Brought  Face-to-Face  With  Facts

from  True Brinksmanship

Martin Cecil   October 1, 1961

With the pressure coming on in the world of man, the necessity of playing our parts correctly becomes even more evident. If we are to serve truly, we rejoice in the increase of pressure. We know very well that that which is being experienced in the world is just exactly the way it should be. “Not one jot or one tittle shall pass from the law, until all be fulfilled.” Pressures are an essential part of the outworking of God's purposes, for human beings have given abundant evidence that they will let it be on no other basis. Opportunities have been offered over and over again by God for the fulfilment to come in the easy way, so that all the children of men might experience the blessing which God offers so freely, but time and again it has been made evident that human beings will not move, will not even consider the ways of God, without harsh and tragic experience. And so it is today. If any in this unhappy world are to experience restoration there must be those who are capable of leading the way; there must be those who, in the circumstances as they now are, have themselves adequately experienced the restoration so that they may be in position to offer leadership and to share that which they know with others.

You all have a recognition of the fact that we must be in the world but not of it. We are of no value if we are out of the world, and we are of no value if we are in the world and of it. We are only in position to play a constructive part when we are in the world but not of it. In the creative processes of God there is that which acts and there is that which is acted upon. For the essential restoration to take place in this sphere of God's creation these two aspects of creative function are required: that which acts and that which is acted upon. It is evident that if order is to be brought to this chaotic world there must be that which acts in the creative sense, capable of restoring or bringing forth order. Obviously there is a very great deal to be acted upon. If we are identified with that which is being acted upon, with this great mass which is observable all around us, we will find ourselves in a realm of increasingly tense discomfort. How capable are we, at this point, of holding true to an identity with that which acts, so that we do not find ourselves in the realm of being acted upon? Obviously, if we are simply in the realm of being acted upon we are in the same state as everyone else. Here is the distinction between those who are in the world and of the world and those who are in the world but not of the world. The only way by which anyone can be in the world and not of the world is to be identified with that which is acting rather than that which is being acted upon.

Recognizing the importance of the increasing pressures in the world for the outworking of the Divine purposes, we should be keenly aware of the importance of our own clearing from an identification with that which is being acted upon. We could hardly rejoice in the evidence of increased pressure if we were ourselves subject to that pressure. Human beings who place themselves in that position are concerned with finding a way of escape. If we function correctly we are glad that there is no way of escape. Every seeming avenue of escape is being closed, so that human beings become increasingly aware of the fact that there is no way of escape. Always hitherto it has seemed that there could be a way of escape, and so people have not, in any general sense, been willing to face themselves. They always felt that if the worst came to the worst they could duck out. But now, where would we go to escape? There is no place on the face of the earth, and fortunately there isn't much place yet to go to through outer space. Everyone is trapped in a condition where there is no escape. It seems like a terrible thing to those who begin to become aware of it, something to engender desperation; but to those who are wise and who understand, it is cause for rejoicing, because finally mankind in the fallen state is being brought face-to-face with facts, facts that hitherto they have been able to avoid facing. There was always a way of escape, but at last, as it inevitably would, the time comes when man has produced the conditions which force him to face the facts. Of course at this point very few have actually done it. But as the pressure increases it will become most definitely apparent to all people that they have reached the end of their self-active endeavors. There is no way by which they can be successfully continued without complete self-destruction

We note the increasing pressure as it relates to the world situation. We begin to appreciate the correct attitude toward it of those who truly serve. “Rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them,” for the time is at hand. The pressure must mount to whatever heights are necessary for the fulfilment of the Divine purposes. This is the reason for it from our standpoint, and we can observe how human beings are playing into the hands of the Lord. It has sometimes been thought that there have arisen certain scourges in the world in order to compel human beings in the right direction, the assumption being that God raised up wicked men to bring this pressure to bear. Of course God did not do anything of the sort. God raises up those who respond to Him. But the actions of self-active human beings have produced conditions where self-active human beings have certainly played a part which the Lord was capable of using to advantage. He did not put them there to do it. They put themselves there, with the help of many others. But seeing that they were there, the situation has been used to advantage, and it is being used to advantage now.

