Setting Up Cycles In Miniature

Setting  Up  Cycles  In  Miniature

Things to Come — a Preview

Uranda   March 9, 1947

We must begin to do in miniature that which is to be accomplished on the larger scale later on. To the degree that the members of the One Body remember that their daily function now is setting up the cycles, in miniature, which are ordained to find fulfilment in the greater cycles later on, they will begin to realize that the greater cycles are already under way.

The human concept is that the results of creative work should appear instantaneously. There are times when it appears to be so, but even in the creative cycles in the beginning, the cycles in back of that had been at work for a considerable period of time. The human being thinks the whole operation was contained in the period of time essential merely to the appearance, and ignores the cycles by which the appearance was made possible.

Until the members of the One Body are willing and able to function in creative cycles now, patiently remaining true to those cycles, so that the vibratory workings may be established and maintained, we cannot hope for the appearance of the manifestation as a material fact. That which we do now in miniature is in fact, to the degree that we function according to the principles of reality in harmony with the cosmic plan, the setting up of vibratory cycles which, if maintained, will ultimately increase and bring forth in outer form.

With respect to the manifestation of human life on earth, the child is not conceived one day and born the next. There is a period of nine months, symbolizing the complete cycles of all creative activity, from the time of conception to the time of birth. The same principles hold true in creative activity as it must manifest in relationship to the One Christ Body on earth. The inception of a cycle does not mean the immediate manifestation in material form, for there is a period of gestation, during which the creative cycles must be maintained in harmony both with the inception and the ultimate manifestation. The period of gestation varies, depending upon many factors, and particularly with respect to degrees of response made manifest and maintained in the world, and the nature of that which is being brought forth.

I have been working for about fifteen years to bring forth the manifestation of the One Christ Body on earth. During the period of gestation, since the original inception, there have been many human beings who imagined that they knew better than God Himself as to how that Body should be brought into manifestation. If those human methods had been used the result would have been synthetic, and though the appearance may have seemed to be excellent, according to human vision, the thing produced would have been no more than a sculptured form, for life could never have been made manifest through it. We are not interested in sculpture, creating dead forms, no matter how beautiful. We are interested in the bringing forth of a form that shall express and make manifest the reality of life.

During this period from the time of the original inception, when the creative activity was designed to bring forth this Body in manifestation on earth, there have been a number of miscarriages which were in fact abortions produced by the self-activity of human beings who had the responsibility of functioning in relationship to that which was being brought forth. The human beings who have indulged in that self-activity have always been inclined to blame me for the failure of manifestation in a living expression of divine reality. Now it begins to be evident that my attitudes, which have been considered arbitrary and dictatorial, were simply based upon the recognition that function should be according to God's plan and will, regardless of human plans, desires, and the human will. Now as the One Christ Body becomes a living reality in manifestation it is in turn but a seed planted in the womb of the world's darkness, which must grow until it fills the whole earth even as the babe fills the whole womb, that in that birth the Christ kingdom may manifest in all the earth. This requires continuity of the creative processes.

Those who have become members of the One Christ Body as it now manifests are like unto divine man as he was first created, insofar as the whole Body is concerned in its unit manifestation. If that Body is willing to function according to the will of God the creative processes will continue, but if that Body should become self-active like Adam, and eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, it would become subject to the same curse which was pronounced upon Adam. The mere fact that individuals have reached a degree of illumination where they are privileged to realize membership in the One Christ Body does not mean those individuals have reached a point where they can of themselves direct a course of divine activity through the Body; nor does it mean they have reached a point where they can perceive the divine factors, which work according to that which is essential to the fulfilment of the cosmic plan.

Man, divine man, was designed to let the will of God be done on earth. So also with the One Christ Body on earth today, and only to the degree that that Body continues to be obedient to the divine word of the Spirit of Truth can the fulfilment of the divine plan become a reality. In anticipation of that fulfilment the members of the Body must “let patience have her perfect work, that they may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” They must, as a unit, be willing to let all things manifest in the season of the Lord, whether it be one year or ten years or a hundred years. Likewise all those who have membership in the Body must, of one accord, remember that that which they do now in the expression of thought and word and deed is, to the degree of harmonization with the principles of reality, the setting up or establishing of cycles in miniature which after a proper period of time shall come forth into manifestation to glorify God and bless our fellowman.

