It Is Not By Chance—Revelation

It  Is  Not  By  Chance — Revelation

Uranda   April 13, 1953  Class

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven. Now is come salvation,

and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ:

for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;

and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.

Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea!

for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath,

because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

Revelation 12: 10-12

You will remember that this is the expression of a loud voice saying something in Heaven, and we remember that Heaven is not far away, but is at hand, and it is after the dragon is cast out of Heaven. Now you recognize that insofar as your Heaven is concerned, in the individual sense, the great red dragon has access to your Heaven and functions at least to some degree, in your Heaven until he is cast out of your Heaven. The Heaven within you is not forbidden territory, shall we say, to the great red dragon until you make a pattern of response, come to a point of Centering, which allows your Heaven to be a part of the Kingdom of God on earth.

Your Heaven, your vibrational atmosphere within you, is supposed to be, in the Divine sense, a place where only Heavenly things can be found. But the Heaven that is within you is not such a place until you come to the point of letting these cycles of the resurrection work out in and through you. Heaven is within you all the time, but your Heaven is not a clear place, free of the influence of the great red dragon until you reach this point in the resurrection. And it is something that is determined by you, not by someone else, and once you begin to realize your personal responsibility in it and recognize that it is something that can come in your life at any time you are willing to let it come, the Heaven within you can begin to be that which God intended for it to be. Man has in time past, turned to that Heaven within himself, seeking God, and touching that Heaven has found not God but the great red dragon, and so he has assumed that it is impossible to know the Reality of the Heaven within. But that Heaven is not clear, it is not received as a part of God's Heaven until the great red dragon is cast out of it, and when he is cast out, he is cast out into the earth.

Now that does not mean that at this point in the outworking you are no longer in position to hear or feel or sense the influence or the working of the great red dragon. It simply means that he has been cleared out of that realm of Heaven and that he has been cast into the earth. Now if you are an inhabiter of Heaven, a citizen, a dweller in Heaven on earth, you are all right. But if you are an inhabiter of the earth, or if you yourself, by wrong function, by breaking the pattern of polarity, leave your own Heaven and come into the earth in the outer sense, then you are for that period of time, whatever it may be, an inhabiter of the earth.

Now as long as you are dwelling in Heaven—“therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them”—as long as you are dwelling in Heaven you are all right. But, “woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.” At this particular point then, in the process of resurrection, the great red dragon is still in existence—he has merely been cast out of your Heaven, and as long as you dwell in your Heaven on earth, you are safe. But if wrong reaction drives you out of your Heaven into your earth, then woe unto you. “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea!” That is the Centering in relationship to the physical material realm, and to mind or knowledge, concepts of which the mind may be aware. The sea is here symbolical of the Truth or knowledge of which man is aware in an outer sense.

So if you are a dweller in the earth and in the sea, the outer physical aspects of being, without regard to the heaven within you, then when the dragon is cast out of Heaven, you as an inhabiter of the earth and of the sea, are subject to an intensification of his wrath. Now in the process of casting out, there comes the realization that “now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ.” All of these things made manifest in your Heaven, and yet to be made manifest through the physical aspect of your being, in your living of life. Therefore, as you remain as one who dwells in Heaven, you are safe. But, “woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! For the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”

This pattern of wrath, as the cycle works out through individuals, and out into the world, will become more and more evident, more and more intense. At the moment it is comparatively mild—limited more-or-less to individuals, particularly to individuals here, and the pattern of outworking is very mild. But as the casting out process continues, as you hold steady and learn to dwell in your Heaven, individually, the pattern becomes intensified and as the cycle moves out into the world it becomes more and more intense with the great red dragon being more and more filled with wrath because he knoweth that he hath but a short time—until that final outworking that is pictured when those who are the angels of the dragon undertake to surround the camp of the saints, and in that intensification of the conflict, the dragon and all of his angels, all of his followers, are cast into the lake of fire and brimstone which burneth forever and ever.

