The Third Sacred School #2

The  Third Sacred  School  #2

Martin Cecil   November 13, 1977 p.m.

To start with this evening I thought we might consider some signposts that were provided long ago. These were given by the Master when He was on earth, after it became apparent that those who had the opportunity at His time to accept the truth which He offered were refusing to do so. The Second Sacred School came to an end some little time prior to the concluding phases of His ministry on earth. According to the record, He spoke those words, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem,” and that was that; the house was left desolate; the opportunity for movement on the basis of the Second Sacred School under His hand was at an end. Seeing these things clearly Himself He undertook to gather the vibratory factors together for the purpose of initiating the Third Sacred School, which might have been carried forward subsequent to His departure.

In connection with this matter of the Third Sacred School He spoke, as the record has come down to us, of the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth, all relating to the spirit of the Third Sacred School, the spirit by which the purposes of the Third Sacred School might be achieved. Obviously He was not saying to His disciples, “You fellows need some more education so that you might have better mental equipment to do what is necessary.” He indicated that the means of doing what was necessary came to focus in the Spirit of Truth. The Spirit of Truth to be meaningful on earth requires a facility for expression. We say spiritual expression. The Third Sacred School is concerned with the matter of spiritual expression. The only approach to it is on the basis of spiritual expression. No physical means or mental means can actually introduce anyone to the Third Sacred School. It may introduce a person to some ideas about it but the factual reality can only be known on the basis of spiritual expression. So the Master made mention of the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, the Spirit of Truth.

There are some passages here which I would read because they relate to the signpost of which I made mention. For instance, He said: “If ye love me, keep my commandments. 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.”

He was speaking specifically to those who were present with Him at that time. However, in view of the fact that the Third Sacred School never got off the ground when it could have after the Master's ascension, we can see these words as a signpost relative to what is happening now. He was saying at that time that the Spirit of Truth is with you. It was obviously so from the standpoint of His own presence with His disciples, but there was more to it than that. He was indicating that there was the means by which the expression of the Spirit of Truth might be held in focus until the Body had formed sufficiently for it to find natural expression through that Body.

We have some awareness that at that point the focus in this regard was in John, the Beloved Disciple. There may be some who have wondered why, if after our Master's departure John was the one to provide the focus of what should occur thereafter, the Master Himself had not said so definitely. Of course He did say so, but there were very few who heard it or understood what it was He was saying. The point here is that, from the spiritual standpoint, external appointments cannot rightly be made. Just take a look at what occurred in the First Sacred School, for instance. Who was it who appointed Moses to go down into Egypt in order to bring the Israelites out? Who in the external sense had the authority to do it? Of course Moses took the responsibility because he recognized that it was his own responsibility. He carried his own authority. In spite of all the stories that have subsequently been told about the birth of Jesus, who was it appointed Him? There was nothing in the external sense in fact. He simply revealed His own authority, and it is only on the basis of the revelation of the true authority that anything can happen from the spiritual standpoint. If the Master had said to the rest of His disciples, “Now look you, I'm appointing John here to assume my responsibilities,” do you think that would have worked? There might have been those who would have said, “All right. If you say so we'll accept John.” But would they really have done it, do you think? It has to be something experienced on the basis of the actual expression of the authority.

It appears that the disciples were not sufficiently discerning in the spiritual sense to recognize the truth in this regard as it related to John, so the particular point of focus that was with them never came to be adequately in them as a Body. There was what has been called the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, and according to the record they all started to speak in other tongues, “as the Spirit gave them utterance.” They all went shooting off in different directions and running off at the mouth, so that a Body never adequately had an opportunity to form. It could not have formed except on the basis of the point of focus that carried the authority for that formation—in this particular instance it was John—and so the cycle was aborted. It wasn't a failure of the Third Sacred School, because the Third Sacred School never started back there.