© Emissaries of Divine Light

I Ascend Unto My Father And Your Father

I  Ascend  Unto  My  Father  And  Your  Father

Sunrise Service Number Seventy-Four

Uranda   April 9, 1950  11 a.m.

“And when he had opened the Seventh seal, there was silence in Heaven about the space of half an hour.” You have been sharing this morning the unspeakable beauty of that silence in Heaven, that which cannot be expressed in word, that which must be lived to give it meaning in the unfolding cycles of time.

Easter Morning—we have felt this day something of the feeling which pervaded Heaven that first Easter morning when our Master established the Victory. Usually, in thinking of Easter, the thought expressed is that our Lord was resurrected from the tomb. The fact is that our Lord was never subject to the tomb, but His Body was. It was our Lord's Body that was resurrected, not the Lord Himself, for man could not touch Him.

The Lord Himself, men could not crucify. The Lord Himself could not be placed in a tomb and sealed there—it was His Body against which self-active human beings took action—it was His Body that was placed in the tomb—and it was His Body that came forth in the Resurrection and the Life. So is it today, it is not the Lord who has stood in need of the Resurrection and the Life, but the body of His Faithful Ones on earth, the body of His Children everywhere that has stood in need of the Resurrection and the Life.

You have today tasted something of that Resurrecting Power by which the Members of His Body are set free from the darkness of the tomb, that, entering into the Garden of God, they may know that it is futile to look in the tomb to find the Lord. Too long have human beings looked into the tomb, but, as the Angels said, “He is not there.” No, it is not in the tomb that we will find our Lord, although He sends His Angels to bring us forth from the tomb of this world's darkness into the Light of an Easter Day.

It is in the Garden, you will remember, that Mary, when she first recognized the Master's Presence, supposed Him to be the gardener. He was, and is, but not in the sense she thought. No, first perceiving Him, she did not see Him as He was; she did not recognize Him, but He was there in the Garden beyond the tomb. Her fear was that they, persons unknown, had taken her Lord away. How many times since that day have human beings imagined that someone, somewhere, what someone else did, what someone else said, had taken their Lord away. Human beings with their puny activities cannot take the Lord away—it cannot be done. How should the Lord be taken away? No, He was not in the tomb; it was futile to look there and it still is, but they, persons unknown or known, have not taken Him away; they cannot; He is there in the Garden of God.

When her name fell from His blessed lips, “Mary,” the sound of His Voice awakened her from that trance of sorrow that had engulfed her. She was awakened so that she could see that which was before her. The Master was there in the Garden—she knew someone was there but she had not recognized Him. How often human beings have been like that. But the wonderful thing is this: that when He called her name she did not just go blindly on; she was not so deeply engulfed in her own thoughts and ideas that she did not hear; no, she heard Him speak and knew His Voice and answered, “Master.” There was acknowledgment; there was recognition; there was the depth of love response, uttermost devotion according to the Law of the Kingdom, “Thou shalt love the Lord Thy God with all Thy heart and mind and spirit and soul and with all thy strength.” Yes, in that answer that came forth from the depths of her heart, you can see and feel and know her fulfillment of the Law, and she saw her Lord. How many times the Master, walking in the Garden of God on earth has called the names of those who did not hear, those who went blindly on, immersed in their own ideas and concepts and their own anguish and human desires, so busy looking in the tomb, so busy worrying about who they might have been and what they might have done to the Lord that they could not hear His Voice.

In time past, you recognize, He has called your name, for today is not the first time He called your name, but you never answered Him as you did this morning. When the anguished heart grows still, and when the mind is quiet, when there is the fullness of love response to Him, then can the human being hear the Call, for He has called your name as surely as He called the name of Mary long ago. We have known something of His Presence; we have sensed it; we have recognized it; so have tens of thousands and millions of others. It is not that we have forgotten the Lord. Mary was searching for Him; so are tens of millions of others searching, looking in the tomb when He is not there; but in the Garden of God He is walking, and He calls the name of each one who searches for Him.