Now we know that fire is the Fire of God's Love and it is that fire which purifies—it is that fire which burns away that which ought not to be. We cannot do anything about the function—in the sense of bringing the dragon to an end, and his function on earth—we cannot do anything about it until every individual on the face of the earth has had his or her opportunity to choose one side or the other. That opportunity has not yet been made manifest, and the great red dragon is going to be more-or-less at liberty in the world, in the earth and in the sea, until that time comes. Meanwhile, those who respond and understand the Way, the Truth and the Life are supposed to be living in their Heaven on earth. And then, after the pattern of clearing has been completed over the whole earth, and once the great red dragon has induced his followers—his angels, who are human beings of course—to undertake to annihilate the saints—that is, those who are functioning according to the pattern of Reality, to use a little different language to portray the same thing—once the dragon has induced them to make this attempt to fight against God and against those who are Serving God, the devil's own action brings his own reward.

The Fire of God's Love is there, and fighting against it, the dragon and the false prophets—the false prophets we will be considering as we continue this pattern, but of course, it represents the mind in a specific sense, with the beast as the physical aspect, the beast and the false prophets. In any case, we have the ultimate goal with respect to the great red dragon, not to fight him now, not to try to destroy him now, but to live in Heaven on earth so that he cannot disturb us now, and let the pattern work out until every man, woman and child on the face of the earth has had his or her opportunity—and then, when the dragon attempts to fight against God, in a overall pattern where the choices have all been established, the Fire of God's Love will complete the task and cast this pattern of self-activity out of the earth and it will be burned up or gone, be finished.

Such a state of affairs is necessary to the ultimate outworking so that by reason of the restoration, we can get back on the job and begin to do the work which we are supposed to be doing. This interval, working out the restoration, is simply a process of repairing the machinery. It is not the end and aim of our goal and our program. The machinery of Reality broke down on earth—has been at a standstill. Many efforts have been made to repair that machinery and they have all failed up to the present time. We are engaged as servants of our King, or master mechanics, to repair the machinery of Reality. We are here sharing training in preparation for your work in that regard. So the time is coming when the machinery will be back in operation and we can get on with our job as Divine Men and Women. Meanwhile, it is necessary for us to get the machinery working, and that is our immediate purpose.

So do not let the great red dragon trick you. Having reached the point of feeling the joy, the lightness, the beauty and the wonder, having the red dragon cast out of your Heaven, do not let him trick you into coming out of it yourself and having a contest with him, or playing games with him again, or you will spoil it all. Remember to dwell in your Heavens and rejoice, and let the cycles work out, and in season, if we serve correctly, the great red dragon shall cease to be. With respect to those who are the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea, woe unto you, whether here or somewhere else.

You will remember these words: “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.” The man child is the positive expression of the Christ Light through you. “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” A time—that would be one, would it not? Times, plural—the initial plural is what? Two. And half a time—in other words, three and one-half. A time, and times, and half a time, signifies three and one-half. Halfway through the cycle. Our Master's Ministry continued on earth for three and one-half years on exactly the same basis, revealing the same principle. And the first half of the cycle, the protection is provided for the woman in the wilderness, from the face of the serpent. Now that which follows after is another or different phase, the succeeding part of the cycle. We are not ready for that yet. So she is nourished from the face of the serpent for a time, and times, and half a time—that is, three and one-half units of time—one half of this particularized cycle essential to this process of resurrection. Now the full significance of that will come later.

First however, we notice that when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child. Merely because you have let the dragon be cast out of your Heaven, there is no statement which suggests that he will not be persecuting you or trying to upset you, disturb you, break the pattern—cause you to respond in the wrong direction. And it is in this period that we must be especially careful to maintain correct Centering. And as you remain Centered, something happens—as you hold Centered in the pattern as a member of the body of the woman.

“And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness. Into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” The important thing here is that, “to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle.” Now we need to go back to the Fourth Chapter of Revelation to consider some of the basic factors with respect to this machinery of Reality, so that you can begin to see the significance of the two wings of the great eagle. In the Fourth Chapter here, we read: “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven.” It is because of the fact that that door was opened in Heaven, that you are here. “And the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me, which said. Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” Now that invitation has been extended to you, and according to your response:

“And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, (and heaven is at hand, on earth) and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone; and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.”

Gold is the symbol of God's Love, the purity of God's Love. “And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” At another time we will consider the significance of the Seven Spirits of God. “And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts (four living creatures) full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.”