Those who have been dwelling, as they supposed, safely in the so-called free world are very much irritated and afraid because of what the communists are doing—most disturbing. We cannot continue to enjoy ourselves as we used to do. That's about the size of it. “Why don't they leave us alone, so that we can enjoy ourselves as we please?” It would be too bad if it was that way. When human beings are prosperous and self-satisfied they imagine they do not need God. As a little background insurance they may maintain their membership in a church. They do not really need God, they think. The pressure comes on, things begin to get difficult, and there is a turning toward God. “God help us to preserve our way of life. Our way of life, if you please. Of course our way of life is good; therefore it must be the right way of life. God must support us in it, naturally.” This seems to be the reasoning. And so it is very disturbing when the Germans or the Russians, or somebody or other, begin to bring pressure to bear. However, it happens this way. And from the standpoint of the Lord it is a wonderful thing, just right. I suppose we could say that the communists are doing a good job in this regard. They may think that they are going to achieve their own ends by it, and that is all right; they probably would not be doing it if they did not think that. So let them do it, because we need the pressure; human beings are not going to come to the point of repentance without it.

However, we recognize at the same time that there must be a control which holds what we might call the balance. The maintenance of an adequate measure of control in the world, so that pressure can be increased without going over the brink, is important. On the one hand we recognize, from the standpoint of the fulfilment of the Divine purposes, greatly increased pressure is needed; on the other hand we see what an unfortunate thing it would be if this increase of pressure took human beings over the brink. So there is a nice balance point there. In order to maintain it there is the necessity of having something on earth which is capable of extending Divine control into the world of man's making on the basis of God's power.

You have some vision in this regard, recognizing the relationship between your individual, personal environmental affairs and the larger picture as it relates to the world as a whole. These things are not separated in actual fact. They certainly are not separated from the standpoint of that which must be done through this Ministry. How much rebellion or objection or feeling of being overwhelmed is there yet in you when the pressure begins to mount in your own environmental field? If you can't handle your own environmental fields on the right basis I don't think you would be much use in relationship to the direct service as it applies to the world situation. As has been repeatedly emphasized, it is what you do in your little affairs—and they are very small in actual fact, relatively speaking—that determines as to whether we have control or not. We take the attitude that we welcome an increase of pressure. Where? Just out there somewhere? In relationship to people over there? Well that is part of it, yes—we need increased pressures out there. But do you think you can have increased pressure out there without having it right here? Of course not! It is going to be everywhere. If we relinquish right control here, with respect to our fields of responsibility in this Ministry, where will the control come from to maintain the balance out there?

Can we look at this honestly, with a true recognition of fact? I have been observing some little pressures building up here and there—actually nothing to speak of, and yet how quickly a sense of being overwhelmed arises. We only feel overwhelmed when we begin to identify ourselves with the things that are being acted upon. We need to recognize something here, because our physical bodies have a very obvious relatedness to that field of affairs which is being acted upon. If we are identified with our physical bodies we shall find ourselves subject to the state of being acted upon. Our identification needs to be with that which is acting. When it is, our physical bodies may share the action; but if we are identified with our physical bodies, then we reverse polarity and we will be overwhelmed. The physical body is privileged to share the Divine action, but it is not the source of the Divine action. We are to be identified with the Divine action. We recognize that our physical bodies are important to enable us to be in the world, but if, at the same time, they cause us to be of the world then we nullify the value of our being in the world. We might just as well not be here. We are in the world because we have physical bodies—and we see the importance of being in the world—but we are not of the world, because we let our identity be with that which is acting and not with our physical bodies. While we have a keen awareness of the importance of the physical body, it does not dominate our attitudes. It is important because it enables us to be identified with that which is acting while we are on earth, but we can be identified with that which is acting, regardless of whether we are on earth or not.

So we begin to allow something of the reorientation in attitude toward our own physical bodies. This is not what we are. This is simply the means by which we are enabled to be in the world, and consequently to be in position to let that which is acting come into the world through our physical bodies. We welcome pressure when we are identified with that which is acting, because such action, extending from the Divine source, partakes of the irresistible force, and there is no pressure possible of being engendered on earth which can be greater than that. Therefore we are in position to maintain control, and it is the maintenance of that control which is so vital as this pressure is built up.

Now where are we going to maintain that control? Are we going to imagine that it is somehow reaching out to those in responsible positions in the world? By some magic means we are going to make sure that they behave? No, if it is going to be at all, it is going to be right where the person is, in the immediate environment, in relationship to the immediate affairs. If we say we welcome pressure in the world because we see the necessity of it for the fulfilment of the Divine purposes, we welcome it right here where we are. We are delighted to let it build up in our environment. If we find that in our environment there is a state of disorder, well there is a state of disorder in the world. The question is as to what our attitude is toward it, what we do, what our function is in relationship to that. Do you imagine that we are going to be able to get everything just so, to suit ourselves? I don't think so. I don't think we would be of any use to anyone if we got it that way. We have to be able to meet situations as they are in the world, not as we would like them to be; and if we find disordered states within the scope of our own field of responsibility, well that's fine. If we rebel against it we are rebelling against pressure, and if we are rebelling against pressure we are rebelling against God, because that is absolutely necessary in the fulfilment of the divine purposes, human beings being the way they are.