You know that He has called your name, and hearing, you have begun to see and hear truly that wondrous Voice of Love—that Love that will not let you go. Mary answered, “Master.” What do we answer when He calls? If He is our Master, then let us so function in our lives that we prove that it is so, in the fullness of devotion, obedience and trust—in that faith that springs from love for God that cannot be shaken by what any may think or say or do or be, or by what may take place in the world around us, faith that springs from unshakable love for God, that God's Love working through us may have meaning on earth.

That Easter Day set the pattern and opened the Way for this Easter Day which we are privileged to share. What greater honor, what greater privilege could God bestow than this? Our Lord came into the world because God so loved the world and He brought the message, “Repent and be baptized, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.” We have found it so. In our lives we have proven His Words are true, true and righteous altogether—the Way, the Truth and the Life. As we meditate upon that Easter Day and see the outworkings of this Easter Day, in our own hearts and minds we know that we have begun to taste, begun to see, that we have begun to feel—but it is little more than that—the Victory of His Kingdom, the Eternal wonders. We have just begun. He opened the Way. He set the pattern for this Easter Day.

After He spoke to Mary, He said, “Touch me not for I have not yet ascended unto my Father.” Having brought His Body forth from the tomb, His first business was to ascend to the Father and what did He say? He told Mary to go and tell the other disciples, saying, “I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” His instruction was and is to follow Him, follow Him in the Resurrection and the Life, follow Him in ascending unto the Father. His first business, His first fulfillment of responsibility after the Resurrection of His Body was to ascend unto the Father. It was after that that He met with His disciples and talked with them concerning the things of the Kingdom.

First, he ascended unto the Father, and following through, following Him, we must do likewise. It is not enough merely to taste of the Resurrection and the Life—we must together ascend unto the Father. The only way we can know that fulfillment is by following our Master in the expression of His Love for the Father. His Commandment was: “Follow me.” That is His Commandment to each one of us—follow Him. We have seen how that following must lead to the crucifixion of that human self that is not of Him, how it must lead through the tomb, through the Resurrection and then, if we are to follow Him all the Way, the next step is to ascend unto the Father. What was it He said unto the one who saw Him in the Garden, what message did He give? He said, go and tell them, “Behold I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” He made it very clear that He was not ascending to some high Heaven denied to those who should follow after Him. He was ascending and as He said before, “Whither I go ye know, and the Way ye know.” He had prayed and given assurance to those who followed after that “Where I am, there ye may be also.” He expected His followers to follow Him all the Way, including the ascension to the Father. We thank God that it is so.

As you continue to let the Cycles of the Spirit work in the silences of your soul, holding true under the Law of the Kingdom, abiding In the attitude of the Angels' Song, you shall surely find the processes of ascension working in and through you to fulfill His Word even as He said, “And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.” He made it clear and plain that as He ascended unto the Father, He expected those who followed Him to let themselves ascend unto the Father. “And I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me,” and so we are to let the process of ascension work in heart and mind and body and soul that we may share that which He established then, that which He made possible for the children of men. This is our opportunity, our privilege, our sacred responsibility on this beautiful Sunday, this Easter. The Peace of our Lord, Jesus Christ be with you now and forever.

© emissaries of divine light

Sabbath Rest In The Garden

Sabbath  Rest  In  The  Garden

Easter Morning

Uranda   April 6, 1947   Winterwarm, California

Easter Day commemorates for us the Resurrection of our LORD and Master. The reason there is a vivid interest, continuing down through the centuries, in the Resurrection which is commemorated today, is to be found in the fact that we have a sense of sharing in that, but even though it is a sense of sharing in it, people think of it primarily as something that happened nearly two thousand years ago. Why did the Master come? To save His people from their sins. And why did He come forth from the tomb? To prove His Victory over the prince of this world. It seems to me that, although there has been a sense of sharing in these things—even though it is largely limited to belief—that it should be evident to people everywhere that it has not been shared as fully, as meaningfully, as it could have been—as it should have been. Until we realize the meaning of those words in our own lives, “Christ Arose”, the meaning of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ cannot be fully known in the world.

