacity the gate must be opened to the Holy Place, because out of the Holy Place come the essential qualities which fill the consciousness of man, shining through his physical form round about. The requirement in relationship to that consciousness, if the gate is to be opened, is the attitude of praise and thanksgiving—without that the door is shut. When this essential requirement is present the gate begins to swing wide so that what is inherent in the character of God may begin to fill the capacity for character in man. When praise and thanksgiving are present in the consciousness of the individual, then it is natural to accept and rejoice in the true qualities and characteristics of being: the spirit of God. These are found in the Holy Place; consequently there must be a Holy Place if they are to be found. There must be a Holy Place in the individual if he is to find himself in the truth of his own being—and that Holy Place cannot be discovered by any external means. What is required is to make available the right setting—to be born of water—so that the setting of praise and thanksgiving and openness of response, and, above all, of integrity, may be available for the outpouring of the spirit, the outpouring of the individuals' own character. This is the discovery to be made. He can't find it by shopping around in the external sense. Only those who turn away from the shops because their integrity impels them to do so may come again into the Outer Court which surrounds the Tabernacle and, coming there, become aware of the Tabernacle itself, of the fact that there is a door through which entrance may be made—because of the attitude of praise and thanksgiving. The awareness begins to permeate the consciousness that there is something present now with oneself, with each individual, that is not discernible in an external sense but which nevertheless is known to be of supreme value—what is present because of the Holy Place.
The Holy Place does not originate what is present in it, but what is present in the Holy Place would not be present without the Holy Place. The attitude of holiness must be present in a person, maintained there because he has integrity, a place in himself that he would never allow to be violated under any circumstances. It is a place into which others, in the general sense, may not enter, just as in the Holy Place in the Tabernacle in the overall sense, only the Priesthood minister there. It is the place of purity, the place from which springs all that is beautiful, all that is creative, all that is worthwhile. The Holy Place adjoins what was called the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle, another place behind the veil. That is the place from which springs the treasure to be found when there is a Holy Place in the individual's experience and when there is a place kept holy because there is a true Priesthood—a place kept holy for the world. The true Holy Place has been long absent from the face of the earth. There has been an endeavor to substitute a distorted Outer Court for the Holy Place—the consciousness of man. It was thought that this could be developed, increased in capacity, made to be supremely meaningful, to rule the world. All it has done has been to bring chaos and tragedy to the children of men.
We are concerned to come again to the Holy Place, that there may be a Holy Place for the world. Without it, what is there? A very bleak future, to say the least. But through the Holy Place may spring forth the creative power of God—God in action on earth, Jehovah, the Son of God. Those who begin to become conscious of these things—and we must necessarily speak of them in parables or in symbols—have the responsibility of maintaining the reality on earth. The Holy Place cannot be here in any meaningful sense until there is a Priesthood to administer what springs forth by reason of the Holy Place. It could spring forth forever without effect if there was nobody on hand to administer it. So here we are, knowing where the LORD is to be found—through the Holy Place, presenting ourselves to the LORD that we may, with others, play our part in the service of the Holy Place, bring again the vessels which have long been in disuse or been subject to misuse, that the true service may be rendered through them once more. As we all surely know, those vessels are thought and words and deeds, the vessels which become meaningful when they are filled with the Oil of Love, the Truth of Love, the Creative Fire.
How recklessly human beings allow thoughts and words and deeds to find expression. Is it any wonder that the beautiful world of God has been wrecked? Yet the creative power of God is present; the Holy Place is available the very moment that there is a Priesthood to enter in. They enter in through the gate of praise and thanksgiving, bearing the vessels of the Tabernacle for use in the Holy Place. If you come into the Holy Place you bring with you your thought processes, your ability to speak and to act. Fortunately the Holy Place is self-cleansing, so that those who bring defilement with them are shortly ejected by their own attitudes and actions. There have been many who have approached the Holy Place only to find themselves ejected. All down through the ages it has been done, so that it has remained empty, unknown, insofar as the world is concerned. It only becomes known when there is a Priesthood who represent God to the people and the people to God, when the holiness of the Holy Place is made evident through the Priesthood. That holiness is made evident by reason of thought, word and act.