Now you remember that the woman was given two wings of an eagle. And here we have the specific recognition of the four beasts or the four living creatures. “And the first beast was like a lion.” As we consider the pattern of the Divine outworking we recognize that the lion is the symbol of our Lord and King. We remember for instance, with respect to the seven sealed book: “And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice. Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.” And human beings have been trying for twenty thousand years to do it, and they did not, in their self-active attempts, succeed. “And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me. Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.”

Now that is the pattern of Ministry, activity, fulfilment, that the Master came into the world to accomplish. And He said, “I have finished the work which Thou gavest me to do”, and signified that He had opened the seven sealed book—which we will consider more at another time. But I wish to establish for you, in consciousness, the fact that the lion is and was and shall be, the One Whom we speak of as the LORD of Lords, the one who incarnated on earth in the body of Jesus.

And remember that the second beast had a face as a calf. Now we go back to the pattern with respect to the Children of Israel, and we find that the calf has a very significant meaning. The ox is the symbol of the self-active mind of man which was sacrificed in the ceremonies of the temple, or the sanctuary, the tabernacle. The ox represented the self-active mind of man. And what a wonderful symbol that is. Did you ever watch an ox—how dull and uncomprehending and slow-witted the creature is? And man eats of the forbidden fruit and attempts to function on his own, and he is, as far as his consciousness is concerned, like an ox. Oh, he might get angry and do some fighting—but if you will watch the ox or consider the ox, you will find that in all aspects, it is a remarkable symbol of the self-active mind of man, the condition into which the human consciousness degenerates when the human being eats of the forbidden fruit. And so the ox is the symbol of the mind of man in the self-active state, that had to be sacrificed.

We remember the Master's Word, “Except ye come as a little child, ye shall not enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” And the calf, then, relates to the mental plain exactly the same as the ox—but the calf signifies the pattern before it has become self-active, before it has been doped by the forbidden fruit, before it has reached a state where it cannot know the Way, the Truth and the Life. So, the calf symbolizes the mind of the man becoming youthful or child-like, willing to be subject to the Spirit of God, willing to be directed by the Power of God, to the end that you may have in you the mind that was in Christ Jesus. And then the third had a face as a man. A very peculiar thing that—a creature with a face as a man. And that was supposed to be the point of manifestation—Man manifestation. Man is supposed to be the means of manifestation for the things of God on earth, and here we have the point of focalization where Man is supposed to be.

This is the point where the Woman is born. This is the point where the pattern of outworking on earth begins to appear. It is in relationship to this particular point that you are here learning to Serve, to function according to the Divine Plan. So, your place in this pattern of the four living creatures, or the four beasts which are full of eyes before and behind, is in relationship to Man—the means of manifestation for the things of God on earth, Man and Woman. But this point is supposed to be negative, responsive to, the point of the lion. So in the process of the restoration—inasmuch as it was Eve, woman, that led the way of the fall, that is the negative aspect became positive to the positive aspect of being—we have exactly the reverse. It must be through woman that the restoration takes place, and we have been considering the nature of this woman, the pattern of her being. She is supposed to be clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and a crown of twelve stars—and the twelve stars are the positive and negative aspects of the four and twenty elders. And then the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.

And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf,

and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

Now there is more there, but for the moment let us consider. It is by reason of the two wings of the eagle that the woman is provided with the ability to move into her place appointed in the wilderness and be nourished for a time, times, and half a time. Until you begin to recognize the significance of this pattern—you will not comprehend it all in a moment—you cannot have a clear vision with respect to the Divine Design. Now it is not by chance that the eagle is the symbol of the sovereignty of the United States of America, and we thank God for the privilege of having this Nation on earth which has been the means by which God has been able to shape the pattern of outworking for the whole world to a considerable degree. It was through the cooperation of other nations of course, and the patterns, the ideals and determinations were not just the United States, but we have to recognize that the eagle is the symbol of the sovereignty of the United States of America. And it is not by chance that that is so.

However, that is not the limit of the significance of the eagle in relationship to this outline of the four beasts. For it is with respect to these four beasts that we have the specific manifestation of the four forces on earth in the outworking of the pattern of restoration, and the fact that the eagle is a symbol of the United States simply proves for those who have eyes to see, that the Reality of the Divine Design has been at work in shaping the conditions in the world to the end that we could have the privilege of this hour, this class period together. We would not want to have to undertake to work out such a pattern of study, for instance, in Red Russia, would we? No. What a blessing God has provided us in the privilege of a place on earth where we can consider the things of God. And the Divine Pattern has been working to the end that it should be so.