It is glorious that He arose, but we must let Christ arise in our hearts and minds, in our lives, that the risen Christ in us may inspire others to let Christ arise in them. Before any individual can truly, fully share in the Spirit and Reality of the Resurrection, he must do more than love God. Millions have loved God to varying degrees down through the centuries, but the conditions that continue in the world, the misery and the suffering and the sorrow and the death that hold sway, prove that those millions have not realized the Resurrection fully enough or keenly enough, vividly enough, even though they did love God. We have all seen barren places in the desert where there was plenty of sunlight, plenty of warmth, to have caused vegetation to grow abundantly, but there was only barrenness.

So has it been in the Spiritual life of the multitudes of human beings on the face of the earth who have loved God. It is not enough just to love Him. In Nature and in the vegetable kingdom, we have already noted how important it is that the Water should he present if the warmth of the Sunlight is going to bring forth the manifestation of Life—abundant Life. So is it also with human lives if the expression of humanity is not to be a desert place, empty of the true beauty of the Spirit. If there is to be a true manifestation of the Resurrecting Power of God, it is important that individuals receive the Water of Truth as well as the Sunlight of His Love. If we are to share in that Resurrecting Power and so function as to allow others to more fully and vividly share in it, we must realize that the Sunlight of God's Love brings barrenness unless there is an abundance of the Water of Truth.

Human beings, in their own individual expressions of life forget that there is a River of Life, filled with the Water of Truth. They seem to feel that there is such a shortage of Water—the Water of Truth—that they dare not accept, or use, very much of it—but when we know that there is an inexhaustible Fountain of Water available to each and every one, and each individual lets that Water be used in all phases of his activity and function in the Garden of his Life, he finds that the warmth of God's Love begins to have glorious meaning in the multitudes of greens that appear, and the beauty of color in flower and fruit.

The Master of us all, Who came forth from the tomb the Victor, that we might know the Way, the Truth and the Life, said, “By their fruits ye shall know them”, and indicated that we must bring forth fruit more abundantly, and finally, bring forth “much fruit”. Then, through us, by reason of the bringing forth of much fruit, there would be the Restoration of the Garden of God on earth, for where the things of God are brought forth abundantly in human lives, there the Garden of God is, and he who serves faithfully in the Garden of God finds that in the cool of the day the Lord God comes walking in the Garden, that he may commune with the Almighty.

We rejoice that Christ arose, that our Master came forth from the tomb, but how futile is belief in these matters unless we share in that Resurrection, and let Christ arise in us, and let the Christ Expression of the Lord come forth from the tomb which human beings are, as long as they continue in self-activity—and when the stone is rolled away so that the hardness of the human heart ceases to bar the Way, the risen Lord appears through the individual life expression, and the risen Christ is made manifest. To whom? To His disciples, to those who are attuned to the Spirit, to those who are responding to our KING, for though the Lord arose, He was not seen, or if He was seen He was not recognized, by those who were not following Him, and even among those who claimed to follow Him there were those who doubted, those who questioned and held back—and so is it today.

We must let the Victory of the risen Lord be made manifest through us to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, that they may be drawn, step by step, more fully into the Way, the Truth and the Life, that sharing in that Victory all who will may come to know the Reality of the Kingdom of God on earth. It is not enough to believe in it; we must share in it if it is to have true meaning to us, true meaning in our lives; we must share in it if we are to live and walk in the Garden of God on earth, and know what it is, when the Lord God comes walking in the Garden in the cool of the day, to share in that blending of Heaven and earth wherein we Know that they truly are One. I would like to read to you certain words that are written in the 20th Chapter of John, Verses 1-23:

“The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre.
“Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, They have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.
“Peter therefore went forth, and that other disciple, and came to the sepulcher.
“So they ran both together: and the other disciple did outrun Peter, and came first to the sepulchre.
“And he stooping down, and looking in, saw the linen clothes lying; yet went he not in.
“Then cometh Simon Peter following him, and went into the sepulchre, and seeth the linen clothes lie,
“And the napkin, that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself.
“Then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed.
“For as yet they knew not the scripture, that he must rise again from the dead.
“Then the disciples went away again unto their own home.
“But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre,
“And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.
“And they say unto her. Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him.
“And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.
“Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekest thou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.
“Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.
“Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.
“Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.
“Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.
“And when he had so said, he showed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord.
“Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.
“And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost:
“Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whosesoever sins ye retain, they are retained.”