If we approach the Holy Place, let us remember that we come bearing these vessels of the Temple, and let us remember that we have heretofore been receivers of stolen goods. The vessels of the Temple are for the LORD's use, filled solely with His spirit, with His character, with the qualities of His being, and consequently under His control and brought forth in the true design. When this is so, the Shekinah fills the Tabernacle and shines round about. Here is the creative power of God once again present and working through man on earth—not through all mankind, certainly, but through those who represent God to the people, that the people may rejoice and themselves partake of the character of God, and live. Those who refuse, die. What all this means in the experience of the world remains to be seen and to be experienced, which occurs as there is the Priesthood ministering in the Holy Place. In the atmosphere of holiness we may share the thoughts and the words and the actions which are fitting in the Holy Place, coming into position to allow what is present in the Holy of Holies to shine forth unhindered because it may be received into the Holy Place—there is someone present to receive it. To the extent that there is a Holy Place occupied by the Priesthood, then the apex experience may come as it relates to the Holy of Holies, not that there is an entering into the Holy of Holies but that what is present by reason of the Holy of Holies may be the experience in the Holy Place. It is so as there are those with integrity, filled with praise and thanksgiving to the LORD, bringing the openness of yielded response and the clarity of thought, word and act in living into the Holy Place. Glory to God in the highest!
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The Holy of Holies
Martin Cecil December 25, 1972 a.m.
In the story told in the Book of Job, "There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them." Satan is the self-centered, self-willed consciousness of man. The self-centeredness and the self-will of man is what impels him to do what he does. In that day long ago, it is said that Job was a perfect and an upright man who feared God and eschewed evil. There was, however, evidently a weakness in the hedge about him. Because of whatever weaknesses there were in Job's hedge Satan was able to enter in, bringing disaster. Because the Holy Place was not maintained by those who were responsible for it the hedge was breached. The self-centered, self-willed consciousness of man, Satan, the adversary, took command of the situation temporarily and there was disaster and tragedy. As I welcome you to the Holy Place this morning as the sons and daughters of God the question arises as to whether Satan comes with you, whether there is anything remaining in your consciousness which is in agreement with the self-centered, self-willed state. At that time, because there was a weakness in the hedge, what Satan had to say necessarily had to be listened to. This morning I trust that we may ignore anything that he may have to say, but relinquishing this state of consciousness in favor of praise and thanksgiving to God, Satan may be ignored—certainly not agreed with. Because our agreement is with the Lord in the Holy Place we may come before the veil which connects the Holy Place with the Holy of Holies.
I welcome you to the Holy Place on this Christmas morning 1972. In the story told in the Book of Job long ago, “There was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and satan came also among them.” Satan is the self-centered, self-willed consciousness of man. The self-centeredness and the self-will of the consciousness of man is what impels him to do what he does. Satan is certainly not an unknown quantity in the world as it is in this day and hour, for here is the compulsion which drives men to do what they do. In that day long ago, it is said that Job was a perfect and an upright man who feared God and eschewed evil. There was, however, evidently a weakness in the hedge about him. One of the evidences of this weakness was indicated at the point when his wife suggested that he curse God and die; she was not in agreement with him. Because of whatever weaknesses there were in Job’s hedge, satan was able to enter in, bringing disaster, because the Holy Place was not maintained by those who were responsible for it. The hedge was breached. The self-centered, self-willed consciousness of man—satan, the adversary—took command of the situation temporarily and, as I say, there was disaster and tragedy.
As I welcome you to the Holy Place this morning as the sons and daughters of God, the question arises as to whether satan comes with you, whether there is anything remaining in your consciousness which is in agreement with the self-centered, self-willed state. At that time, because there was a weakness in the hedge, what satan had to say necessarily had to be listened to. This morning I trust that we may ignore anything that he might have to say. He has many specious arguments to maintain his position in those who are self-willed and self-centered; but relinquishing this state of consciousness in favor of praise and thanksgiving to God, satan may be ignored—certainly not agreed with—because our agreement is with the LORD.
In the Holy Place we may come before the veil which connects the Holy Place with the Holy of Holies. To you this morning I represent that most Holy Place. And remember that only the High Priest enters therein. But the High Priest—whoever he may be at any particular time in the unfoldment of the creative purposes of God—represents the LORD to the Priesthood and represents the Priesthood to the LORD. The High Priest and the Priesthood represent the LORD to the people and the people to the LORD—these are the people of the encampment. The High Priest, the Priesthood and the people of the encampment represent the LORD to the world and the world to the LORD. Here is a first recognition of a certain detail to the pattern of representation. There is an intricacy to it, in one sense, requiring each individual to be faithful and true, maintaining integrity in his or her particular place in the overall design.