So with the attitude that says, “Oh isn't this terrible? What awful things I have to deal with! Why can't people function rightly, so that I wouldn't be under this pressure?” we are sure to fail. Have we reached a point where we are in position to handle pressure on the right basis, or not? If we haven't, God help the world, unless there is some group of people somewhere of which I know nothing doing the right thing. To take responsibility to stand firm and to work through whatever it is without being moved by it—this is being in the world but not of it. The idea of being in the world and not of it has been to so many such a fanciful thing. It has not been real at all. Right where we are, we are in the world; right where we are, we can so function that we are not of it. Of course that is the only place we can function anyhow.

Pressure. Those things which we experience day by day, what is our attitude toward them? How do we handle them? How do we meet the issue? Do we get all bothered about it? If so, we are identified with that which is being acted upon. We are absolutely useless. When a little pressure comes, what do you do? Do you throw in the sponge? Here, in relationship to our little daily affairs, is where the control pattern is established, if it is established. If it is not established here it is not established anywhere else insofar as we are concerned. There will be those things which come to us by reason of what is occurring out there. Problems of different sorts will be increasing as the days go by. There will be those things which are more personal in nature in the immediate environment. What do we do? What is our attitude? Where is our identity? “Rejoice, ye heavens,” as the pressure comes on. That pressure will be felt, because we have physical bodies in this world. We are not exempt. Of course it is felt. If we were exempt from it of what value could we be to anyone else? Everyone else has to take it. So do we in that sense. The difference is that we should be centered and identified with that which is acting. If you are all involved in the self-interests of your physical body in various ways, you cannot at the same time be identified with that which is acting. So we are very much aware of the pressure. Of course. Necessarily so. Everyone else is and will be increasingly. But we surely should know how to handle it, how to meet it, how to deal with it, how to work through it, that the evidence of victory may be seen on earth. The very moment a person begins to become involved with that which is being acted upon, it looks like a hopeless business. And of course it is, in that state, absolutely hopeless. That is why pressure is so valuable, because it forces people into the recognition that it is hopeless to continue in that way. If we become involved in the patterns of futility, what failure that is, because we know better. We do know better.

And how is it that the direction of your identification is determined? By the direction of your response. If your response is to that which is being acted upon, well then you are going to be acted upon; if your response is to that which is doing the acting, then you share in the action. There is no doubt, no fear, no uncertainty—there is no pressure that can be engendered on earth which would be overwhelming—none at all. Conceivably it could be overwhelming to the physical body. It seemed to be so in our Master's case, didn't it? But His identification with that which acts was not broken—neither need it be for any of us. It is only as that connection is maintained, held, so that we are on the Rock, that this glorious opportunity can be used to advantage in the fulfilment of the Divine purposes. Everything is just set right; we wouldn't have it any other way at all. This is the way human beings have made it. All right, we accept it that way, and we will use it to advantage. And we recognize that the pressure is going to increase; human beings insist upon having it that way. It is a deliberate thing insofar as human beings are concerned. All right, that's fine. We can take it. We know how. Most other people do not. And there are very definite ceilings from the standpoint of self-active human beings. Some are able to maneuver to higher levels, and they are the ones who are the top dogs in the world of man, but they can only go just so far.

But these things have to be proven out. It is not a matter of talking about it, theorizing about it. We need to see these things before they happen, but we need to be able to function correctly as they do happen. And our ability to do so is determined moment by moment in relationship to these things around us. And when we can handle these things and maintain the control firmly at all times, we can do a little maneuvering in the field of brinkmanship ourselves, and have it work to the glory of God.

© Emissaries of Divine Light

Attuned  To  The  Eternal  Vision

Uranda  September 23, 1945

Somehow, my mind is inclined to turn to thoughts of the Sun Dial, when we have an opportunity such as this—and here we are indeed Spiritually in the Garden, and to the degree that each one has that Peace that has its Source in the Divine, we bring into focalized expression the Garden of Peace. The world needs the influence of the Garden of Peace more urgently now than it did in the days of conflict that have come to a close. The sound of battle and carnage obscured the turmoils and frictions, the selfishness and the greed that manifest in the hearts and lives of human beings in high places and low.