There are many things to be found in these words, but a few of them I would consider with you now. In the 19th verse we have the word: “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week,” and then, in the first verse we read: “The first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulcher”. “The first day of the week”—the significance of these words has been overlooked by multitudes who have heard them read and who have read them.

We have begun to realize something of what the Sabbath Rest of the Lord means. In one of the Summer Session Services I dealt with the principles involved with respect to the Commandment: “Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work”. Human beings have tried to keep the Lord's Day, or the Sabbath, according to human concepts that have been developed, and again they have failed to fully share in that which God was offering to them. It is recognized that for fallen human beings there must be allowed a period when a certain degree of self-active function is permissible while they are on the Way back—on the Way back Home, on the Way back to the Father.

There are six days, or six Cycles of time—six periods, shall we say—that are allowed to man wherein man is supposed to complete all of his work which he must do self-actively under the curse, and then he is to come to a time when he, in the self-active sense, shall do no more work. He is to come to the Sabbath Day, the Day of the Lord, and according to the Commandment, it is written: “In it thou shalt not do any work”, which is to say that the period allotted to man to return to the Father should then have been completed, so that man should cease from all his self-active labors, from all of those works which he must do under the curse. Then, having returned to the Father, having let his soul be restored, having come to the Day of the Lord, he was supposed to cease all self-active works from then on, forevermore, Eternally.

The Master came, the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings, and He revealed these things in His Life. He told men how to let the Father do the works, so that it should no longer be the self-active function of human beings. He told those who were interested, to follow Him, and concerning Himself He said, “The works I do shall ye do also”—but what of those works? “The words I speak unto you, I speak not of myself, but the Father Who dwelleth in Me He doeth the works”—and we are supposed to follow Him. That means that when we share with Him the Victory of the Resurrection, we come to the Lord's Day. We come to that time when we let the Father do the works, and when we come to the Lord's Day, that Commandment holds in it the key, for that is the Lord's Day: “Thou shalt not do any work”—let the Father do the works then, from then on Eternally—and then those who should so function are privileged to share with Him the Victory of the Resurrection.

So it was on the first day of the week—the Lord's Day had come; the Great Master had appeared in the earth. It was on Friday that He was crucified; on the Sabbath He was in the tomb; and on the first day of the week He came forth. The world had come to the Lord's Day, the world as a whole. From the standpoint of the world a certain amount of self-activity had been permitted in the cycles which led up to that time, but then, from a world standpoint, the Lord's Day had come—and human beings had celebrated the Lord's Day by putting the Body of the Lord in the tomb, the body of the LORD of Lords and KING of Kings; and so the world doomed itself to a period of darkness in the tomb, but nevertheless, even so, the Lord's Day had come. On the first day of the week, there was the beginning of the New Cycle of function, wherein the disciples and all who should follow Him were supposed to cease from all their self-active works, and let the Father do the works. Up until that time it had not been expected of any of the children of men that they should come into that fullness, but when the Master Himself had revealed the Way, the Truth and the Life, by letting the Father do the works, then it was possible for those who should follow Him, to do likewise.

So that was the beginning of a New Cycle of time, the first day of the week. The Lord's Day had come, and from that time onward, from a world standpoint, there was no further excuse for self-activity. Those who should begin to Respond to Him were, of course, allowed a little time in which to come clear of their self-activity, that they might come individually to the Lord's Day in full realization, but for the world the Lord's Day had come already, and for those who should follow Him there should be a recognition that the Lord's Day had come, and that for them there should be no more works in the self-active sense. They must let the Father do the works.

So that is the Principle with respect to the Resurrection which we find established and made manifest for ourselves now, this Easter Day. For the world the stone had been rolled away, and it only remained then for individuals to let the stone roll away for themselves, individually, that they might share in the Resurrection. Human beings, not understanding these things and marvelling at the Resurrection of the Lord Who was crucified, have neglected to let the Water of Truth concerning these things be so used in their own lives that they might truly share in the Resurrection and the Life, so that they might bring forth much fruit in the Garden of God.