In this pattern of representation, over the last few days, we have moved out of the encampment into the Outer Court, and through the Outer Court into the Holy Place, to provide the setting in the Holy Place for the spirit of the living God. That spirit is represented to you this morning by the spirit of the words which I speak, that you may know that the Holy Place is a reality because of the reality on earth of the Holy of Holies. All that is essential to every human being on the face of the earth springs from the Holy of Holies. To deny this truth is to die. Because the children of men, in their self-centeredness and self-will, have been persistently denying this truth, and betraying the LORD in consequence, they have died—and the whole world moves to the point of death. Death to what? To self-centeredness and self-will. If a person is identified with this, a dupe of satan, then it is death to that person. But if the Priesthood is present on earth in right relationship to the High Priest, then the door is opened to life. There is life for the world. There is a future for the world on this basis. Those who indulge in self-will and self-centeredness take the attitude so often described by the words, “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” That's true, of course, for those who indulge in such fantasy. Death is the chosen course, but only by reason of their own attitudes, by reason of their own decisions—for the LORD has ordained life. This is a world of life. This is a world uniquely created to reveal the Glory of Life in all its fulness. What remarkable variety there is on earth for this purpose even now, even now after all these thousands of years of human self-centeredness and self-will.
So we stand again in the Holy Place, aware of the reality of life, life which is revealed by the Cloud of Glory of the Shekinah Pattern. The Cloud of Glory emanates from the Holy of Holies because therein is the Light That Glows and the Fire That Burns—the source and the origination of everything that is required for the manifestation of life at every level on earth through mineral, vegetable, animal and man. But man holds the key to life or death. Assuming the posture of ignorant self-centeredness and self-will, he dies, and he takes his world with him.
Acknowledging again the reality of life as represented by the Priesthood and the High Priest, the experience of what has been called the resurrection immediately applies. There are two ways: the broad way in which human beings have been treading recklessly for centuries, and the narrow way, the way of integrity, the way of honor and honesty, the way of beauty and meaning, the Way of Life. Out of the Holy of Holies the Word is spoken through the Priesthood, “Choose ye this day whom ye will serve: If the Lord be God then serve Him, but if Baal, Satan, self-centeredness, then serve him.” Every human being on the face of the earth must make this choice. This choice has been made in every generation all down through the ages, but now we come to the time of culmination when the whole stupid mess of self-centeredness may be swept from the face of the earth. This occurs by reason of the creative power of God, not by any mighty effort of man, whose sole effort is the digging of his own grave.
This is Christmas morning. This year, as never before, the unfoldment of what has been occurring during this weekend of Christmas has been placed in my hands, so that the spiritual aspects of Christmas might dominate. Heretofore, the material aspects have tended to dominate. Because it has been in my hands, and because there has been the openness of response that has appeared, because of whatever measure of integrity is present, we have moved to this hour. We have moved to stand before the veil, a place of trembling, and yet a place longed for in the hearts of those whose response and integrity brings them to that place.
The veil connects the Holy of Holies with the Holy Place. It is not a veil of separation. It is a veil that is rightly there, impenetrable to all but the High Priest, and no one with integrity would ever seek to tear it aside. It is of the quality that allows what is present in the Holy of Holies to shine forth into the Holy Place, so that the Holy Place may be the place of the experience of what originates in the Holy of Holies. The setting of holiness is maintained that it might be so, that the birth of water and of the spirit might be the constant experience. As this hedge is maintained to preserve the holiness of the Holy Place the creative power of God becomes increasingly evident, shining forth as the veil into the Holy Place, through the Priesthood, into the Outer Court, where the consciousness of those who occupy the encampment comes to focus in praise and thanksgiving. The Glory of the LORD fills the Temple, the Tabernacle, the Outer Court, the Encampment, and shines round about. There is nothing on earth that can contend with the power of God when it is made manifest in this fashion. The world is inevitably restored—and man comes again into his place, made in the image and likeness of God, walking upright and perfectly on earth, fearing God and eschewing evil. Behold, all things are thereby made new. The world becomes again a world of life and not a world of death, the world of God and not the world of satan.