As we recognize the working of God's Laws, the Reality of the Divine Design, we come more and more to know that those things that are made manifest to the blessing of the children of men did not appear by chance or happenstance. It was by specific workings of God's Laws and Principles. Yet when one begins to awaken to the pattern of Divine Activity, one cannot be expected to see it all at once. The vision increases step-by-step and gradually you come to know the Truth of the matter—the Truth that makes you free.

Continuing a little here in the fifth Chapter as it relates to the seven sealed book, we find in the 6th Verse, these words: “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, (the location of the elders follows out from this basic pattern) stood a Lamb as it had been slain, (not that it was slain, you will please notice, but it had the appearance of having been slain) having seven horns and seven eyes.”

Now the Lamb does not have seven heads like the great red dragon, but it does have seven horns and seven eyes—which are the Seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. I would like to notice something. “In the midst of the throne.” Now the throne is the material form which sustains or provides a place of being for the King. We must not confuse the throne with the King. We recognize that this pattern of Divine Design is, in actual fact, the initial or basic outline of the design of the throne. And the throne must not be confused with the One who sits upon the throne. The Lord of Lords and King of Kings is the One who sits upon the throne. And here we see that the Lamb was not on the throne, it was in the midst of the throne. Not on the throne, specifically. “I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts.

Now here is the outline of the four beasts, here is the basic outline of the throne, and the Lamb is in the midst of the throne itself, not upon it. That is one of the first clear indications of the fact that the Lion and the Lamb are not the same thing. In fact we go back to the Old Testament Revelation and we recognize the statement that, “the lion and the lamb shall feed together”—but who suggests that the Lion and the Lamb are the same thing? No one with any intelligence or recognition or perception. So, though the Lion and the Lamb shall feed together, they are not the same thing. “And in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts” there is the Lamb as it had been slain. That is, as it had been—it was not. “Having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven Spirits before the throne of God.”

Now the outer manifestation or symbol, the outer specific form, is here—the eagle. We recognize that insofar as the outer trinity is concerned, and this line that divides the upper part of our diagram from the lower part, signifies the sea of glass which has already been mentioned here—the dividing line, the veil between Heaven and earth as far as human beings are concerned. This design includes Heaven and earth, but insofar as the outer is concerned, there is a trinity—and that trinity has what, as far as you are concerned? A spiritual expression, a mind, and a body. The spiritual expression plane of being, the mental plane of being, and the physical or body plane of being. And there you have in the throne of God, or the throne that is set in Heaven, the throne of our Lord and King, the basic design revealing the fundamental facts of the trinity.

Now we came to recognize, ultimately, that the inner trinity is likewise revealed here with respect to these three points—and two of the points specifically relate to both the inner and the outer trinity. It is the same thing. But in the outer manifestation, here, we recognize at this point the spiritual expression plane, the flying eagle. We are here as a part of the function of The Third Sacred School. You have recognized that we make this third plane approach. We recognize that in the First Sacred School the approach was from the standpoint of this point in the triangle. At the time of the Master's coming, the approach was from the standpoint of this point in the triangle—the cap. And now we are engaged in an undertaking which is the last one available to man, of making the Spiritual expression approach to the outworking of the Divine Design. And there has been a great deal of preparation in relationship to this which you share, in its initial cycles of manifestation—centuries of careful preparation.

Now the half-way point, the middle point between the outer manifestation of form, man, and the inner manifestation of our King, the Lion, is established here. “In the mldst of the throne and of the four beasts.” And where is the middle point? It is at the point of the eagle. “And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” Now there is a great deal here in the Book of Revelation dealing specifically with the Lamb. We cannot take time to consider them very extensively at the moment, but immediately after the seven beasts or seven creatures, seven personages as we have been considering them in the first part, have been outlined, we have the result of the process of the resurrection pictured here, in the fourteenth Chapter of Revelation:

“And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Sion, and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads. And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps; And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.” The initial form then of the man or the woman, the body through which the Power of God was to manifest, contains a hundred and forty-four thousand human beings, and the manifestation of this form of the hundred and forty-four thousand—which does not mean that the rest of humanity cannot be drawn into the pattern. It simply means that when we have a hundred and forty-four thousand, we have a working model, our machinery begins to go to work regardless of the rest of mankind. And here is the picture of the hundred and forty-four thousand—and the Lamb stood on mount Sion.