“But Mary stood without at the sepulchre weeping: and as she wept, she stooped down, and looked into the sepulchre.” Mary symbolizes those in the world who, according to the worldly idea, think of themselves as followers of the Master, but they have never gotten beyond this point. They are without at the sepulchre, weeping. They stoop down and look into the sepulchre, and they see that the Lord is not there. The Lord has sent Angels, unto the Responding Ones, and they have said, “Why weepest thou”, and the followers of our Lord have answered, “Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him”. That is where, so far from a world standpoint, the Responding Ones have stopped following the example set by Mary. They should go another step further and stop looking into the empty tomb; they should remember the words that are contained in the 14th verse of the 20th Chapter of John, because therein are the keys to Life: “And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.” She did not simply stay there looking into the empty tomb, weeping. She turned herself back, and then she saw Jesus standing. She had been looking for Him in the tomb and He was not there.

Human beings, since that day, have been doing the same thing, but they have not followed the Direction of the Spirit to turn around; stop looking in the empty tomb; stop being so concerned about where they have laid Him; because Jesus is standing—He reigns Supreme. Though they may not recognize Him immediately, if they will turn around He will begin to reveal Himself to them, and finally, when they have reached that point of Response where they may hear His Word, as Mary heard when He called her name—just one word, her name, “Mary”—they may turn more fully, for then she turned fully to Him and answered, “Master”. In those few verses we have the key to the entering into, the key whereby we may share in the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Then the Master said, “Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father: and to my God, and your God”. “Mary Magdalene came and told the disciples that she had seen the Lord, and that he had spoken these things unto her.” Notice what she was told to say, “I ascend unto my Father and your Father, unto my God and your God”, and Mary did what she was told to do. “Then the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you.”

In this outworking we have a picture of the outworking of the First Age, the one in which the Master came. That first “day of the week” came to a close in 1768. In the evening of that Age there had been reformations and great stirrings, the disciples coming together in the world through various religious activities, but they were—what? Where they were, the doors were shut. The disciples assembled together, but the doors were shut. The Lord came unto them in Spirit, and they were—many of them—greatly inspired, but they did not understand enough of the Truth to know what to do, and how to do it; they did not let the Spirit direct, and there were those who were like unto Thomas who would not believe—doubting Thomas. So the effectiveness of that first manifestation, or appearance, was not very great and we find that as it relates to the period of the Age that has drawn to a close, the same thing is true.

But then, a week later, “again”—i.e., after eight days had passed—“Then came Jesus, the doors being shut”—the doors were still shut—“and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you”, and that indicates the beginning of the New Age, the New Cycle, the New Day, in which we find ourselves. The record does not tell just when the third manifestation came. It only says, “After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the sea of Tiberias; and on this wise”—three times, representing the necessity of letting the Resurrection take place in all three planes, or phases, of human expression, so that the Lord might be revealed physically, mentally and Spiritually.

So we see that the Day of the Lord has truly come, that the period permitted for human self-activity has drawn to a close for the world, and is rapidly drawing to a close for individuals; that, although His disciples have shut themselves within doors so that they do not see the true Light, and understand the Way, the Truth and the Life, nevertheless He is revealing Himself on earth, so that in this New Day, in this New Cycle, the second “day of the week”, when He appears the second time, He may be a Reality for us, and in addition we may let the third appearance become a Reality in and through and for us to His Glory and to the blessing of all the children of men, so that we may share in the Resurrection and in the Life.

Concerning that function in Service with Him, we have His Words here, after His Resurrection, “And Jesus said unto them, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you”. He did not make any distinctions between His function on earth and ours; He did not make any changes. He said, “As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you”, that we all in Oneness might be the revelation of that which He had revealed to the world. “And then He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Spirit.”

Concerning those, then, whom He sent, and should send, who should be a part of His Body on earth and who should receive the Holy Spirit, He had this to say, “Whose soever sins ye remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are retained,” showing that His Body on earth, having become a Reality and having received the Holy Spirit, and recognizing the Truth of His Word: “As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you,” should have the same Power on earth to forgive sins which He Himself had exercised on earth, under exactly the same Laws and the same conditions that had existed for Him. So it is that those who come to a realization of what it means to truly share in the Victory of the Resurrection, are drawn into the One Vine, into the One Christ Body on earth, that they may share in revealing the Way, the Truth and the Life to all those who are willing to share in the Resurrection and the Life.

© Emissaries of Divine Light