Lift up your hearts and eyes in this hour in praise and thanksgiving to God in the consciousness of the quality and the character of God, which is your own, and in the awareness of the Lord God in the Holy Place, in the midst. As the LORD Himself said when He was on earth, “Where two or three are gathered together in my name”—in the consciousness of me—“there I am in the midst of them.” So it is in this hour. So it is in every hour when there are men and women of integrity who stand in that integrity revealing the truth of themselves in the expression of the Glory of Life on earth. That Glory of Life made manifest is the Cloud of Glory of the Shekinah. Behold, in this hour, of this Christmas morning, so it is established, to you, and through you, and all those of integrity who share the responsibility of the Priesthood of God on earth today.
O LORD, I am present before this company this morning representing Thee. To this end, I am present on earth in this physical form, in this place, at this time. My word spoken in the current of Thy Spirit in this hour, has been brought forth by reason of those of integrity and open response, who are present in person or in spirit. I am thankful for these blessed ones who make all this possible, that what is yet to come may continue to unfold with certainty and power in the hours and days to come.
I am Thy servant; and these are Thy servants. Let them prove the truth of my words in the future, that it may be known on earth that Thou art the LORD, that Thy Will is done, that the reality of life comes again in the fullness of true expression because there are those who have accepted the responsibility of letting it be so; those who are no longer moved in any way by satan, by self-centered self-will, but are moved only by Thy spirit, that through Thy spirit, according to Thy Word, all things are made new. Glory to Thee, O LORD, in the highest expression of our living on earth, now and always. Aumen.
The Tabernacle #1
Martin Cecil December 31, 1972
We may choose to let a change come in any moment. We do not have to continue to base our living upon the results of our past living. We are at a point in any moment when we may, if we will, allow something to be introduced into the world that is not merely a reflection of what is present with us now—in other words of what came out of the past—but is something new, a new seed to be sown, a right seed to be sown, which each one as an individual is alone capable of sowing, and a seed that has never been brought into the world before. This is really our purpose when we are in our right minds.
Recently I have touched again upon the story of Job—one description of him was that he was "the greatest of all the men of the east." Let us not suppose that this merely means that he was a prominent Oriental! The Garden was originally planted eastward in Eden. The place of man is, rightly, in the present moment, allowing what is coming out of the east, out of the future, or to put it another way, down from God out of heaven, to be introduced into the earth. This is his place and purpose: to provide the facility by which what is coming out of the invisible realm may be introduced and given form on earth. If this were done correctly the earth would be a heavenly place. Unfortunately, it seems that most have forgotten that this was even possible. What should be appearing on earth should not merely be the result of what happened in the past but the evidence of what is putting in an appearance in the present out of the future.
Job evidently occupied the primary position at his time in this true process: he was the greatest of the men of the east; he was the greatest of those who had assumed the responsibility for allowing what was coming out of the east, out of the invisible future, to be given form and expression in the present on earth. It could be said that he was in the position at that time of the High Priest.
There is more to us than the flesh, and the more to us than the flesh is invisible and indefinable, although we may talk about it in words. There are those who speak of the Father within. We have made mention of the God Being. Nowadays this is often described as the true identity. The question is as to who is saying that, because if it is a false human ego, then the false human ego can never find the true identity. Only a real person can experience a real person. But if we want to talk about these things, which may be helpful, to start with at least, we may say that within the physical form there is a true identity; there is a true being there and, in fact, the flesh has potential meaning only because of this.
Because this is present, there is a flesh body which otherwise wouldn't exist. The elements of it wouldn't have been brought together and allowed to appear in the physical form if it wasn't for this invisible being or invisible identity that is present. Because the flesh has been brought together in the physical form, that physical form has a consciousness; there is a mind. However when this mind becomes predominant and assumes an importance which it does not really have, then of course whatever the reality may be is obscured and the individual assumes that he is the flesh entity. This is the self-centered, self-willed state and as long as it exists in a person it may truly be said that he doesn't know who he is.
However, in view of the fact that the reality is present, the potential of change is present too, so that there may be an awakening to the truth of oneself. It isn't a false self trying to become a real self; it is simply an awakening to the reality which one is. Now this awakening is essential if a person is to be in position to allow what is coming down from God out of heaven to be introduced into the earth. As long as he is merely involved with the flesh identity this cannot happen; he remains in a confused and uncomfortable state.