Incidentally, you may recognize, when through ignorance or for whatever reason those who have responsibility do not accept it correctly, what disaster can occur! There was disaster of course very shortly when the destruction of Jerusalem came, for instance. But the major disaster was not really that. It was the fact that it has taken nineteen centuries before what was possible then could again be brought to point. And how many human lives have been offered in sacrifice on earth during these centuries? From this we can see the seriousness of the responsibility that is ours now; not that it needs to weigh on us heavily, but it needs to be understood.

The Master took quite a bit of trouble in gathering things together. Let me read some more: “These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you. But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, 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.”

There is another passage: “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.” Some have supposed that He was just speaking to the disciples who had spent the three previous years with Him, from the beginning of His ministry; but if witness is to be borne it is borne by the angel, isn't it, and the angels have been with Him from the beginning of this whole creative cycle of humanity.

“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 came on earth to make possible the restoration of man through the Second Sacred School. The Second Sacred School was dissolved, so what needed next to occur was not under His hand anymore, at least not in the direct sense, not by reason of His presence on earth. He came to offer that second opportunity to the children of men and He was rejected. He suffered the consequences of that rejection, and that was that; there was no reason for Him to hang around on earth anymore. So there was another opportunity, another door, provided. But this opportunity could only appear after He had left, because it was appearing on a totally different basis.

As we have noted,

the provision that was made through the Disciple John was never acknowledged,

and so the door remained closed.

The opportunity did not occur again until recent years,

and the door has been opened this time.

“And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.” One of the principal evidences of the ministry of the Spirit of Truth, by reason of His Body on earth, is reproof, or rebuke. We begin to understand something with respect to this, not as a theoretical requirement but as a factual experience: the rebuke which occurs with respect to our own individual earthly consciousness and what is present in it, as well as the rebuke which in consequence is extended into the whole earthly consciousness of mankind. If you are faithful as an angel of the Lord in rebuking what is present with you in your own earthly consciousness that shouldn't be there you are rebuking the world. It doesn't require that you go out and start thumping a tub out there!—home employment.

“I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.” You have seen something more with respect to that statement. We are required to bear the Word of God 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 shew you things to come. He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.” Have these words not been fulfilled in goodly measure over the last number of years and in this present moment?

So the stage was set for the Third Sacred School to appear on earth; but the one who provided the focus for that appearance was never acknowledged, so it never appeared—in spite of whatever may have been experienced and later called the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Those concerned, because they never accepted the true point of focus, never allowed the Body to take form and it was scattered. On the basis of this scattering Christianity emerged. Of course Peter looked like a fairly good bet as a leader in the human sense. He had a strong character, even though it was not all that stable. And later Paul of course jumped in. But there was a scattering, presumably in fulfilment of the concept of what it would mean to preach the Gospel to the whole world. And this is the cry which has been taken up again by Christianity of course, the evangelical movement: Go out and tell everybody about the particular ideas that were popularly accepted as being the base for Christianity—convert the world. That is exactly what the disciples started to do in their initial enthusiasm; they converted thousands every day; but the Third Sacred School never took form.

The only means by which the restoration that was needful could occur never came within the range of the experience of those concerned. Later of course John, on the Isle of Patmos, wrote what is now called the Book of Revelation, which has also been called the Blueprint for the Third Sacred School. He gathered into focus again the vibratory factors which were needful to allow the Third Sacred School to appear on earth in the proper seasons of the LORD. And this has taken a long time.

So here we have some signposts which point to the way by which the things of God take form on earth, and we should feel a new closeness of connection between the angelic action that occurred those many centuries ago and what is happening now. We may perhaps learn something from human failure, that the things that do not belong in earthly consciousness may be quickly rebuked now; but what is needful is the angelic expression to fill the space left by the things that are rebuked into nothingness, and this is of concern to us now as angels.

We might recall something of another signpost in the Book of Revelation. Right at the beginning of it John wrote: “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia … And I turned to see the voice that spake with me.”