Any change for the better in world conditions must be based upon a transformation within individuals. We cannot, by any means or method, hope to improve world conditions without first improving individuals, and it is utterly impossible to improve individuals except as they themselves have a longing to experience that improvement. These are fundamental facts, and they have a direct bearing upon every phase of activity in which we may be engaged in the Service of the Lord. They influence, properly, every individual expression from within ourselves.

All too often I find the horizon too narrow, the vision too fore-shortened to a point where the immediate things of lesser importance occupy too great a degree of the attention. Of all the people in the world, we have the greatest privileges and, therefore, the greatest responsibilities; and it is incumbent upon us, individually and collectively, to remember to maintain the vision, to see always the relationship between the things of daily life, the things immediately at hand, and the things in the broad scope of the world picture.

We have no illusions concerning the outworking of human affairs that are based upon human, individual strength and wisdom. We have no illusions about the possibility of establishing, by any means whatsoever, some national or international control by means of which one might, as it were, restore goodness to the world. It cannot be done. At the present time, followers of democracy, as it has been known, appear to be following only for the loaves and fishes, for what they think they can get out of it. Following on the basis of the Spirit of Truth and for true expansion, appears to be well nigh a thing of the past.

Many individuals portray for the future a marvelous world, a marvelous era, in which great inventions will bring, supposedly at least, an increased pleasure and joy and opportunity in living. I do not deny that such a thing comes within the realm of possibility. Anything comprehensible to man becomes possible within the range of the outworking Currents of Creative Force in the Cosmic scheme of things. In other words, with increased knowledge these inventions are entirely within the scope of the possible, but when we stop to look at the quality of humanity as a whole, we do not find a sufficient number of individuals ready to give into life that which would enable that sphere of life to manifest with any certainty. If there were a reasonable degree of goodness toward turning to Reality, where God is considered—within certain cycles at least—if there were a reasonable turning to goodness on the part of humanity as a whole, it is very possible that such a vibration, with a goal established and maintained and adhered to by the majority of people in the world, would permit the development of what might in a sense be called a Utopian period. It could rise out of the world conditions as they now are, and form an interval between that which now is and that which is to be. And that interval, depending upon the mass of humanity, might last conceivably for even hundreds of years. It would last for whatever length of time it took for one of two things to happen: either for it to move into a still higher expression of Reality and a more complete attunement with the Divine as a whole; or for crystallizations and decay to set in—in which case we would be right back where we are now, although that decay in such a case would take place much more rapidly than we have anticipated in the outworking of events in relationship to the world and our own nation.

While our nation boasts itself as being the most powerful in the world—and as a citizen of this nation, I would be very much inclined to agree with that statement—those of us who look carefully to the national health must recognize that there are many signs of decay, many signs of breaking down, although it has not become an old nation yet and might not, under some conditions, for a long period of time. But those signs point at least in the direction in which it is moving and, broadly speaking, it is not the direction in which we should like to have it move. From the standpoint of a dispassionate, impersonal analysis, then, I am inclined to feel that we should be forced to admit that the probabilities, from the standpoint of this Utopian period, are very remote.

Man appears to feel that he has well nigh reached the goal of knowledge where he can be as a God, knowing good and evil, but those who think they have achieved the goal of human supremacy find that their foundations invariably crumble beneath them. It does not work. We cannot arbitrarily change the situation in the world and we cannot force human beings to have a new vision and understanding of the Divine. I say a new vision and new understanding, not because it is new—for it is old—but because it is only now, insofar as this period is concerned, that it is beginning to be really recognized. It is new to this day but it is as old as man himself, as old as creation; and so this vision that is new to this day requires that we ourselves shall be so filled with the absolute conviction concerning the immutable nature of God's Laws and with such a complete realization of the certainty of the outworking of God's Will that we refuse to allow the little things or the things near at hand to cloud our vision and understanding—so that we maintain the vibration clear, full and free for all people of the world who long to know the Way, the Truth and the Life.