Now, who is going to awaken, or by what means is this awakening to occur? Only those are capable of so awakening who have some experience of integrity in their living in the sleeping state. Not because they have been trying to do so but because it is the natural experience. This is based in something that is already in operation in the person, not something that can be instilled from the outside.
As there are those who awaken there begins to be present on earth what we have referred to as the Priesthood. The experience of Priesthood is not an earthly experience in the sense that one could be externally trained and ordained in some fashion to be a priest. The Priesthood is the experience of the truth of oneself and begins to allow the facility that is needed on earth by which what is coming down from God out of heaven may be introduced into the world. This is the answer to all the so-called problems of humanity.
From the standpoint of those who begin to awaken, the need is to find those who have sufficient integrity to become aware of the truth. The need is not to convert the world to some sort of religion or philosophy or way of life; the need is simply to seek those who will awaken, that there may be a Priesthood, so that there may be the facility by which what comes down from God out of heaven may be introduced into the world. In that seeking it may be that there is a need to sift a very great number of people. There must be those awakened ones who are in position to do what is necessary to allow what is coming down from God out of heaven to be introduced into the world. When that can be done, everything else takes care of itself, because what is being introduced in this fashion is far more powerful, far more effective, in a sense far more overwhelming, than the pallid reflection of those things that are already in the world that is the usual function of human beings. Then all that results from self-will and self-centeredness may be dissipated.
The only reason why there is a need for those who discover their true identity is that they may function in this design of the Priesthood. Let us look at this in a little different way. Supposing that somewhere in some unexplored part of the world, maybe up in the mountains somewhere, there was a Temple, a beautiful structure built in ancient times, but a building that had not deteriorated at all over the years. It was still the way it originally was, with all the furnishings in it, everything needful for whatever the Temple Service might have been. But seeing that it was lost to human beings—there was no one there; there had been no one there for a long time—the fact that it existed would mean nothing to the population of the world. Here is a building without anyone: it is meaningless because there is no one there. The only way that that temple could become meaningful would be for a priesthood to come into it again with an awareness of how to handle what was present in the temple for the creative purpose of the Temple.
The fact of the matter is that there is such a Temple—we have called it the Tabernacle—but it is not hidden away in the mountains somewhere. It isn't a physical structure; it is a vibrational or a spiritual structure, just as fresh and new and perfect as it has ever been, just as surely present on earth as it ever was, but lacking real people—the Priesthood, in other words—present in it to operate the undertaking. Consequently it has been meaningless; it has been lost and assumed not to exist. Now this same picture is portrayed in the story in the Book of Genesis about the fall, when man put himself out of the Garden. The Garden is still there, but he put himself out, so then he assumes that there isn't any more Garden. The point is that the Garden, the Tabernacle, is still present, but it can only be handled by true people.
Only the Priesthood can enter into the Tabernacle, into the Holy Place; therefore for the Holy Place to be known there must be a Priesthood to enter in. As a Priesthood begins to appear, then those who are the Priesthood become aware of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of God which is with men. The Tabernacle of God is with men, but nobody knows it. Why don't they know it? Because they are not experiencing the Priesthood. The Priesthood enter into the Tabernacle; they know it's there.
Now again we are using these words Priesthood and Tabernacle to describe something which is indescribable, something which must come to be known. It comes to be known because one is restored, awakened, to one's own reality, one's own true identity, so that there is an awareness, "I am present in the flesh. I am present in my mind, in my consciousness. I am present so that I may convey, introduce, what is in every moment coming out of the east into the world." But we don't do it alone; we do it because the facility is here. The facility described by the word Tabernacle is present, vibrationally present; it has never been absent, but there is something to be done in the Tabernacle by those whom we have been calling the Priesthood, those who have awakened to the truth of themselves. But we can't consider what it is that needs to be done with people who are asleep; it wouldn't be very successful, would it? There must be those who are awake to the truth of themselves, otherwise there is nothing to be said.