What he was doing then was setting the stage for what should in season need to be done upon the reestablishment in form on earth of the Third Sacred School. The voice must be heard. When it is heard it is found to be behind and not out front. Most of the voices to which human beings pay attention are out front, and there is a considerable clamor in the world today, as there always has been in one way or another, a clamor out front, voices claiming the attention of people. But the true voice is not out front; it is behind. This does not refer to the past, although there may be a recognition, as we have right now, of the signposts that come to us out of the past. No, the voice is in the present, but is not heard from the direction which impinges upon earthly consciousness, to which earthly consciousness has habitually been paying attention. We have spoken of earthly orientation, and the voices that are heard are heard on the basis of earthly orientation. But there is another voice which is not in that direction; it is in fact in the opposite direction. It springs from heavenly orientation, and in the sense of the habitual experience it is behind.

There are many people who have heard something of that voice. Usually it was not as of a trumpet. It was more likely to be a rather still, small voice. And some have cocked an ear toward it, so to speak, to see if they could learn something, but they never turned around. They never turned to see the voice. That would be too risky from the human view. What does it mean to turn to see the voice? This indicates a willingness to share something; not to stand aloof and just listen and decide whether what is heard is acceptable or not. This is the way most human beings behave; the human mind assumes that it is in position to judge in this regard.

Turning to see the voice requires the relinquishment of judgment in order that one may begin to share something in one's own experience, which is in fact the only way to go if one is not to continue on the downward path. And being turned, he saw; in other words there was available experience. Most people keep their back to the voice and try to hear all they can without actually experiencing anything. Some, if they like what they hear, then claim to believe it, but it doesn't do them much good because they are still facing in the wrong direction. As you know, to the extent that you have turned to see the voice and are thereby caused to experience something, to share something, your vision opens up. Your vision opens on the basis of your action; this is no longer merely imagination.

Of course in earthly consciousness one sees symbolically; there is no other way of seeing in earthly consciousness. We constantly operate on the basis of symbols. Every form, physical or mental, is a symbol of something; it bears witness of something; and human beings function on the basis of these symbols. Words themselves are symbols. So, beginning to experience something, it is seen in symbolical form. No one ever sees the real thing in earthly consciousness. The real thing only becomes known on the basis of heavenly consciousness, and to move toward the experience of heavenly consciousness one must turn to see the voice. As it is put here: “And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks.”

Did you ever see seven golden candlesticks? There comes an awareness of the fact of an earthly state of consciousness, and we have seen that this earthly state of consciousness should be the capacity capable of reflecting the heavenly state of consciousness. It provides the facility by which heaven may be known on earth. There is a certain design to this state of consciousness. There is a spectrum of consciousness with, it might be said, seven principal colors. This relates to the capacity of earthly consciousness which has been misused for twenty thousand years, so there is a good deal of rubbish present but there is still the design. It may be said that there are seven principal colors, then, to the spectrum of consciousness. To put it another way, in the house of consciousness there are seven main rooms. All of these rooms are for use, as rooms are in a house. For the most part we inhabit houses that have one room for each particular purpose. We do not as a rule find it necessary to have two living rooms for instance; just one is sufficient, and one dining room. Mind you, there may be some palaces around in which there are duplicate rooms of various sorts, but from the standpoint of this representation of the design of consciousness there are seven main rooms, each required for a different purpose.

I have used two analogies here: one of a house with rooms, another of light and a spectrum of colors. Neither one is the fact of the matter; they are simply analogies. They are symbols of the reality, just as the candlestick is. So whether we say “seven golden candlesticks” or “seven colors” or “seven rooms,” the reference is to the same reality, the design of consciousness, the design in the capacity of earthly consciousness. Other things were seen in this turning: “… in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the foot …” And a description follows.