We could go through the whole Book here and see reference after reference outlining the basic factors, until finally we recognize that the Bride, the woman, the body of humanity responding properly, becomes the Bride of the Lamb and the pattern of outworking on earth is brought into perfect polarity with the Lord of Lords and the union of Heaven and earth is reestablished in the manifestation of what is called the New Heaven and the New Earth. And it is in connection with this that there is the manifestation of the New Jerusalem, etc.

Now we cannot possibly comprehend all the details that are involved in this wonderful blue-print, the Divine Design, but remember that this was established in relationship to the processes of the restoration after that which the Master did had been caused to break down and fail in its fundamental purpose because of man's failure to follow through and let the Divine Design have meaning. Here we have the basic principles involved with respect to all that is portrayed in the entire Bible—and with respect to that which we are sharing in life and Ministry on earth at the present time.

Here you begin to see the purpose for which I came into the world and you begin to see the reason why you are here—for it is not by chance that my initials and my title stand as the Lamb, and it is not by chance that I have come into the world in relationship to the fulfilment of these things. It is not by chance that you are here. It is not by chance that we have a Divine Goal, a Divine Purpose. It is not by chance that I can unveil to you the meaning of the Book of Revelation, and that there is no one else on the face of the earth that can. I wrote it in the first place, and it was so written that no one else could interpret it. It was not intended to be interpreted by anyone else. I do not care who studied how long, how much, no one else could do it. It had to wait until I should come. And so in the cycles of outworking, we have a part, a share, in this Divine Design and we begin to see how it is, as it is written here:

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven. Now is come salvation,

and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ:

for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

And they overcame him by the blood of the lamb, and by the word of their testimony;

and they loved not their lives unto the death.

Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them.

Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea!

for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, 

because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.

And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth,

he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.

And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle,

that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place,

where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.

© emissaries of divine light

The Essential Point Of Focus

The  Essential  Point  of  Focus

Martin Cecil   September 12, 1976

You are all well aware that things do not happen just by chance. Looking at the experiences that are known in the earthly condition, it may sometimes seem to be so; but when we begin to observe with true vision we know that there is always a reason. We are concerned with moving with the true reason. There are wheels within wheels, creative cycles within creative cycles. Some of these are of very brief duration; others longer. Some occupy centuries. And of course, when we begin to reach out into the solar system and the universe, there are other cycles of immense periods of time.

There has been one cycle working out over the last nineteen centuries of which we have some awareness. What occurred between the time our Master was on earth and now has provided us with a connection to that aspect of the cycle which was working when He was on earth. There was, as we are aware, a failure insofar as adequate response was concerned, so that what might have been achieved by His presence on earth was not achieved. He did so live, in a personal sense, as to leave a legacy on earth, so to speak, but what was entirely possible by reason of His presence on earth never happened. I touched upon the point this morning when I recalled His words that He would not be seen “henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

The fulfilment of that requirement has not occurred in this interim of nineteen centuries. He has not been seen henceforth from that time. We now have some understanding of what it is that is emerging within the range of our experience, and that of many others, so that there might be a fulfilment with respect to His words. But it has taken all this period of time—nineteen hundred years. How many people have lived and died during this interval? It may seem somewhat meaningless insofar as their experience was concerned, but obviously if no one had lived and died in between we wouldn't be here. So the connection has been established in continuity to this moment, while a specific aspect of the creative cycle was unfolding.

Whenever there is a failure, one cannot repair the damage. It is necessary to participate in a new outworking from the point of failure. This was true with respect to what occurred in the Master's experience, the failure on the part of human beings that was then made evident, aborting that particular cycle which He had been entirely capable of carrying through to victory for the children of men. Very few have really seen the vast nature of the failure. We can rejoice that in a personal sense He Himself established a victory. This victory has held the door open for human beings ever since. But that has not obliterated the failure that was the experience insofar as mankind was concerned. That failure meant that the particular vibrational factors that were present to make possible the victory at that time needed to be refocalized somewhere along the way, so that the opportunity of victory could once more emerge. It has taken these nineteen centuries for that to occur. The very fact that it has taken so long is a revelation of the immensity of the failure.