You will recall that in times past I made certain predictions concerning the outworking of things and I think that the record bears it out to a remarkable degree, and yet I found Emissaries setting their course of action upon their own concept of the fulfillment, or the known fulfillment of specific predictions. I found some functioning as if they thought that they knew just how certain things were going to work out, and that they could, somehow, by riding on the crest of a wave, come into some new or promised land according to their own desires. It does not work that way. Such things are perhaps interesting and intriguing, and from the standpoint of Reality it is perfectly legitimate for us to consider them, but actually, insofar as we are concerned, it should not make any difference whether that outworking comes in thirty days or fifty years—a hundred hours or a hundred centuries. The time element is really of very little importance.

In any case, regardless of time elements, the same principles hold true, the same laws apply, the same Goal stands, the same necessities for Service exist—and so this evening I have been expressing along this line in order to help clarify for you my vision of this matter, so that you can consider it in relationship to your own vision. Seeing it from this standpoint, which is the Eternal standpoint, nothing is little in this world and nothing is great. Nothing is unimportant and nothing is important enough to cause us to let it become a barrier in the Way. Value must be based upon Eternal Realities, insofar as we are concerned, and an achievement that may seem to be entirely insignificant according to human vision, may in the years to come prove itself to be of far-reaching consequence.

To what degree are our minds constantly and consistently, in relationship to all matters, attuned to the Eternal Vision? And when I say Eternal Vision, I do not mean our individual concepts of what the world will be when it is made new. I mean a recognition of the operation of Divine Principles in relationship to everything that we think and say and do, here and now. That which we do in relationship to little things, in relationship to everyday experience, is that which the world of Responding Ones tends to do. In these things we set a course for others—we establish a vibration, and we open the Way. When we open a way, we should consider whether or not it is a way in which we should like to see tens of thousands walking as a path of Spiritual life. When we set a vibration, in our own minds its value should be measured not on that which appears in the immediate environment but on the influence that would be seen to result in the world if we could watch that vibration reach out into the world and touch hundreds of thousands of lives.

To what degree it does reach out, and whether one life or a million lives are influenced, makes no difference, anymore than it makes a difference whether the final outworking of events comes next week or a thousand years from now. The fundamental Realities with which we are working are the expression of the Christ Kingdom in this moment, just as surely as they will ever be in the future. That which is of Reality will not become more than Reality when the Christ Kingdom fills the whole world. That which is of value will not become more valuable when the Kingdom is known to every man, woman, and child.

It is in such hours as this, when we are privileged to gather in the Garden of Peace for a greater consideration of that which is important to us and to the world, that we know beyond a shadow of doubt that our lives are important only to the degree that we accomplish that to which we are called by our KING. Peace, true and lasting peace, which the world needs so much, must spring from the hearts and minds of those who have found peace. Strength and courage and vision to do that which is in harmony with Reality must spring from the lives of those who have found the Way, if others are to be influenced, so that a transformation of lives will begin to work a transformation of the world—for the world is not and can never be any better than the people who live in it.

© Emissaries of Divine Light

Come Out Of Hiding — Present Yourself

Come  Out  Of  Hiding  —  Present  Yourself

from

Spiritual  Expertise

Martin Cecil   February 22, 1976

We were considering something about hiding—in the passage which I read about Adam and Eve, they were hiding among the trees from the Lord. I'm sure you begin to understand that this hiding from the Lord is made evident by the fact that one hides the true expression of oneself from one's fellows. The picture of hiding from the Lord is rather an impractical one for most. It becomes very much more specific when we see it in these terms of hiding the truth of our own expression from our fellows. This is hiding amongst the trees from the Lord. The voice of the Lord comes walking in the garden in the cool of the day, to find expression on earth because of each one of us. If we hide ourselves among the masses of the people on earth, so that we find no necessity for giving expression to the truth, then we are hiding from the Lord.

An Old Testament statement was made, and applied to the experience of Jesus as a child, “Out of Egypt have I called my son”—out of hiding have I called my son or my daughter. Jesus was taken down into Egypt, according to the story, specifically to hide Him. We've all found ourselves hidden in human nature with all our fellows, one of four billion nowadays, lost in the crowd. As long as all of that crowd is revealing human nature, how would you really distinguish one from another? But if one among that crowd makes plain the reality of spiritual expression, how would you hide such a one? So we have been offered the opportunity of coming out of hiding. Most people have very little awareness of what these words might mean; but you, certainly, begin to know. Others may only know to the extent that there are those who do come out of hiding; then this becomes evident. Jesus came out of hiding. First of all He came out of Egypt. After He had grown through childhood and youth to a point of adequate maturity, He undertook to reveal the truth of Himself before the people. And this is what we are called to do, all of us, individually.