We have some consciousness of the angel. Initially there is a tendency for the earthly state of consciousness to think of itself as being something separate from the angel, as though it could exist all on its own. This is the attitude that human beings take. They find out differently eventually; they stop existing all on their own. So in the initial awareness of what may be present in relationship to this earthly state of consciousness, which is a heavenly state of consciousness in which the angel is present, the idea occurs that it is something separate from oneself in the human sense, and the individual will say “my God Being” or “my angel” or “the Father within.” All kinds of expressions are used which indicate that the individual identity is being maintained in earthly consciousness as though it had a separate existence of some kind and was going to hang on to it like grim death. And it is pretty grim.

“And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.” Here is a very impressive figure. In his right hand he had seven stars. We can see here the means of control, from the heavenly standpoint, of the seven rooms of the house of earthly consciousness. As long as there is no control in operation with respect to these seven rooms they are used for purposes for which they were not designed, and a mess is created in every one of them. This is the state of earthly consciousness as it is now known. There is only one way by which this may be changed and this is by reason of the angel and the seven stars in his right hand, in the hand of primary action.

In the last verse of this 1st chapter of Revelation this is written: “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.” Now we have another analogy here. Candlesticks, colors, rooms—now churches. Take your pick. What we are concerned with are not the analogies but the reality which is present now in our earthly state of consciousness, because this is the design of it.

In making this record there is something of an historical view of what was to unfold in order to allow the Third Sacred School to take form on earth once again. So we can see this aspect of symbolism in relationship to the seven churches, a changing state of consciousness in the body of mankind which unfolded sequentially in the events of the world. This is one way of seeing it, but we also may recognize that it applies in the moment. It is something that is present now in relationship to the earthly state of consciousness that is present now.

Considering the matter again from the sequential standpoint, you may recall that the last church (of the Laodiceans) was concerned with something very materialistic: “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.”

We find ourselves, in the historical sense, in an extremely materially-oriented state of affairs, which could give a clue to what is now occurring. But my concern was really to introduce you to the fact of the seven churches as relating to your own capacity of earthly consciousness, the very design of it. With respect to that design there were things that were wrong in these various churches that needed to be corrected; there were things to be rebuked. And what is necessary in this regard is outlined in these words in the Book of Revelation. We have perhaps been using other words but it is the same requirement.

It is through the angel individually that the earthly state of consciousness is rebuked and brought into line by reason of spiritual expression. Collectively speaking, insofar as this forming Body is concerned, it is the action of the Archangel through all the angels of the churches that gets the job done. We may recognize that human beings very often wander around in the various rooms, these various cluttered rooms, in the house of earthly consciousness; you can never be sure as to which room they are going to be in. Others live mostly just in one room. We find a whole spectrum here. Those who live in one room have association dominantly with one church. Of course this doesn't mean that the other churches aren't present insofar as they are concerned and won't need rebuke.

So there is a Blueprint and there is the Third Sacred School, and all that is achieved by reason of the Third Sacred School comes to pass because of the Spirit of Truth—the Spirit of Truth that operates in you. It operates in you because you are parts of One Body, and the Spirit of Truth incarnates in that One Body and so there is the experience of the Spirit of Truth being present and in action in this One Body, rebuking what needs to be rebuked, calling all things to remembrance, bringing to pass what needs to occur both in this Body and by reason of the presence of this Body on earth.

We share this responsibility as angels of the LORD. We are part of a vast unfoldment of the creative purposes of God as these relate to this world in which we live—actually beyond this world, but for the moment our concern is simply with the body of humanity. We share the responsibility of the angels of the Lord, carrying the messages to the churches, that all may be set in order, that the rooms in the house of consciousness may be cleaned up and brought into order, that they may be available for their proper uses.

How blessed we are to begin to share an experience of these things to the extent that we have actually turned to see the voice and to participate in what is occurring with respect to the churches. That participation is only possible to the extent that our expression springs from the heavenly state of consciousness. So I thank God for all of you and many more who are willing, beginning perhaps to be more willing, to allow the unfoldment of all that is proper in these particular seasons of the LORD.

© emissaries of divine light