All of you sitting here have experienced points of failure in your own individual lives. You have observed points of failure in the lives of others. You've seen these things within the context of this ministry. Sometimes these points of failure were minor ones, in which case it probably didn't take too long to reinitiate a cycle. But the reinitiated cycle stemmed from the starting point, which was at the point of failure. One couldn't repair the failure and patch it up and go on from there—there had to be something reinitiated. This is always so. This is why sometimes it seems such a tedious business, because wherever there is a failure there is a failure, and what might have been victory was not experienced. We have to proceed on the basis of the way things are, not the way they might have been. All too often human beings try to live on the basis of what might have been. But that is a waste of time. So if there is a point of failure, that finishes something, but it also provides the only starting point there is for what is yet to come.

Our movement over the years, insofar as this ministry is concerned, has been rather hesitant because we kept having to make restarts by reason of elements of failure that entered into the picture. And I will acknowledge that at times, from my standpoint, it has been a rather tedious business, perhaps more tedious from my standpoint than that of anybody else, partly because I was keenly aware of what might have been occurring if there hadn't been these various points of failure. However, what I'm principally concerned with in our consideration this evening relates to this point of failure way back nineteen centuries ago, from which a new cycle had to spring, a new cycle which has taken these nineteen centuries to come to the point where a focus might be reestablished on earth for the unfoldment of the creative cycle of victory. It might be said that all that has worked out between then and now has been leading toward the establishment of this point of focus. There are many factors in relationship to the reestablishment of the essential point of focus of which human beings have little or no awareness, but they are there nevertheless. But what was to emerge in this regard couldn't emerge until all these elements came into adequate alignment. And it has taken this long period of time for that to occur.

What has occurred in the establishment of a point of focus on earth may be seen, then, as an event which has an immense amount back of it—a long period of time for one thing, but a considerable coordination of all the essential factors which would let it be so. And so we have come again to the reestablishment of the essential point of focus on earth. This has to be here for anything of a creative nature to occur in the experience of victory. You all need to see clearly then, in relationship to yourselves, the vital part which you are called upon to play. We can look around us in the world and we can see many movements of various sorts, various schools of thought, philosophies, and so on, with all their adherents, people earnestly endeavoring to do something of value according to their lights, or darkness, as the case may be. All these things which are stirring in the consciousness of people may be seen as relating to what it is that is happening in the world. But the happening in the world is only the experience of victory by reason of the point of focus being present on earth. If everything was just left to this great assortment of people who are endeavoring to do their spiritual thing there would be no hope whatsoever for anyone on earth.

There needs to be a clear-cut recognition of this fact, that the only reason that there is any hope for anyone on earth is by reason of the point of focus that has emerged in the world—the point of coordination. And that point of coordination relates to all of you, and many more. But it all centers in what has been referred to as this ministry. I trust that all concerned have a clear-cut awareness as to what the real nature of this ministry is. It isn't a philosophy certainly, or a spiritual school of thought. It is a focus point of actual creative activity on earth, in which all of you, and others, have been invited to participate.

That point of focus relates to this matter of the flaming sword. What is symbolized by the words “flaming sword” is seen in this way—as a flaming sword, by those who are at the point end of the sword. If you and others have come over the line so that you are at the hilt end of the sword, then it no longer particularly impresses you as a flaming sword. It is not as though, coming over that line and grasping the hilt, so to speak, you are then going to wield it this way and that, slicing everybody up. The flaming sword relates to the truth of love, the expression of one's own true character; that's what it is from the standpoint of the one who is expressing his own true character. He does not look upon his character as being destructive to anyone, but he does know that if there are those who resist it they will hurt themselves.

Those who found themselves outside the garden long ago, and perhaps left a record of it, said that they were ejected from the garden by the Lord God. This is the way it is put in the Book of Genesis. That's the way it seemed to those who experienced that occurrence. But I'm sure that all of you are well aware that it was in fact a self-ejection; the Lord God didn't change into a wrathful character at some point and lash out at these sinful human beings. He simply remained Himself—His character remained totally unchanged. If He was the God of love before, He was the God of love since. The only difference was in the experience of those who acknowledged the character of God and those who rejected the character of God. Those who rejected the character of God found themselves in bad trouble. And human beings have found themselves in bad trouble ever since. Apparently the last idea to enter human consciousness would be to take responsibility for what has happened. It has always been put off onto somebody else. There are many who would not directly blame God, but indirectly they do it, because they blame other human beings. But it is the total attitude of human beings that has produced the trouble.