You know, we can hide behind a concept of the body of the Son of God. We may say of ourselves, “I'm part of the Unit at 100 Mile House,” or “I'm part of the village group,” so that we lose ourselves in the crowd. But, you know, there is no manifest body of the Son of God on earth except as there are individuals who take the responsibility of revealing the truth of themselves before the people. Jesus obviously did this. We speak of His public ministry. It could, and should, have gone very much further than it did—from the beginning to the end of that time of public ministry, He stood virtually alone. There were the disciples who walked along with Him across the land, but that's about all they did. They did not reach a point, with respect to most of them, where there was any particular revelation of the truth of themselves. They did not come out of hiding, in other words. They were hiding behind Jesus. They were willing to follow Him in the external sense, to listen to what He had to say, even to love Him as much as they were able, but they never really came out of hiding. This was particularly emphasized at the time when Peter denied his Lord. He was representative of the other disciples—all except John, who had actually gone with Jesus into the judgment hall. So there was no development by reason of others who were willing to come out of hiding.

There's been a somewhat different experience in what has occurred through this ministry. All this that has taken place has been consequent upon what was initiated by Jesus. He came out of hiding and presented the truth of Himself to the people. Not many saw what it was, but He did it nevertheless; and because He did it the door was opened for others to do it. As I pointed out this morning, it was necessary that there should be one who did it before the way would really be opened for others. Someone, somewhere, had to do it. This particular One we recognize as the Lord of all. It is a remarkable thing that He would accept the responsibility, in this travesty of a world, to come on earth, to come out of hiding, to expose Himself as He did, to suffer consequently as He did, but to carry all the way through so that the door might be opened. And the door has been open ever since. But seemingly scarcely anyone even approached it, let alone followed His example, taking responsibility to carry all the way through. There have been a few who have played a part in this regard. Because of the One who came to do it and did it, and these others since, the opportunity has been available to us.

There was a time when Uranda stood alone in the initiation of this ministry, which requires that the individual come out of hiding—come out of hiding and present the truth of himself. We may be thankful indeed that there was this one who had the courage to undertake the task. In presenting the truth there were those who did respond and drew close, to varying degrees. Eventually, as it worked out, I particularly was forced into the position of coming out of hiding. Presumably, according to my highest vision at the time, I would have imagined that I had already come out of hiding, as likely most of you do now; but when you are faced with the real necessity of coming out of hiding you know the difference. When Uranda left this sphere of things the responsibility fell upon me, and I was compelled to take it. Prior to that time I had been hiding in various ways, which I discovered to be the case at that moment of truth, and subsequently.

In order to present the truth of oneself to the people there is the necessity of developing a certain expertise in spiritual expression. One may have the wish to reveal the truth of oneself, and some seem to have imagined that the wish was the revelation. But of course it never is; it simply points a person in the direction, that he may in season experience an increasing revelation of the truth of himself. This requires, certainly, the development of expertise. One cannot develop that expertise by doing nothing. One cannot learn to play a musical instrument without playing the musical instrument. One cannot learn to live without living. One can remain in hiding and exist for a while; but to live, one must come out of hiding. It is evident that there are various measures of hiding. This was illustrated in the experience of Jesus. There was the hiding in the land of Egypt. He came out of that hiding, but there was a further hiding with His family—all quite as it should be, because He was in the process of growing up. He ventured forth from that hiding in a particular sense at the age of twelve, when He disputed with the learned ones in the synagogue. His parents were a little distraught because of this, failing to recognize at the time that here He was coming out of hiding. It took another eighteen years after that for Him to develop sufficient expertise that there might be a revelation of the truth of Himself. He came completely out of hiding insofar as He was concerned, but He still remained in hiding insofar as most others were concerned. But the opportunity to recognize the truth was present because He Himself had come out of hiding. He presented Himself before the people for who He was. For many this wasn't a very popular move, but others heard something of the Tone that He sounded and followed Him—not adequately, but in some measure.

We see illustrated, then, how a person step by step comes out of hiding. We may understand how it is that there is a cycle in this regard, but how useless the whole process would be if one were to take the steps while still in hiding and never take the final one. As I say, in my own situation there was a very compelling circumstance, and such integrity as I have prevented me from turning it down. So I came out into the open, so to speak. This is not, rightly, exceptional to me; it is required of each individual who actually participates in the composition of the body of the Son of God. There is no manifest body of the Son of God, in the resurrected sense, except as there are individuals who have taken the responsibility of coming out of hiding for themselves. What does this mean?