So we have this opportunity. Everyone has it but not everyone is sufficiently aware of their integrity to let it be meaningful. We seek those who are, that there may be present on earth the Angels of God in the flesh serving in the Tabernacle, serving vibrationally but in the flesh. Because it is this way, then what is vibrational, what is spiritual, what is heavenly, may take form. When the facility is present by which this may occur there is nothing that can stop it. As it happens in the world, of course those who try to stop it get pushed out of the world; there is less and less space in the world for them. We are looking for those whose integrity is absolute and who therefore can be trusted to provide what they are here to provide in letting what comes out of the east be brought on earth—the true blessing, the true manifestation of heaven, whatever heaven is. We need to find out what these things are by experiencing them. It's the only way we can find out.
The Tabernacle #2
Martin Cecil December 31, 1972 p.m.
"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God." The Tabernacle of God is with men. There has never been a time in all the ages past when it was not so, but somewhere along the way someone needs to behold it. The Tabernacle of God is with men; the dwelling place of God is with men, not separate from men.
The Tabernacle of God is the invisible, spiritual facility by which God can be with men in His creative capacity. The concern then is, rightly, to come again into a consciousness, an awareness, of the Tabernacle of God that is with men, because here is the means by which God's dominion is established on earth, the means by which the unholy mess that humans in their state of separation from God have produced can be cleared. There is no means by which that mess can be cleared other than this. There is one way. "Not by might, nor by power"—not by physical effort, not by mental effort—"but by my spirit, saith the Lord." It is by the working of the spirit of God that we may allow the creative expression of true being to appear on earth, making all things new.
The fact that the Tabernacle of God is with men means nothing until there are some men on hand who know it and who are in position to serve in it, to know what the purpose is and to participate in that creative purpose. In view of the fact that this facility is invisible and spiritual, material man knows nothing about it. Only those who are, in that sense, invisible and spiritual can enter in. True identity, individual identity, is invisible and spiritual. The experience of the truth of being only comes as there is an emergence out of the self-centered, self-willed state which is the common experience of every human being on the face of the earth.
So, we come again to the Tabernacle of God, letting the wakeful experience be restored, so that, becoming aware of the truth of ourselves, we may at the same time become aware of the truth of the Tabernacle of God which is with men. The tabernacle of old was in the midst of the encampment of the Israelites, and the Levites, or the Priesthood, were camped immediately around the Tabernacle; they were the Thirteenth Tribe. The Tabernacle itself consisted of an Outer Court, a Holy Place, and a Holy of Holies. Those who awaken to the truth of themselves and become conscious of the reality of the Tabernacle are the Priesthood. Their place of responsibility is in the Holy Place. Those who are capable of functioning in the Holy Place can also function in the Outer Court, which represents the human mind; and they are also capable of functioning in the Encampment, which represents the physical realm. Those who do so awaken are more keenly aware of the fact of their own integrity and the responsibility that is consequently carried with respect to daily living. In the ordinary course of events, when people think about responsibility they think of it with respect to external circumstance. Obviously there are responsibilities in that regard, but the responsibility which relates to integrity is an internal thing; it is responsibility for oneself, responsibility for one's own attitude, for the spirit of one's own expression; responsibility, we could say, to be right in the invisible spiritual identity, to be true to that, to be true to the qualities which are inherent in that identity, and this regardless of circumstance. It doesn't really matter what the circumstance is, because one's responsibility remains the same in relationship to it: to express and to reveal the qualities of the truth of one's own being.
Now something new is going to be introduced: action, not reaction; something coming down from God out of heaven—the qualities, the characteristics, of one's own true being expressed into whatever the circumstance is. The circumstance no longer dictates to the individual what his attitude is going to be. The dominion begins to be in the hands of the reality of being instead of in the hands of the external environment. This makes possible the awareness of the reality of the Tabernacle of God, and the service in that Tabernacle begins to be understood. Now, that service relates to one's own particular environment. It is not separate from the environment, it is not separate from the circumstance, but it is uncontrolled by the environment and the circumstance. It emerges out of the tabernacle of God. What is done in the Tabernacle of God will be done in the Outer Court and will be done in the Encampment.
Now one of the most important aspects in the expression of the truth of oneself is to keep inviolate the Holy of Holies. Only those who are holy, who have been restored to wholeness in the awareness of the truth of themselves, in the expression of the truth of themselves, may serve in the Holy Place, and a primary attitude in the Holy Place is to make sure that nothing ever violates the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies is the place of the LORD on earth. Again, it is an invisible spiritual place; it is not some spot that one could find here or there. "Ye shall not say, Lo here! or, lo there! The Kingdom of God is within you." It relates to the truth of your own being, and to keep your integrity is found to mean that you keep inviolate the place of the LORD on earth. You may remember that in the Tabernacle of old there was a veil between the Holy of Holies and the Holy Place, a veil that was said to have been rent at the time of our Master's crucifixion. It was rent in the sense that it need not provide a barrier anymore between God and people.