So, while the flaming sword appears to be that way to those who are at the point of it, from the standpoint of the truth of the matter it isn't that way, because the place of man is at the hilt end of what has seemed to be the sword. Now, the Master Himself was well aware of these things, and He made mention of the fact that He had not come to send peace but a sword—because human beings were at the point end; they were outside the garden. So there could be no experience of peace in the world of human beings as long as this material state prevailed. But the sword was designed so as to allow human beings to come out of that experience. Coming past the sword, coming the other side of the veil as we have put it before, then there is the experience of peace; that is where peace is. We may take note of these words: “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace.” “In me”—in the Christ, in the garden—“ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation.” And that is a promise, clearly stated. Yet human beings have been intent upon trying to produce peace, a totally impossible task, because “In the world”—which is the human state outside of the garden—“ye shall have tribulation.” That is certainly a proven fact, isn't it?

Anyone who resists the tone, the true character of God, the flaming sword, is bound to be uncomfortable, to say the least. And that is the state of tribulation; that is the state upon which human beings insist, refusing to leave that condition of experience outside of the garden. They might like the garden. There are those who look for utopia, this great and marvelous state that is going to be produced by human beings on earth; but all they find is tribulation, because all such effort is resisting what then appears as a flaming sword—self-destruction. The very moment there is a willingness to relinquish that resistance, relinquish the attitudes that engender resistance, there may be a movement which allows the sword to penetrate through the individual, sweeping out, purifying, all of that which has heretofore maintained the state of resistance.

Now this evening my word to you is, “Come near unto me!” This is not a matter of physical closeness, necessarily, although our physical closeness here is useful because I can speak to you directly. But the mere fact of being present does not mean that you are close to me. Yet my word is, “Come near unto me!” Come near in spirit; come near to the tone which is being sounded—come near to the point of focus which is present on earth and which, as you come near, is expanded. The only way you can come near is spiritually, is because of your acquaintance with the real nature of the tone, with the quality of character which is known by those who come near. When the Master was on earth He said, “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” That's one thing. He was speaking to children.

My invitation extended now is not so you can have rest, because you want something of that sort, because you're sick and tired of laboring, and heavy laden, and therefore you want rest. That is what a child might demand. But it is not what is being offered to you by this present invitation to come near unto me. That opportunity to experience rest was offered long, long ago. But I seek those who will come near because they find that they can do nothing else. And this is true only of those whose lives proclaim the truth of love. Again I am speaking of this matter of crossing a line, but in a very specific sense I'm inviting you now, in this moment, to let this be your experience.

Here are some other words: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” This peace of which the Master spoke is only known in the garden. It isn't known outside of it. You can only be in the garden when you are the other side of what has been thought of as the flaming sword. That must have passed through you. And how is it going to pass through you without destroying you? The flaming sword, from the standpoint of the one who is at the hilt of it, is not seen as a flaming sword—it is seen and known as the true character of God finding expression in living. When you assume the position of one who reveals that true character in living, there is no more flaming sword insofar as you are concerned; it has been transmuted in your own experience to the character that you are now expressing. The invitation, then, is to share the expression of that character.

The question always arises as to whether a person prefers the character that he has been expressing on earth, springing from the earthly state, to the expression of the true character of his real being. Now each one decides that in the moment. When the decision of the moment is to allow the expression of true character, harmonious to the sounding of the tone, then any qualities of the old character are immediately dissipated—immediately. You don't have to wait around to grow into it. When you express the true character of the tone, there it is, expressed. And what you might have expressed before you had chosen to express that true character is not expressed. It's gone! The flaming sword has had its effect, then, in that regard. It has, in that moment, eliminated from you what was not true of you. What is your choice going to be in the next moment, and the next? If you do express the true character consistently, then you are in the garden, spiritually speaking. You're still living on earth, you're still in the human world, but you are not of it. You are still very much aware of the tribulation, but because you are in the garden your experience is that of peace. If you slip out of that experience into the world, what you know then is tribulation.