It means that we are under the necessity of revealing the truth of ourselves before the people. This may conjure up some visions of standing up in prominent places and proclaiming who we imagine we are; but if we did that it would only be imagination anyway. In my own situation I was under the necessity of presenting myself to those who composed this ministry at that time, first. I'm most thankful to God that most were willing to accept the transition. Some were not. This, I suppose, is to be expected and accepted, as it was. But that wasn't all of it, because I was under the necessity of continuing to present myself before the people—more people. I traveled back and forth across the land speaking to groups of people in many, many places, groups of people who had virtually no understanding of what it was that was being offered. So I was out front, so to speak, exposed—in other words I came out of hiding. Such an event set off a few shock waves here and there, as it will with anyone.

Because the world has become a much bigger place than it was nineteen centuries ago, for instance, there is in one sense a much more protected situation. In the Book of Revelation something was said about the earth helping the woman by swallowing up the flood that the dragon spewed out of his mouth. There are so many people, so many systems of all kinds, so many schools of thought, teachings, religions, what have you, that an insignificant little thing like the Emissaries went more or less unnoticed—and this continues to be largely the case. We may be thankful that it is so, as long as it is noticed by those who should notice it.

In any case, coming out from behind the trees, coming out from hiding, the individual must present himself before the people. Having presented himself before the people, of course, there will be those who respond, as we say, and come closer; some, indeed, who are inspired also to come out from hiding and to present themselves before the people. This has occurred in the development through this ministry, so that others are now more on the firing line, so to speak, than I am. This gives indication of the development of what we have called a hedge—a hedge which is a hedge of protection but also a hedge of radiation, unified radiation we call it. As this natural unfoldment continues, those who first came out from hiding, presenting themselves before the people, begin to be the ones who are themselves protected by others who are coming out from hiding and presenting themselves before the people.

There is always a peripheral ring, rightly, composed of those who have come out from hiding at that particular time. These are the ones who have the responsibility of presenting themselves before the people. Those who did it before them, to allow them to come out of hiding, are then one step behind the hedge; and so there are concentric rings composing the hedge. Here is one evidence of the nature of the emerging design. There is, of course, far greater detail than this; but we can surely see how those who do come out from hiding first have the responsibility of presenting themselves before the people; and then later, as there is response to that presentation of the truth of themselves, they find themselves behind another ring composed of those who have, consequent upon their ministry, come out of hiding.

Units and groups have at times seemed to be convenient hiding places, and a certain complacency can be developed in this sort of situation, so that those concerned do not take advantage of developing the expertise which would enable them to come out of hiding and present the truth of themselves in spiritual expression, before the people. This certainly does not mean that one stands on a soapbox at the corner and proclaims some doctrine or other, ramming it down other people's throats. Of course, if you're on the street corner, they can always walk away! We have spoken of living, but one can pretend to live while still remaining in hiding. You know, with the number of those who are associated with our ministry here in 100 Mile House, should they all have come out of hiding, the rest of the community wouldn't have a chance! But in various ways a facade is maintained behind which Emissaries lurk, and it would seem to take great persistence and considerable effort on the part of others to penetrate that facade and discover the lurking Emissary. There is perhaps a certain fear of actually coming out of hiding. We may admit, on particular occasions, that we are Emissaries: births, deaths and marriages. But how about in between? Again, it's not a matter of parading down the street with banners: “Here come the Emissaries of Divine Light!”

Our business is to come out of hiding.

We recognize this to the extent that we have acknowledged the requirement of spiritual expression. You could not offer spiritual expression in living and still remain hidden.There are those who have complained at times of the lack of response which might seem to be apparent in certain locations. It wasn't the lack of response that was the trouble; it was the lack of spiritual expression to which there might be response, or at least reaction. And you know, insofar as our true business is concerned, it doesn't matter much which it is. We have been very cautious because presumably it was the wise thing to be. We were not interested in being immediately overwhelmed because we were not yet identified with strength; but to the extent that there is spiritual expression there is strength, and redemption is being offered. And that has an impact.

There is a sort of graduation process, isn't there? Someone has to come out of hiding to start the ball rolling. Then, because he has come out of hiding and the ball has started rolling, others will come out of hiding too, and they share in keeping the ball rolling. But the original one finds himself within this hedge, and then those who participated with him in keeping the ball rolling, themselves find themselves within another hedge, and so it goes—another and another—gradually coming out of hiding sufficiently to take responsibility, on the periphery, for a presentation of the truth of themselves in spiritual expression. Those who played a part in originating the spiritual expression should have no demands put upon them. This is the case when there are others who are willing to come out of hiding and assume the responsibility, but nobody can do that without having developed the expertise.