The High Priest enters the Holy of Holies alone. The hedge relates to the Holy Place and to those who properly occupy it. There is a hedge about the Holy of Holies, so that nothing is ever permitted to enter that would defile or work abomination or make a lie. Now how can you stop those things entering? Simply because they do not enter into you; they do not enter into the truth of the individual's own being. When you know yourself there is no more defiling, no more working abomination or making lies. But until a person comes to the point of this awakening to himself he cannot help but defile and work abomination and make lies. This state of affairs is reflected in the world everywhere. It is an abomination, simply because the tabernacle of God, though with men, has remained unknown.
Finally, there are those who begin to awaken again to the truth of their own being, that there may be present a Priesthood to minister in the Holy Place, in the Tabernacle of God that is with men. This does not remove these, who are living in the flesh on earth, from the world. There was no prayer, ever, that those who function correctly should be taken out of the world, but that they should be kept from the evil. What is the evil? The self-centered, self-willed state—that is the evil; and the world reflects the evil which man has accepted in the expression of himself. That evil is there even though he tries to be good. Only when there is an awakening to the truth of one's own being is it possible to be delivered from the evil. No matter how one tries or struggles, no matter what techniques one may use, and there are many in the world, it is impossible to emerge out of the evil. Only by remembering, awakening, may it be done—remembering who one is, the truth of oneself, the reality of being made in the image and likeness of God, a Priest after the Order of Melchizedek, who in his day was the High Priest, a Priest in the Tabernacle of God, ministering on earth in the Holy place, with the primary attitude of protection, enfoldment, care, of the Holy of Holies. Most human beings think of care and protection as related to themselves. "That is primary," they say. "We must take care of ourselves." Self-centeredness! The true attitude is first to take care of the place of the LORD on earth, so that nothing that defiles or works abomination or makes a lie is ever allowed to approach the Holy of Holies.
"Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all," everything! The First Great Commandment. Human beings fuss about what they imagine the second to be: "Oh we have got to love our neighbor as ourselves. We have got to have the brotherhood of man by some magic means." How about the first commandment? Unless that is first there isn't any second. Trying to put the second first simply doesn't work. Coming again into a consciousness of the truth of oneself, then it is natural to love the Lord thy God and to provide what is necessary of enfoldment and protection, so that there is a place on earth where He can be. That was one of the problems, wasn't it, when He came on earth. He said, "The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man hath not where to lay his head," no place on earth anywhere. It proved out that way, didn't it? There was no place of safety on earth because human beings were intent about their self-centered ways, and they have not changed since that time. It is exactly the same thing now as it was then. However there are some who are beginning to awaken. There were very few when He was on earth, very few who kept their integrity. There was only one of His disciples who entered into the palace of the High Priest after the Master was arrested. Where were all the others? They had forsaken Him.
Where are those with integrity who will permit, because of their awakening to the truth of being, the establishment on earth of a safe place for the LORD? It takes those who are restored to a consciousness of the truth of being to allow a safe place to be established. Now most people give no thought to it; they follow out their good ideas in the world, all the things that are going to make the world a better place for human beings. How about making it a safe place for the LORD? When that is the sole concern, then the Tabernacle is known once again, the true ministry is established in the Tabernacle, the creative power of God is on earth and all things are made new, whether anyone likes it or not. To be sure, most people don't like it, because it interferes with what they want to do; it interferes with their self-willed self-centeredness. People have it all set up nowadays as to what the good life should be; they think they know and they try to make it be that way.
Let God do it, do what is right, do what should be done; not what human beings think should be done by reason of all their knowledge about everything under the sun while at the same time remaining abysmally ignorant, not knowing anything except perhaps that momentarily they are still alive. But the truth of being? Who cares? We do, I trust, and there are others the world around who do because basically they have integrity; it has not been totally covered up. So there are those who are capable of awakening, and these are the hope of the world—not of the world of man but of the world of God.