The expression of the true character is victory—there is the point of victory. And you may move from victory to victory. But if you choose to give expression to the old earthly character in some situation, that is failure. And where there is failure you can't make amends for the failure—the results of the failure will come. They must! You know how it is when you have spoken some word which you suddenly realize you shouldn't have spoken—you can't get it back, can you? And whatever it was you said is going to proceed to have its effect. I don't care how much you may protest that you are sorry you said that, it is still going to have its effect—you can't get it back. There was an impact because of what you said, and that impact is going out. So you have to start from the point of failure, because you can't make that failure into a victory. You can allow a victory to emerge out of the point of failure because you are permitting your expression then to be characterized by the truth of you. But in the particular circumstance in which the victory should have been made known it was not made known, and you can't change that. You will find that something similar will occur later, probably, and you will have an opportunity then to reveal the victory.

Now, as I say, in that larger cycle about which I was speaking, it has taken nineteen centuries for human beings to have the opportunity of experiencing the victory. This is the first moment that that opportunity has reoccurred, and what proved to be a failure before may now be revealed as a victory. And by the way, all the points of failure that may have occurred in the past, particularly in relationship to this major cycle, are going to have to be proven out in the pattern of victory. Some of them perhaps have been already, but doubtless there are more to come. “Come near unto me!” that we may agree in this—that the victory shall be proven in everything. We can't say, “Well, I'll prove a victory on Monday, but I'm not so sure about the rest of the week." We prove a victory in the moment, now and now and now and now. There is the point of choice. What shall be the quality of our living in the moment? What shall be our attitude? What shall be our spirit? As we well know, this is our individual responsibility. We can't decide what someone else's spirit is going to be; that's their business, not ours. Let us not judge in the matter. But as there is an increasing revelation of victory, there is an increasing expansion of the point of focus. And this point of focus is the one true point of focus on earth.

Perhaps you have known this from your own experience, making contact with this ministry—somewhere along the way, after that contact was made, or possibly immediately, you suddenly became aware that here it was! You didn't figure that out with your mind. There may have been things in your consciousness that didn't quite jibe with what you felt was true, what you saw with your mind with respect to this ministry. Some of these things didn't quite jibe with what you had in mind before. There may have been a little discomfort here for a while, until you could reach a point where you were willing to relinquish what you had in mind before so that you might be single-minded, you might have a single eye. There are some who have not done that completely yet. But if there is this point of focus on earth, then all who come in contact with it, if they are genuine, will realize something with respect to the point of focus—something will be felt. The door is open in such case for the person to come near.

There is a sifting going on in the world, the sheep and the goats, so to speak. And it works absolutely! It works absolutely to the extent that the point of focus in the experience of victory is adequate. If there are points of failure here and there, then other people making the contact will feel those points of failure, and it doesn't seem to them then that here is the point of victory. Then that can be used as an excuse.

“Come near unto me!”—to the true quality and character of living, so that at no moment, in relationship to any circumstance, do you not give expression to what is of that truth. Let it be clear and right. And it matters not in the least how it may seem anyone else is behaving; that is not the point at all, ever. It is how you behave as an individual, for yourself, that counts, because you are the only one who can behave for yourself. No one else can do it. But when that behavior is a revelation of the truth of love, the truth of you, there is the victory. And we can then move from victory to victory.

  

 

How often in times past there have been victories, yes, but then there were failures. And we can't move from victory to victory on the basis of failures. We may have to start at some point where there was a failure and proceed from there, but let whatever emerges thereafter be a victory. Then we move from victory to victory. We stand in the garden, in the place of peace, a peace that cannot be known by anything that the world may come up with. “In me, peace; in the world, tribulation.” In the true quality of your own character—that expressed momentarily—peace.

Here is a guide, isn't it? What do you know in the moment? Tribulation or peace? Peace is known when you express your true character. It comes through you, and that is what you know. If you don't express it you don't know it. And whatever the circumstance is, nothing can stop you expressing it except your own choice. “Come near!” that we may share in the expression of this character in all our ways, and don't let's waste any time by judging somebody else and saying, “That person isn't expressing the true character.” Just do it yourself. That's all that's necessary. Then there are those who are present in the garden of Eden on earth. And if there are those who are present in the garden of Eden on earth, the garden of Eden is known by them to be on earth. Let us share this expression of character in each moment in all the days to come, abiding in agreement on earth.

© Emissaries of Divine Light