It seems that most of those who do develop the expertise are the ones who are compelled, in one way or another, to get out and do it. Those who have a comparatively easy situation, within a compact Unit or a group, are inclined to be a little complacent. One can never experience the mature expression of the truth of oneself without moving through those cycles which permit it, and one of the most obvious steps to be taken in those cycles is the initial one of coming out of hiding sufficiently to present oneself to the people. There is an inclination, in the human pattern of things, to try not to be too much different. This seems like a wise course because the idea may be that you don't want to turn people off. Well how about turning people on? And if you're just the same as everybody else you're not going to turn anybody on. Spiritual expression is something startlingly different. There is the evidence of the fact that one is somehow different. If there isn't this clear-cut evidence the individual is still hiding, for it is that clear-cut evidence of spiritual expression that gets the job done for which we are here on earth. We can wait in hiding too long.

The state of hiding is the state of the tomb. The body of the Son of God lies in the tomb, which this world is, because the head is at the same level as the rest of the body. That means that the whole thing is horizontal. Head and body embedded in the earth—that's the state of being in the tomb. The head belongs in heaven. The head must experience that belonging in heaven while in the tomb. This seems rather a mysterious thing to those who are in the body in its horizontal position, because there is no sign of the heaven in the tomb. The experience of heaven required by the head of the body is an internal experience, we might say. We haven't been trying, for instance, to produce a heavenly state external to ourselves—at least, I hope not. Something improved may have put in an appearance; but even if that were to be swept away, it shouldn't make any difference, if the head is in heaven. It will not make any difference, if the head is in heaven! I trust that everything doesn't have to be swept away in order to prove the point, but that might be necessary too; one never knows. So the head needs to return to heaven, as we have recognized, while still in the tomb. It is because the head returns to heaven that the body may experience this heaven and rise up. It must rise up to come out of the tomb.

Have you ever wondered how the body of Jesus got out of the tomb? Did someone come along and roll the stone away and then the body emerged horizontally? That's hardly the way it works. You remember how it was for the man called Lazarus who was also in a tomb for several days. The Master commanded, “Lazarus, come forth,” and Lazarus walked out of the tomb. He may have had a little difficulty, because he was still all wrapped up in the grave-clothes, but he walked out. Nobody went in after him. The Master did it a little more neatly—He removed the grave-clothes before He came out. He had the expertise, and He was found to be in the garden. The tomb was in the garden all the time, and that's true of this world. It is a tomb, but the tomb is in the garden.

The head must be restored to heaven. It is restored to heaven only by reason of spiritual expression. Spiritual expression presents the truth of a person before the people. Later that truth may not be presented so directly. We can see that in the case of Jesus. It was presented directly, and it never went further than that position, which is why things worked out the way they did. There was no hedge. We see now the beginning of the development of the reality of a hedge, which is the unified radiation from the head. The heads of the saints are usually surrounded by a halo. This is what is indicated—unified radiation through the head of the body of the Son of God, and you cannot hide that light. It cannot be hidden under a bushel. Here is the almighty power of God. It carries an impact. The effects of that impact depend, of course, upon the attitudes of those concerned who receive the impact. We would that all should respond, but we also do not fool ourselves into imagining that there are not those who will not respond; there indeed are many. But whether reaction or response, when there is spiritual expression the job gets done.

But we must come out from hiding, and we'll only dare to come out from hiding when we have begun to develop the required expertise. We will not develop the required expertise without practice, without doing something about it, without taking responsibility and letting something happen: Let the thoughts of my mind, and the meditations of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. Let it be so. It won't happen unless you let it happen—it requires something of you. Come out of hiding.

Out of hiding, the Son of God has been called. Let the fruition be experienced individually; then it will be experienced collectively. But we can't be dragged along by anybody else. I think some have felt that they would just come along because the body is coming along. But if the body is coming along it is only because there are individuals composing that body who have taken the responsibility for themselves. Those who come along simply on the basis of the fact that the body is coming along will suddenly find that they have no oil in their lamps. It's unwise just to wait for that point of discovery, because then it's too late.

We have been considering something that is of vital importance this evening. More in this field of consideration has been brought into focus—I thank God for that—but there is indeed much more not only to be considered but to be experienced.

© Emissaries of Divine Light